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Forbes
2 days ago
- Business
- Forbes
U.S. Economy Grew Better Than Expected Through Q2
The U.S. economy bounced back in the second quarter amid an uptick in consumer spending and a decline in imports, as the value of American goods and services increased at a higher rate than expected, according to data released Wednesday by the Commerce Department. A turnaround marked a reversal from a decline of 0.5% for the first quarter. Getty Images Real gross domestic product increased at an annual rate of 3% in the second quarter, according to the Bureau of Economic Analysis, ahead of the Dow Jones consensus of 2.3%. This is a developing story .
Washington Post
23-07-2025
- Business
- Washington Post
How major US stock indexes fared Wednesday, 7/23/2025
U.S. stocks rose to more records following a trade deal between the world's No. 1 and No. 4 economies. The S&P 500 climbed 0.8% Wednesday, setting another all-time high. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 1.1%, and the Nasdaq composite gained 0.6%, also hitting a record. Stocks rallied even more in Tokyo after President Donald Trump announced a deal that would place a 15% tax on imports from Japan. That's lower than the 25% rate Trump had earlier threatened.
Yahoo
23-07-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
How major US stock indexes fared Wednesday, 7/23/2025
U.S. stocks rose to more records following a trade deal between the world's No. 1 and No. 4 economies. The S&P 500 climbed 0.8% Wednesday, setting another all-time high. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 1.1%, and the Nasdaq composite gained 0.6%, also hitting a record. Stocks rallied even more in Tokyo after President Donald Trump announced a deal that would place a 15% tax on imports from Japan. That's lower than the 25% rate Trump had earlier threatened. Big U.S. companies continued to offer updates about how Trump's tariffs are affecting them. On Wednesday: The S&P 500 rose 49.29 points, or 0.8%, to 6,358.91. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 507.85 points, or 1.1%, to 45,010.29. The Nasdaq composite rose 127.33 points, or 0.6%, to 21,020.02. The Russell 2000 index of smaller companies rose 34.37 points, or 1.5%, to 2,283.13. For the week: The S&P 500 is up 62.12 points, or 1%. The Dow is up 668.10 points, or 1.5%. The Nasdaq is up 124.36 points, or 0.6%. The Russell 2000 is up 43.12 points, or 1.9%. For the year: The S&P 500 is up 477.28 points, or 8.1%. The Dow is up 2,466.07 points, or 5.8%. The Nasdaq is up 1,709.22 points, or 8.9%. The Russell 2000 is up 52.97 points, or 2.4%.
Yahoo
23-07-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
S&P/TSX composite up Wednesday morning, U.S. markets also higher
TORONTO — Gains in battery metal stocks helped lift Canada's main stock index in late-morning trading on Wednesday, while U.S. markets also rose. The S&P/TSX composite index was up 76.52 points at 27,440.95. In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average was up 204.92 points at 44,707.36. The S&P 500 index was up 15.51 points at 6,325.13, while the Nasdaq composite was up 13.96 points at 20,906.65. The Canadian dollar traded for 73.45 cents US compared with 73.34 cents US on Tuesday. The September crude oil contract was down 44 cents US at US$64.87 per barrel. The August gold contract was down US$20.60 at US$3,423.10 an ounce. This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 23, 2025. Companies in this story: (TSX:GSPTSE, TSX:CADUSD) The Canadian Press
Forbes
20-07-2025
- Business
- Forbes
5 Monthly Dividend Stocks Yielding Up To 16.3% Today
12 month calendar sign set vector illustration, color signs for all months of the year Quarterly payers are the norm. But monthly dividends…. Yeah, that's that stuff. Today we'll chat about five monthly divvies that yield between 5.8% and 16.3% per year. That's right, these stocks pay early, often and heavy. What's wrong with a plain 'ol quarterly dividend? Let's consider using my Income Calendar dividend projection tool. If we put $100K into each of the top five stocks in the Dow Jones Industrial Average, here is the lumpy, inconsistent and sad income picture we are looking at: DJIA Dividends Lumpy and, let's be honest—lame. Instead let's consider our five monthly payers. Drop $100K into each and now we are talkin': Monthly Dividends Note the 10.5% yield, too! Yee haw. It's powered by five payers dishing between 5.8% and 16.3% yields. Buy, hold or sell these generous monthly payers? Let's explore each one. Monthly Dividend #1: Healthpeak Properties (DOC) Healthpeak Properties (DOC) is new to the monthly divvie game. Welcome, DOC! DOC is a healthcare REIT that also dabbles in retirement facilities. It boasts roughly 700 properties, including outpatient medical facilities (50% of portfolio income), laboratories (35%), and senior housing (15%). Its tenants include biopharma firms, health systems, physician groups, medical device manufacturers, and retirement housing companies, among others. In February 2025, Healthpeak announced it would switch to monthly dividends starting in April. It also bumped up its dividend—from 30 cents per share to 30.5 cents for the February quarterly, which translated to 10.17 cents once the monthly payments got going a couple months later. That comes out to a meager sub-2% hike, but it's an important step in the right direction considering its prior two dividend changes were cuts (36% in 2016, then 19% in 2021). DOC Dividend Better still, the distribution represents less than 75% of projected adjusted funds from operations (AFFO) for 2025, which is a healthy REIT payout ratio that leaves room for modest dividend growth going forward. Growth isn't as clean-cut. Healthpeak's heavy life sciences exposure could be problematic given poor current fundamentals in that industry, but tailwinds in senior housing could bode well for its continuing care