While May’s unemployment rate dropped to 4.7%, markets were a bit rattled that our economy added only 38,000 jobs last month, versus the 155,000-170,000 economists had expected. That caused the Dow Jones Industrial Average to stumble a bit, but it has since bounced back and is once again near 18,000.
The low jobs additions also prompted gurus to speculate that perhaps Fed Chair Yellen will hold off on any interest rate increases until July. And that notion seems to have sparked a more bullish attitude from investors as well as Wall Street pros. Indeed, you’ll see in our Market Views section this month that our contributors are skewing more bullish.
And that goes for energy, also. Our Spotlight Stock is a Master Limited Partnership (MLP) that is currently paying double-digit distributions. It isn’t a slam dunk, but its prospects look attractive—along with many other energy ideas—and the dividend is certainly enticing. I take a more thorough look at the MLP industry in my Feature, discussing its history and analysts’ positive take on its near-term future.
Energy isn’t the only high-yielding sector as you’ll see in the diverse offerings in our High Yield section this month, which includes companies from the auto, entertainment, staffing and financial sectors. They are joined by healthcare, retail and hotel REITs—all with handsome dividend yields.
Value stocks continue to perform very well, and our contributors offer ideas from the newspaper, retail and transportation industries. Financial stocks also are recovering nicely, and here, we include selections from banking and investment sectors.
We also have a few more energy companies for your review, and Growth & Income picks from the consumer, chemical, media and pharmaceutical sectors. Lastly, our funds focus on bonds in emerging markets and multi-sectors.
