Dividend Dogs of the DOW: SDOG

This ETF takes a unique approach by selecting five holdings from each of the ten sectors within the S&P 500 Index with the highest dividend yields, explains David Fabian, of FMD Capital Management.

Each holding is then equal weighted so that every company has a similar pull on the total return of the fund. The end result is a portfolio of 50 large-cap stocks that includes a high degree of diversification among every S&P sector.

The ALPS Sector Dividend Dogs ETF (SDOG) was introduced just over two years ago and has since amassed over $800 million in total assets.

Often times, dividend funds are skewed towards a specific area of the market such as utilities, consumer staples, or energy companies.

However, SDOG provides you with the opportunity to own equal segments of the economy in one single package. In addition, because they select from some of the largest and most liquid stocks in the world, the holdings are generally high quality companies.
SDOG has a current 30-day SEC yield of 3.32%; the fund has an expense ratio of 0.40%. This ETF has returned nearly 25% over the last 52-weeks with dividends factored back in.
This outperformance in SDOG is likely due to larger exposure to technology, healthcare, and telecommunications sectors, which have performed strongly over that time frame.

The one drawback to this strategy that I find less appealing is that dividends are paid on a quarterly basis. I typically prefer equity income funds that offer monthly dividends to smooth out the payment stream and allow for greater frequency of distributions.
Nevertheless, SDOG should certainly be on your watch list of dividend paying ETFs that include a reasonable expense ratio, higher than average yield, and unique index construction methodology.

This fund can certainly be used as a core holding within the context of a conservative income portfolio to gain market correlation and yield.

The original Dogs of the Dow strategy focuses on selecting ten of the highest dividend paying stocks in the Dow Jones Industrial Average on an annual basis. SDOG does an admirable job of taking that one step farther to include a more diversified and balanced subset of companies.
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Russia will Kill The PetroDollar -- Marin Katusa

Marin Katusa, Chief Strategist for Casey Research says, "don't underestimate Russia. The death of the dollar is upon us, the global power shift has already begun." Marin and his partners, Doug Casey and Rick Rule, are going big in the resource sector. Investing more in the past 60 days, than in the last 2 years. At the top of their picks is Brazil Resources (TSXV: BRI), in which they are actively accumulating millions of shares. 
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One of the Best Precious Metals to Buy Before 2015

Back in March I spoke about the precious metal palladium, and why this rare metal was headed higher.
At the time, it traded at $780/oz. Yesterday, it was trading at $886/oz. at mid-day, so the predicted upturn played out true to form.
Still, there's another rare precious metal that's set to do as well as - or better than - palladium, but that isn't on too many investors' radar yet.
Here's why it should be...

A Major Shortfall Will Bolster a Run

The precious metal is platinum. It's hard to imagine a more bullish outlook for this exclusive commodity.
Platinum and palladium are platinum group metals (PGMs), often found and mined from the same ore deposit. These two metals in particular have exceptional pollution-fighting properties. That's why they're used in nearly all catalytic converters, the auto part that reduces gasoline and diesel engine pollution.  (more)
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INFI Infinity Pharmaceuticals – Biotech Stock With Buyers In Control

Here’s a Biotech stock with a big catalyst: INFI – Infinity Pharmaceuticals. The recent news triggered a massive gap up that qualifies as a break-away gap. Needless to say this type of volume is most likely game-changing volume. Technically speaking this simply means buyers are now in control. You have several choices here. You can analyze the stock from a purely technical perspective, identify which group is in control and join that group to profit from the new trend. On the other hand you can go check the news, try to figure out what it means and try to gauge how much the stock should be worth. In this particular case I simply look at the chart. It provides enough information and clues for me to act upon. Overall this is a bullish looking chart pattern that features a catalyst indicating that the tide has clearly shifted in favour of the bulls. Act accordingly. Manage risk. Protect your position.

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Where Are Bitcoin Prices Going?

There's no sugarcoating it: The Bitcoin price has plunged nearly 29% over the past two months.
The CoinDesk Bitcoin Price Index, which averages the Bitcoin prices across several major Bitcoin exchanges, dropped from $647.34 on July 2 to as low as $460.67 on Aug. 18.
The Bitcoin price did manage to climb over $500 shortly afterward, but lately has slumped back into the $470s.
While few in the Bitcoin community are panicking over this decline, many are puzzled. Despite the lack of any unusually bad news, the price keeps trending down.
It's actually not as perplexing as it appears. At this point in Bitcoin's evolution, the market forces pulling the Bitcoin price down are stronger than those pushing it up. (more)

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Technician Ralph Acampora: The Fourth Quarter a Big Opportunity – Buy Any Corrections

Also Jim Puplava, Erik Townsend and Tom Smith

TECHNICIAN09/06/2014
Jim welcomes back legendary technician Ralph Acampora this week. Ralph believes the market professionals could be “head-faked” again, and sees the fourth quarter as a big opportunity. He notes that sector rotations are a function of every bull market, and currently he favors the technology and financial sectors.
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