<p>"No matter where you stand on the political spectrum, you can’t deny that George Soros’ investment track record has made him the equivalent of a .400 hitter in baseball. Yet, in a decade that has been lousy for all investors, even the “Grandaddy of Hedge Fund Managers” has had it tough. 2010 was Soros’ worst year since 2002, with his flagship fund up a mere 2.63%. That’s worse than the 8% gain he booked in the meltdown year of 2008, when many rivals were down by 30% or more.</p>
<p>Ten years ago, both Soros and Buffett boasted enviable “30:30” track records: average annual returns of 30% over a period of 30 years. Today, those long-term returns have shrunk to closer to “20:40” track records: 20% annually over 40 years. A top-performing new money manager of the last decade, Bruce Berkowitz, has produced an annualized return of 11.6%. Granted, that’s over a span in which the S&P 500 has risen a mere 0.7% a year on average. But it’s a far cry from the glory days of the young Paul Tudor Jones, racking up five consecutive 100%-plus years. No wonder a lot of the original hedge fund greats are calling it quits, as Soros’ former prot</p>
<p>While you’re waiting for Bernanke to stir things up, here’s a question the opposite of this thread’s intent: If you were say, 80 years old and wanted to buy (today) a basket of five to ten blue chip, interest bearing, low volatility, buy and hold stocks, what would you buy?</p>
<p>I like this link of a sampling of stocks that might meet your criteria. I am not recommending these stocks.</p>
<p>I just want you to click on the link and scroll down until you see a chart. The chart shows what these stocks were worth at various times over the last 10 years or so.
We can’t get rid of the volatility. At times these stocks were dropping in value, other times, value was increasing. Can you handle situations when the valuations are dropping?</p>
<p>Also, these kinds of stocks have had a big rally as people want what you want, low risk high yielding assets. These stocks are a lot more expensive now than they were a short time ago, and that can hurt future performance of the stocks. Maybe not right now, but someday, when
interest rates rise, or the economy improves. Of course, for an 80 year old, maybe that is not as much of an issue as for a 60 year old.</p>
<p>1)There should never be a “buy and hold” attitude–spoken by someone who rode Citigroup from 52 to 2! Buy and forget–NO–buy and keep a close eye on it–YES. </p>
<p>2) Be sure to have a number of different industries in this little basket of high dividend yielding stocks. You just never know when one industry will blow up (see Citigroup example above).</p>
<p>Here are the stocks I have in my dividend portfolio: BGS (food), KMP (pipeline), LLY (big pharma), MRK (big pharma–long time holdings, so I have 2 in the same industry), NLY (financial, REIT), MO (tobacco), SO (utility), VZ (telecommunications), WM (waste management).</p>
<p>I could add a big oil, like CVX. I’m too spooked to add a bank. Any good dividend areas that I am missing? I like the dividends to be 4%+.</p>
<p>Never invest in a casino,though i occassionaly just donate outright to them;)
I also receive special dividends in e form of free play,free food,free liquor and free rooms…</p>
<p>I also own NLY, but not at great levels. I think the dividends have roughly offset a decrease in value. I have done much better with NCT, another high yielder that purchases mortgage securities.</p>