New Ceramic Battery Could Replace Lithium-Ion Batteries
por Brian Westenhaus

Oilprice.com / 2023-04-03 20:0460


Researchers at Vienna University of Technology have developed an oxygen-ion battery based on ceramic materials that has a longer lifespan than lithium-ion batteries.
The new battery can be regenerated and does not require rare elements, making it an ideal solution for large energy storage systems.
While the battery's energy density is lower than that of lithium-ion batteries, its strengths lie in its long service life and incombustible properties.
Scientists at Vienna University of Technology have invented a new oxygen ion battery chemistry based on ceramic materials. If it degrades, it can be regenerated, therefore it potentially has an extremely long lifespan. Also, it does not require any rare elements and it is incombustible. For large energy storage systems, this could be an optimal solution.

Power and energy density comparison chart of modern battery chemistries and a fuel cell with a plot of the new oxygen ion chemistry. 

Lithium-ion batteries are common today – from electric cars to smartphones. But that does not mean that they are the best solution for all areas of application. TU Wien has now succeeded in developing an oxygen-ion battery that has some important advantages. Although it does not allow for as high of energy densities as the lithium-ion battery, its storage capacity does not decrease irrevocably over time: it can be regenerated and thus may enable an extremely long service life.

In addition, oxygen-ion batteries can be produced without rare elements and are made of incombustible materials. A patent application for the new battery idea has already been filed together with cooperation partners from Spain. The oxygen-ion battery could be an excellent solution for large energy storage systems, for example to store electrical energy from renewable sources.

The paper describing the research 'Rechargeable Oxide Ion Batteries Based on Mixed Conducting Oxide Electrodes.' has been published in the journal Advanced Energy Materials.

Ceramic materials as a new solution

Alexander Schmid from the Institute for Chemical Technologies and Analytics at TU Wien noted, "We have had a lot of experience with ceramic materials that can be used for fuel cells for quite some time. That gave us the idea of investigating whether such materials might also be suitable for making a battery."

The ceramic materials that the TU Wien team studied can absorb and release doubly negatively charged oxygen ions. When an electric voltage is applied, the oxygen ions migrate from one ceramic material to another, after which they can be made to migrate back again, thus generating electric current.

Professor Jürgen Fleig explained, "The basic principle is actually very similar to the lithium-ion battery. But our materials have some important advantages."

Ceramics are not flammable – so fire accidents, which occur time and again with lithium-ion batteries, are practically ruled out. In addition, there is no need for rare elements, which are expensive or can only be extracted in an environmentally harmful way.

Tobias Huber expanded the explanation with, "In this respect, the use of ceramic materials is a great advantage because they can be adapted very well. You can replace certain elements that are difficult to obtain with others relatively easily."

The prototype of the battery still uses lanthanum – an element that is not exactly rare but not completely common either. But even lanthanum is to be replaced by something cheaper, and research into this is already underway. Cobalt or nickel, which are used in many batteries, are not used at all.

High life span

 But perhaps the most important advantage of the new battery technology is its potential longevity.

"In many batteries, you have the problem that at some point the charge carriers can no longer move," said Alexander Schmid. "Then they can no longer be used to generate electricity, the capacity of the battery decreases. After many charging cycles, that can become a serious problem."

The oxygen-ion battery, however, can be regenerated without any problems: If oxygen is lost due to side reactions, then the loss can simply be compensated for by oxygen from the ambient air.

The new battery concept is not intended for smartphones or electric cars, because the oxygen-ion battery only achieves about a third of the energy density that one is used to from lithium-ion batteries and runs at temperatures between 200 and 400° C. The technology is, however, extremely interesting for storing energy.

Alexander Schmid makes the case this way, "If you need a large energy storage unit to temporarily store solar or wind energy, for example, the oxygen-ion battery could be an excellent solution. If you construct an entire building full of energy storage modules, the lower energy density and increased operating temperature do not play a decisive role. But the strengths of our battery would be particularly important there: the long service life, the possibility of producing large quantities of these materials without rare elements, and the fact that there is no fire hazard with these batteries."

***

This battery technology does have a serious level of promise. Even at only a third of lithium ion capacity the longevity has to have a very large impact. A daily cycled lithium ion battery should perform well into the third year, but how would that compete with a battery that might last 20 years or more? Would the lithium ion solution of the same capacity cost 80% less?

The metric of concern is the cost to make the ceramic and package it. Building a service center of these batteries might be lower cost or not, but a comparison to lithium ion needs to come.

The problem is going to be the costs to heat the battery sets and keep them at 200 to 400° C. That's a bit under the ignition temp of paper up past the temperature of dry steam.

But nothing mentioned exceeds or even really heavily challenges conventional engineering. So. Lets hope getting a prototype up and running happens soon to find the unforeseen matters that need exposed.

By Brian Westenhaus via New Energy and Fuel 

More Top Reads From Oilprice.com:

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Stock Market Sell-Off: Where to Invest $500 Right Now

por newsfeedback@fool.com (Jon Quast)

The Motley Fool / 2023-04-01 14:179


I don't know how much $500 is to you personally, but I do know it's a lot of money to many people.

According to research by The Motley Fool, the median annual family income in the U.S. was almost $70,000 in 2021, which works out to about $5,800 per month. Let's say the median family saved 10% of monthly income for investing in stocks -- a percentage worthy of applause. For such a money-smart family, $500 would almost be an entire monthly investment.

With this in mind, I'm treating a $500 investment as one whole position in a diversified portfolio -- if you invest the Motley Fool way, you'll be looking to build a portfolio of at least 25 companies. And buying stocks during a pullback like right now (the S&P 500 is down 17% from its all-time high) is a great time to do it.

However, rather than shortchange you with just one idea for your portfolio today, I'll be giving you three different ideas: equipment-rental company United Rentals (URI 2.48%), furniture company Lovesac (LOVE 4.75%), and online education platform Udemy (UDMY 3.28%). And each idea could serve a different purpose in a portfolio.

1. United Rentals: The safe dividend-growth opportunity
If I were starting out today, I would want to begin by laying a strong foundation for my portfolio. And United Rentals is the kind of company that can be foundational, in my opinion.

It has a long history of market-beating returns. And it just started paying a dividend, leaving plenty of room to grow it in the future.

According to management, United Rentals finished 2022 with 17% market share in the equipment-rental space in North America with nearly 1,500 locations. It has over 1 million equipment units (backhoes, water pumps, scissor lifts, and more), which are valued at nearly $20 billion. That scale is hard to replicate and gives it a competitive advantage.

