Dipping

Dividends continue to fall. I don’t know exactly why. The big adjustment of EA’s dividend calculating algorithm happened over a month ago; so there should not be any continuing impact from the change. Maybe folks are still feeling sad or frustrated by the adjustment and are less active. Perhaps Summer in the Northern Hemisphere is reducing folks’ social media activity. Several folks have quit EA (both delisting and just going on hiatus), and that might have some impact. There is even a possibility that EA is continuing to tighten the dividend algorithm.

I see evidence that dividends across the Avenue are falling from a few data points. The number of players who pay over 1.00 (e)/share is down substantially from a month ago. The dividends that I receive are flat despite a bunch of investing. Folks who collect much more data than I do also have calculated a continuing reduction in dividends across the avenue. And this last one is really important to new players. The top 5,000 dividend paying stocks are down to a record low of 0.31 (e)/share.

If you are new, you may not know that EA will only pay dividends on your top 5,000 investments. As a new player, it might take a few more days before you start running into that limit; so why should you care? Two reasons: First if you keep your dividends over that bottom limit; then smart EA players won’t ever sell you. That is because everyone is striving to own the top 5,000 dividend paying stocks to maximize their daily dividend income. Second you should try to avoid selling anyone with a dividend that is in the top 5,000. If you sell them, eventually you will just end up buying them again. Since EA charges commissions on buying and selling shares, you end up paying commissions three times if you sell someone in the top 5,000. 

So what should a new player do with this information? Breathe deeply and don’t freak out. Work hard to understand and improve your dividends. Dividends are intended to reflect effective social media engagement. That really is the important reason why we are here.