Low Cost, Solid Yield: Schwab U.S. Dividend Equity ETF

A Seeking Alpha Contribution

Summary

• SCHD is the cheapest dividend ETF.
• SCHD isn’t a high-yield ETF, but is has a high yield relative to similar funds.
• SCHD achieves that relatively high yield with almost no utilities exposure.

Schwab U.S. Dividend Equity ETF (NYSEARCA:SCHD) has been around for 3 years and it has attracted its fair share of investor interest thanks to a solid yield, very low expense ratios and commission free trading for Schwab customers.

Index & Strategy

SCHD tracks the Dow Jones U.S. Dividend 100 Index. The index mainly relies on four fundamental criteria: cash flow to total debt, return on equity, dividend yield and five-year dividend growth rate. The holdings are weighted using a modified market capitalization… To Continue Reading, Please Click Here.

*Please note, this article was written and published as a contribution for Seeking Alpha. To finish reading the article you will be redirected to their site.

WisdomTree Large Cap Dividend ETF Goes For Cash

A Seeking Alpha Contribution

Summary

• DLN is a large cap dividend ETF tracking the 300 largest stocks in the WisdomTree Dividend Index.
• DLN weights its holdings based on the amount of cash dividends paid.
• DLN is less restrictive in the selection process; companies that pay dividends can be included much sooner than some other popular dividend ETFs.

WisdomTree LargeCap Dividend ETF (NYSEARCA:DLN) is a different breed of dividend fund. Instead of aiming for the highest yield, the fund seeks to outperform the market. Dividends are the main criteria used to select holdings for the portfolio, but a high yield is not the goal of the portfolio even though the resulting yield is higher than the broader market’s yield….To Continue Reading, Please Click Here.

*Please note, this article was written and published as a contribution for Seeking Alpha. To finish reading the article you will be redirected to their site.

After the strongest weekly rebound in nearly two years, investors should temper their expectations over the coming days. As the S&P 500 is less than 3 percent off its all-time high, it will first require a test of support levels. Moreover, with earnings, economic data and a Fed meeting this week, there’s a greater chance for even more volatility.

Earnings season is still in full swing. This week sees earnings reports coming from Facebook (FB), Twitter (TWTR) and Baidu (BIDU) in the technology area. Pfizer (PFE), Merck (MRK), Gilead (GILD) and Amgen (AMGN) will put pharma and biotech on investors’ radar. Energy giants Exxon Mobil (XOM) and Chevron (CVX), as well as credit card giants Mastercard (MA) and Visa (V) report. The latter two are widely held stocks and particularly important for iShares US Financial Services (IYG).

On Thursday, the United States will report third quarter GDP growth, which is expected to be in the low 3 percent range. This number has moved slightly lower in recent weeks due to data from August and September. That said, 3 percent growth will be considered good news by the markets even though it is expected.

All of the earnings reports, plus the GDP announcement, may be overshadowed by the Federal Reserve. At their meeting this week, they are widely expected to exit the third iteration of quantitative easing. The Fed tricked investors in 2013 though, pushing the taper back from the September meeting to the December meeting. Assuming the Fed exits as expected, attention will fall on the policy statement as investors try to define the future course of interest rate policy.

Outside of the United States, an important market to watch is Brazil, now that President Rousseff has been re-elected. Brazilian stocks sank in Asian trading, but this could be speculators “selling the news.” If iShares MSCI Brazil (EWZ) does not break its lows from earlier in the year, it will be a good sign that selling is finished. If Brazilian stocks cannot find support, it could be that emerging markets are not out of the woods yet.

iShares Core High Dividend ETF Relies On Defensive Sectors

A Seeking Alpha Contribution

Dividend ETFs are more popular than ever thanks to the central banks of the world giving us zero interest rate policies (ZIRP), but the word “dividend” in an ETF means different things in different funds. Some funds target very high yields, such as Global X SuperDividend (NYSEARCA:SDIV), but others such as Vanguard Dividend Appreciation (NYSEARCA:VIG) aim for growth, while WisdomTree has an entire lineup of ETFs that use dividends as a selection factor in their indexes. Investors benefit from having a wide range of choices among dividend funds, with sector and international exposure sliced and diced in many different ways. Picking the right fund for a portfolio can be a chore though, since investors can dig through dozens of options… To Continue Reading, Please Click Here.

*Please note, this article was written and published as a contribution for Seeking Alpha. To finish reading the article you will be redirected to their site.