Dividend stocks are everywhere, but many just downright stink. In some cases, the business model is in serious jeopardy, or the dividend itself isn't sustainable. In others, the dividend is so low, it's not even worth the paper your dividend check is printed on. A solid dividend strikes the right balance of growth, value, and sustainability.

Today, and one day each week for the rest of the year, we're going to look at one dividend-paying company that you can put in your portfolio for the long term without too much concern. This isn't to say that these stocks don't share the same macro risks that other companies have, but they are a step above your common grade of dividend stock. Check out last week's selection.

This week, we'll turn our attention to diviersified mining and oil and gas play Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold , and I'll show you why this stock could be an income investor's dream.

Not a favorable combination
As you might imagine, being a miner has been difficult over the past year, as metal prices have fallen off a cliff -- all while labor and mine buildout costs have soared. If there is one lone bright spot for miners, it's that lending rates have been near record lows, which allowed many of them to refinance their debt at favorable rates. But that literally has been the only bright spot.

Source: Loco Steve, Flickr.

The gold drop-off has been particularly hard to swallow for miners. Newmont Mining , one of the nation's largest gold miners, wrote down its entire Hope Bay project, valued at $1.61 billion in 2012, because of high build-outs costs and added another $1.77 billion in writedowns last quarter from gold stockpiles in its Australian mines because of the falling price of gold. 

For other miners, simply the cost of getting their mines up and running has been a chore. Personal holding Thompson Creek Metals is on pace to begin operations in its copper and gold mine Mount Milligan this month, but not after costs to build the mine ballooned from approximately $750 million to $1.5 billion and necessitated the sale of a 52.25% royalty stake in its gold production to Royal Gold over two transactions to raise the cash necessary to commission the mine. 

The Freeport advantage
Instead of sitting idly by while gold prices sink, Freeport has remained nimble in its ability to shift its focus and production to take advantage of metals and resources that are far less spot price-dependent than gold.

To that end, perhaps Freeport's biggest opportunity to lock in big long-term gains comes from its $9 billion in completed purchases earlier this year of Plains Exploration & Production, an oil and gas driller with assets in the Gulf of Mexico, California, Texas, and Louisiana, and McMoRan Exploration, which is an ultra-deepwater asset hold in the Gulf of Mexico and used to be part of Freeport before a split in 1994.

Investors and analysts weren't initially thrilled with the deal, considering that Freeport hadn't managed an oil and gas company for practically two decades and, at the time, natural gas prices were still weak. However, nat-gas prices have worked their way higher, and two-year highs in oil prices have investors rethinking their position as long as Plains and McMoRan can deliver.

Plains probably offers Freeport its best chance for success, having paid a handsome $6.1 billion to BP and Royal Dutch Shell in September of last year to secure assets in the Gulf, which should sustain what I figure to be mid to high-single-digit production growth.

McMoRan, on the other hand, will be a considerably larger challenge but does still offer promise. McMoRan is trying to frack what appear to be huge natural gas reservoirs that it's found in the aptly named Davy Jones well at 30,000 feet below sea level. The problem is that at those depths, building containment equipment that would control gas flow and pressure -- and even unclogging the well at this point from mud -- is proving time- and money-consuming. Ultimately, I think this venture will work, but it'll take patience on the part of shareholders.

The other aspect of Freeport's product diversity that stands out is its gigantic copper reserves. Freeport may produce a large amount of gold each year, and it's certainly not welcomed the $600-per-ounce drop from its peak, but copper is its main source of demand. Thankfully, even with China's GDP growth slowing, copper prices have held up while other metals have caved. The reason is that copper has considerably more practical applications than gold or silver, giving Freeport the "demand" that many gold miners have been missing over the past two or three quarters.

In Freeport's most recent quarter, the company reported the sale of 951 million pounds of copper, 173,000 ounces of gold, and 23 million pounds of molybdenum, among other metals that helped propel it to $1 billion in operation cash flow. For the year, Freeport is expected to generate $5.8 billion in operating cash flow, and that's with reduced spot metal prices! 