As long as people need equipment to do jobs, United Rentals has a reliable business. Moreover, it has a very profitable business: It has generated positive free cash flow in 17 of the past 20 years. And management expects more than $2 billion in free cash flow in 2023, which should be around a 15% margin.

Management has options for its cash flow, including acquiring other companies and repurchasing shares; it frequently does both. But it also just started using some of its cash to pay a quarterly dividend of $1.48 per share. For perspective, that's only about 20% of its earnings, leaving plenty of room to increase the dividend in the future.

And if United Rentals isn't up your alley, don't worry: There are other safe, dividend-growth opportunities out there for laying a strong foundation in your portfolio.

2. Lovesac: The profitable growth company
United Rentals' revenue is up around 66% over the past five years. But that doesn't hold a candle to Lovesac's revenue growth of more than 400% during this time. The company's high-quality beanbag chairs and sectional couches are increasingly in demand.

And high margins allow it to turn a profit while it grows. This is a great kind of company to add to a portfolio as you build beyond your foundational stocks.

On the surface, one would think that Lovesac is just another furniture company. But it has some important distinctions. Nearly 90% of sales come from its sectional couches, called Sactionals. And this has many advantages for the business.

For starters, Lovesac is constantly updating its Sactionals. In 2021, it released its StealthTech technology, which provides immersive sound and wireless charging for phones. In a brilliant move, management makes all new Sactional add-on products backward compatible so existing customers can spend more over time. In this way, Lovesac can extract more lifetime value from its customers than many of its peers can.

Moreover, it has advantages because all Sactional sections are uniform in size. Showrooms need little space to demonstrate how to configure them in multiple ways. Inventory stacks nicely in the back. And e-commerce orders -- about one-quarter of sales -- ship easier than typical bulky furniture. This helps Lovesac showrooms have a payback period of under one year, which is very important for retail companies with physical stores.

Lovesac's unit economics support its profitability. It earned $28 million in net income in its recently completed fiscal 2023 and expects $30 million to $36 million in its fiscal 2024.

And the company still has great revenue growth prospects. It has 195 showrooms right now but plans to more than double its store count over the next five years. Assuming the popularity of its products continues, this profitable growth stock could outperform the average for the S&P 500.

3. Udemy: The speculative stock with a high upside
According to third-party research group Arizton, the market size for e-learning is around $214 billion worldwide. But this is expected to surpass $475 billion by 2027. And it's clear that much of this spending will come from businesses looking to increase their workers' skills. HR media platform People Matters estimates that corporate e-learning could be a $370 billion market. 

So Udemy has an enormous runway for growth, considering that annual recurring revenue (ARR) for its enterprise segment was only $372 million at the end of 2022.

Udemy's education content is generated by users, not the company. It is merely the distribution platform connecting educators with anyone who wants to learn. User-generated content businesses typically have good margins. And indeed, Udemy's gross margin is 56%.

Udemy is not profitable; it had a net loss of $154 million in 2022. But there's a simple reason to hope the company quickly turns this around. Its enterprise segment has a more robust gross margin of almost 67%. And this part of the business is growing faster than the business as a whole.

As a whole, revenue was only up 22% year over year in 2022. But ARR for its enterprise segment was up 57%. Projecting this rapid growth forward, Udemy's gross margin should creep higher, potentially improving its bottom line substantially, which could make this a winning investment.

On the flip side, Udemy might never turn the corner on profits. And if it doesn't, chances are slim that it will enrich shareholders. That's why Udemy (and other promising tech stocks that are still unprofitable) might be best to buy only after you've built your portfolio around 25 or more companies that have higher chances of positive returns, like United Rentals and Lovesac.

However, considering it trades at less than two times trailing sales, I'd say now is an opportune time to take a chance on Udemy. There are risks with this stock, but at least the valuation risk is minimal here.

Personally, my retirement portfolio is already quite large with over 30 stocks. And that's why of these three companies, Udemy is the one I'd consider buying today. But I believe all three could be good investments from here.

Jon Quast has positions in United Rentals. The Motley Fool recommends Lovesac. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

Enviado de Outlook para Android

Deep Dive: This stock ETF keeps beating the S&P 500 by selecting for quality

MarketWatch.com - Top Stories / 2023-04-01 15:37



There are many approaches to building stock portfolios for the long term, but all of them require patience. And chasing last year's best performers can hurt your long-term results, as Mark Hulbert explained.

And even if you are patient, a long-term active strategy may underperform broad indexes and the exchange-funds that track them. One reason for underperformance might be that the actively managed funds have higher expenses. Another reason is that the S&P 500 SPX, +1.44% has been so top-heavy, with the largest technology players dominating its performance during the bull market through 2021.

Even now, following an 18% decline in 2021, and a 4% return in 2023, the top five companies held by the SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust SPY, +1.41%, which tracks the benchmark index, make up 21.3% of the portfolio. These are Apple Inc. AAPL, +1.56%, Microsoft Corp. MSFT, +1.50%, Amazon.com Inc. AMZN, +1.26%, Nvidia Corp. NVDA, +1.44% and Alphabet Inc. GOOG, +2.65% GOOGL, +2.81%. (All returns in this article include reinvested dividends.)

The last four companies listed above are also held by the $7.2 billion Van Eck Morningstar Wide Moat ETF MOAT, +1.60%, but this fund uses a modified equal-weighted strategy as it is reconstituted and rebalanced every quarter. The fund was established in 2012. It tracks Morningstar's Wide Moat Focus Index.

Here are MOAT's returns through March 28, compared with those of SPY, over various periods:

ETF Ticker 2023 1 year Three-year average Five-year average 10-year average
VanEck Morningstar Wide Moat ETF MOAT, +1.60% 9.1% -4.4% 19.8% 13.1% 13.2%
SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust SPY, +1.41% 3.8% -11.7% 17.8% 10.7% 11.8%
Source: FactSet
Here's a 10-year chart of the ETFs' total returns:


FactSet
During an interview, Brandon Rakszawski, director of product management at VanEck, said the Morningstar Wide Moat Focus Index reflects that firm's own research, with its analysts assigning "economic moat" ratings to companies they believe have special, long-term competitive advantages. Going further, he described the eligible universe that MOAT might invest in as a group of only about 145 companies.

The list is narrowed down for value. "A lot of investors want to own great companies, so they tend to trade at high valuations," Rakszawski said. "So the strategy tends to go toward those that are underpriced at any time."

The Morningstar analysts assign an "intrinsic value per share" for each eligible company, using a long-term discounted cash flow model. Then those values are compared with current stock prices as the index and the fund's portfolio are adjusted quarterly. The fund current holds 49 stocks.

