Ugly day in the markets. Dow as down 215 very near 12K & testing that sensitive level. Decliners led advancers 7-1 & NAX was down 52. S&P 500 and NAZ are at 52 week lows. Dow closed at the lowest close (intra day in Jan was lower) in almost 18 months. Retailers & financials led the markets down. Nothing really new, same old negative news getting the better of the markets. Negative stories & credit concerns got the better of buyers. Oil closed at 105.47, another record. The FED issued a report that homeowners equity dipped below 50%, first time since they've been keeping records. Citigroup (C), a Dow stock, said it will shrink its mortgage business by $45B.
Junk bond funds yield 11%. Many REIT's yield 6%, 8% or more & generally have partially tax free divs. The S&P 500 Dividend Aristocrat list has 56 companies with excellent long term track records of paying divs. Today the Alerian MLP index closed just below 290, for the last 8 months it has largely lived in the 290-310 range. They offer attractive yields. However they are sending out their K-1 tax reports next week, offering a fair mount of tax hassle. But I like them.
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