10 Defensive Dividend Stocks Yielding Over 4%

Stocks were lower this morning as the market digested another weak jobs report. U.S. employers added 18,000 workers in June, the fewest in nine months, and the unemployment rate "unexpectedly" climbed to 9.2%, indicating a struggling labor market. Despite the pullback today, the S&P 500 is up over 6% over the past two weeks. We feel that this short term rally is more of a technical bounce and is not representative of the underlying fundamentals of the U.S. economy. The U.S. economy continues to have significant headwinds (e.g., high unemployment, end of QE2 (start of QE3?), weak housing market, high debt levels, etc.) and signs are definitely pointing toward further weakness in the equity market. In the current market environment, it is important for income investors to choose their dividend stocks wisely as they are putting new money to work. As volatility increases (especially downside volatility), investors may want to... Read more