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Bonds Are a 'Safe' Investment: A Big Lie Gets Even Bigger"Most of the government 's proposed changes for the financial markets aren't new or needed; but what will happen will be a boost for some and a bane for others," says Neil George.
Long-known in the newsletter community for his expertise in income investing, the advisor has just launched a new blog service, Stocks that Pay You. Here, he looks at some winners and losers from the current proposals for financial regulation.
George says, "In my view, these supposedly massive changes amount to window dressing. Banks and other related firms can continue to do what they've always done: cherry pick regulators and play off one regulator against another.
"So, unless we get the government actually empowering the guys down the line inside all of these agencies and departments, don't look for any big changes, because - while the players and the names might be changing - the contest is staying the same.
"The potential losers in this process will be some of the Federal Thrifts or FSBs that will have to go through a rebuilding of their corporate charters. This will cost money and bring a lot of attention to them and their capital bases.
"If you happen to own any thrifts - and there are about a thousand public and private ones around the nation - you might want to cash out and wait for the dust to settle.
"Meanwhile, on the national side of the banking business, little is really changing. For investors in institutions with Federal capital as well as those that have bought themselves out of Federal capital, the changes should be viewed as good news that the firms will continue to be allowed to operate as they have been.
"This includes two sets of investments that I've been writing about for some time now. First are my two recommended bank preferred stocks.
"One is the Regions Financing Trust III Z (NYSE: RF-Z), with an 8.875% dividend that's continued to trade higher - currently around 21 and above - giving you a very nice high yield of over 10%.
"The other is a local Saint Louis favorite of mine: First Prd. Capital Trust IV (NYSE: FBS-A) has a dividend of 8.15% and is trading ever higher again in the mid to upper 19 dollar range - resulting in a great high yield for retirement income of over 10%.
"The second set of investments include my favorite bank mini-bonds. These are bonds that have been packaged to trade like stocks - or at least preferred stocks that are again really just bonds.
"A couple of favorites that are trading and paying you well to own them include the Goldman Sachs Corporate Backed Trust 5.8% minibond (NYSE: JZS), trading in the 17 dollar range giving you a high yield of over 8%.
"And the other is a Bank of America 5.875% minibond (NYSE: IKM) trading at a nice discount of 18 or so bucks each - giving you a big high yield dividend of just shy of 8%."
Steven Halpern's TheStockAdvisors.com offers a free daily overview of the favorite stock picks and investment ideas from the nation's leading financial newsletter advisors.
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