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Want Income? Buy Stocks, Not Bonds!

Did you know that as of today's close, fourteen (14) of the 30 Dow stocks have a higher yield than the benchmark 10-year US Treasury?  It's true!  Today, the 10-year closed with a paltry yield of 2.86%, down from a close of 2.99% on Monday.  As the anti-risk crowd piles up on one side, you should be taking a look at equities that not only afford a higher yield, but have much more room to run on the upside.  Here is the list of the Dow stocks currently sporting a higher yield than Treasuries:
1) Verizon (VZ) 6.43%
2) AT&T (T) 6.28%
3) Pfizer (PFE) 4.45%
4) Merck (MRK) 4.33%
5) Kraft Foods (KFT) 3.91%
6) DuPont (DD) 3.86%
7) Chevron (CVX) 3.64%
8) Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) 3.61%
9) Home Depot (HD) 3.29%
10) Procter & Gamble (PG) 3.22%
11) Coca-Cola (KO) 3.12%
12) McDonald's (MCD) 3.12%
13) Intel (INTC) 3.05%
14) General Electric (GE) 2.91%

Honorable Mention:
1) Travelers (TRV) 2.84%
2) Exxon-Mobil (XOM) 2.81%

S&P 500 ETF (SPY) Up 1.85% Year-To-Date

The S&P 500 is what many consider to be the broad stock market, as it encompasses more names than the Dow, which only includes 30 stocks.  IF you follow this blog, you know that I use the Wilshire 5000 to track the broad market, as it includes even more names than the S&P, and I believe provides a better picture of the market as a whole. 

The ETF that tracks the S&P 500, ticker SPY, closed today at $112.97.  The index closed on December 31, 2009 at a price of $111.44, for a price appreciation of 1.37%.  However, if you follow this blog, you know that I believe in the reinvestment of dividends.  The SPY paid a dividend of $.531 on June 18th of this year, and usually pays a dividend four times a year.  Therefore, with the inclusion of the reinvestment of said dividend, you would have picked up a fractional share on June 18th at a price of $111.73.  All told, with the reinvestment of the dividend, the broad market has returned about 1.85% thus far this year.

My Portfolio Is Beating The Market By Over 3%!

Today was a great day for the market.  If you were paying attention, you noticed that the market posted a better than 2% gain today!  If you've been reading this blog, you would know that I think we are primed for a sustained rally through at least the end of the year, and probably through 2012 as well.  I have been doing a lot of research lately, and all of the data I have looked at suggests that we are going to see a nice run.  Let's get into it...

The Wilshire 5000 closed at 11,735.70, up from 11,507.70, or 1.98%, since my post on 7/25/10.  The Wilshire 5000 has now re-crossed it's 200-day moving average as of today, closing 1.54% above the average.  This is a bullish sign, but I would like to see it maintain above that level for at least a few more days.

The Investor's Intelligence Survey was released on Thursday night. This week's reading was 38.2% BULLS, and 34.9% BEARS, for a spread of 3.3%. This is in comparison to a reading of 35.6% BULLS, and 35.6% BEARS, for a spread of 0.0% on July 20th.

The Volatility Index closed Friday at 22.01, down from 23.47 back on July 23rd.

Now for the portfolio...(updated for dividends)
1) Verizon at $29.56, down 3.26% for the year, inclusive of dividends.  FTR, the recent spinoff, recently closed at $7.71/share, worth $53.97 to this portfolio currently.

2) AT&T closed at $26.53, up 1.13% for the year, inclusive of dividends.

3) GE closed at $16.41, up by 9.10% for the year, inclusive of dividends.

4) TBT, the doubleshort U.S. Treasury ETF closed at $36.74, down by 15.84% since my buy.  I have decided to take the remaining cash in the portfolio and put it to work in this name.  I had roughly $675 in cash from gains that I took in the beginning of the year.  As such, I am buying another 18 shares of this ETF for the portfolio, bringing my current holdings to 38 shares, or $1,659.  I am overweight this name because I think the risk trade is going to be coming back on, and coming back on in a big way.  US Treasuries are near historic lows, and I simply believe they have run out of upside.  As such, I think being short T-Bills is a great place to park money for the foreseeable future. 

5) FXP, the doubleshort China ETF, closed at $33.90, down by 22.02% since my buy, and after a 1:5 reverse split.

6) GOOD closed at $17.03, up by 26.49% since my buy, including the reinvestment of dividends. 

7) NLY closed at $17.34, up by .67% since my buy, inclusive of a reinvested dividends

8) AAPL closed at $261.85 up by 35.15% since my buy. 

9) January '12 Citigroup Calls closed at $.23, down by 47.73% since my buy.  Still long-term bullish on Citi.

10)  GS closed at $152.74, up by 12.23% since my buy.

Overall, the portfolio is up by 5.29% (4.22% for the DOW Dogs), versus 2.07% for the Wilshire 5000. The current basket of ten stocks that I am currently invested in, including dividends, is down .75% year-to-date. The spread between my performance and the overall market (Wilshire 5000) is at 3.22% outperform.

Quickly before I go, I would like to give an update on the three names I recommended a week or so ago.  Since that time, the Wilshire 5000 is up .73%.  The three stocks I recommended are currently up 1.86%, beating the market by over 1.0%.  JNJ closed at $58.72, up 1.70%.  KMB closed at $65.13, up by 1.56%.  Finally, MRO closed at $34.28, up by 2.73%.

Stocks Are Cheap!

This is a post on another blog that I follow.  This echoes what I have been saying for a while now.
http://gregmankiw.blogspot.com/2010/07/stocks-look-cheap.html

What a Crazy Trading Day!

After opening the day down after a "weak" GDP report, the market clawed it's way back into positive territory for the day.  The Wilshire 5000 closed at 11,492.90, down .04% for the year, and .54% below the 200-day moving average.  My portfolio is now 4.62% in the black for the year, and beating the market by 4.66%.  I will publish an expanded post later this weekend.

Market Closes Below 200-Day Moving Average

The Wilshire 5000 closed today at 11,529.18, .21% below the 200-day moving average of 11,553.34.  The market crossed above the 200-day moving average two days ago, and stayed there before closing below today.  The 200-day moving average is a significant technical mark, while the market is now below that technical level, the 200-day moving average is still in an uptrend, which is bullish.  Every market needs to take a day here and there to rest and consolidate, and today was one of those days.  While the market was down today, the overall fundamentals of the market are bullish.