S&P Says Dividend Cuts Most in 18 Years

Standard & Poor's said 97 publicly traded companies decreased their dividend during the second quarter of 2008. This is a 439% increase from last year's second quarter. The 97 declines in the quarter is the most since 1990, when 108 issues decreased their dividend.

S&P said, on a dollar basis, Financials and Consumer Discretionary stocks, had the largest dividend reductions. The Financial sector saw reductions in annual payments by over $13 billion and increases of only $3 billion, S&P said.

According to StreetInsider.com data, some financial stocks which recently cut their dividends include: Wachovia (NYSE: WB), Citigroup Inc. (NYSE: C), Washington Mutual, Inc. (NYSE: WM), National City (NYSE: NCC) and Fifth Third Bancorp (Nasdaq: FITB), among others. To track dividend news in real time go to: http://www.streetinsider.com/Dividends

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