Master limited partnerships have become wildly popular over the past decade, and it’s easy enough to see why. Collectively, they are the highest yielding major asset class available, and the 10-year cumulative total returns are an eye popping 328%, as measured by the Alerian MLP Index. (And yes, those returns include the carnage of 2008...Read More

As their share prices have gotten pummeled over the Bernanke “taper scare,” I’ve become increasingly bullish on REITs.  As I’ve written in recent weeks, I believe this is an excellent time to accumulate shares of high-quality “buy and forget” triple-net equity REITs.  But I also think it’s an excellent time to take a position in...Read More

REITs have become a portfolio staple for income investors over the past decade and rightfully so.  There are few investable options that offer the same potential for a high and rising cash payout, a built-in inflation hedge, and diversified exposure to an asset class—commercial real estate—that would otherwise be off limits to most individual investors....Read More

There is no precise or fool-proof way to know that a stock has bottomed out after a large decline.  Successful timing is often more of an art than a science.  All the same, there are certain signs you can look for.  And in my view, one of the most useful signs is the way a...Read More

Income investors had a little scare in May and June.  Bond prices took a tumble and dragged down assets that have come to be viewed as bond substitutes—including popular dividend-paying stocks, MLPs and REITs. Now that the dust has settled and the income markets have regained some semblance of normalcy, let’s take a step back...Read More