Show me the money, Freeport
Where Freeport's incredible commodity diversity and subsequent operating cash flow really comes into play is with its dividend to shareholders.

But before I even get into the aspect of its dividend, may I point to Freeport-McMoRan's oil and gas CEO, James Flores, who purchased 1 million shares of Freeport stock on the open market in early June. There's little I love more than when officers of a company tie their interests in with shareholders -- especially when approximately $31 million of personal money is put on the line. It usually signals the expectation of good things to come and helps allay shareholder concerns.

Now, on to Freeport's amazing stipend! At the moment Freeport is paying out $0.3125 per quarter -- a level that has had some fluctuation to it over the past decade as metal prices have vacillated. What's amazing about Freeport, though, is that its payout ratio is low enough (currently only 40% of next year's earnings) to allow it to pay one-time special dividends that it refers to as "supplemental dividends" from time to time. In my opinion, Freeport can call them whatever they'd like, because there have been 11 of these supplement dividends since 2004, which have added a total of $3 billion to shareholder payouts in that time span.

Source: Nasdaq.com. Includes all supplemental dividends.
*Assumes $0.3125 quarterly payout for remainder of 2013.

As you can see, Freeport's payouts can be a bit "lumpy." You might think this is bad news, but if you're long-term investor there really aren't any worries. This means that even if we include 2009, in which Freeport suspended its dividend, the company paid back more than $17 per share in cumulative dividends to investors between 2004 and 2013 (assuming it doesn't divvy out another supplemental dividend this year). Those dividends helped propel gains since 2004 for shareholders to more than 120%!

Foolish roundup
Mining stocks might not be the traditional go-to stocks when it comes to dividend income, but with Freeport's wide diversity and forecast for nearly $6 billion in operating cash flow, I see no reason a stock like this can't fuel an income investor's need for cash. This year alone, thanks to its $1 supplemental dividend, Freeport will yield 7.1% to shareholders. With a focus on diversifying its assets and returning capital to shareholders, Freeport is a name investors can trust to deliver over the long run.

Walter White returns to TV tonight. Actor Bryan Cranston's meth-dealing chemistry teacher gets eight more episodes to drive ratings for upstart AMC Networks . The series finale airs Sept. 29.

Some are no doubt sad to the series go. Not me. As a fan and an investor, I think AMC is parting ways with Breaking Bad at just the right time. I'll explain why in a minute. First, let's recount where we've been.

The second half of Breaking Bad's final season kicks off tonight. Photo credit: AMC.

For AMC, Breaking Bad should have signaled to competitors that the budding network was to be taken seriously when Season 1 ended with four Emmy nominations and two wins. Mad Men, launched six months earlier, scored 15 Emmy nominations and six wins following its first season. That the two shows drew both audience and critical interest should have been a sign to networks that HBO had company in pushing the limits of television drama.

Sources: YouTube, AMC Networks.

Networks nevertheless stuck with an all-too-familiar mix of unscripted (i.e., American Idol) and milquetoast programming even as Time Warner and HBO released eventual ratings winner True Blood while CBS unit Showtime enjoyed growing audiences for Dexter and Californication.

Among mainstream channels, only Fox pushed boundaries. The FX Channel's Sons of Anarchy, which also made its debut in 2008, continues to be a fan favorite, while The Simpsons and Family Guy have practically redefined animated television.

AMC's Breaking Bad hasn't had nearly the same impact. But the numbers sure have been good: Last summer's Season 5 premiere drew 2.9 million viewers, up 14%. And that's in spite of a DISH Network blackout that threatened ratings and AMC's profit potential. The two have since resolved their differences.

Why pull the plug on Breaking Bad when the show is hitting a ratings high? Because all great stories have an ending. Also, AMC needs more content to keep the earnings engine humming, and that means developing new properties for syndication via Netflix, Amazon.com, iTunes, and others. Breaking Bad needs to die so that other programming can live.