An index such as the S&P 500 is weighted by market capitalization which means it is "rewarding success" as stocks of large-cap companies that soar can be weighted heavily. A typical equal-weighted approach to an index fund is meant to "allow smaller companies to participate," Rakszawski said. But MOAT's weighting approach is more about "allowing each stock to have its valuation dynamics play out for the portfolio," he said.

He summed up five sources of competitive advantages cited by the Morningstar analysts, as they assign economic moat ratings.

Switching cost — This benefits companies such as Salesforce.com Inc. CRM, +1.62%, which is held by MOAT currently. The cost of switching to another software provider includes the time spent making the decision, IT resources used to make the switch and retraining staff. It is typically easier not to make a move.
Intangible assets — These include intellectual property, brands, patents and government licenses. Rakszawski cited Starbucks Corp. SBUX, +2.77% as a company with a very strong brand. It is not currently held by MOAT. He also pointed to pharmaceutical companies "that can charge more" for patented brands.
Network effect — This is a competitive advantage that builds as a user base grows. "One of the more controversial holdings [of MOAT] is Meta, with its Facebook platform," Rakszawski said. Meta can benefit as its advertisers decide to spend more, based on increasing user traffic flowing from Facebook.
Cost advantage — "Morningstar looks at each company to see if they can keep their input costs lower, to realize higher margins or even to undercut competitors," Rakszawski said. He named Walmart Inc. WMT, +1.22%, an occasional holding of MOAT, as an example.
Efficient scale — Some markets are dominated by only one or two players. Examples include railroads, although MOAT holds none currently.
Don't miss: 11 stocks in the S&P 500 expected to form an exclusive growth club for investors

Enviado de Outlook para Android

Saudi Arabia Joins Shanghai Cooperation Organization As It Embraces China

por Tyler Durden

Zero Hedge / 2023-04-01 16:3513
Saudi Arabia Joins Shanghai Cooperation Organization As It Embraces China
While the US continues to splinter and cannibalize itself as it turns into a third world country, China is expanding its zone of economic and military influence that covers virtually all global commodity producers as it prepares for the next stage in the Sino-US cold war.

On Wednesday, Saudi Arabia's cabinet approved a decision to join the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, as Riyadh builds a long-term partnership with China despite - or perhaps due to - US security concerns. Saudi Arabia has approved a memorandum on granting the kingdom the status of a dialogue partner in the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), state news agency SPA said.

The SCO is a political and security union of countries spanning much of Eurasia, including China, India and Russia. Formed in 2001 by Russia, China and former Soviet states in Central Asia, the body has been expanded to include India and Pakistan, with a view to playing a bigger role as counterweight to Western influence in the region. Iran also signed documents for full membership last year.


Joining the SCO was discussed during a visit by Chinese President Xi Jinping to Saudi Arabia last December, sources told Reuters, adding that dialogue partner status will be a first step within the organization before granting the kingdom full membership in the mid-term.

The decision followed an announcement by Saudi Aramco which raised its multi-billion dollar investment in China on Tuesday, by finalizing a planned joint venture in northeast China and acquiring a stake in a privately controlled petrochemical group.

Participants of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization summit attend an extended-format meeting of heads of SCO member states in Samarkand, Uzbekistan
Riyadh's growing ties with Beijing have raised security concerns in Washington, its traditional ally but increasingly less so, especially following Biden's catastrophic attempts to force OPEC+ to boost oil production, an overture which backfired spectacularly and to global humiliation by the Biden admin.

Meanwhile, Washington says Chinese attempts to exert influence around the world will not change U.S. policy toward the Middle East, which of course is a lie.

Saudi Arabia and other Gulf states have voiced concern about what they see as a withdrawal from the region by main security guarantor the United States, and have moved to diversify partners, shifting their alliance to the biggest US challenger in the global arena. Washington says it will stay an active partner in the region.

Countries belonging to the organisation plan to hold a joint "counter-terrorism exercise" in Russia's Chelyabinsk region in August this year.

Tyler Durden Sat, 04/01/2023 - 11:00

Enviado de Outlook para Android

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Kazuo Ueda, the incoming Bank of Japan governor, arrives at a time when Japan is selling overseas bonds at a record pace © FT Montage/Reuters
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It is little wonder that markets were scouring decade-old comments by Kazuo Ueda, the newly announced Bank of Japan governor. A relatively unknown academic outside of Japan who served on the central bank's board between 1998 and 2005, Ueda's nomination has prompted a rush to understand both the person and his profile.


But this risks missing the forest for the trees. The question to ask is not who, but rather why. Why has the administration of Prime Minister Fumio Kishida nominated a comparative outsider to lead the BoJ, breaking with a long-held tradition of rotating between appointments from the Ministry of Finance and from within the ranks of the bank itself?

Perhaps others did not want the job. Or perhaps Ueda offers a shot at a relatively clean break for monetary policy. If the legacy of ultra-easy Abenomics looms large in Japan, dismantling an increasingly convoluted patchwork of policies will require someone who, at the very least, was not their architect.

And this is probably the point. The central bank's ultra-loose policy is now on a somewhat pre-determined path — towards (if not quite through) the exit door. This view is gaining traction in Tokyo. In the face of decade-high national wage growth, broadening price pressures, and hastened by a dysfunctional bond market, the BoJ's policy of seeking to cap yields — known as yield curve control — is on its last legs.

It is not just the surprise announcement of Ueda as governor that points to more policy lurches on the horizon. Sharp shifts in Japanese investor portfolios are also flashing amber.


Japan sold overseas bonds at a record pace last year, with Tokyo's megabanks and insurance groups the drivers of close to ¥25tn ($186bn) in sales. That Japanese investors offloaded the equivalent of about $180bn of foreign bonds in a single year is itself material: Japan was a net seller in global debt markets in all but two months in 2022.

The fast and furious pace of Japanese selling continued through year-end. Data released this month suggested that Japanese investors were net sellers in about 70 per cent of major global bond markets in December, with the largest outflows coming from the US, Europe and Australia.


What explains Japan's rush to shed global debt? Expectations of higher-still foreign yields (and thus lower bond prices) and 2022's sharp sell-off in the yen have, of course, played a part.

Japanese investors have typically sold foreign bonds when the yen depreciated, when costs to hedge their foreign currency exposure rose, or when global yields were on an uptrend. Last year was no different. But what has changed is the sheer pace of Japanese selling.

