A Yield to Caution

Article Excerpt

Stock prices have dropped sharply in anticipation of a much wider spread of the coronavirus, and the deep economic setback that could result from its spread. That could happen—no one can predict the future. However, most sharp market downturns are temporary. Due to modern medicine and technology, the coronavirus impact is unlikely to get so big that it brings on a long-lasting stock-market decline. Our advice is that if your stock holdings made sense for you a few weeks ago, in light of your investment goals, financial circumstances and temperament, then you should hang on to them. You should also continue to follow our three-pronged Successful Investor strategy: Invest mainly in established companies; spread your money out across the five main economic sectors; and downplay or avoid stocks that are in the broker/media limelight. But most important—with yields on many stocks currently so much higher than before the COVID-19 tumult and with many companies cutting their dividends­—income investors need to pay close attention to our…