[bills217]

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OK, back to the original question then. It's just a question of how the market is going to value a stock and if someone values a stock at $10 pre-dividend, they're going to value it at $9 post-dividend, right?

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Yes, I think I get this. The stock goes down by the amount of the dividend (approximately).

So then the question is...WHY DOES ANYONE GIVE A [CENSORED] [CENSORED] ABOUT DIVIDENDS THEN??? SERIOUSLY??? How many times have I heard dividend-paying stocks lauded? Why in the [censored] does it matter? Why are stocks that pay dividends better than ones that don't? Isn't this like lauding companies who pay their employees on Thursday instead of Friday, or that paint the cafeteria blue instead of green?

Edit: I don't understand the previous answer to this question. If you want cash, why not just sell some of the stock? If it pays you the dividend, it will go down vs. not paying a dividend, so WTF difference does it make? Just sell some of it if you want cash.

I do understand the (relatively minor for most people) tax implications and they aren't really important for my personal situation. I just assumed there has to be some other, more obvious reason that dividend-paying stocks are advantageous considering all the love they get.