retirement communities (CCRCs). At 11 times 2025 estimates for AFFO, we're not paying much—at least compared to the healthcare REIT industry—to find out. Monthly Dividend #2: EPR Properties (EPR) EPR Properties (EPR) is an 'experiential' REIT. As in, it deals in experiences—a segment of spending that, were it not for a pandemic-sparked interruption, would have been a virtually straight line up and to the right for the past quarter-century. Want to see a movie? We may visit an AMC Entertainment (AMC) theater. Hit a bucket of balls? Then we'll head to TopGolf. Get a pump in? Let's hit the gym. These types of properties comprise EPR's 331-property portfolio. A few months ago, we discussed a business segment (theaters) that was once a liability for EPR was becoming an asset once more: While North America's Q1 box office gross was actually down year-over-year, Q2 has outperformed, and Q3 is off to a great start with the hit release of Superman. Also, on July 1, a 7.5% rent increase on AMC kicked in. All of this has conspired to drive EPR to a REIT-beating first half of 2025. EPR Total Returns Longer-term, EPR is seeing improving costs of capital, which means management can start making acquisitions again. Shorter-term, EPR might have a harder time replicating its first-half pace, if only because its P/AFFO has thickened up from just 9 in January to around 12 today. Monthly Dividend #3: Gladstone Commercial (GOOD) Gladstone Commercial (GOOD) is part of the Gladstone family of REITs and BDCs, which also includes Gladstone Land (LAND), Gladstone Investment (GAIN) and Gladstone Capital (GLAD). GOOD is a straight-up equity REIT—one that owns 141 single-tenant and anchored multi-tenant net-leased properties. Those properties are leased out to 107 unique tenants, typically in long-term leases of seven years or longer. Overall occupancy is 98.4%, though that's carried by industrial tenants (99.4%), which are making up for the office tenants (91.7%). Speaking of office tenants, Gladstone Commercial has been deliberately moving away from that particular business. Seven years ago, office properties accounted for 65% of annualized straight-line rent. Today? That number is 35%. On the one hand, Gladstone's move away from office buildings makes sense given the lousy environment of the past half-decade. However, it also means GOOD is less exposed to the return-to-office rebound. For now, we want to see Gladstone reverse its multiyear trend of declining FFO. It's not quite in dividend trouble yet—its monthly dividend comes out to $1.20 annually vs. $1.43 in FFO over the trailing 12 months; 85% is high but not alarming—but we need some reason to believe shares can escape nearly six years of rangebound trading. Monthly Dividend #4: Prospect Capital (PSEC) Prospect Capital (PSEC) is a business development company that provides private debt and private equity to middle-market companies. It currently boasts 114 portfolio investments in 33 industries, most notably real estate, consumer finance, and health care. Roughly three-quarters of its portfolio is first lien and other secured debt, though it will also make equity investments. I frequently keep my eye on PSEC both because it's one of the largest BDCs, at well more than $1 billion in market capitalization, and because it frequently sports a double-digit yield. But I also frequently warn about Prospect Capital because it's a serial dividend cutter. For instance, I called it out in October 2024, and just a few weeks later, it hacked its payout down by 25%. Then in February, I highlighted PSEC among several Wall Street consensus Sell calls, and I couldn't help but agree with the pros. Prospect Capital is now the cheapest BDC on the market, trading at just 46% of NAV. That means we're paying just 46 cents for every dollar in PSEC's assets—while collecting a wild yield above 16%. That's cheap, but is it a deal? It's more like a falling knife with its net investment income (NII) in a doom loop. Monthly Dividend #5: AGNC Investment Corp. (AGNC) AGNC Investment Corp. (AGNC) deals in 'paper' real estate (i.e., mortgages). It's one of the largest mortgage real estate investment trusts (mREITs), at more than $9 billion in market cap. For those unfamiliar with mREITs: These companies make money by borrowing at short-term rates to purchase mortgages, which deliver income at long-term rates. Their profit is the difference, so the hope, of course, is that short-term rates are lower than long-term rates (which they typically are). AGNC is an 'agency' mREIT that deals in residential mortgage-backed securities (MBSs) from government agencies such as the Federal National Mortgage Association (Fannie Mae), the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation (Freddie Mac) and the Government National Mortgage Association (Ginnie Mae). Agency MBSes tend to be much safer than their private counterparts because the federal government backs agency mortgages (or in the case of Ginnie Mae, mortgage securities). As a result, agency mREITs tend to use a lot of debt leverage to make the most out of their investments—a welcome accelerant when rates head lower, but problematic when rates are high and headed north. As the chart here shows, the rate environment (and the rate-expectation environment) has been volatile over the past year or so. But spreads are tightening again, and importantly, AGNC is doing more with that than the mREIT industry as a whole. AGNC Outperforms Despite its performance, AGNC is among the cheaper mREITs right now, at just less than 6 times earnings estimates for this year. Dividend coverage is on the tight side (~90%), though. That's manageable—as long as hedging-related expenses don't get out of hand. Brett Owens is Chief Investment Strategist for Contrarian Outlook. For more great income ideas, get your free copy his latest special report: How to Live off Huge Monthly Dividends (up to 8.7%) — Practically Forever. Disclosure: none