And there will be more programming. AMC recently greenlit two new series for the 2014 TV season: Halt & Catch Fire, about the early computer revolution in Texas' Silicon Prairie, and Turn, a spy drama set during the American Revolutionary War. In all, AMC has 67 projects in various stages of development, network President Charlie Collier said in a recent interview with The New York Times.

So even though Walter White will soon say goodbye, AMC will bring fans plenty more characters worth watching. Can investors really ask for more than that? Leave a comment to let us know what you think of AMC, Breaking Bad, and the ever-shifting business of television.

In the following video, the Fool's Austin Smith chats with Craig Jelinek, Costco's new CEO. Jelinek joined the company as a warehouse manager in 1984. He quickly rose to become a regional manager and then moved through various executive posts over the years. He became president and COO in 2010 and took over from longtime CEO Jim Sinegal in January 2012.

There's a simple reason Costco can bring consumers lower prices even than Wal-Mart. Jelinek explains and gives examples of other companies he admires in the retail space.

Austin Smith: I wonder if you could explain the dynamics, in terms of purchasing power, that allows you guys to continually offer the lowest prices for consumers. Because technically, on paper, it would look like Wal-Mart or [Amazon.com] might be able to out-purchase you, but you guys are able to consistently provide a more affordable product in many instances. I'm wondering if you could explain that disconnect.

Craig Jelinek: Well, keep in mind it's not always how you purchase goods. You've got to purchase goods, and you purchase at the best possible price, right?

Now, when you look at our sales per item, they're much greater than Amazon or probably Wal-Mart, because we only have less than 4,000 items, where if you look at our competitors they have substantially more items; maybe eight or 10 times more than the 4,000, where the math doesn't work in terms of sales.

With that being said, we think we can bring efficiencies to a supplier which allows us to sometimes buy a certain item at a better price, but also our SG&A, which is what it costs us -- our administrative costs -- is less than 10%.

There's probably nobody close to us in terms of SG&A in the retail environment, that has a better SG&A than we do. If you look at Wal-Mart they're probably about 18%, and I think Amazon is probably at 22%, 23%, although they both have other means of margin revenue coming in.

But it's just as important to be efficient, to lower your expenses, because then you can work off of less margin in terms of selling merchandise.

Smith: Makes sense.

Are there any retailers -- in the broader space at all -- that you really admire, that you see and you say, "Wow, they really got it right," or "I admire their operations"?

Jelinek: I think Amazon's done a good job in terms of building a brand with their customer service. I think they've done a very good job of that. I think Whole Foods has got their niche, in terms of quality merchandise, and I think Trader Joe's is a company that pays very good wages. They've got limited selection and they've got great quality merchandise, and they've got a great reputation out there with the suppliers, so I think they've done a very good job.

Even a company called Aldi, which is starting to come to the U.S. -- they're a private company, but they're a very simple operation that cuts a lot of overhead out, and they've been very good at bringing merchandise to the market at a very low price.

Smith: You've got to appreciate that, then.

Jelinek: Absolutely. That's the name of the game.

Dividend investors would be wise to focus not just on a stock's current yield, but also on the long-term growth potential of its dividends. That's because strong businesses that consistently raise their dividend payouts reward shareholders with a steadily rising income stream that essentially equates to a raise every year. And, well, who doesn't like a raise?

But there are other reasons to value dividend growth so highly, and they're well supported by research. For instance, a study by C. Thomas Howard  published in Advisor Perspectives found that for every percentage point a stock's yield rises, its annual return increases by 0.22 percentage points if it's a large cap, 0.25 if it's a mid cap, and 0.46 if it's a small cap. Even better, Howard found that dividend-growing stocks outperformed dividend cutters by 10 percentage points per year from 1973 to 2010 and beat both flat- and no-dividend stocks. And the icing on the cake is that Howard showed that this outperformance came with a third less volatility. Higher returns, less volatility-induced stress, and a steadily growing income stream -- what's not to love?