That is a sign that domestic investors are eyeing a retreat from yield curve control. By liquidating their holdings of foreign bonds, they are keeping their powder dry in preparation for more attractive higher onshore yields. And so, if an Ueda-led BoJ continues to normalise policy, last year's sharp reorientation in Japanese investment allocations could persist.

Such an inflection in flows will have important longer-term implications for global market liquidity. The most significant of these is a sustained rotation in Japanese investor allocations from overseas bonds back to domestic debt, as Japanese debt eventually offers higher, and thus more attractive, yields.

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Bank of Japan gets 'ideas man' to chart tricky path from negative rates
How far would benchmark Japanese government bond yields need to rise to warrant the furious pace of the country's selling in global debt markets? Our estimates suggest that the current volume of selling would be consistent with onshore yields well above 1 per cent, or more than double the rate permitted by the BoJ at present.

If we are correct in judging that, under Ueda's watch, the BoJ will eventually tolerate a rise in benchmark yields towards this level, Japanese flight from foreign markets may accelerate. And a sustained reorientation in Japan's portfolio allocations will have important implications for those markets where Japanese exposure is highest.

It is tempting to assume this is most significant for the US Treasury market, where Japan is the largest single foreign holder. To be sure, we would not push back against the view that the spillover from any disorderly exit from YCC could be most imminently reflected in higher US yields.

But a longer-term retreat in Japanese flows could put pressure on other, smaller debt markets. Japanese investors hold market shares in the high-single to low-double digits in Australia, New Zealand and parts of western Europe. A shift in policy under Ueda will matter not just for Japan, but for pockets of global debt markets, too.

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Japan's trade deficit narrows sharply from record as imports slow

Containers at a shipping terminal in Yokohama | BLOOMBERG
BY ERICA YOKOYAMA AND YOSHIAKI NOHARA
BLOOMBERG

Mar 16, 2023
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Japan's trade deficit narrowed sharply in February from the previous month's record shortfall, as the impact from the lunar new year in China reversed, slowing imports and encouraging exports.

The trade gap shrank to ¥897.7 billion ($6.8 billion) from ¥3.5 trillion in January, the Finance Ministry reported Thursday, coming in below analyst forecasts. Imports rose 8.3% from a year ago, decelerating from the previous month on a slowdown in energy shipments. Exports climbed 6.5% as cars pushed up gains.

The reversal of impacts from January's lunar new year holidays meant that China was a lead cause behind the narrowing of Japan's trade deficit last month. But a jump in exports to the rest of the world also signaled a more solid recovery for the world's third largest economy, after it narrowly avoided a recession at the end of last year.

"China's PMI showed a recovery of production activity after the reversal of its 'zero-COVID' policy, likely boosting Japanese exports to China," said Yoshimasa Maruyama, chief market economist at SMBC Nikko Securities. "The Japanese economy is expected to continue its gradual recovery, with progress in the 'with-COVID' lifestyle, rebounding inbound demand, and easing supply restrictions."

Thursday's trade report showed exports to the U.S. was up 14.9% from the previous year, while those to Europe gained 18.6%, both gaining pace from the previous month. Shipments to China fell 10.9%, slowing from February's 17.1% decline.

"Looking ahead, we expect the trade deficit to hover around the same level in March, with exports hemmed in by a softer yen (a positive) and weaker external demand (a negative)," Bloomberg economist Yuki Masujima said.

Still, February saw the 19th consecutive month of trade deficit, highlighting Japan's long struggle to recover from the impact of COVID-19 amid a weaker yen and higher oil prices.

Economists also warn of multiple downside risks ahead, including uncertainty over the impact from global interest rates hikes as central banks continue to fight inflation around the world.

The outlook is further clouded by the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank and a full-blown crisis brewing at Credit Suisse Group, with some of the world's biggest banks racing to shield their finances from the potential fallout.

KEYWORDS
CHINA, TRADE, JAPANESE ECONOMY, ECONOMIC INDICATORS


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ECONOMY

Japan lags behind U.S., U.K. in curbing pandemic deficits
Rising interest rates pose risk for Tokyo as it struggles to scale back stimulus


Japan's massive debt burden could grow heavier as interest rates rise.   © Reuters
MARIKO KODAKI, Nikkei staff writer
March 29, 2023 06:27 JST
TOKYO -- Japan's parliament on Tuesday approved a record high budget for the 11th year in a row, falling behind other advanced economies in reducing deficits racked up at the height of the coronavirus pandemic.

The fiscal 2023 budget totals 114 trillion yen ($872 billion) in spending, 6.7 trillion yen more than the initial budget for fiscal 2022, which ends Friday.

The increase largely comes from 5 trillion yen in reserve funds set aside for COVID-19 response, inflation and the war in Ukraine. Before the pandemic, Japan's budgets used to only include around 500 billion yen in reserve funds.


After COVID began to spread worldwide in 2020, advanced economies went deeper into the red to fund their response. But Japan has been slow to wind down fiscal stimulus measures and return spending to normal.

According to research by UBS Group, Japan's primary deficit in 2022 equaled 5.6% of gross domestic product -- little changed from its pandemic peak of 6.3%, and placing it 25th out of 33 economies in terms of improvement.


Japan's Cabinet Office estimates a primary deficit of nearly 50 trillion yen across the national and regional governments for fiscal 2022.

Part of that shortfall comes from committing over 6 trillion yen to COVID employment subsidies for companies that put workers on leave instead of laying them off, a program that will end this month. While the subsidies helped sustain employment, critics say they discouraged the flow of workers to more productive areas of the economy. Meanwhile, expanded subsidies for hospitals that treat coronavirus patients will remain in place in April and beyond.

Other countries have made bigger strides in improving fiscal health. The U.K's deficit shrank to 5.8% of GDP from a peak of 13.4% after the country ended its pandemic job retention scheme in 2021. The U.S., which put together a roughly $2 trillion COVID-19 stimulus package, went to 5.1% from 13.9%.

Japan's challenge partly stems from having much of its COVID response morph into measures meant to ease the pain of inflation. On Tuesday, the government decided to spend around 2 trillion yen from its fiscal 2022 reserves to help large corporations with energy bills. 

In addition to the main budgets, Japan has passed supplementary budgets totaling around 140 trillion yen over the past three years.

"Massive spending has become normal, and we're having trouble putting the lid back on," said Takahide Kiuchi at the Nomura Research Institute.

Amid a global rise in interest rates, "Japan should be thinking about fiscal policy under the assumption that long rates could top 1% in the medium-term as well," said Koya Miyamae at SMBC Nikko Securities.

