Last Tuesday Procter & Gamble (PG) announced a 14.3% dividend boost -- its largest since A.G Lafley took the helm in 2000. The new payout of 40 cents a share, up from 35 cents, is on the common and on the Series A and B employee-stock-ownership-plan convertible preferred. Holders of record April 18 will receive the new dividend on or about May 15. A Dow Jones industrials component, the stock goes ex-dividend April 16. Yield: 2.28%.

Dividends have all but bit the dust at Washington Mutual (WM), as it maneuvers to shore up capital depleted by the subprime-loan crisis. After slashing its common payout 73% in December, to 15 cents a share, last Tuesday Seattle-based WaMu, the nation's largest thrift and one of its biggest mortgage lenders, cut its quarterly to a mere penny a share. That will save it around $490 million a year. Dividends had been paid since 1986 and had been increased for 17 consecutive years before the December reduction. Traded on the Big Board, Washington Mutual set a 52-week low of 8.72 on March 17 and was recently quoted at 11.28, down 75% from its 52-week high.