Adding Commodity ETF Exposure to High Yield Income Portfolios Can Enhance Returns

Income producing ETFs such as high yield stock ETFs and bond ETFs can be used to build a lower risk portfolio for retirement income producing purpose. Previously, we have shown that such portfolios can be built using strategic asset allocation (SAA) or tactical asset allocation (TAA) strategies in a plan called Retirement Income ETFs. In this article, we explore the feasibility of adding commodity ETFs to such a plan. Retirement Income ETFs with Commodities plan is an extension to Retirement Income ETFs: adding extra commodity asset class with PowerShares DB Commodity Index (DBC) and GreenHaven Continuous Commodity (GCC). This plan consists of 37 funds. These funds enable investors to gain exposure to 6 major assets: US Equity, Commodity, Foreign Equity, Emerging Market Equity, REITs, ... more

14 Growing, High-Dividend-Yield Companies Trading at Attractive Valuations

We can use the updated Screener.co stock screener to find non-financial companies trading on US markets that have positive top-line growth, 3%+ yields, serviceable debt loads, and reasonable valuations. Specifically, we screen using the following criteria: Field op Criteria Exchange Country = "USA" Exchange Traded On != "Over The Counter" Current year dividend per share estimate / Price-closing or last bid > 0.03 Sector != "Financial" Revenue Change-TTM over TTM > 0 Current EV/EBITDA < 7 Total Debt(I) < EBITDA(A) * 2 Screener.co lets us use the formulaic conditions as part of our screens and can automatically execute each of the complete screens daily and send out the results as part of a alert. As of 3/23/2011, this screen... more

13 Stocks Using Real Cash to Pay Higher Dividends

We have all heard it… Stodgy, for old people, yawn, boring! These have all been used to describe dividend growth investing. As a dividend growth investor, I sometimes think our strategy is the most misunderstood. It seems everyone understands a traders mentality and a high-yield mentality. Periodically, it is good to remind ourselves that dividend growth provides us with excellent long-term leverage. Below are several stocks using real cash to raise their dividends: Raytheon Company’s (RTN) is a technology and innovation leader specializing in defense, homeland security and other government markets throughout the world. March 24th the company increased its quarterly dividend 15% $0.43/share. The dividend is payable on April 28, 2011 to shareholders of record as of the close of... more

11 Healthcare Stocks for Dividend Lovers

Healthcare is one of the fastest growing industries in the world. The annual growth rate of total expenditures on healthcare is 7.1% between 2000-2008 in the United States. Average annual growth in National Health Expenditures (NHE) for 2009 through 2019 is expected to be 6.3%. NHE as a share of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is expected to be 19.6% by 2019. We prepared a list of eleven Healthcare companies which pay fat dividend checks regularly. All companies in this list have a dividend yield of at least 3.5%. These eleven stocks returned 9.64% (including dividends) during the past 12 months, beating the government bonds by a large margin. 1-AstraZeneca PLC (AZN): AstraZeneca is one of the leading biopharmaceutical companies in the world. AZN recently traded at $46.22 and has a... more

The Best Way to Invest in Dividend-Yielding Stocks

I recently received an e-mail from a reader in his fifties who plans to retire in four years. He told me he’s just getting started in investing and wanted some ideas for “rapid growth.” Yikes! Hopefully, he’s got a large 401(k), a pension, or an inheritance. Four years isn’t enough time to get your finances ready for retirement if you’re starting from scratch. While I like a good speculation as much as anyone, the reader’s approach flies in the face of how to make serious money in the markets. In fact, at the annual Investment U Conference in St. Petersburg, Florida this week, I’ll be giving a presentation on this very topic. And right off the bat, I can tell you one thing … The Dividends Statistics Speak for Themselves If you’re investing in stocks for the long... more

Oracle Delivers Strong Third Quarter, Raises Dividend

Oracle (ORCL) delivered strong fiscal third quarter results as the company landed large hardware and software deals. The company touted its Exadata and Exalogic sequential sales growth. The software company reported third quarter earnings of $2.11 billion, or 41 cents a share, on revenue of $8.76 billion. Non-GAAP earnings were 54 cents a share. Wall Street was expecting Oracle to report earnings of 50 cents a share on revenue of $8.67 billion. In addition, Oracle raised its dividend to 6 cents a share from 5 cents a share. Oracle president Safra Catz said that the company was “completely confident” that it will deliver $1.5 billion in profit from the Sun business. Mark Hurd, Oracle’s other president, said that all geographies delivered revenue growth 30 percent or higher.... more

Share Buybacks: Why They Don't Appeal to Value Investors as Much as Dividends

One of my axioms is that, behind any incongruous anomaly in the markets, there is usually some government regulation or intervention causing it. For example, why do so many people drive SUVs? Why, because of Section 179 of the United States Internal Revenue Code, which allows a taxpayer to deduct the cost of a vehicle weighting more than 6,000 pounds gross vehicle weight as an expense, rather than requiring the cost to be capitalized and depreciated over time. I have been studying share buybacks because of my micro-capitalization value investments like Conrad Industries (CNRD.PK). Apparently, as recently as three or four decades ago, companies in the U.S. were wary of buying back their own shares because this could be considered illegal price manipulation. However, the SEC established a... more

Dividends in Danger? Worries About Sysco, Hudson City, Pitney-Bowes

This is the first in a series of monthly articles that will collect SA reader opinions about companies whose dividends may be in danger. The danger might come from bad economics, sudden catastrophes, margin compression, strategic choices, or there may be other reasons. This first article collects companies that have been identified over the past couple of weeks. The information for each company has been taken directly from comments and not independently verified. Always perform your own due diligence before making any investment decisions. Sysco (SYY) Several readers are uneasy about SYY’s dividend. The company has undertaken a deliberate decision to absorb rising food costs in an effort to gain market share from competitors. Some commentators feel that, because of this, SYY may... more

Beginning of the End for Mortgage REITs?

But for a while, skeptics have believed that eventually, good times for mortgage REITs would come to an end. Now, news from four of the most popular mortgage REITs has some wondering whether that end will come sooner than later. The dreaded dividend cutOne fear that some, including my Foolish colleague Anand Chokkavelu, have expressed is that at some point, the extremely favorable conditions that have supported mortgage REIT profits will change. To understand the impact of such a trend change, let me take a break to give you some background on how these investments work.... more

Dividends: Citigroup, Inc. Okay But, Bank Of America Denied (NYSE:TLT, NYSE:C, NYSE:BAC)

I can't say I'm surprised that Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) was not allowed to raise its dividend payment. And while BofA didn't specify the reasons its plan was rejected, I think we know pretty  much why. For one, Bank of America is still struggling with mortgage issues. And it's setting aside cash to cover potential "put-backs" of mortgage backed securities it sold. Plus, Bank of America is barely profitable. Its main source of earnings right now is coming from loan loss reserves that are returned to its balance sheet and counted as earnings.  Bank of America has said it will submit a new plan to the Fed in hoped of getting approval. But let's remember that tangible book value is around $12.60 a share. If it falls that low, that's a good buy. I'm still surprised that Citigroup,... more