Michelle's Worst Nightmare: 22 More Dunkin' Donuts In Her Backyard; Apache Increases Dividend -- Again; Bookends In The Best Decade Ever -- Apache (1960), Steppenwolf (1969); Do Readers Still Want The Content "The Times" Provides?

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Born To Be Wild, Steppenwolf
Nine companies announce increased dividends or distributions.

Dunkin Brands: Dunkin' Donuts plans 22 new restaurants throughout the Greater Baltimore / Washington, D.C. area: Dunkin' Donuts announced the signing of a multi-unit store development agreement with five existing franchise groups to develop 22 new restaurants throughout the Greater Baltimore/Washington, D.C. area over the next several years. Remember: in 1,080 days, the President moves to Hawaii, Michelle plans to stay in DC. Dunkin' is on a roll: Dunkin Brands increases quarterly dividend by 21% to $0.23 per share from $0.19 per share. The rich get richer.

Apache increases common dividend 25% to $0.25/share: The latest increase follows an 18-percent increase in the quarterly dividend approved in 2013 and a 13-percent increase approved in 2012. 

Union Pacific announces 15% dividend increase and a $3.9 bln capital plan for 2014: Co announced that its Board of Directors voted today to increase the quarterly dividend on the company's common shares by 15 percent, or 12 cents, to 91 cents per share. The increased dividend is payable April 1, 2014, to shareholders of record on February 28, 2014.



Apache, The Shadows
Listen to Apache, seriously listen to Apache, maybe play it really, really loud, and then look at the smiles on their faces, and tell me there isn't a personal God. Cigarettes in the video? I have the same opinion of cigarettes in this video as Roger Ebert did with regard to Humphrey Bogart in Casablanca.

Noble Energy misses by $0.10, beats on revs; reaffirms FY14 guidance: Reports Q4 (Dec) earnings of $0.50 per share, excluding non-recurring items, $0.10 worse than the Capital IQ Consensus Estimate of $0.60; revenues rose 13.8% year/year to $1.33 bln vs the $1.31 bln consensus.

The Doomsday Chronicles: The Mainstream Media

Breitbart is reporting:

The New York Times announced Thursday that operating profits had fallen 12% in the fourth quarter of 2013 compared to the same period a year before. Earnings per share dropped by roughly two-thirds, from $0.76 to $0.24. Total revenues were down 5.2% and advertising revenues were down 6.3%, with print advertising revenues falling by 7.0% and digital by 4.3% over 2013.

The company added digital subscribers, up 19% in the fourth quarter of 2013 compared to same period in 2012, but its circulation revenues were down, too.

The Times' results will surprise analysts who had predicted healthy results for the last three months of 2013.

Analysts have tended to focus on the increase in digital subscriptions to the New York Times, which has been a focus for new CEO Mark Thompson, formerly of the BBC. However, the rise in digital readers has not come with a corresponding rise in digital advertising revenues. Ultimately, the question is whether readers still want the content the Times is providing. That remains to be seen, since online competition for center-left news is tight.

It is not the first time that the Times has experienced such a decline in advertising revenues—print revenues fell 13.3% and digital revenues fell 4% in the first quarter of 2013, for example—but the Times had been expected to do far better, given a rise in online subscriptions. The company has also parted with non-core assets in an effort to build its core business.

A report in the New York Observer this week suggested deep differences at the paper between the news and editorial divisions as the company defends its institutional status in the media.

The Doomsday Chronicles: The Mainstream Media is tracked here.