Markets fell even more, as Treasury yields climbed to a multi-year higher as the Federal Reserve indicates it will keep interest rates higher for longer.
In fact, the 10-year Treasury now yields 4.48%– its highest in 15 years. All after the latest weekly jobless claims still point to a strong labor market, which could encourage the Fed to hike even more. The two-year Treasury now yields 5.19% — its highest since 2007.
“That’s kind of a warning sign for markets right now,” said Adam Turnquist, chief technical strategist at LPL Financial, as quoted by CNBC. He added that yields are “certainly weighing on risk appetite at this point.”
Unfortunately, with fears mounting, markets are likely to continue falling.
But don’t let that chase you from the markets. Instead, protect your portfolio with strong companies – especially those that are still raising their dividends, including:
Pioneer Natural Resources (PXD)
At the moment, PXD carries a yield of 7.38%, and could push higher with oil prices. Helping, not only did Goldman Sachs just raise its price target on Brent to $100 a barrel, it named PXD as one of its top plays on higher oil prices, too. “We believe that the company has turned the corner on both capex and volume execution, as seen by strong performance in 2Q,” said the firm.
W.P. Carey (WPC)
WPC owns industrial, warehouse, office, retail and self-storage units. It has 1,475 net leased properties with approximately 180 million square feet in 26 countries. Its portfolio includes 398 tenants from over 30 industries with an occupancy rate of 99%. And it just raised its quarterly dividend from $1.069 per share to $1.071 per share. The dividend is payable Oct. 16 to stockholders of record Sept. 29.
Realty Income (O)
Realty Income – or the Monthly Dividend Company – just increased its monthly dividend from $0.2555 to $0.2560, payable Oct. 13 to stockholders of record Oct. 2. Annualized, it’s $3.072 per share yielding 5.56%, which historically is high for Realty Income.