If the market’s winter of discontent has a silver lining, it’s this: dividend yields have lurched skyward, while value measures such as price-to-earnings ratios have sunk.

Translation: now’s the time to snap up top-notch dividend-payers at fire sale prices.

But there’s a common mistake you must avoid at times like this: simply seeking out stocks with high yields and low P/E’s and thinking your job is done. That’s because many of these companies are “yield traps”: their earnings and cash flow can’t back up their hefty payouts.

When the inevitable dividend cut comes—dragging the share price down with it—these investors will be left holding a very empty bag.… Read more

Top-20 hedge fund Pershing Square Capital Management just announced heavy losses last year, and a tough start to 2016. The fund is currently down a little over 11 percent YTD in 2016, after losing 20.5 percent in 2015.

The problem, CEO Bill Ackman explains: “We believe that our continued negative outperformance in the first few weeks of the year relates primarily to forced selling of our holdings by investors whose stakes overlap with our own.”

I’m guessing that’s his way of admitting his market timing hasn’t been the best of late. And his short-term focus is hurting the timing of at least one company he’s currently involved with.… Read more

With the S&P 500 down nearly 7% in the last three weeks alone, you can’t be blamed for wanting to throw up your hands and sell all your stocks.

But that’s the worst thing you could do, especially if you have a long time horizon and you mainly hold dividend-paying US companies. In fact, if you’re in this camp, you can largely ignore the market’s daily gyrations. And really, you should take advantage of them.

The numbers tell the tale: according to Ned Davis Research, dividend-paying stocks returned an average of 9.3% a year from 1972 through 2014, compared to 2.6% for non-dividend payers—and they did so with less volatility.… Read more

There’s a new bond king in town – and he’s warning investors about a high yield darling that’s really a backdoor energy trap.

Barron’s swapped out Bill Gross for Doubleline Capital founder Jeffrey Gundlach in its 2016 Roundtable. The publication says that Gross decided to resign his post. Whatever the case, it’s a good trade as Gundlach has had better calls and performance for years. Long live the new bond king!

His magistrate is currently warning investors about unexpected “collateral damage” from $30 oil. His warnings will sound familiar to regular readers, as we’ve already called out big oil as a big dividend trap, and picked on MLPs with unsustainable payouts.… Read more

Call it China’s revenge—and the sequel to last summer’s horror show is no less terrifying than the original. Just ask the thousands of panicked investors who are, yet again, madly tossing their stocks over the side.

But time and again, history has shown you’re far better off buying into hysterical markets like these than selling. But where should you look for safety AND upside?

I recommend the good old US of A. By doing so, you’ll instantly dodge two big headaches: the grinding emerging market slowdown and the surging greenback, which is pummeling any profits American companies earn overseas these days.… Read more

China’s financial grease fire has officially spread to American stocks. If your portfolio isn’t yet “China-proof” then you’d better protect yourself now. Sell your dividend-paying disasters and get your capital into issues that do pay yields but aren’t hooked on dragon dust.

I get it – you probably didn’t think good ol’ U.S dividend-paying stocks would get crushed like this. They do outperform the market over time, after all.

Problem is, not all stated yields can be taken “as is.” For example, the big oil and BDC dividend dogs that I warned you about last month are underperforming in an already-bad market.… Read more

Plenty of investors see telecom stocks like AT&T Corp. (T) and Verizon Communications (VZ) as cornerstones of any income portfolio. Heck, many even like Comcast (CMCSA) as a dividend-growth staple.

But do they really deserve that honor? And if so, which stock is best for you?

Below, we’ll zero in on a few crucial numbers that tell the tale.

But first, I should point out that none of these three tops my list of favorite dividend-payers now. That title goes to a company throwing off a safe 7.3% dividend yield I’ll tell you about a little further on.

That said, in a head-to-head matchup between AT&T and Verizon, I do have a clear favorite.… Read more