Income Insights

Dividend-paying stocks aren’t bond substitutes and never will be. Any investor who has sold these equities because of rising interest rates has lost big over the past 22 years. Those who do so now are playing with the same fire and, inevitably, will be badly burned.

Last week, the Energy & Income Advisor team attended the National Association of Publicly Traded Partnerships’ (NAPTP) annual MLP Investor Conference in Ponte Vedra, Fla. Here are our takeaways.

The National Association of Publicly Traded Partnerships' annual MLP Investor Conference is just around the corner.

Exelon Corp’s (NYSE: EXC) $6.9 billion all-cash takeover offer for Pepco Holdings (NYSE: POM) has gotten a mixed reception from investors, but the deal pushes the acquirer closer to resuming dividend growth.

You’d be hard-pressed to beat AT&T for steady growth and reliable income--especially in a market where too many are blindly bobbing for Apples.

The aftermath of a dividend cut is always an emotional time, especially for investors who own the stock in question. But if you can keep a level head and evaluate the company’s proposed turnaround effort, you can find deep-value plays poised for big returns—a rarity in a five-year-old bull market.

Investors who focus on quality won't have as much to fear if the bear market comes out of hibernation.

Savvy investors who buy the best utility stocks at the best prices will outperform the index huggers.

Closed-end bond funds have pulled back over the past 12 months in anticipation of rising interest rates. Investors eyeing these funds' high yields should proceed with caution.