Investors seeking clues to how Apple will perform as a dividend-paying stock are taking a walk down memory lane.
那些试图寻找线索，以期判断派息后的苹果(Apple)未来走势的投资者正在回顾历史，陷入深思。
For some, Microsoft offers a usable, if imperfect, road map.
在一些人看来，微软可能是一个虽然不够完美但却有用的参考和借鉴。
Back in January 2003, Microsoft initiated a modest payout in a concession to investors who for years had pressured it to unload its huge cash stash.
让我们回到2003年1月。当时微软向投资者做出让步，同意派发少量股息。此前多年投资者一直在向微软施压，要求拥有大量现金储备的微软派息。
Like Apple, Microsoft began with a similar, almost token, amount. The Redmond, Wash.-based company paid eight cents a share that year, for an annual yield of 0.3%. Apple on Monday said it would pay $2.65 a share per quarter, for an annual yield of 1.8%.
和苹果类似，微软一开始派发的股息很少，几乎就是做做样子。总部位于华盛顿州雷德蒙德(Redmond, Wash.)的微软公司在2003年为每股派发8美分股息，这相当于0.3%的年化股息率。而苹果公司周一表示，该公司将于每季度派发2.65美元的股息，年化股息率相当于1.8%。
For Microsoft investors, the initialdividend opened a spigot that eventually saw the company return $32 billion in a 2004 special dividend and ratchet up annual dividends over the next nine years. The dividend that began as eight cents in 2003 grew to 80 cents this year.
对于微软的投资者来说，微软在2003年的这次派息相当于开闸放水，在接下来的九年里，该公司不断增加每年派发的股息数量。2004年，微软派发了一次特殊股息，向投资者返还了320亿美元的现金。2003年每股8美分的股息到今年已经增加到每股80美分了。
'This looks like a dividend that will grow as the firm grows,' said Richard Helm, a fund manager at dividend-focused New York investment firm Cohen & Steers. He owns Apple in his Dividend Majors Fund and his Dividend Value Fund.
纽约一家重点投资派息股的投资机构Cohen & Steers的基金经理赫尔姆(Richard Helm)说，看起来好像股息会随公司的成长而增加。他管理的两只基金Dividend Majors Fund和Dividend Value Fund都买入了苹果的股票。
But in less optimistic news, Microsoft's dividendannouncement preceded relatively lackluster share performance. The stock dropped 13% in the three months after the first dividend was announced in January 2003, compared with a 3.7% drop in the Dow Jones Industrial Average. In the 12 months following the announcement, the stock dropped 2.1%, compared with the Dow's 21% gain.
但从不太乐观的一面看，微软宣布派息之后股价表现相对低迷。2003年1月首次宣布派息之后的三个月内，微软股价下跌了13%，而同期道琼斯工业股票平均价格指数(Dow Jones Industrial Average, 简称：道琼斯工业指数)只下跌了3.7%；首次宣布派息之后的12个月内，微软股价累计下跌2.1%，而同期道琼斯工业指数则上涨了21%。
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