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Locked in 6 to 8 percent annual earnings growth secured by steady rate base expansion; Strong regulatory relations in 8 southern states, particularly Texas; A dividend that’s nearly doubled over the past decade and is still covered better than 2-to-1 by profits; A secure A-rated balance sheet and operating metrics routinely at the top for natural gas distributors.

Conservative Holdings up 2.6 percent, Aggressive Holdings ahead by 12.8 percent, Top 10 DRIPS a -12 percent loss. Those are the CUI Portfolio returns for 2020. By comparison, the Dow Jones Utility Average gained 1.5 percent, also including dividends paid. And the popular Utilities Select Sector SPDR ETF (NYSE: XLU) was up 0.07 percent. 

Last year, 25 coverage universe companies cut or eliminated dividends. That’s more than one in eight we track and compares to just 16 in 2019. And it was the largest number in at least a decade for this group of ordinarily super-stable and financially strong companies.

Years from now, market historians may look back on 2020 as a relatively quiet year for utility stocks—with the Dow Jones Utility Average posting a 1.5 percent return including dividends. Even a cursory glance at my graph reveals anything but a tranquil time. In retrospect, best in class essential services companies demonstrated resilience to the historic pandemic that exceeded even my high expectations.

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.

Back in January, I added unregulated electricity generator and retailer Vistra Energy (NYSE: VST) to the Aggressive Holdings for three reasons.

First, the company is a cash machine, consistently shaving costs from its business and debt from its balance sheet while gaining market share with acquisitions and “greening” its generation fleet. Second, its shares traded at a major valuation gap I thought would close as the US economy strengthened. And third, there was a growing possibility of a takeover, potentially by private capital.