📅 On This Day
Martha Stewart's 2004 Sentencing Brings Insider Trading to Main Street
On July 16, 2004, a federal judge sentenced Martha Stewart to five months in prison and two years of probation following her conviction for conspiracy, obstruction of justice, and lying to investigators. The case — rooted in her sale of ImClone shares ahead of damaging FDA news — did something rare: it turned the arcane mechanics of insider trading into tabloid front pages. Shares of her publicly traded company, Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia, fell sharply during the trial before eventually finding their footing after her release.
When a celebrity goes to trial, even Wall Street's driest misconduct finds a mass audience.
🇺🇸 US
Source: PBS; SEC
🌍 Around the World
France's 2018 Tax Revolution Made Dividends Friendlier for Everyday Investors
Before 2018, French dividend investors faced a bruising combination of progressive income rates up to 45% plus social charges of 15.5%, pushing effective top rates above 50% even with a partial abatement — and driving a well-documented flight of capital to Belgium, Switzerland, and the UK. President Macron's PFU, introduced in 2018, changed everything with a single flat 30% all-in rate (12.8% income tax plus 17.2% social charges). Blue chips like Air Liquide and TotalEnergies became far more compelling for domestic compounding, especially inside the tax-advantaged PEA wrapper.
France's PEA account lets patient investors compound dividends in a tax-free envelope — a detail worth knowing. 🇫🇷
🇫🇷 FR
Source: economie.gouv.fr PFU guidance; French-Property.com dividend taxation guide
🔥 Dividend Streak
McDonald's Reaches Dividend King Status After 50 Consecutive Annual Raises
When Ray Kroc announced McDonald's first dividend in 1976 — a split-adjusted payout of less than a tenth of a penny per share — few could have imagined where the streak would lead. Seven stock splits and 50 annual raises later, that figure has grown 310,000%, reaching $1.86 per share today. In 2026, McDonald's earned Dividend King status, a distinction reserved for companies with half a century of unbroken increases.
From $0.0006 to $1.86 split-adjusted: MCD's dividend history is a quiet masterclass in compounding patience.
MCD — McDonald’s Corporation
Source: Sure Dividend — McDonald's Dividend Aristocrats profile
💡 Did You Know
A Company's Age and Its Dividend History Are Two Very Different Things
Bank of Ireland traces its founding to 1783, placing it among Europe's more venerable financial institutions — yet its dividend record carries a gap from the financial crisis, a reminder that longevity and continuity are not synonyms. The pattern repeats across markets: centuries of operating history offer no guarantee of an unbroken payout stream. For dividend investors, founding date and continuous payment history are two separate questions, and only one of them belongs in a streak calculation.
Before trusting a long heritage as a proxy for dividend reliability, always check the actual payment history. 🇮🇪
🇮🇪 IE
Source: Bank of Ireland investor relations