Japan faces some of the largest fiscal challenges in the world. The ratio of national and local government debt to GDP was 262% in 2021, surpassing Greece and Italy.

The Finance Ministry estimates that if government bond interest rates for all maturities increase 1 percentage point over baseline assumptions, national debt servicing costs for fiscal 2026 will be 33.4 trillion yen, 8 trillion yen higher than in the budget for fiscal 2023.

Meanwhile, the government plans a major increase in defense spending over the five years through fiscal 2027 but has yet to secure all of the funding. Nor have the finances been secured for the proposed doubling of measures to counter the declining birthrate.



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The Zara woman: an exclusive interview with Marta Ortega Pérez
The non-executive chair of Inditex talks succession, sustainability and sales
Inditex non-executive chair Marta Ortega Pérez © David Sims
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Sometimes power transfers happen slowly – less a regime change than the steady accretion of quiet power. I got the sense something had happened about 18 months ago in Paris. It was during the spring-summer season of collections, and a week of parties in a rare pandemic lull. Charlotte Gainsbourg was launching a denim collaboration with Zara, hosting an evening at Hôtel Particulier Solférino in Saint-Germain. Another cocktail evening during shows, we shrugged, but went along to check things out. Here, in dusky candlelight, stood the nexus of the fashion industry. Photographers – Inez & Vinoodh, Craig McDean and David Sims – chatted to models, editors and stylists associated with the world's most esteemed newspapers and magazines. The room had a rare intoxicating quality, the sense that everyone was here.

The event wasn't hosted by Anna Wintour. This was no big advertiser event. The centre of the party gravitated around a chic, rather grave-looking thirtysomething woman with a choppy bob and heavy brows. Her name was Marta Ortega Pérez, the daughter of the Inditex and Zara co-founder, Amancio Ortega Gaona, whose personal wealth is estimated to be around $77.7bn. This charismatic yet soft-spoken host was tipped as heir to his retail dynasty.

A few weeks later, it was announced that Ortega Pérez would become the new non-executive chair at Inditex, starting in April 2022. Not everyone was happy. Twice married, and best known via party pictures in the Spanish tabloids, Ortega Pérez had been dismissed frequently by the chauvinistic media as being a showjumping socialite. There were further wobbles when it was discovered that she would be arriving with Óscar Garcia Maceiras, a new and largely unknown CEO. The market was wary of the lawyer who would replace Carlos Crespo, who had served as CEO since 2019.

But no one in the company was ruffled. Marta Ortega Pérez's path was mapped a long, long time ago. Speaking to his biographer in The Man from Zara, first published in 2008, Amancio Ortega Gaona said of his daughter: "What gives me a great deal of peace of mind is that we've managed to make it to the second generation almost without anybody noticing… The problem of succession is settled, because everything has been delegated."


"It's a different generation and a different time," says Ortega Pérez of her father's legacy © David Sims
Family is huge at Inditex. It's like Succession but with friendly Spanish people, delicious food and better clothes. "When I was a kid, my mum was doing the women's collections for Zara," says Ortega Pérez of her first consciousness of the business. We are eating lunch at the Inditex headquarters, following an extensive, multi-department Zara tour. In person she is friendly, fun and courteous; she's also striking-looking in the flesh. She speaks quickly and confidently in English in a low and throaty voice. "Obviously, my father was working most of the time. But also my mum has two sisters and four brothers. And all my mum's family work in the company...So we talked about the company a lot."

Ortega Pérez started working officially at Inditex 16 years ago although, arguably, she was in the business from the womb. Born in 1984, she is the only daughter of Flora Pérez, the second wife of Amancio, who was still married to Rosalia Mera, his Zara co-founder, at the time. Today, Flora Pérez represents the family's 60 per cent share on the board. Many family members are still involved. Óscar Pérez Marcote is Zara's managing director; another uncle, Jorge Pérez Marcote, is the managing director of Massimo Dutti. Ortega Pérez's second husband, Carlos Torretta, a cute, pony-tailed former model agent and golf fanatic, is the head of communication at Zara (she has one child with him, and one with her ex-husband, Sergio Álvarez Moya, whom she divorced in 2015). Her half-sister Sandra Ortega Mera has no part in the Inditex management, but acceded €6.3bn on her mother's death in 2013.

The headquarters are far removed from the world of fashion in a huge glass complex in Arteixo, near the city of A Coruña on the north-west tip of Galicia. Its near neighbour is the shipping-forecast outpost Finisterre. Inditex is a colossus among retailers; its apparel and footwear enjoys a global market share of 1.6 per cent. In the full-year 2022 results published on 15 March, sales reached €32.6bn (up 17.5 per cent on 2021). The group comprises seven brands, including Pull&Bear and Bershka, of which Zara, the largest, accounts for 73 per cent of sales. As an employer, it's the city's lifeblood: in 2017, Inditex overtook fishing as the region's main driver of GDP.

We have a culture of belonging [at Zara]. It's always been that way

The tour takes in every department, from the pattern cutters to the design studios, and from the logistics teams to the in-house studio, which is popping with multiple ecommerce shoots. There are no obvious signs of office hierarchy: Ortega Pérez's desk, on a bank of white elevated tables in the middle of the women's design team, is distinctive only for a vase of wilting flowers. The atmosphere is easy and convivial. Ortega Pérez talks conspiratorially with colleagues, many of whom have worked in the business for several decades. One is only reminded that this is a multibillion-dollar company via the giant monitors in the design studio showing a blinking grid of global sales.

"I always like when people come to visit," says Ortega Pérez, "because it's impossible to know what Zara is without actually seeing how it works from the inside. It sounds like such a big company, but on the day-to-day it really doesn't feel like that. We have a culture of belonging. It's always been that way."

It's a culture that was encouraged by her father, who, like her, spent his days working on the proverbial factory floor. Now 87, he still spends a lot of time in office, and speaks to Ortega Pérez almost every day. "My father," she says, "is the best at getting the best out of everyone… And I think that is the key, because obviously no one is good at everything."

Ortega Pérez is pretty clear about the things she is good at. "I don't enjoy numbers very much in general," she confesses. "Obviously, with the years, you get to know it." But product is her job. "My energy is on the product and how that's presented – that's the soul of our company and where I can deliver the most value. I'm aware of the financials, but I have a very seasoned team close to me who are entirely focused on them. We try to behave like a small company and not get distracted by big numbers. The commercial success comes, I believe, from the focus on the small details by every single person in the company."

