As is often the case, I find myself tinkering with my portfolio of dividend stocks, buying a bit of this and selling a bit of that. Since I enjoy buying more than selling, I get a little nervous thinking about what impact rising rates will have on the stocks I’m buying today.

On Tuesday, Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell told congress that economic growth remains “solid,” and he said the Fed “believes that – for now – the best way forward is to keep gradually raising” interest rates. Higher rates are already dampening the appeal of high dividend stocks. So far this week, the market cap of my little portfolio has slipped a bit even as the overall market has edged up.

That said, I think market timing is a fool’s errand, so I plow ahead with my general strategy of trying to grow my portfolio while maintaining a high dividend yield.

This week, I’m decided to add a financial services firm to my portfolio, adding a sector not covered by my previous-eight stock portfolio. Because I keep stakes in such a small number of firms, I want to make sure I maintain sector diversification. Generally, I own only one stock in any given market sector.

Tune in Friday after the close (which I’m planning to make the publication schedule for my weekly dividend pick) to find out which stock I picked. Got any thoughts? Among the firms I’ve considered are IVZ, UBS, WFC, and C. Not that I’ve made any final pick yet, so other candidates could enter the ring between now and the end of the week.

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