With that in mind, here are five stocks that have grown their dividends by more than 25% over the past year:

Source: S&P Capital IQ.

Amgen is a biotechnology company that discovers, develops, manufactures and markets human therapeutics based on advances in cellular and molecular biology. Major products include Neulasta and Neupogen, used to stimulate the production of white blood cells; Enbrel, an inhibitor of tumor necrosis factor that plays a role in the body's response to inflammatory diseases; and Aranesp and Epogen, which stimulate the production of red blood cells. Amgen currently has a four star ranking on CAPS and offers investors a 1.7% yield.

Corning produces and sells specialty glasses, ceramics, and related materials worldwide. Its products are used in everything from flat-screen TVs to optical fiber to biosensors for drug research. And its popular Gorilla Glass technology is used in smartphones, tablets, and touch-enabled laptops. Corning currently sports a five star rating in CAPS and is yielding 2.7%.

Coach is a marketer of fine accessories and gifts for men and women. Its product offerings include handbags, women's and men's accessories, footwear, outerwear, business cases, sunwear, watches, travel bags, jewelry, and fragrance. Fools have given Coach a four-star rating in CAPS, and its stock is yielding 2.5%.

Cummins designs, manufactures, distributes and services diesel and natural gas engines, electric power generation systems, and engine-related component products, including filtration and emissions solutions, fuel systems, controls and air handling systems. CAPS participants have awarded Cummins with the highest five-star rating, and the company is paying out a 2% dividend yield.

The House of Mouse has grown into a media giant, and Disney's empire now includes movies (including Pixar, Marvel, and Lucasfilm), television (featuring ESPN and ABC), and theme parks. This Fool favorite has a top five-star CAPS rating and offers investors a growing 1.2% dividend.

The Foolish bottom line
Had you invested in these companies a year ago, you would have enjoyed total dividend increases ranging from 25% to 30%. That level of growth would provide a substantial boost to just about any investor's dividend income. But more important to investors today is to identify the companies that will grow their dividends substantially in the years ahead. If you're interested in hearing about some excellent companies that are likely to boost their dividends from this point forward, I'd like to offer you a brand-new free report from some of The Motley Fool's expert analysts called "Secure Your Future With 9 Rock-Solid Dividend Stocks." Today I invite you to download it at no cost to you. To discover the identities of these companies before the rest of the market catches on, you can access this valuable free report by simply clicking here now.

The long wait for Apple's new iPhone -- and possibly even more -- may finally be over. Sources tell AllThingsD that the consumer-tech giant will host a media event on Sept. 10 to peel back the curtain on its latest smartphone.

It's about time!

Historically speaking, Apple has introduced a new iPhone around every summer. The iPhone 5 was announced on Sept. 12, 2012, and rolled out to retail nine days later. However, given the way Apple's stock has fallen since the last new iOS phone hit the market, the pressure is clearly on Apple to deliver something special.

Apple shares hit $705.07 on Sept. 21, the morning the iPhone 5 was introduced. The stock has fallen more than 35% in that time.

A few things have gone well for Apple. Outside of Google's growing Android reach, companies that were hoping to replace Apple as the silver medalist in this growing industry have fallen short.

Microsoft has thrown billions at its updated Windows Phone 8 mobile operating system. Lumia devices are selling well, but the software giant's market share, according to industry tracker IDC, has grown from 3.1% to only 3.7% over the past year. 

Things have only fared worse for BlackBerry . It dusted off an updated operating system in January, but BlackBerry's market share has continued to fall sharply. Reports surfaced on Friday that the smartphone pioneer's board is thinking about going private. If so it's another concession that the turnaround process will take time.

With BlackBerry fading and Windows Phone failing to catch on, Apple should be doing well -- but it's not. The growing popularity of Android and the proliferation of cheaper Android smartphones with slick features and larger screens have forced Apple into carrying older models at lower price points to compete on price and scrambling so as to keep up on specs. Even with average selling prices and margins falling, Apple's global share of the smartphone market, according to IDC, has declined from 17% to 13% over the past year.  

