Feature Article

Big picture themes always grab investing headlines. Success, however, flows from knowing what’s up with individual companies.

Regulated water utilities, for example, are on their face the very simplest and uniform of businesses. Yet so far in 2013, returns from the 10 companies I track in the Utility Report Card have ranged from a 26 percent gain to barely breaking even.

Investors are dumping dividend-paying stocks of strong companies due to misplaced fears about interest rate sensitivity. That’s opening up new opportunities in our favorite stocks, but be patient with prices.

Stocks around the globe are running into trouble in this slowing economic environment, It's been especially tough on companies that rely on emerging markets for their growth.

It’s practically an article of faith among short sellers that betting against wireline phone companies is close to a sure thing.

That’s likely to prove disastrous, however, in the case of Consolidated Communications (NSDQ: CNSL), the only company in the sector not to cut its original dividend.

Southern Company (NYSE: SO) currently sits near a new 52-week low. The reason: A combination of investor worries about rising interest rates and concern about its substantial capital spending program.

Hydroelectric power is the world’s cleanest and cheapest source of baseload power. And with 5,900 megawatts of installed capacity and a full pipeline of new projects, Brookfield Renewable Energy Partners (TSX: BEP-U, NYSE: BEP) is the world’s premier pure play.

Telefonica’s woes can be squarely blamed on aggressive global expansion right up to the great crash of 2008. Revenue growth in Latin America has offset shrinking in Spain and elsewhere in Europe but the Continent’s credit crunch has forced the company to sell assets to reduce its debt load, even as its credit rating has been cut. But things are looking up.

Discipline, consistency and hard work don’t always guarantee success. But they're the necessary foundation of every winning investment strategy.

Nothing destroys shareholder value like a dividend cut. Not only do you lose a portion of your monthly income, but a falling share price can also saddle you with significant capital losses. These are the dividend-paying stocks that are most dangerous to your wealth.

Stepped up targeting of dividend-paying stocks, runaway momentum widening the gap between loved and unloved stocks, and shifting odds of recovery in essential service company investment: These three trends have increasingly shaped returns since spring. And odds are good they’ll continue to the rest of the year.