When selecting dividend growth stocks, one of the most important items is consistency in raising dividends. Sure it's easy to increase dividends when business is good, but a company has to persevere and continue to increase dividends in tough times.

December E-mini S&Ps (ESZ14 +0.14%) this morning are up +0.09% as they recover slightly from Thursday's rout and European stocks are up +0.49% as they rebound from a 3-week low.