During the 90 years between 1871 and 1960, the S&P 500 annual dividend yield never fell below 3%. In fact, annual dividends reached above 5% during 45 separate years over the period.

The sharp change in S&P 500 dividend yield traces back to the early to mid-1990s. For example, the average dividend yield between 1970 and 1990 was 4.03%. It declined... See more

You can see on the chart that it was similar during other dollar spikes from 1983-1987 and 1996-2003; dollar spikes are historically bad for U.S. corporate profit growth and this third one is no different.

This latest bout of corporate stagnation has been somewhat masked by higher equity valuations, corporate tax cuts that boosted after-tax profits,

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Smaller papers have been especially hard hit, but the crisis is hurting big outlets as well. The New York Times and News Corp., the publisher of the Wall Street Journal, have both lost advertisers -- even if readers are more engaged. And the Los Angeles Times, serving the second-largest media market, is furloughing employees on the paper’s business... See more