The broad market had another uneventful day, which is respectable news for investors. In fact, since the despicable month of May and early June, the markets have more or less rallied while doomsday news reports dissipated. So have investors discounted the perilous debt situation in Europe and subsequent economic slowdown? According to the U.S. Treasury yield and the S&P Volatility Index
The data shows investors are moving away from the safety of Treasuries, but are they truly disregarding the economic uncertainty that's still looming? Unlikely. In the following chart, you can see that the 10 highest dividend payers in the Dow Jones Industrial Average
Source: S&P Capital IQ.
It appears investors are still uncertain about the future, but instead of placing their money in Treasuries and effectively gaining negative returns after inflation, they are purchasing less risky, decently sized dividend payers while they wait for the Federal Reserve's next policy meeting.
So who have been the most rewarding high-dividend-paying companies since mid-June? Merck
Cisco
Takeaway
The Federal Reserve will reconvene at end of August and resume its discourse over monetary policy, likely changing the market's temperament. However, smart investors should stay the course and continue to find healthy blue-chip companies with sizable dividends. The best way to build a sizable portfolio is by keeping a long-term focus, and we can help you with our excellent free report, "3 Dow Stocks Loved by Dividend Investors." This free report will detail some of the Dow's other winners and stocks that can benefit every portfolio.