High yields may signal big risk

Article Excerpt

High-yielding stocks can provide a great boost to a portfolio’s returns, and quality dividends are much more reliable than capital gains. Interest rates are moving up, but investors still earn negligible returns on their fixed-return investments. This can lead some to buy high-yield stocks indiscriminately. Dividend yield, and high yield especially, can give you a false sense of security. Some investors in high-yield stocks have a natural tendency to think that all investment income is nearly as safe and predictable as bank interest. In fact, investment income can dry up in a heartbeat. Companies are sometimes unable to honour their commitments, and they spring the bad news on investors with no warning. Rather than a sign of a bargain, an unusually high yield may be a danger sign. A falling price makes yield go up (because you use the latest dividend to calculate yield). When an investment does cut or halt its dividend, its yield collapses. All in all, that’s why we place…