Roger S. Conrad

We analyze fourth-quarter results from some of the biggest companies in our model Portfolios and explain why one of our Aggressive Income Portfolio holdings surged 11 percent after reporting earnings.

Could Donald Trump's support for the controversial Keystone XL and Dakota Access pipelines foment local opposition to other energy projects?

Nate Conrad, Roger's eldest son, shares some of the nuances of internet us in China.

The Conservative Income Portfolio gets a new member, and we weigh in on Entergy Corp's deal with New York state to close the Indian Point nuclear power plant.

Call it a quadrennial ritual: In the first weeks after the US presidential election, investors scramble to find the trades that will work best under the incoming administration. Invariably, they forget that US government policies are just one of many factors that can influence corporate earnings and investment returns. Eight years ago, the conventional wisdom assumed that the Obama administration would be toxic for the stock market, especially the health care, financial and energy sectors. With only a few weeks left in Obama’s second term, the S&P 500 is up 210 percent, with the health care and financial sectors outperforming. US oil and gas production also reached new heights under Obama’s watch. Conversely, despite rising adoption of renewable energy, Guggenheim Solar (NYSE: TAN)—an exchange-traded fund that offers one-stop exposure to solar-power stocks—burned up almost 80 percent of its value during Obama’s terms in office. Like Obama in 2009, President-elect Donald Trump will take office with his party in control of Congress, creating the potential for the new administration to deliver on promises to cut taxes, reduce regulation and promote infrastructure investment. The past eight years reinforce that Republicans may not accomplish everything they set out to do.

At the start of the new year, we roll out our top picks and pans among the various segments represented in our Utility Report Card. Last year’s picks generated an average total return of 22.9 percent, while our pans posted a 2.1 percent gain. We hope to build on this success in 2017.

Two of our three model Portfolios outperformed the S&P 500 and Dow Jones Utility Average handily last year, while our aggressive picks lagged. We review what went right and what went wrong, with an eye toward refining our process.

Rising interest rates will exert additional strain on all the names in our Endangered Dividends List. And the higher rates go, the greater the risk that these stragglers will seek to conserve cash by reducing their payouts.

A lack of dividend growth has weighed on this stock's performance, but this utility continues to make progress toward resuming regular payout increases.

This high-yielding preferred stock could reward aggressive investors with big returns. The company's fourth-quarter results and full-year guidance for 2017 will go a long way toward determining whether we hold our fold.