Looking for Yield?

I mentioned this morning that I’d come back and make some observations about the end of the day. Here’s what I saw:

Dow (DIA) came back to slightly positive but ended slightly down. Consumer staple dividend payers caught a bid – MO, VZ, T, KFT, JNJ, WMT, XOM all up. Large tech was slightly down (MSFT) to a bit more (CSCO). Many of the fast growing stocks and small caps are the stocks getting thrashed around – moving 1-4% intraday.

The MLP’s were flat and the precious metals looked weak. We may see an uptick here in boring dividend payers, such as telephone and power utility stocks. Remember, bonds aren’t paying much and when people need yield and the economy isn’t looking awful, they will likely find the conservative dividend payers attractive.

Bonds an Ill Patient?

Bonds looked sick – the moves aren’t enormous but having bonds (TLT, TIP) moving down on such a shaky day is not good for those markets. TLT is making a gradual descending triangle and TIP broke through moving average support. As I have mentioned before, it would not surprise me if money managers replaced bonds with stocks with bond-like yields.

Be careful out there.

At the time of this writing, I or my clients own the following investments mentioned in this column: MO, VZ, T, JNJ, XOM , Gold, Silver (just sold  out of TIP)

Note: this article is meant to be some helpful thoughts to share and not investment advice specific to you. Please consult your own advisor regarding investment and financial decisions. See our disclosures page