Even with the stock market's recent problems, there are figures emerging that should remind us that there's more to investing than just stock prices. General Motors recently announced it was paying a 30-cents-per-share dividend in March, its first dividend since 2008.
That brings the total number of dividend-paying stocks in the S&P 500 to 420 - the highest that figure has been since 1998, when there were 423 dividend payers. As recently as 2004, there were only 377 S&P stocks paying dividends.
Given that the market has been down recently, it's important for investors to remember that dividends aren't accounted for when share prices are reported. And the number of dividend payers might still grow even further, with companies reporting record-high quarterly earnings.
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