November 22, 2011

What Wall Street Experts Are Saying This Week: Caution

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Written By Chloe Lutts

In this installment of What Wall Street Experts Are Saying This Week, I review the reaction to Monday’s market collapse, and how it affected advisors’ short- and intermediate-term outlooks. Featured stocks include HealthStream (HSTM), Standard Motor Products (SMP) and American Campus Communities (ACC).

Chloe Lutts, Editor of Dick Davis Investment Digest and Dick Davis Dividend Digest

Chloe Lutts is the editor of Dick Davis Investment Digest and Dick Davis Dividend Digest, and the third generation of the Lutts family to join the family business. For each Digest, Chloe reads hundreds of investment newsletters to select the strongest ideas for her readers. Prior to joining the Dick Davis Digests, Chloe was a financial reporter for Debtwire, a division of the Financial Times, covering fixed income, and before that, she reported on global debt markets for Institutional Investor. She also has previous experience at Cabot, writing about growing momentum stocks for Cabot Top Ten Trader and high-potential small companies for Cabot Small-Cap Confidential. She holds a B.A. in International Relations from Brown University, and also studied in Beijing and Paris.

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10 Blue-Chip Dividend Payers to Own in 2012

Dear Investor,

A recent survey of our subscribers revealed that their greatest investing concerns are market volatility, economic uncertainty and maximizing dividend income.

As more and more Americans approach retirement age, and lose other regular income streams, I expect to see the last concern pop up more frequently. Fortunately, unlike market volatility and economic uncertainty, making your portfolio generate regular income is entirely within your control. And since it’s the focus of our Dick Davis Dividend Digest, I can help you.

There are a lot of fixed-income investments for investors to choose from: bonds and preferred stocks offer investors varying levels of security on corporate debt. There are always a few alternative income investments in every issue of Dividend Digest, but dividend-paying stocks are our main focus. And for all but the most conservative investors (those who really can’t afford to risk any capital, ever), dividend-paying stocks are a great way to generate income right now.

John Buckingham, one of our Dick Davis Dividend Digest contributors and editor of The Prudent Speculator, brilliantly explained the advantages of dividend payers in the latest Dividend Digest:

“Clearly, equity investors must steel their nerves for heightened levels of volatility, especially as the European sovereign debt crisis remains front and center, growth in stronger economies like China and Germany has slowed and recent economic statistics in the U.S. have been far from robust, but relative to Treasuries, dividend yields are as attractive as they’ve been in 50 years. Aside from several months at the height of 2008-2009 Global Financial Crisis, the last time the yield on the S&P 500 was above the yield on the 10-year Treasury was 1958. And the big plunge in both interest rates and equity prices on October 3 moved the forward yield on the S&P closer to the 2.8% yield on the 30-year Treasury! What’s more, corporations have actually been boosting their payouts as more than half (258) of the S&P 500 members have either raised or initiated a dividend this year.”

He continued, “It is nice to see the renewed interest in income, as we can’t forget that dividends and their reinvestment have long been a substantial contributor to the total return on equities. Data from Morningstar going back to 1927 show that through the end of last year, the income component of total return amounted to 41% for Large-Cap Stocks, 35% for Mid-Cap Stocks and 31% for Low-Cap Stocks. More importantly, our own analytical work going back 20 years and numbers we’ve crunched from Eugene T. Fama and Kenneth R. French dating to 1927 find that dividend payers have actually outperformed non-dividend payers over the long term and they have done so with lower volatility! Not quite the Holy Grail, but higher returns with lower risk is obviously a winning combination.”

It’s hard to argue with that.

In fact, I feel so strongly about the benefit of owning dividend-paying stocks that I published a brand new report highlighting 10 of the best income-generating stocks that should be in your portfolio.

In 10 Blue-Chip Dividend Payers to Own in 2012, you’ll gain access to the top dividend-payers that can bring you steady, secure income.

And you can get it FREE when you subscribe to Dick Davis Dividend Digest today. Learn more now!

Wishing you success in your investing and beyond,

Chloe Lutts
Editor of Dick Davis Dividend Digest

P.S. Dividend-paying stocks have outperformed non-dividend-paying stocks by four to one over the past 35 years. The New York Times goes so far as to say that “without dividends, you would lose money investing in blue chips.” Don’t miss my new special report detailing 10 of the very best dividend-payers you need to own in 2012. Jump-start your portfolio today!