[quickthrowman]

> Dividend paying stocks don't decline in price.

They decrease in price by the amount of the dividend when the dividend is paid out (it’s actually when it goes ex-dividend, the payout may not happen for a few weeks). It’s extremely simple to understand.

The valuation of the company includes all cash, assets, debt, etc. If AAPL pays out a $1 per share dividend on 15.73B shares, they have $15.73B less cash. The valuation of the company drops by $1/share the instant after the dividend, and so does the share price.

The price action of AAPL after the dividend has been priced in has no relation to the dividend itself.

> Wrong. You claim that AAPL goes from $100 to $99 when it distributes $1. The only way that mean anything is if you also claim that the next year, AAPL hands out $1 and drops to $98.

A stock falling in value by the ex-dividend amount happens every single time a dividend is paid out.