The pie is growing to the point where Apple's thinning slice is still larger in absolute unit numbers, but there's also a problem in that roughly half of the iPhones being sold these days are iPhone 4 and iPhone 4S devices, which came out two and three years ago. Are iPhone buyers strapped for cash to the point that they want to save $100 on a 2011 phone or $200 or a 2010 relic, or is the iPhone 5 just not enough of an upgrade to make the premium worthwhile?

Next month's new iPhone will have to change that. It will have to be cool. It will have to raise the bar in a greater way than last September's incarnation. It will have to be the model worth buying, pushing average selling prices and margins higher again to the delight of frustrated stakeholders.

The next few weeks will be loaded with speculation about what we'll get out of Cupertino. It is crucial for Apple to get it right. 

The last thing Apple wants is to look in the mirror in a couple of years and see BlackBerry staring back.

Last week the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 232 points, or 1.48%, and now sits at 15.425. During the week we saw a few different economic data reports, but not an overwhelming amount and certainly nothing overly important like GDP or a jobs report. But something happened on Tuesday that was key in moving the markets lower for the week.

On Tuesday, not one but two Federal Reserve officials told the media that they believed the central bank will soon start tapering its $85 billion bond-buying program. The Atlanta and Chicago Fed presidents both think the latest round of quantitative easing will slow from its $85 billion mark to a smaller amount sometime during 2013, and that the matter will be voted on during one of the three remaining Fed meetings this year.

The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq also declined this week, by 1.06% and 0.79%, respectively over the past five trading days. So if the markets drop by roughly 1% just on the news that the tapering might soon start, what's going to happen when it actually does start?

Back in May, my colleague Dan Caplinger discussed the idea that the stock market was overdue for a correction, and since then we haven't seen even the 5% move lower that we typically observe about three times a year. In fact, we haven't seen a 5% correction since last November. We're way overdue, and I think we'll easily get that 5% drop when the Fed does announce that the tapering will begin.

But that doesn't mean you should sell your stocks and wait for the move to happen. While a 5% correction typically happens three times a year, we see a 10% correction about once a year, and a 20% correction once every three and a half years. If we were to trade based on what's typical for the correction cycle, we would have sold stocks back in April to avoid a 5% correction, and with the last 10% correction happening in August of 2011, we would have been out of the market for almost a year.

Looking back to just the beginning of April, the Dow is up 846 points, or 5.81%. If you were truly worried about the 5% correction and sold in April, you not only didn't get the correction you were looking for, but you also missed out on all those gains. Similarly, if you sold at the start of August 2012 because you wanted to miss the predicted 10% decline, you not only didn't get a 10% move lower, but you would have missed out on an 18.59% jump in the Dow.

Worrying about a correction and when it may come based on historical trends, what's happening in the news, or even what the Fed officials are saying will probably cost you much more money than it will save you. But if you're still concerned about a possible correction, read more about what you should do if you knew a correction was coming.

Apple  has reportedly begun hiring ex-Nuance  engineers near Nuance's home turf in Boston. The most obvious possibility here is that Apple may be interested in ditching the voice-recognition specialist in favor of building its own speech-recognition engine.

In the following video, Fool contributor Evan Niu, CFA, and Eric Bleeker, CFA, discuss why such a move would make sense for the Mac maker, but also why Nuance investors shouldn't be overly concerned.

Shortly after Microsoft  cut its Surface RT price points by $150, the software giant is doing likewise with its Surface Pro tablets. The higher-end, full-featured tablets are now $100 cheaper. Surface sales have struggled since launch, and some price reductions are certainly in order in an effort to spur sales.

In the following video, Fool contributor Evan Niu, CFA, and Eric Bleeker, CFA, discuss what the price cuts mean for Microsoft, and Evan outlines two specific questions that investors should have for the company.

