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A new class of weight-loss drugs that help people lose weight without dieting or exercising is showing promise for investors. These pharmaceuticals, known as GLP-1s, enable obese and overweight individuals to lose 15% to 20% of their body weight. The success of these drugs could have implications beyond weight loss, potentially impacting snack makers, packaged-food firms, and medical device makers. The market for obesity drugs is projected to grow significantly, reaching $100 billion by 2030. The article highlights two leading companies in this space, Eli Lilly and Novo Nordisk, as well as other potential competitors like Amgen, Viking Therapeutics, and Structure Therapeutics. [Extracted from the article]

POOLS OF STOCKS DIVERSIFY WITH FUNDS These ETFs offer investors an array of H2O-focused firms. The company rewarded investors earlier this year by boosting the quarterly dividend by 9%. Foreign holdings include U.K. utility Severn Trent and Paris-based wastewater-treatment firm Veolia Environmental Services. Advanced Drainage Systems is a pure-play water stock that gets most of its revenues (95%) from water-related activities, according to investment research firm Morningstar. [Extracted from the article]

Unlike last year, when 42 S&P 500 companies suspended dividends to preserve cash during the pandemic, just one stock halted payouts this year. The company hiked its dividend by 10% in early 2021, and over the past 12 months its shares have risen 33.1%, topping the S&P 500. A record profit rebound for U.S. companies powered by the reopening of the economy puts the S&P 500 index on track in 2021 for its 10th straight year of record dividend payouts. But the company's 13% dividend hike announced in September is the biggest of any of the Dividend 15 members in the past year. [Extracted from the article]

ARK FINTECH INNOVATION ETF (ARKF, $50, 0.75%) is actively managed and holds almost 40 stocks in large and midsize companies. Splunk, another top holding, is a software firm that monitors and analyzes machine data to help companies identify cyber threats and gain a business edge. GABELLI PET PARENTS FUND (PETZX, 0.90%) is a mutual fund that invests in companies that derive at least half of their sales or profits from the pet industry. ISHARES ROBOTICS AND ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE MULTISECTOR ETF (SYMBOL IRBO, $43, EXPENSE RATIO 0.47%) tracks an index of companies in developed and emerging markets that stand to gain from growth in robotics and AI technology. [Extracted from the article]

The S&P Composite 1500 ESG index, a broad measure of ESG-focused stocks covering U.S. companies of all sizes, returned 36.4% over the past year - barely a hair less than the 36.6% return of the S&P Composite 1500, its non-ESG cousin. INVESTING INVESTING This month we're introducing the Kiplinger ESG 20, the list of our favorite stocks and funds that excel at meeting environmental, social and corporate governance challenges. Some might seek to make a measurable impact on a specific sustainability challenge; others might focus on one ESG pillar or another, integrate ESG criteria into a broader investment strategy, or even actively engage with companies to improve their ESG profiles. FLEXSHARES STOXX GLOBAL ESG SELECT INDEX ETF This exchange-traded fund invests in large companies all over the world that score high on ESG measures. [Extracted from the article]

The fund delivers a tax-equivalent yield of 4.44% for an investor in the highest federal tax bracket of 37% (not including surcharges), or a 3.68% tax-equivalent yield for taxpayers in the 24% bracket. HIGH-YIELD BONDS Investors willing to take on more risk to earn fatter yields should consider high-yield bonds, issued by firms with less-than-stellar financials, says BlackRock's Fredericks. Yields have moved up so fast that conventional measures - such as 30-day SEC yields, which use yields over the past 30 days to extrapolate an annual yield and are commonly used to compare funds - are lagging real-time yields, fund managers say. [Extracted from the article]

But over the past year through the end of May, as inflation jumped from 4% to more than 8%, the wine index has shone, rising 19% while the S&P 500 declined 2%. That trailed the S&P 500 index's 71% and 215% price gains over the same time periods. INVESTING Now that the inflation genie is out of the bottle, there's growing affection for so-called passion investments. [Extracted from the article]

CLASSIC INFLATION PLAYS Fight higher inflation directly by buying Treasury inflation-protected securities. INVESTING PORTFOLIO INVESTORS FEAR INFLATION in the same way Superman dreads a pile of kryptonite. INDIRECT BENEFICIARIES Inflation can be insidious for bond investors, whose fixed interest payments increasingly lose purchasing power and whose bond prices often decline as interest rates rise in response to inflation. [Extracted from the article]

The stock yields a modest 0.50%, but Zoetis has increased its dividend every year since its initial public offering. The stock yields 2.8%, more than double the 1.3% yield of the S&P 500. '.31.8%27.2%MedtronicMDT1290.811.9635.414.3PepsiCoPEP1540.612.7916.612.3PfizerPFE450.733.4625.27.4Republic ServicesRSG1180.711.5636.519.0ZoetisZTS2020.650.5025.730.2S&P 500 INDEX1.001.37%34.5%18.0!. [Extracted from the article]

The S&P 500 has a history of dropping seven months before a recession starts, on average, and turning up four months before a recession ends, CFRA data show. FUNDAMENTALS IS THE ECONOMY REALLY IN RECESSION?. [Extracted from the article]

Unlucky investors on the wrong side of a market return sequence can protect their portfolios by reducing the size of their retirement account distributions, especially from stock holdings. The sequence of returns "can make a difference between having enough money to last throughout your life span or running out of money or cutting back on the lifestyle you planned for", says Amy Arnott, a portfolio strategist at Morningstar. FUNDAMENTALS AFTER SQUIRRELING AWAY money in a 401(k) or IRA for decades, the last thing you need is a stock market downturn at the start of your golden years. [Extracted from the article]

