jk3210 - 12:30 am on Jul 21, 2004 (gmt 0)

Another slight twist on claus' theme is that dividends are also used by companies that anticipate little or no appreciation in their stock price. So, they pay (recurring) dividends to entice people to buy their stock and keep the price up.

Many railroads, for example, pay dividends for this reason.

I'm not saying this is the case with the MS dividend, just adding a piece of info.