Under her supervision, the product has undergone small but subtle improvements. She has brought in design collaborators such as Charlotte Gainsbourg and the model Kaia Gerber, done a jewellery range with Elie Top and last year invited the designer Narciso Rodriguez to reproduce 25 pieces from his archive. Under her watch, the clothes have become more consistently desirable. The accessories and shoes are much improved. She is working with an exceptional calibre of stylists, models and photographers to produce an indefatigable feed of slick campaigns.

"Marta lives and breathes her work," says Karl Templer, the British fashion stylist and creative director, who works with Ortega Pérez on the biannual Studio collections for women, men and children and other special projects too. "She is very intuitive and makes decisions quickly. She always wants to do even better and is looking forward to what could be next."

Vincent Van Duysen has worked with Ortega Pérez on a namesake range for Zara Home. "Marta flew in with some of the team four years ago," says the Belgian designer and architect. "At the beginning I didn't think she was proposing a collaboration. I thought it was more privately related, that I should do a house with her. But she wanted to know if I was willing to design furniture: to upgrade the offering in a collection under the art direction of Fabien Baron. I didn't have to think that long. And it wasn't about the big cheque. For me, it was the way they expose the brand in terms of marketing, the website, the story of the brand."

Of Ortega Pérez, Van Duysen is expansive. "Marta is not only generous and caring, she's also a great entrepreneur. She's meticulous. She has an eye – for appearance and art. And she's down to earth."


"In short my goal is to maintain and keep building quality, quality, quality in every aspect of the company"


Ortega Pérez took over as non-executive chair of Inditex in 2022 © David Sims
Many speak of the company's family ethos and how welcoming they are. The money can't hurt either: one model who shoots ecommerce in A Coruña tells me the day rate is so good it would be a "criminal injustice" to turn it down. Although the brand has never done traditional advertising, Ortega Pérez has brought in talents who have helped elevate the house aesthetic to that of a luxury brand. Except, of course, Inditex isn't luxury. The average cost of a checkout basket at Zara is €70, and €50-€60 at Bershka or Pull&Bear.

Amancio Ortega Gaona never intended Inditex to be luxury. He wanted his wares to democratise the market, not the other way around. And despite the high-low collaborations, neither is Ortega Pérez moving away from this core belief. "It does feel as though they're moving towards elevating the product," says Richard Chamberlain, an analyst at RBC Capital Markets. "They've been willing to entertain external collaborations in niche areas. And they have been generally premiumising and enhancing the brand. But if you look at the price points, they've become more competitive," he says. "Which speaks to their scale and their buying power. There's very little markdown because they start each season with less inventory commitment. And they've become more cost- and eco-efficient. The use of RFID [the microchip technology that has streamlined orders, stock and distribution] has enabled them to manage inventory better, ship more from store and drive full-price sales."

At a time when consumers are more price-sensitive than ever, Ortega Pérez is well aware of competitors such as Shein. But she is reluctant to draw parallels between Inditex and the Chinese fast-fashion giant. "Fast fashion suggests a compromise to quality, which is completely the opposite of what we look for," she says. "More than 40 per cent of the people that work in the team are just dedicated to the product. We have more than 250 designers at Zara, the same with pattern-makers. We still do the patterns. We do fittings on real models."

We have more than 250 designers at Zara – we still do the patterns. We do fittings on real models

The question of sustainability is a key one, especially at a company producing such enormous volumes (Zara alone produces about 450 million garments annually, with 20,000 new styles each year). At the end of FY2022, Inditex operated 5,815 stores in 213 markets. And while the group is proud that 50 per cent of its product is sourced from proximity countries – Spain, Portugal, Morocco and Turkey (the rest is sourced from Asia) – a report by Société Générale in 2022 estimated that less than 20 per cent of Inditex product had any contact with their manufacturing facilities.

"We don't recognise ourselves in what they call 'fast fashion'," repeats Ortega, who strays from the dictionary definition of the words. "Because that brings to mind the amount of unsold items and poor-quality clothes focused on a very cheap price, and that cannot be further from what we do. On the other hand, we have a business model that is focused mainly on customer demand, so we react to that. We supply and distribute with that mentality, so that really helps us minimise the residual stock that we have, which is tiny – less than two per cent."


Amancio Ortega Gaona embracing Ortega Pérez, 2011 © Europa Press/Getty Images

Ortega Pérez with her husband Carlos Torretta at Mercedes Benz Fashion Week Madrid, 2020 © Giovanni Sanvido/Getty Images
"If you're dropping new collections dozens of times a year, you're a fast fashion brand whether you recognise it or not," counters Rachel Arthur, the writer and sustainability consultant who has advised businesses including Google, the United Nations Environment Programme and the British Fashion Council's Institute of Positive Fashion. "Fashion as we know it is built on resource extraction and exploitation, meaning it has an enormously detrimental impact on both the planet and people. The fact is, if we don't look at volume (as an industry) we can't meet any of the sustainability targets we've set."

Inditex launched a sustainability strategy in 2001 when it became a signatory of the United Nations Global Compact and published a first Sustainability Strategic Plan. In 2002, it joined the Dow Jones Sustainability Index. By the end of this year, 100 per cent of its cotton and manmade cellulosic fibres will be from preferred sources – such as organic, recycled, BC (Better Cotton) or next-gen cotton – and it will have reached zero waste across all its facilities. By 2040 the company aims to have reached net zero emissions across the entire value chain. In November, it launched a pre-owned service, Zara's first (and at first unprofitable) step into resale or repair. The brand started installing clothing-donation bins in store from 2016.

"They regularly come up as highly ranked in the Dow Jones Sustainability Index," says Chamberlain of Inditex's record. "They're leading the way."

But while Arthur agrees that these efforts are commendable, there is still a long, long way to go. "Having a sustainability strategy in place with the sort of targets Zara has is absolutely imperative, and as an organisation it is demonstrating the sort of transformational thinking that is possible. But even sustainable garments still have an impact when we're talking about billions of them a year."


"Fast fashion brings to mind unsold items and poor-quality clothes focused on a very cheap price, and that cannot be further from what we do"


Ortega Pérez took over as non-executive chair of Inditex in 2022 © David Sims
Having inherited a robust business, Ortega Pérez's mission now could simply be to steer a steady ship. There has been a push into new categories – such as beauty and lingerie – but she denies these decisions are all part of some bigger plan. "It might sound that it's not possible, in such a big company, that we don't plan a big strategy. Rather I go by the feeling and try to judge things more intuitively."

Pushed to be more specific about her vision, Ortega Pérez offers a list: "My focus is entirely on the product and everything that empowers the best possible delivery of that; and always improving shopping experience, both in the physical stores and online, and maximising integration between the two. And building on our sustainability work, which is more and more integrated in each and every process in the company, as well as influencing and sharing best practice with the industry at large. In short, my goal is to maintain and keep building quality, quality, quality in every aspect of the company."

