I've held XOM for a quite a while, and it seems to be holding up better than other major integrated oil companies in the last several months, though it too has been dropping dramatically in recent days.  I'm staying with XOM, and am not very focused on dividend but rather on overall financial condition. 

I suspect  you could sleep better an night if you bought XOM.  If you really want to focus on dividend and can take risk, look at LGCY, a Master Limited Partnership, which has dropped to the point that it is giving over 17% return!  This is crazy.  The question with LGCY is how much capital that company might need.

The difficulty with the current climate is that there is total panic and real trouble with liquidity; we've got to be close to the bottom, but its not clear how long it will be before some people return to equities, even solid companies like XOM.  So we may sit at current levels of stocks for a while.  Under that condition, very strong companies such as XOM may be among the first to attract attention on the eventual road back up.

Alan

Hi Dry,

I have XOM & CVX.  I just added RDS.A yesterday and already under water after today.

Keeping my fingers crossed.

Justin

At the bottom of this link is a little diddy about Joe Kennedy and the shoe-shine boys.  It says that if you are taking stock tips from the shoe-shine boy, it's time to sell.

I am the consumate shoe-shine boy, and I offer something for your consideration.  I do hope you all get rich.

http://www.ourclimate.net/invest.htm

GG

The opposite of that, GG, when the shoeshine boy tells you it's time to sell, it's probably time to buy.

And BTW, I think Jim Cramer, etal are the highest paid shoeshine boys in the history of the world. Great advice in momentum plays when the market's on an upswing, lost when it's at or near a bottom.