Nervous? Go For Quality, Diversify, Don't Reach For Yield - And Survive Investing Adversity

Apple (AAPL) exceeded expectations in its earnings report last week, resulting in its stock price zooming to yet another all-time high. Because the company has performed so well for so long, it's easy to forget that just a few years ago, many observers were quite concerned about its future.
At the same time, Seadrill (SDRL) was practically worshiped by its investors. If you were in the mood to take some abuse, all you had to do was go onto the comment stream following any Seeking Alpha article about the oil rig company and express even the slightest doubt.
Back in the spring of 2013, I almost bought about $4,000 worth of each company. They were going to be part of a real-money, equal-weight, buy-and-hold portfolio I was planning to put together for a long-term study.
I even prepared most of an article, tentatively titled, "Nervous Nine: A New Portfolio."
The other seven components: Medical Properties Trust (MPW), a healthcare REIT; oil giant BP (BP); Dynex Capital (DX), a mortgage REIT; business development companies Prospect Capital (PSEC) and Triangle Capital (TCAP); communications equipment manufacturer Harris Corp. (HRS); and cigarette company Lorillard (LO).
As I said in the nearly finished article:
The portfolio includes nine dividend-paying companies that have intrigued me but that have carried enough risks to have made me hesitate."
(Another line in that never-published article: "It's getting more and more difficult to... Read more