Week 367 - Safe and Effective Stocks

Situation: The stock market is becalmed, waiting for wind to fill its sails. "Risk-On" investors seem to be out of ideas, except for a renewal of interest in the energy sector. The bond market is experiencing hard-to-predict volatility. Safe stocks that will grow your money effectively are hard to find. The formula for Net Present Value tells us that more value is found when your original investment is returned to you quickly. Therefore, an “effective” stock is one that pays a good and growing dividend. 

Mission: “Safe stocks” = an oxymoron. Basically, we’re looking for a group of high-quality stocks issued by companies in “defensive” industries (Utilities, HealthCare, Consumer Staples, and Communication Services). “Effective stocks” are those that a) pay an above-market dividend, b) grow that dividend at an above-market rate, and c) have an above-market 16-Yr CAGR. Our reference for the “market” is the Dow Jones Industrial Average ETF (DIA). 

Execution: see Table.

Administration: What are “high-quality” stocks? Those are either “Blue Chips” (see Week 361) or members of “The 2 and 8 Club” (see Week 327 and Week 348) plus its Extended Version (see Week 362). “Safe and effective” stocks are those that have no red highlights in Columns D, E, G, I, K, and M of the reference Tables. (Red highlights indicate underperformance vs. DIA.) In addition, we require that the company be a Dividend Achiever, and that its long-term bonds have an S&P rating of A- or better (see Column T).   

Bottom Line: We find that only 5 companies issue “safe and effective” stocks (see Table). Were you to own shares of similar value in all 5, you wouldn’t be gambling. In other words, your risk-adjusted returns would likely “beat the market” by 1-2%/yr over a market cycle. But your transaction costs would also be 1-2% higher vs. owning shares in the leading S&P 500 Index Fund (SPY).  

Risk Rating: 4 (where US Treasury Notes = 1, S&P 500 Index = 5, and gold bullion = 10)

Full Disclosure: I dollar-average into NEE, KO, and JNJ.

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