Real estate investment trusts, or REITs for short, are popular investments for a few reasons. For starters, as real estate companies they have large property portfolios with tangible values that can’t be devalued overnight by a new competitor or a change in consumer tastes. Also, they are a special class of investment that gets preferential tax treatment in exchange for…
Look to high-yield ETFs for a hedge against declines. In 2022, the stock market has been incredibly volatile and rising interest rates have created a lot of uncertainty around bonds as well. That means many investors have gone “risk off” as they wait for the dust to settle. However, selling everything and hiding out in cash is not always the best bet. Not only do you have to…
Both strides and setbacks have punctuated the quest for federal legalization of cannabis in the U.S. So far, 38 states have legalized marijuana for medical use. The recreational use of marijuana is legal in 19 states plus the District of Columbia and Guam, and the U.S. House of Representatives in April passed legislation to legalize marijuana at the federal level for the…
You’ve probably heard of stock market sectors, but do you know what they are? Stock sectors are split into categories that consist of companies that operate in different areas of business. There are 11 stock market sectors that make up the entire stock market, according to the Global Industry Classification Standard. The performance of these sectors varies depending on the nature of…
Declines in growth stocks amid inflation and rising interest rates provide a buying opportunity. Growth stocks are those that are expected by the market to increase their revenues and earnings faster on average than others in the same industry. These high-flying stocks tend to hail from the technology and communications sectors, and often exhibit elevated valuations in the form of high…
Invest in these commodity ETFs for a potential respite from high inflation. Investors looking for inflation protection can buy physically backed or futures-based commodity exchange-traded funds, or ETFs, that track the price of goods like precious metals, livestock, oil, natural gas and grains. During times of inflation, these ETFs can outperform as prices of their underlying commodities increase. Here are eight of the…
When it comes to a lower-risk stock investment, many investors turn to dividend stocks. That’s in part because of the reassurance of a regular payday from your stocks, but it’s also because companies need to exhibit substantial and reliable profits if they are going to commit to a regular dividend cycle. The following 10 stocks don’t just offer modest distributions to…
The U.S. consumer price index, or CPI, rose by 8.5% in March, its highest inflation reading since 1981. For Americans concerned about falling stock prices and soaring inflation, U.S. I bonds may be an increasingly attractive option. The U.S. Department of the Treasury recently announced that I bonds will pay a 9.62% interest rate through October 2022, their highest yield since…
The U.S. infrastructure bill and ongoing global economic recovery bode well for producers. Copper and steel are needed for any economic expansion and infrastructure push. On Wall Street, the red metal even has the nickname “Dr. Copper,” as if it had an advanced economics degree, given the correlation between its price moves and the direction of the economy. That’s because…
Analysts recommend these dividend-paying growth stocks. Most high-growth companies reinvest every spare dime into expanding their businesses. However, one of the first things companies do when growth finally starts to level off is to begin returning excess cash to shareholders via dividend payments. Fortunately, there are a handful of companies that generate impressive growth numbers and also pay dividends. Many…