ESG Funds These funds might focus on an ESG category, seek a measurable impact on a specific challenge, integrate ESG criteria into a broader strategy or engage with firms to improve ESG practices. [Extracted from the article]

Some dividend-growth ETFs track only companies that have increased their dividend for five, 10 or 25 consecutive years. The ETF's one-year return of 27.6% is three points ahead of the mutual fund's one-year gain; the ETF's three-year annualized return of 23.7% trounces the mutual fund's 14.3%. VANGUARD DIVIDEND APPRECIATION ETF (VIG, $169), with an expense ratio of 0.06%, is a good choice if you're looking for companies with sustainable dividends. [Extracted from the article]

Preferred shares yield more than common stocks and deliver payouts that are larger than most types of bonds, which is a plus in low-interest-rate environments. Preferred stock dividends are senior to those of common stocks, meaning they get paid first, but preferreds typically do not confer voting rights, as common stocks do. Investors looking for consistent income can explore preferred stocks - hybrid securities that have both stock and bond characteristics and make regular dividend payments. [Extracted from the article]

OAKMARK INTERNATIONAL (OAKIX, 1.04%) is a Morningstar gold-rated fund that seeks stocks trading 30% below their business value using what Morningstar analyst Andrew Daniels calls "old-fashioned detective work." Studies show that active funds that invest in small and midsize companies, foreign shares and intermediate-term bonds, for instance, have had more success beating their benchmarks than funds in other market segments, according to Morningstar. FUNDAMENTALS FUNDAMENTALS IT'S HARD TO BEAT THE MARKET AND THE index funds that track them. [Extracted from the article]

The long-term investing outlook favors green-friendly energy firms, but shares of oil and gas companies tend to perform well in periods, like now, when crude and natural gas prices are on the rise and demand is outstripping supply. The biggest beneficiaries of rising energy prices are the companies that "own the oil and gas under the ground and sell it when it comes to the surface", says CFRA's Glickman. Oil and gas execs have been "beaten over the head by investors and ESG proponents who say, "stop the development of fossil fuels", " says Stewart Glickman, energy analyst at CFRA, a Wall Street research firm. [Extracted from the article]

Although you won't grab all the market's upside in strong markets, holding a large mix of low-volatility stocks will limit your downside when the market weakens. Rosenbluth likes INVESCO S&P 500 LOW VOLATILITY ETF (SPLV, $62), which owns the 100 least-volatile stocks in the S&P 500 and weights the fund not by market value but by volatility. A good choice is VANGUARD HIGH DIVIDEND YIELD INDEX ETF (VYM, $106), which yields 2.7% - double the S&P 500's yield. [Extracted from the article]

A fund's "glide path" (or how its portfolio transitions from aggressive to conservative over time) varies by fund firm. If stock picking or fund selection isn't your strong suit, consider a target-date fund, a single-fund portfolio that holds stocks, bonds and sometimes cash in various combinations. The old-school balanced portfolio of 60% stocks, 40% bonds is another option to consider, as the bond portion provides diversification, income and a smoother ride with fewer wild price swings. [Extracted from the article]

It's where the company narrows potentially thousands of ESG issues to a short list of the ones that matter most and shares its plan to mitigate ESG risks. For now, with regulations and disclosure practices in flux, investors can be susceptible to "greenwashing", which occurs when a company embellishes its ESG profile. And investors are pressuring firms to provide more data and transparency around ESG. [Extracted from the article]

Among our dividend stalwarts (companies that have raised their dividend at least 20 straight years), Procter & Gamble, which has the longest streak of our favorites, raised its dividend for the 66th consecutive year. WHEN THE STOCK MARKET HITS A rough patch, it can pay to hide out in dividend-paying stocks. [Extracted from the article]

Well, failing to compile a shopping list of stocks to buy when the next big market drop occurs - and shares go on sale - can also be costly. Savvy investors take advantage of those unpleasant market downturns to fill their shopping carts with stocks they covet at more-attractive prices. [Extracted from the article]

In Fed tightening cycles in 1994, 2004 and 2016, dividend growth stocks posted an average total return of 13.9%, compared with 5.5% for the S&P. And since 1990, when inflation was greater than 3.8% (as it is now), dividend growth stocks posted an average year-over-year total return of 17.6%; the S&P 500, 11.8%. ADAM SHELL THE KIPLINGER DIVIDEND 15: BY THE NUMBERS Picking some stocks from each of the groups below will give you a mix of dividend income and growth. and growth. He notes that dividend growth stocks beat the S&P 500 during periods when the Fed is raising interest rates, for example. [Extracted from the article]

The stock market's dependence on today's record-low rates makes it the most interest- rate-sensitive market in history. After October stock market crashes in 1929 and 1987 and the October 2008 meltdown during the financial crisis, Wall Street gets the jitters this time of year. [Extracted from the article]

Exchange-traded investment products come in a few different flavors, with important differences. For example, ETFs, shorthand for exchange-traded funds, and ETNs, the acronym for exchange-traded notes, sure sound a lot alike. And ETNs offer the ability to invest in niche asset classes, such as commodities or currencies, and deliver a tax break (because ETNs don't distribute dividend or interest income). [Extracted from the article]