Amazon.com  CEO Jeff Bezos has now personally acquired The Washington Post for $250 million. The publication is only a small segment of the namesake parent company, while Washington Post  earns much more on its educational divisions. In fact, the newspaper publishing segment creates the largest operating losses.

In the following video, Fool contributor Evan Niu, CFA, and Eric Bleeker, CFA, discuss the potential implications for Washington Post investors.

Struggling social gamer Zynga  recently shuttered its OMGPOP site along with most of its titles. The company is still hanging on to Draw Something, which was the driving force behind the acquisition. Oddly, former OMGPOP employees had reportedly offered to buy some of these assets and intellectual property from Zynga, but to no avail.

In the following video, Fool contributor Evan Niu, CFA, and Eric Bleeker, CFA, discuss Zynga's controversial acquisition and some of the challenges that Zynga continues to face going forward.

Even after a recent rebound off their lows, Apple's shares still trade for about 35% below their all-time high of $705. Could they once again soar to such lofty levels? It's certainly possible, but before that happens, Apple's shares must first cross back above the $500 level. Here are five events that could help that happen in the days and months ahead.

A deal with China Mobile
In the third quarter, Apple's revenues in its Greater China business fell more than 40% compared with the previous quarter and were down 14% year over year. Weaker economic growth in China and other macroeconomic factors were partly to blame, but Apple must take steps to restore growth in this vital market nonetheless. Apple plans to double the number of retail stores in China over the next two years in an attempt to boost its distribution and to create more brand awareness. But there's another action Apple can take that would probably have an even more significant impact: reaching a deal with China Mobile to bring the iPhone to its massive network of more than 700 million mobile subscribers. You read that number correctly -- that's more than twice the number of people that live in the United States. And while a great many of China Mobile's customers would be unable to afford the current versions of the iPhone, those who can afford the device can move the needle significantly in terms of Apple's sales in the region and on an overall revenue basis.

A mid-priced iPhone
Another thing that will help Apple's emerging-market sales is a new, less-expensive version of the iPhone. In many areas of the world, incomes are far lower than in the U.S., and cheaper smartphones powered by Google's Android operating system -- along with even cheaper feature phones that are "smart enough" -- are gobbling up market share at the expense of higher-end smartphones. Apple has been getting more aggressive and has met with some success offering older versions of the iPhone -- currently the iPhone 4 -- at a substantial discount to the iPhone 5. This discounting strategy has also served Apple well here in the U.S. by appealing to more price-sensitive consumers and bringing them into Apple's typically sticky ecosystem. But a new mid-priced iPhone would probably drive even higher sales in international markets, because consumers tend to like new devices better than discounted older versions, and Apple can better target the needs of these developing-market consumers with a product specifically designed for them.

A dividend boost
Much has been made about Apple's massive share-buyback program, and for good reason. Apple has already spent billions buying back huge chunks of its shares, which reduced Apple's shares outstanding by more than 30 million shares in the third quarter alone. This, in turn, will boost Apple's earnings per share and probably its share price, as many investors tend to focus on metrics such price-to-earnings multiples. But Apple's massive cash hoard still checks in at more than $140 billion, and with free cash flow of more than $40 billion over the past 12 months, Apple can easily afford to boost its dividend by 20% or more. Such a move would probably entice income-seeking investors and create excitement around Apple's stock once again.

A successful iOS 7 release
Many critics have argued that Apple's iOS operating system design has become stale and boring, and -- even worse -- has been surpassed by Google's Android OS in several important aspects. iOS 7 can change all of that. Lead designer Jony Ive has completely revamped the appearance of Apple's mobile operating system with a fresh, more modern look and impressive new features that are making the upcoming release of iOS 7 one of the most anticipated in recent memory. Should iOS 7 delight users, it could go a long way toward showing that innovation is alive and well at Apple.

