Why You Shouldn't Worry About Intel's Drop Today

Although we don't believe in timing the market or panicking over market movements, we do like to keep an eye on big changes -- just in case they're material to our investing thesis.

U.S. stock markets have fallen slightly during trading today after Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas President Richard Fisher said the central bank was close to slowing its asset purchase programs. Markets have been moving up or down lately based on the Fed's comments on "tapering," but long-term investors should keep in mind that the Fed will only slow stimulus and raise rates for the long term when it thinks the economy can handle it.

More importantly than tapering speculation was a report from the Institute for Supply Management saying that its nonmanufacturing index rose to 56% in July from 52.2% a month earlier. That follows strong manufacturing data last week and shows a little strength for businesses right now. When you add all of these factors up, the Dow Jones Industrial Average has slipped 0.27% as of 3:25 p.m. EDT, while the S&P 500 lost 0.17%.

Among Dow components, Intel is one of the biggest losers today, falling 1.3%. But a closer look shows that Intel is trading ex-dividend today. That means investors who held the stock as of Friday night will receive the $0.225 quarterly dividend, but today it's trading without that dividend. When you take that dividend into account, it makes the drop significantly smaller and also gives us an idea of just how important a dividend is to investors.

Over the past five years, Intel's stock is only up 1.7%, but the total return of the stock including dividends is 20.3%.

INTC Total Return Price data by YCharts.

Particularly when you get into well established, slower-growing companies like the ones that make up the Dow, the dividend becomes a huge part of your total returns. Sometimes the stock price only tells part of the story, and Intel's drop today is a great example.

For a few more great Dow dividends, you're invited to check out The Motley Fool's brand-new special report, "The 3 Dow Stocks Dividend Investors Need." It's absolutely free, so simply click here now and get your copy today.

The article Why You Shouldn't Worry About Intel's Drop Today originally appeared on Fool.com.

Fool contributor Travis Hoium manages an account that owns shares of Intel. The Motley Fool recommends Intel. The Motley Fool owns shares of Intel. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services free for 30 days. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

Copyright © 1995 - 2013 The Motley Fool, LLC. All rights reserved. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.