5%+ Dividend Yield Portfolio: Defensive Positioning Paying Off (Sep 2019 Review)

Musings
September was full of mixed signals. On one hand, the S&P 500 retested its all-time high (and I had a killer +4.5% month). On the other hand, the wall of worry for this long economic expansion has never seemed more daunting (trade wars, impeachment, earnings recession, etc).
As a pleasant change for those of us in the value/dividend space, September 2019 was the first time (in a long time) that value stocks really soared.

Source: S&P Dow Jones Indices
Personally, I expect defensive position outperformance to continue through this next phase of the market, which is why I have spent the summer pruning my portfolio to be more defensive. The market is always in a tentative position, but I feel that fear is starting to replace greed as the primary motivator of market participants. However, I do not expect total doom and gloom (at least not immediately) - so I am staying 80%+ invested (albeit in more defensive positions).
September 2019 Review
September 2019 was a solid one in the markets (despite swirling political headlines). For the month, the S&P 500 posted a 1.8% result which I crushed with a 4.5% gain. YTD, I am up 10.0% vs the 20.5% gains for the index (before dividends are considered). However, my 5.8% forward dividend yield on invested capital keeps crushing the less than 1.8% yield of the index.
As for cash yield, September 2019 rewarded me with realized dividends of $1,450 (versus $1,097 in 2018 - a meaty 32% increase - and... Read more