Roger S. Conrad

“Big Mo” is back in style for stocks. The result is investors continue to crowd into this year’s biggest winners while shunning underperformers, even as big blue chip averages like the S&P 500 and NASDAQ 100 set one new high after another.

In our coverage universe, momentum has been very strong since last month’s election for anything to do with renewable energy. And the result is several favorites are now ripe for taking partial profits, despite strongly bullish long-term outlooks.

Regulation is the straw in my Quality Grade system that most often stirs the drink. And when the result is an increasingly volatile mixture, it’s usually best for investors to stand clear.

This is a stock market that plays favorites. And clearly AT&T Inc (NYSE: T) hasn’t been one this year, with investors alternately grousing about high levels of debt, pandemic-affected results at WarnerMedia and dividend safety.

We still have a few weeks left in 2020. But whatever happens, this will go down as one of the most eventful years in stock market history. There’s certainly plenty to recap already. The rapid swing from historic profit-taking opportunity in mid-February to equally compelling Dream Buy barely a month later is certainly without precedent in my career.

Avoiding companies at elevated risk to dividend cuts is a time-honored tenet of income investing. That’s because reductions typically add insult to injury by triggering selloffs in offending stocks.

If you’re underwhelmed so far by the next generation of wireless communications—dubbed 5G—you’re far from alone. By any measure, this has been a year of exploding demand for fast and reliable connectivity with work, schooling and entertainment shifting to residences. Not one US communications company, however, has meaningfully broken down 5G adoption for investors, a fact reinforced by generally flat Q3 wireless revenue growth.

What’s a well-run fiber broadband network worth these days?

Now more than ever, it’s a seller’s market for bonds of regulated electric, gas and water utilities. But our list of Fixed income picks features four bonds that trade below our recommended buy prices and meet my cardinal rule for buying any bond or preferred stock.

From all indications, 2020 has been the worst wildfire season in California’s history. And the state is hardly alone in its misery, as an unprecedented combination of wind gusts and dry conditions have also inflicted record damages throughout the West and Rocky Mountain states.