companies like 3m procter & gamble johnson & johnson long history of dividend raises. but other than accidental high yields and dividend boosts how do you analyze a divstock. a very high yield can often be a signal with the dividend is unsustainable and will have to be cut. you'll see me throw the red flag around here. and that, you know, it takes away let's put it this way. you need a rigorous safety inspection. if the dividend is sound. maybe the company can raise it too. if it seems endangered, no. it ain't worth it people. you have to stay awai. consider the cautionary tales of what we call these bond arb trauj funds and these monster yielders that were based on strategies buying gigantic amounts of bonds with borrowed money. when rates jump these variable yields were crushed. that's why against them don't take the bate. there in each case the yield was a large red flag sending a signal that the payout will be reduced in a short period of time. not worth risking. don't risk holding on that to capture a juicy dividend. hey, by the way, we saw that happen a couple ye

sending a message to the markets about the global economy. >> the multi-nationals caterpillar, 3m and procter and gamble all components are feeling theects of a stronger dollar and geopolitical uncertainties. caterpillar beat revenue profits but said it is bumpy. and lower oil prices have cut demand for cats exploration equipment. other sore spots inclu mining hardware locomotives and in china, construction equipment. >> i'm going to be very realistic with you. we'll not repeat this quarter the rest of the year. >> we've seen a real dichotomy here in the world. a u.s. growing fairly slowly but growing steadily and everywhere else there is not much good news. >> in some locations it could get worse because cas yet to feel the full impact of the free fall and petro exam in brazil. >> and there is a manana economy. >> our survey told us that north america will be better than expected. kiwi will make it happen. >> the europe economic stimulus is one reason the dollar has strengthened though and 3m joins the chorus of companies blaming a stronger dollar when it missed earning estimates. 3m makes p

carl: procter & gamble and 3m were two of the companies that we heard that experienced this issue innd we are seeing a lot of weaker earnings, and at the same time, we are getting a little bit of a relief in some sense from currencies and energy as well just because we have that kind of training -- trading that we have seen in the past couple of months here, and so with that kind of relief coming, i think that might start to fade in the background if these companies do have those kinds of overseas exposures. alix: carl, what do you think? carl: we are seeing this downdraft in the economy, and it is taking pressure off of the feds and maybe it is a one and done fed and perhaps maybe a nun and done fed, and -- alix: moving in another direction? carl: and it is slowing and whatnot and so if we take the pressure off of the fed and have a couple of rate hikes this year, that takes the pressure off of the dollar and levels it -- and allows it to soften especially because we had that week employment margin report. alix: and another thing we have seen the has been troubling with on the marke

procter and gamble quarterly profit in line but sales fell for a fifth straight quarter. currency effects weighing on 3m. caterpillar beating the street. >> we saw construction in the u.s. and north america up. that's the bright spot we have. it's fairly anemic but it's growing. it's getting better quarter by quarter. we see that. we are happy with that. everywhere else in the world we are double-digit decreases in sales year over year regionally. we've seen a real dichotomy here in the world. >> they are upping sales guidance upping earnings guidance as some of these operateing efficiencies kick in. >> this is a good quarter. i've been critical. what is important, if you have north america and north america is significant, then you beat numbers. this is what's going on. we are seeing north american construction make a major turn. unfortunately, the rest of the world is just stacked against us. but in this case we forget america is a big market. they have cut costs. we are starting to see good inventory numbers. i had no idea how levered they were to north america. it's not a china play. if it's not a c