MARKET SAVVY : Buying Direct at a Discount

Online brokers may boast about commissions of $9.95 or less, but some companies in effect pay you to buy shares: Several company DRIPs, or dividend reinvestment plans, offer discounts for shares bought with dividend income, after you’ve made an initial purchase. These companies tend to be utilities or in other slow-growth industries, and the discounts are usually 3% or 5%. The stocks favored by editor Charles B. Carlson in the latest issue of the DRIP Investor newsletter:

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Thursday Initial Company/number Ticker Industry close min. Discount* Duke-Weeks Rlty DRE Real estate $21.50 $250 3% (800) 278-4353 Met-Pro MPR Pollution control 11.63 1,000 3 (800) 278-4353 Old Natl Bancorp OLDB Banking 29.88 500 3 (800) 774-4117 Phila. Suburban PSC Water utility 24.13 500 5 (800) 774-4117 Popular** BPOP Banking 27.13 100 5 (787) 756-3908

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*Only applies to purchases made with reinvested dividends

**Holding company for Puerto Rico-based Banco Popular

Sources: DRIP Investor, Bloomberg News