Image Source:  Oliver Sloup joined RFD-TV this afternoon to share his thoughts on the price action leading up to tomorrow’s USDA report. Livestock markets have been on a rollercoaster too, what’s next?Video Length: 00:04:28

Image Source:  Dividends are a welcome sign for dividend investors.And dividend growth is even more appreciated.When a stock’s dividend per share is increased, shareholders get a boost to their passive income – without lifting a finger.Dividend growth is measured in: Years of consecutive increases​ Percentage or compound increase over a number of years. All other things being equal, longer streaks and greater percentage increases are preferred.Longer streaks are preferred because they show a company can increase dividends over a wide range of economic and competitive environments. They show evidence of a durable competitive advantage. It’s no small feat to boost a dividend year-after-year for decades at a time, through recessions, wars, and epidemics.Greater percentage dividend increases are preferred because they show that the company is willing and able to pay more to shareholders. This is a sign management expects cash flow growth and stability on a per share basis.With all this in mind, we created a list of all 66 Dividend Aristocrats, a group of stocks in the S&P 500 Index, with 25+ years of dividend increases.And since dividends are paid with actual cash, they can’t be faked. A company cannot pay dividends out of fictional earnings.A company cannot pay dividends for any meaningful length of time without generating cash flows to support the dividend.Dividend growth is a powerful signal of a company’s financial health, management’s confidence, and commitment to long-term value creation.The following list is comprised of the 10 best dividend stocks using the dividend growth signal.These 10 Dividend Aristocrats were chosen based on their projected future […]

Image Source:  There is so much to talk about, since it has been such a long time since I posted, that it is a little hard to know where to begin. So let’s begin 2025 with a few quick notes about inflation markets and markets generally. I wouldn’t call this an outlook, per se…I am trying to resist making that year-end/year-beginning offering to the jinx gods…but an update with some observations. As an aside, later today I’m planning to post a new  (this is a Podbean link but it’s available anywhere you get your podcasts) with some comments on the trajectory of inflation (as opposed to markets), and how that may be affected by things such as the massive California wildfires.I will begin with a content warning: this note is much denser than most of my columns. If you’re a retail investor and/or only interested in developments in inflation rather than inflation instruments, then you might skip this one. I’ll talk more about expectations for inflation, of course, in other posts. But that’s not today’s post.Let’s start by looking at 10-year real yields. The blue line in the chart below is 10-year TIPS yields; the black line (because it’s topical) is 10-year UK Gilt linker (real) yields. TIPS yields are up to 2.25%. Normally, when they get to around 2% I think of them as roughly fair in an absolute sense, because long-term risk-free real yields ought to in principle look something like long-term real economic growth. Instructive in the chart below is that […]

Image Source:  The U.S. jobs report could shape were rates and risk-assets go in a huge way. Video Length: 00:12:42

Generac UpdateFor those who have followed me for a while on our |, you know we don’t spend much time talking about our winners.We’ve been talking about GNRC since well below $100.(Click on image to enlarge) General Market The CNN “Fear and Greed” ticked up from 28 last week to 32 this week.You can learn how this indicator is calculated and how it works here: () The NAAIM (National Association of Active Investment Managers Index) () declined to 64.10% this week from 80.39% equity exposure last week.(Click on image to enlarge)

Image Source:  After a challenging December, Wall Street continues to exhibit volatility at the start of 2025, representing an opportunity for investors to buy stocks and ETFs at a bargain. This comes amid concerns about the potential for slower interest rate cuts and renewed speculation over increased trade tariffs under President-elect Donald Trump.Dow Jones logged its worst monthly performance in more than two years, and the S&P 500 recorded its weakest performance since April. Moreover, all three major indices are on track for their second consecutive weekly decline.As such, we have highlighted five ETFs from different zones that have plunged the most over the past month but have a solid Zacks ETF Rank #1 (Strong Buy) or 2 (Buy). These products, namely, Invesco Dorsey Wright Industrials Momentum ETF ( – ) , iShares Expanded Tech-Software Sector ETF ( – ) , Global X U.S. Infrastructure Development ETF ( – ) , Vanguard Materials ETF ( – ) and SPDR S&P Bank ETF ( – ) , are poised to outperform in the coming weeks when the market resumes its uptrend. Market Trends While the enthusiasm surrounding AI, lower rates and hopes of growth under President-elect Trump’s administration are acting as catalysts for the stocks, increased geopolitical tensions, global growth slowdown concerns and uncertainty over Fed rate cuts led to risk-off trade. Foxconn boosted optimism for AI-fueled growth this week after announcing record fourth-quarter revenues and a strong sales forecast, propelling the chip stocks higher. Meanwhile, the latest bouts of data indicate a strong economy and increased inflation, dialing back expectations for Fed rate cuts this year. Currently, the Fed is looking […]