The market’s preferred measure of volatility—the Chicago Board Options Exchange's Volatility Index (VIX)—has been trending higher ahead of election day. So, if you’re looking for a rewarding but relatively safe haven for your money amid pre-election stock market volatility, dividend stocks may be the answer. Yes, you can invest in low-risk CDs, but with help from an industry expert, we’ve identified a list of stocks whose dividends exceed the 5.50% annual percentage yield (APY) that the 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:best CD rate is currently paying. And the good news is that you can identify these investment opportunities yourself, whenever you want, using 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:the best stock screeners and 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:online brokerage platforms.

Top Dividend Stocks Right Now

Stock screeners found on standalone platforms, as well as on online brokers and trading platforms, are excellent tools for finding all types of investing opportunities. Financial advisors are another source of ideas. According to Paul Schatz, president of Heritage Capital and treasurer of the National Association o♒f Active Investment Managers (NAAIM), there are higher yield opportunities in the pharmaceuticals, energy, consumer staples, utilities, banks, and telecommunications industries.

Looking at a few specific companies, stocks, and fundsཧ, you can earn dividends worth more than the top-paying 5.50% CD right now. These four stocks below all paid out over 5.00% as of Oct. 28, accordin꧟g to Morningstar Direct:

• Energy Transfer LP (ET) (natural gas pipeline and storage facility operator, natural gas seller): 7.71% yield
• Enterprise Products Partners LP (EPD) (natural gas, oil pipeline firm): 7.05% yield
• Verizon Communications Inc. (VZ) (telecommunications company): 6.42% yield
• Pfizer Inc. (PFE) (pharmaceutical and biotechnology multinational): 5.79% yield

Searching for Dividend Stocks

When using popular screeners like and , one way to focus your search is by focusing on sectors likely to benefit from the presidential election. Sectors likely to receive a tailwind from a Trump win are financials, energy, industrials, and defense, according to senior economist Jose Torres. A Harris victory should help technology, electric vehicles, renewable energy, and homebuilders.

Using the 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:Fidelity Investments brokerage screener (account required), you can look at 550 stocks in the energy sector and narrow them down to 10 securities with yields between 6.00% and 10.00%, with positive earnings per share (EPS) growth this year versus last year, and with institutional ownership gro🍨wth of more than 1.00% in recent quarters. Those latter two traits h𒀰elp you identify stocks with strong total return prospects in the near term.

A few stocks that you may see as a result of this tactic include MPLX LP (MPLX), Hess 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:Mainstream LP (HESM), Sunoco LP (SUN), and 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:Noble Corporation PLC (NE).

Stock screeners also let yဣou include mutual funds and exchange-traded funds (ETFs) in your search, or even confine your hunt to such pooled assets. If you do that, your list of prospects can include another one of Schatz’s recommendations, such as the Alerian MLP ETF (AMLP), an ETF that tracks energy infrastructure master limited partnerships, whose dividend yield is 7.73%, as of Oct. 28.

No Stock Is Risk-Free

Just remember, this approach is no cure-a𒉰ll. No stock is totally risk-fre🐭e.

“[That] is a dangerous term,” said Ric Edelman, a financial advisor and host of “The Truth About Your Future with Ric Edelman” podcast. “In short, the higher the yield, the higher the risk. Those [investors] who chase higher yields are ofte𒈔n unhappy to discover that while they earn more interest, they lose principal.”

But historically, dividend stocks are 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:less sensitiv🦂e to market volatility than non-dividend stocks.

Typically, public companies start to pay regular 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:dividends once they grow i𝕴nto a level of stability. The more consistent dividends are, the more that shareholders reward a company for maintaining that income stream.

Why are the highest yielding stocks often risky? Because sometimes a high dividend yield澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网: indicate෴s that a company is in distress. So it’s important to weigh many factors when searching for 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:dividend opportunities. A good place to start when screening for ideas is by including total returns over long-term periods such as the past 10 years, and by comparing stocks to♌ the broad market in the form of the S&P 500 Index.

Another approach to income investing involves targeting stocks with a history of raising dividends every year. Such stocks typically try hard to avoid losing that distinction. An S&P 500 company that has increased its dividend for at least 25 straight years is a “澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:dividend aristocrat.”

Of course, CDs should also be part of your financial and investment game plans. With their fixed rates and generally stable underlying assets, CDs can be shock absorbers against market plunges, and they are even accessible when arranged in so-called ladders of staggered maturity dates. And no matter who wins the election next week, locking in one of the 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:best CD rates now could guarantee returns well into 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:2025, 2026, or longer.