US financial markets have been able to ride out all the turmoil domestically and internationally and have done nothing but gone up. Not what you might expect given all the ongoing global conflicts and upheavals, as well as our own bumpy economic recovery, but thanks to the quantitative easing (QE) program that has been in place since 2008 this phenomenon has been possible.
The QE program is likely to come to an end this October, however. And we remain in a very unsettled place globally, as well as here at home, where it may seem we are moving ahead on an economic upswing, but in the format of two steps forward, one step back.
Without QE in place we could be more vulnerable to the positive as well as the negative news (and its’ resulting market volatility), whether here in the US or internationally.
Which brings us to a 2011 CAIM Dividend Report: Total Return Investments – Dividends for an uncertain world.
In this report we provided invaluable information to investors navigating uncertain times like the present. We expounded on the benefits of dividends, as we always do and highlighted the compelling benefits of companies with: “the geographic diversity, balance sheet strength, history of long term earnings and dividend growth, and strong brands,” to naturally hedge against risks.
Investors will need to focus on these types of companies in order to successfully ride out an uncertain domestic recovery and turbulent world stage.
