Helping you make better long-term investment decisions...

Clearly, there must be a typo in that headline. I’m the one who is always preaching about getting the yield you deserve. So, why would I even consider buying a company that can’t keep its payouts reliable?

Last week I noted the problems of sitting down with a blank screen and trying to figure out what to write. This week I have the opposite problem: I have well over 20 important research notes from various authorities about inflation, Federal Reserve policy, and interest rates. The challenge will be to summarize the most important points.

Last week's issue generated more thoughtful replies than we expected. What struck me wasn't that some of you disagreed with a point or two. It was what you agreed on. Almost nobody argued that nothing had changed. The debate was over why.

I have a lot of short conversations about dividend stocks. They go something like this:

“Oh, your specialty is dividend stocks? What do you think about XYZ?”

I had intended to write about Japan today, with 10-year JGB yields hitting 2.9% last week—the highest since September 1996—and the yen hanging around a 40-year low of 162 to the dollar.

Next month I will begin my 27th year of writing this letter. The way I write, how I come up with topics, when I write have all changed over time. But one thing is consistent: when I sit down to write there is a blank screen. Some weeks topics are obvious. Some weeks I scramble as the fear of a blank screen forces me to just start writing. On a few occasions those are my better pieces. Often, well, let’s just say that those letters will make the top of the list.