> This, no shareholder controlled board would ever authorize taking out debt to pay dividends, unless there's some special circumstances Energy (oil & gas) com

> This, no shareholder controlled board would ever authorize taking out debt to pay dividends, unless there's some special circumstances Energy (oil & gas) companies certainly did last year. Those stocks are a little different than the broader market, in that investors in them generally aren't looking for appreciation in share price, they want consistently high dividends. Exxon is a good example of this.