The Trading Layer -- What Do I Do With All of This Data?
Wow, that's a lot of data... now what do I do with it?
As always, please read our disclaimer. Important!
Dividend Farmer provides a LOT of data.
Most dividend newsletters (as far as we’ve been able to tell) mostly cover one or two stocks per week — at most.
They do a “deep dive” on a single stock or ETF, talk about how it hits all of the “sweet spots” of falling into one of the following groups…
Dividend Kings
Dividend Aristocrats
Dividend Champions
Dividend Contenders
Dividend Challengers
…and then most dividend newsletters basically rehash picks from those lists over and over again never really doing anything (or covering anything) new.
While those deep dives are occasionally good, overall coverage in most dividend newsletters is very narrow.
What we’ve tried to do at Dividend Farmer is widen the lens sufficiently to cover pretty much everything (26 sectors and 650+ stocks per quarter)…
…and in sufficient volume so that just about everyone can get something out of the data we provide.
Most folks tend to fall into one of the following categories below. And depending on where you fit, we will describe each of those categories and talk about how you can best make use of the data here on Dividend Farmer.
The Casual Investor
Most folks fall into this category. You’ve got most of your money locked up in 401(k)s, 403(b)s, work with a professional advisor, or have opted into one of the “self-service” robo-advisors like Betterment or Wealthfront.
You like money — but the amount of time you want to spend thinking about money and investing — is zero.
So if you do any investing at all — it’s mostly a kind of hobby that you do on weekends or when you’re bored.
You’ve maybe got a few thousand in risk capital, and so you play around with that in a self-directed account from time to time when you have nothing else to do.
If that’s the case, then dividend investing mostly isn’t going to provide the excitement you are looking for.
You’re going to buy a few shares of whatever is hot on Reddit’s r/wallstreetbets and have some fun: soft gambling without ever having to go to the casino.
The only places that are really exciting on the dividend front are either the high yield weekly payers…
…or YieldMax…
…where you’ve got 100% plus distributions in some cases (though terrible NAV erosion problems):
So that’s a little bit of “soft gambling” in the dividend space — definitely not for the faint of heart — but it’s also possible to generate some “weekly-paying beer money” if you pick the right ones.
The More Than Casual Investor
The More Than Casual Investor is looking for a little more depth — but not much.
They are still on the “usual dividend newsletter” bus — looking for just a few ideas here and there to add to a portfolio of self-directed risk capital.
At that point, our “free picks” are probably enough for most people in this group.
We usually give away our top pick in the “Yield” or “Yield + Capital Gain” ranking in each post (depending on the post). We do that as a kind of teaser for those interested in a deeper dive — but also to provide regular folks with some quality picks (and lots of them).
At that point we’ve basically provided what most dividend newsletters do — and for free (though our free analyses are limited to a couple of short paragraphs).
And getting those is easy. Just sign up for a free subscription…
…and watch them roll into your inbox.
If you’re new here, and are looking for what we’ve done recently, just hit the archive…
https://dividendfarmer.substack.com/archive
…and start scrolling and clicking to get those free picks.
Or check out the index for the most recent quarterly run and start clicking on the sector links.
And for the Casual Investor and More Than Casual Investor — that’s probably all you will ever need: a few interesting picks here and there to apply to some very small pools of risk capital primarily for “beer and fun money.”
We’re not making fun of that — beer and fun money is really important!
Speaking of, if you’d like to send us a coffee (or a round of beers) to help us keep going, you can do so here:
https://dividendfarmer.gumroad.com/coffee
The More Serious Dividend Investor
But this site is mostly designed for the More Serious Dividend Investor — the folks who have invested in things like VIG (1.76% yield over the past year) and then wonder “why am I investing in (dividend-paying) VIG when I can get way better yield — in a 6-month CD?”
And VIG is one of the largest dividend funds in the world — $119.98 billion in AUM.
By way of comparison, here are all of the other “Big Dogs” by assets under management…
…and the “low yield phenomenon” isn’t limited to just one of those mega funds — it’s pretty much true of all of them.
So at that point you’re investing in all of the things “you should invest in” as a retiree or dedicated dividend investor.
But you are probably also somewhat dissatisfied and have realized that a) most of the professionally managed “mega dividend funds” actually have terrible yield and b) you wonder if you could do better.
So what do you do then?
Well, you can follow the “Rule of Eight” per this article…
…and then you can start to play a bit of limited “Moneyball for Dividends.”
And while it’s not worth going into depth on both of those articles, the basic point of those is to answer the question “can I beat the big funds by picking a DIY dividend portfolio on my own?”
The answer to that is — in terms of yield — definitely yes.
If you are lazy, it’s probably just better to pick one of the mega funds and/or do a bit of soft gambling (which is what everyone really wants to do) with some of the higher-yield weekly payers:
But if you are a bit more serious about dividend investing, dabbling in a bit of “Moneyball for Dividends” is kind of an interesting project.
And to do that, you blend together your own DIY portfolios from the data you find here on Dividend Farmer — to make your own “Moneyball for Dividends” team(s).
The Serious Dividend Investor
Well, the Serious Dividend Investor has read the article on “The Rule of Eight”…
…and the article on Moneyball for Dividends…
…and they are all in.
Typically folks in the Serious Dividend Investor category are either dedicated dividend investors, retirees with a lot of free time and a mathematical bent, or are enthusiastic investors who like the challenge of trying to beat the market.
“Beating the market” in terms of what the large funds are doing in terms of yield — is not that hard.
But most folks in the Serious Dividend Investor group like the challenge of optimizing their portfolio and aren’t afraid of getting their hands dirty to try to figure it out.
Folks in this category will get a lot out of Dividend Farmer because of how we rank things. And the short little analyses are quick reads that don’t require the interpretation of eye-crossing spreadsheets.
Plus, we put our quarterly run into charts each time — so you don’t even really need to read — just look at the pictures!
At that point the true value of Dividend Farmer becomes apparent because you’ve breached the paywall…
…and have a VERY deep pool of possibilities to select from for your “Moneyball for Dividends” team.
And whether you are a math whiz or just like to look at pictures (i.e. the chart book) — we’ve provided a way for most folks to access all of that information.
The Quants and Professionals
If you are a quant or professional investor — there’s a lot here for you too.
Since we cover pretty much everything in the dividend paying space (some $30+ trillion in market capitalization covered each quarter) — if a stock or ETF pays a dividend — you can probably find it here.
We don’t cover everything that pays a dividend, nor do we cover mutual funds, but if you are looking for ways to build innovative portfolios for clients (or for yourself) — Dividend Farmer is a good place to start.
The Artists
And then there are the artists — those who visit Dividend Farmer just for the gnome art (yes we have a few of those).
But also… the Dividend Artists — the few who can turn “Moneyball for Dividends” into an art form.
Conclusion
So wherever you sit on the spectrum — from Very Casual Investor to Dividend Artist — there’s something here for everyone.
So subscribe!
Or if you like what we’re doing, buy us a coffee or round of beers!
https://dividendfarmer.gumroad.com/coffee
Enjoy.