As the mother of a 10-year-old son and three-year-old daughter, Ortega Pérez is watching her children's interest in fashion. "He's totally obsessed with clothes and labels," she tells me bemusedly of her son's enthusiasm for labels, which far exceeds her own desire for clothes. "I mostly wear Zara or Massimo Dutti," she says of her own wardrobe, which today consists of a simple grey wool tunic dress. "But I do buy designer clothes… And then, obviously, I like shoes."

She tends to wear simple silhouettes and neutrals, and "loves dresses", although I can't imagine her wearing the famous Zara dresses so ubiquitous they get their own hashtags each year. For her wedding to Torretta, in 2018, she wore high-necked Valentino haute couture. "I have a mix," she says of the high-low blend of designer and high-street clothing that makes up the modern professional wardrobe. "And I also have things from my mum. So, yes, it has become a big wardrobe. My son says, 'Why do you have so much clothes?' I'm like, because I've had them for many years."

Ortega Pérez seems to be relatively comfortable with the visibility that comes with being the main player at a huge, publicly listed brand. A great deal more so than her father: "Well, everyone is more outgoing than him," she snorts when I ask her about the role. "I'm not comfortable with being the centre of attention, it's not something I enjoy, but I like going to… not fashion parties, but I go to events that are related with my work."


Marta Ortega Pérez photographed in London © David Sims
Her father is almost pathologically private – he only ever did one official interview. "But it's a different time, too, than when my father started," says Ortega Pérez. "And I guess I'm more in the fashion world than he ever was. So it's a different generation and a different time."

Intentionally or otherwise, Ortega Pérez is shifting focus at the brand. She's engaging with the industry in a far more transparent way. Rather than working in relative anonymity in Galicia like her father, she's put it on the map: whether that's inviting dozens of supermodels and editors to a Steven Meisel exhibition in A Coruña's harbour, as she did last November, or asking a design luminary such as Vincent Van Duysen to create a line of furniture to decorate our homes. Following the first financial bumps after her appointment, she and Óscar have allayed their critics' fears. Inditex reported a gross profit increase of 17 per cent for 2022, as sales exceeded pre-pandemic levels in the first full year of her role as chair.

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I wonder if, as a former competitive showjumper, her experience with horses has taught her any business skills. "The thing with showjumping is most of the time it takes so much work, and when you actually compete, it's a two-minute thing. And most of the time you lose. So I think you learn that you have to keep on trying and working hard to achieve goals. You learn about teamwork. Because even while showjumping is an individual event, you have such a team around you that makes it possible. And it's very long-term, because the time you spend from starting with a horse till he is ready to compete, it takes a while."

Patience, adaptability and teamwork, then? She nods in that serious, considered way of hers. "I think that it's something that can be applied not only for work, but for life in general, I guess."

Hair, Anthony Turner. Make-up, Lucia Pieroni. Manicure, Ama Quashie. Set design, Poppy Bartlett. Production, Erin Fee Productions. Post-production, SKN-LAB

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The pros and cons of a CD: how to know if a certificate of deposit is the right investment for you

Yahoo! Finance: Top Stories / 2023-03-28 20:07



Mapping out plans to build your savings can be challenging, especially when interest rates fluctuate. A certificate of deposit (CD) is a good alternative if you're risk-averse when investing.

A CD is a type of savings account that allows people to earn interest at a fixed rate that's often higher than what's available with traditional savings accounts. However, CDs can also have some downsides given their nature of holding funds for a set term. Here are a few important things to consider to help you decide if a CD is right for you.

How does a certificate of deposit work?
A CD has an interest rate that will not change nor the time your money is locked in for. So after the term of the CD you choose ends, you'll have access to the deposited funds and interest earned on it.

Brad Stark, certified financial planner and co-founder of Mission Wealth, a wealth management firm in Santa Barbara, CA, says you can purchase CDs in brokerage accounts to help with simplicity. Many brokerage firms have relationships with different banks, allowing people to diversify their investments without opening multiple accounts.

By buying CDs, Stark explains, people are essentially making a promise with a bank. That promise is providing funds to an institution in exchange for being paid back with interest later.

"It's a loan you're making to the bank for a set period of time," Stark says.

Pros of certificates of deposit
Aside from a strong fixed interest rate, there are even more reasons that make CDs appealing, from the low level of risk associated with them to the options that can fit someone's ideal savings plan.

Higher APY than other types of savings accounts
While it's true that the APY will likely be higher than a traditional savings account, it's important to consider the timing of when the CD will be opened. If it's done when savings rates are on the lower end, it doesn't rack in as much growth as it could have if it'd been done at a time when savings rates are high.

And another factor you'll want to pay close attention to when you shop around for CDs is considering the interest rate in relation to the timeframe of the CD. "As you commit your money to longer periods of time to lock it up, you should be compensated with higher interest," Stark says.

Your money is secured
A CD comes with coverage from either the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) or the National Credit Union Administration (NCUA), a major draw for people who want the peace of mind that their money is safe even if a bank fails as some did during the 2008 recession. Banks typically insure up to $250,000 per ownership category.

Flexible account options and wide selection of terms
There's plenty of room to find a CD that matches people's varying savings plans and the time they're hoping to reach them. Whether it's saving for just a few months to boost an emergency savings stash or collecting extra cash years before starting a family, CDs offer an option to fit those needs.

On top of being able to choose a CD that matures anywhere from three or six months to five years, the rates to choose from will also have differences. As of March 23, 2023, the average rate for a one-year CD is 1.49%.

CD laddering
One method to consider is placing money in multiple CDs rather than one. This approach of layering CDs can help maximize your savings and get the funds placed in them returned at a steady pace. Scott Van Den Berg, a certified financial planner at Century Management, a financial advisory firm in Austin, TX, says building out a portfolio of CDs can have major benefits.

For one, it helps CD users deal with instances in which an unforeseen expense arises, and they need access to their savings. With laddering, some risk associated with not having immediate access to the funds is mitigated since the maturation date for the funds could be just around the corner. One way to approach it is by getting a CD that matures in six months, one in a year, and another in 18 months.

"That at least gets you that money back and you can then just reinvest it," Van Den Berg says.

Cons of certificates of deposit
To an extent, CDs can be a way of playing it safe. And in doing so, there's an opportunity cost that comes with not pursuing other savings options that could have resulted in more money or drawn in money more quickly. This is particularly important to consider if you haven't reached retirement age.

