Well, what’s an investor supposed to do on a day when the Dow falls some 800 points and all the major U.S. indices are off by more than 2%?

Me, I take a perverse enjoyment watching markets tank. And I remind myself of the big picture — my portfolio, like most, is up substantially in recent years. And I haven’t suffered any real losses in the current selloff because I haven’t joined the herd that is selling in a panic.

Still, I looked across my portfolio at market close today, and I really didn’t see too many stocks that looked like they were priced attractively enough to buy on the dip, as they say. And with recession signs popping up in the economy and an administration that has been putting on a debt-laden show of fiscal and monetary mismanagement, I’m not ready to bet against the economic pessimists right now.

Still, I added a few shares to my Clearway Energy (CWEN) holdings today, but I’d been planning to beef up my stake anyway. And I read an article in Barron’s that reminded me that growth investing has outpaced value investing in recent years, leaving me feeling like an investor who got on the slow train.

Still, Barron’s told me that Goldman Sachs researchers are taking an optimistic view on dividend growth next year and beyond, predicting that S&P 500 companies will increase dividends by 6% overall next year, down from 8% this year. According to the article, a dividend swap measure predicts that dividend growth will slow to 1% next year. Goldman’s report predicts that technology, financial and health care companies will lead the pack in raising dividends in 2020.

Hard to believe that 2020 is right around the corner, isn’t it?

 

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