The Prudent Yield-Hog: Pushing The Envelope

On March 1, I introduced a strategy known as the Prudent Yield Hog, which is designed to do what many income-seekers desire most but are constantly warned against: chasing the highest yields available. The key to this strategy is working from a "pre-qualified" list compiled based on a screen and ranking system designed to weed out the highest-risk situations. (See Appendix, below.) But even within this framework, approaches can vary regarding where on the risk-reward scale they fall. The list of stocks I presented on March 1 was middle-of-the-ground by yield-hog standards. Today, I want to dial up the yield and risk as far as I feel comfortable. The key to adjusting yield and risk with the Prudent Yield Hog is a screening rule requiring, in the mid-level (default) version of the model, that all stocks rate 60 or higher (zero is worst, 100 is best) in a rating system... Read more