The Apple TV we've been waiting for
Some may scoff at my assertion that a redesigned operating system is enough to appease those who believe Apple's innovation magic died when Steve Jobs passed away. In fact, I agree; Apple needs to do more. And probably the best way to prove to critics and investors alike that Apple is still capable of creating game-changing new products is ... to create a game-changing new product. And the most game-changing of them all would be the long-rumored and almost mythical Apple TV. I'm not referring to the Apple TV currently on the market. I'm speaking about the one we've been waiting for that's supposed to completely disrupt the cable television industry. Rumors have been swirling that Apple is attempting to reach deals with content providers that will allow it to offer a premium TV experience that would free viewers from ads and commercials. While the details are still unknown, such a creation would probably meet with strong demand and drive excitement for Apple's ecosystem of products and services, thereby strengthening the Apple halo effect and restoring the shine on Apple's brand.

The Foolish bottom line
Out of the five items I've listed in this article that could drive Apple's share price back above $500, the new Apple TV may be the one for which we wait the longest. But it can't come soon enough; Google's new Chromecast Internet TV device has been meeting with rave reviews, and Apple cannot allow Google to capture a beachhead in the all-important battle for the living room. But that's just one area of a multi-front war currently being waged by the tech titans. For Apple's stock to soar, Apple will have to win in several key areas. And along the way, there will multiple major developments that could crush Apple. In The Motley Fool's special free report titled "5 Secrets to Apple's Future," we outline the key factors every Apple investor needs to watch. Just click here now for your free report.

Earlier this month, the Obama administration stepped in and vetoed an ITC injunction that was about to go in effect against Apple . The decision is an important precedent, because the injunction would have been a first based on standards-essential patents that Samsung has tried to weaponize. Samsung was trying to extract inordinate royalties from its older intellectual property.

In the following video, Fool contributor Evan Niu, CFA, and Eric Bleeker, CFA, discuss the long-term implications of the veto for investors.

Ladies and gentlemen, Tesla CEO Elon Musk's long-awaited preliminary Hyperloop plans have finally been revealed.

Musk via Twitter pointed us to this link, where we could take a look at the alpha design for his revolutionary mass transportation system, one he says that could take passengers from downtown L.A. to downtown San Francisco in under 30 minutes.

As he explains, the system would be comprised of pods traveling in tubes suspended on pylons that follow alongside the mostly straight California Interstate 5 highway.

Contrary to what some have speculated about the design, there is not a vacuum in the tubes to avoid high-speed drag, nor does it ride on an electromagnetic suspension system to do away with surface friction, like the Japanese bullet trains.

Keeping even a soft vacuum (much less a hard one) in a system of tubes hundreds of miles long is just not practical, so Musk's plans call for drag to be done away with by mounting "an electric compressor fan on the nose of the pod that actively transfers high pressure air from the front to the rear of the vessel."

And surface friction would be mitigated by using air bearings, the phenomenon that allows air hockey pucks to zip along. Air bearings "have been demonstrated to work at speeds of Mach 1.1 with very low friction," says Musk.

And where would the power come from to operate the Hyperloop? From the sun, of course, though the electricity produced by solar panels on top of the tubes would not necessarily be stored in batteries. Musk suggests storing the energy in "the form of compressed air that runs an electric fan in reverse to generate energy."

Just moments after Musk announcing these plans, he tweeted that an updated version, with corrections, was forthcoming.

The Hyperloop will likely have many twists and turns to come.

Gold miner Goldcorp announced today its dividend for the month of August of $0.05 per share, the same rate it's paid each month in 2013 after having raised the payout 11% from $0.045 per share.

The board of directors said the quarterly dividend is payable on August 30 to holders of record at the close of business on August 22. The gold miner has made monthly payouts to investors since 2003. 

Canadian resident individuals who receive dividends from Goldcorp after 2005 are entitled to an enhanced gross-up and dividend tax credit on such dividends. All dividends paid in 2006 and subsequent years are "eligible dividends" for this purpose.

The regular dividend payment equates to a $0.60-per-share annual dividend, yielding 2.1% based on the closing price today of Goldcorp's stock.

GG Dividend data by YCharts.