6:30am ET
Investing
Dividend Risks Inflating
Investors cannot make any money in the bond market right now merely by buying and holding Treasury bonds forever. The problem is that Treasury yields are at record lows. In some parts…
Companies
Utilities Select Sector SPDR Fund
$41.32
▼ $0.50 (−1.20%) today
Markets closed · 8:19am ET
XLU Coverage
Page 5
1:50pm ET
Banking, finance, and taxes
Utilities Have Become The New CDs and Bonds For Income Investors
We are mostly in a world where many investors are now just willing to settle for a “return of capital” rather than a “return on capital.” Still, retirees and investors who rely…
10:08am ET
Infrastructure
Investors Finding Safety Again in Utilities, When Dividends Rule (WTR, AWK, PPL, DUK, ED, NEE, AEP, XLU)
By now the markets figured out that all of this week’s preliminary jobs numbers did in fact call it right that the unemployment and jobs report was right. So investors are scrambling…
11:13am ET
Investing
Investors Flocking To Defensive Shares With High Dividends (PEP, KO, BUD, TAP, AWK, AEP, XLU, MCD, KFT, CAG, CPB, HRL, MO, VGR, RAI, PG, KMB, CL, MRK, PFE, JNJ, T, VZ)
The 10-year Treasury hit yet another record low under 1.6% today and stocks are in the tank again due to poor economic data. Europe continues to face a meltdown and the hope…
6:35am ET
Investing
The Best Value High-Yield and High-Return Utilities (XLU, EXC, ETR, AEP, PEG)
The utility sector has been a rather poor performer so far in 2012, as investors have sought growth and less dependence on high payouts, and higher dividend taxes could be a possibility…
3:33pm ET
Investing
Chasing High Dividends: Utilities Approaching Bargain Territory (AEP, EXC, CEG, PEG, XLU)
2011 was the year of the utility stocks offering investors high dividend yields of well over 4.0%. 2012 has not gone so well for the sector, with 25 of the 34 S&P 500…
9:59am ET
Investing
AEP Takes Valuation Downgrade (AEP, XLU)
American Electric Power Company (NYSE: AEP) saw a great 2011 and its earnings should hold up incredibly well if Ben Bernanke and friends at the Federal Open Market Committee live up to…
1:12pm ET
Energy
Solar Tries For Significant 2012 Comeback (FSLR, WFR, TAN, KWT, SPWR, STP, YGE, LDK, ENER, XLU)
So far we are seeing a continued rotation. What worked great in 2011 is being sold and the worst performing groups are being bought. No sector with as many names in it…
9:22am ET
Banking, finance, and taxes
The 2012 Trade: Dump Utilities, Buy Banks… So Far (XLU, XLF, BAC, JPM, AEP, DUK)
The trade in 2011 was to go out and turn utility stocks into the new investment for retirees seeking income. They couldn’t exactly get any big yield in certificates of deposit, and…
9:01am ET
Infrastructure
AEP Joins 2012 Model Dividend Portfolio (AEP, XLU, NEE, PPL)
American Electric Power Co., Inc. (NYSE: AEP) refuses to falter in the current market despite many headwinds of uncertainty. This is a very defensive play that has very little to do with…
1:12pm ET
Investing
Utilities Replacing CDs and Bonds as the Best Retirement Investments (XLU, IDU, UTG, AEP, FE, PPL, AWK)
The government bond market pays investors nothing now. The 5-Year Treasury Note, a staple for retail investors historically, pays a dismal 0.86%. The appeal of this duration would also appeal to bank certificates…
11:22am ET
Infrastructure
Trend Watch After EPA Rules: Time to Rethink Utilities? (AEP, XLU, IDU, RYU, UPW, ETR, ITRI)
The utilities sector had been performing incredibly. We recently highlighted the strong performance seen this year and over the last year with many of these names up 20% to 30% along with…
10:15am ET
Investing
Why Fund & Income Investors Are Drawn to Utilities (XLU, SO, EXC, D, IDU, RYU, CEG, NRG, NI, PCS, VZ, UPW, NEE, UTF, UTG, DNP, FSTUX, CMS, POR, RYAUX, FE, FKUTX, SRE)
When the going gets tough, the tough often play defense — out of risky assets and into those assets that offer more security and some dividend upside. One choice is utilities, where…
11:38am ET
Infrastructure
Dividend Watch: Making American Utilities Pay For Your Retirement (AEP, DUK, PGN, FE, XLU)
It would be easy to worry about the share prices of utility companies after the recession and after the most recent rise in commodity prices, and that brings up the great dividend…
4:35pm ET
Infrastructure
Are U.S. Nuclear Power Plant Operators Really at Business Risk? (CCJ, USU, XLU, AEE, CEG, ETR, EXC, FE, PGN, SO)
It goes without saying that nuclear power has hit skid row. The damage to the industry that has been caused by the earthquake and the tsunami which followed in Japan has been…