2013 Top Dividend Stocks

With the first half of 2013 in the books, it's time to evaluate what has been going on in the world of stocks. Year to date, the Dow Jones Industrials Index is up 13.78%, S&P 500 is up 12.63%, and the Nasdaq is up 12.71%, which are pretty good gains considering the selling that has been going on lately. Of the thirty stocks I follow, which I have labeled Abba's Aces, 22 of them are beating the S&P 500 with only one in the red; you guessed it, Apple (AAPL). All the stocks I follow are dividend paying stocks, and I know what you are thinking at this particular moment; "Dividend paying stocks are getting butchered because bond yields are increasing, therefore people are leaving dividend paying stocks for the safer asset class and depreciating the price of the stock." In my strategy, I don't just go for stocks with great yields, I go for stocks with okay yields but that can provide capital appreciation in terms of earnings growth.

The thing I've noticed about the thirty that I monitor is that the top four gainers on the year are mid-cap companies; Cracker Barrel, Dunkin Donuts (DNKN), Williams - Sonoma (WSM), and Hasbro. Not only are the top four gainers mid-cap stocks, but all my mid-cap stocks beat out the S&P 500. I believe the rest of the year is going to be choppy and would not be surprised if the year ends with this current 12% gain on the S&P 500. With the pattern I've picked up on for the mid-cap stocks, I will be looking at them more intently throughout the next six months and picking up some more of them on the dips. The current list of mid-caps include KLA-Tencor (KLAC), L-3 Communications (LLL), Cincinnati Financial (CINF), and the other four I mentioned at the top part of this conclusion.

Source: Seeking Alpha

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