Given the historically slow pace of change for dividends,...

Given the historically slow pace of change for dividends, the growth in dividend payers since January 2003 has been remarkable. Unlike the prior 20 years when the number of paying issues actually declined by 25%, since the start of 2003 the number of paying issues within the S&P 500 issues has risen by 10% to 386. For the remainder of 2006, we expect a continuation in both dividend increases and initiations among S&P 500 constituents, resulting in another double-digit gain in dividend payments.