The reasons for my selection of T for 2012 were simple and to the point:

• At the time, it had a 6% dividend yield and a $28.00 share price.
• It was a dividend winner for decades, both in paying and increasing dividends.
• The enormity of the company's footprint was simply too hard to ignore.
• Being in the technology sector, the retail sector, the cable TV sector, and the cellular sector (and land lines), meant that the company is ensconced in the everyday life of every person in this nation.
• The future potential of having the finest smartphone lineup of every single wireless carrier on the planet, and at the time, the T-Mobile deal.

The only event that went haywire was that the merger of T and T-Mobile fell apart, and AT&T forked over a cool $3 billion to Deutsche Telecom (DTEGY.PK). The money was thankfully set aside and T recovered from that mess in less than a few weeks.

Now we find ourselves in the interesting position of actually having a stock that could outperform even MY own lofty prediction of $40.00/share.