"If you're 85 or 90 years old, you want all your money to be safe and your time horizon is really short, you could put CDs in an IRA," Stark says. "If you're 40 years old, and you have an IRA and CDs in there, what an opportunity [to earn more] you're missing." Plus, the time agreement of a CD can be inconvenient if you can't hold the funds there for the duration of the agreement and are then subjected to early withdrawal fees.

Returns aren't as high as investing in other places like stocks or bonds
Both Stark and Van Den Berg note other areas where it's possible to have stronger investment growth than with a CD.

Stark suggests considering stocks in a diversified portfolio if the time horizon for your financial needs is longer than 10 years.

"While this path is volatile, time tends to heal most short-term investment wounds," Stark says. "Whereas time is the enemy to CD investing."

Inflation isn't factored in with a locked APY
Although CDs might not seem risky at first glance, they can hurt your savings goals in times of inflation. That's because the APY can't be adjusted, Stark explains, so an interest rate that once seemed stellar would no longer keep up with the demands of the moment.

"Inflation really took a toll on you and your interest went from double digits to zero," Stark says. "And in the meantime, prices and everything went higher. So your purchasing power just got decimated."

Taxes owed on accrued interest
Interest earned is always taxed unless it's in a retirement account, so that's a factor to consider when deciding if a CD will provide the desired savings results after accounting for taxes.

It's also not something you can put off. Those earnings must be reported if you've earned $10 or more in interest on a short-term CD that matured the same year you bought it. And if the CD has a life beyond a year, then the person must pay taxes on the interest accrued yearly.

Penalties for accessing funds early
When people sign up for a CD, they agree not to touch the money for a set period. Of course, things happen and sometimes people need the funds they had initially thought could be set aside.

Chances are, the bank won't allow people to pull their funds. In exchange for taking the money back before it has matured, banks will charge a penalty, often calculated as a number of days' simple interest at the rate of the CD. But the federal government has no cap on early withdrawal penalties, so it can vary.

What you need to open a certificate of deposit
Social Security number for U.S. citizens or an individual taxpayer identification number for others.

Date of birth of the account holder. It helps to present documentation such as a birth certificate to prove identity.

A government-issued ID like a driver's license or state identification card.

Proof of address. Think bills or a lease agreement.

Contact information such as a phone or email

Information for the funding account, such as the routing and account number.

Frequently asked questions
Is it worth putting money into a CD?
Experts say that, generally, it can be. At the very least, it's preferred over simply having the money in a checking account or cash under your mattress at home where it can't grow any interest. If you're looking for a low-risk option from a bank you trust, then a CD is better than nothing. It all comes down to making a fully informed decision where you've read the fine print and know the penalties for withdrawing early.

What is better, a CD or IRA?
Since an IRA is a retirement account that can own stocks, bonds, and CDs, it's better to ask if CDs are appropriate to hold in an IRA. And, they can be, depending on your age. That's because CDs aren't the most lucrative long-term move if you still have a ways to go before retirement.

How much does a $10,000 CD make in a year?
It's hard to say with certainty as it depends on the rate of the specific CD. But, as an example, a CD with a 5% APY earns $500 in one year. So if you have a CD with a 12-month term, you would withdraw $10,500 once the CD matures.

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Top 10 Safest Monthly Dividend Stocks Now

por Nikolaos Sismanis

Sure Dividend / 2023-03-28 22:021
Published on March 28th, 2023 by Nikolaos Sismanis

Monthly dividend stocks can be a fruitful investment option for individuals seeking stable income because they provide a predictable and consistent stream of cash flow. Unlike quarterly or annual dividends, monthly dividends allow investors to receive more frequent payments, which can help to cover living expenses or supplement other sources of income. Monthly dividend stocks can also be great for compounding returns, as investors can reinvest the dividends received to grow their wealth over time. Generally speaking, monthly dividend stocks can also help to offset market volatility and support their long-term financial goals.

There are just 86 companies that currently offer a monthly dividend payment. You can see all 86 monthly dividend paying names here.

You can download our full Excel spreadsheet of all monthly dividend stocks (along with metrics that matter, like dividend yield and payout ratio) by clicking on the link below:

However, not all monthly dividend stocks are created equal, and the safety of a dividend-paying stock is not solely determined by the frequency of its payouts. In fact, there are lots of examples of monthly dividend companies, which in their pursuit to attract investors through monthly payouts, have ended up overdistributing dividends. Consequently, several monthly dividend stocks have had to reduce their dividend payments when their profits take an unforeseen hit. Overall, despite the positive attributes attached to monthly dividend stocks, their risk profile can be elevated as they strive to maintain their frequent payouts.

That's why, in this article, we have cherry-picked the ten monthly dividend stocks from our Sure Analysis Research Database, which we believe rank best in terms of dividend safety based on our Dividend Risk Score rating system. The stocks have been arranged in ascending order based on their Dividend Risk scores, and if there is a tie, their ranking is determined by their payout ratio, with the lowest payout ratio earning a higher place.

Table of Contents
Monthly Dividend Stock #10: STAG Industrial, Inc. (STAG)
Dividend Risk Score: D
Dividend Yield: 4.5%
Payout Ratio: 65%
STAG Industrial is a Real Estate Investment Trust, or REIT. It is an owner and operator of industrial real estate. It is focused on single-tenant industrial properties and has 562 buildings across 40 states in the United States.

The focus of this REIT on single-tenant properties might create higher risk compared to multi-tenant properties, as the former are either fully occupied or completely vacant. However, STAG Industrial executes a deep quantitative and qualitative analysis of its tenants. As a result, it has incurred credit losses that have been less than 0.1% of its revenues since its IPO. As per the latest data, 52% of the tenants are publicly rated, and 59% of the tenants generate over $1 billion in revenue.


Source: Investor Presentation

Another great quality of STAG Industrial is that the company generally has business ties with established tenants, which helps enhance its risk profile. Simultaneously, the company has limited exposure to any specific tenant. Amazon is the largest tenant, generating 3.0% of annual rent revenue, while the next largest tenant generates only 0.9% of annual rent revenue.

Income-oriented investors are likely to appreciate the stock's 4.5% yield, especially considering the company has never cut its dividend throughout its short history. In fact, it has increased its dividend for 12 consecutive years. Moreover, while rising interest rates are likely to be a headwind to STAG Industrial, being a REIT, it's worth noting that the company's payout ratio has been on the decline for six consecutive years.

Click here to download our most recent Sure Analysis report on STAG (preview of page 1 of 3 shown below):



Monthly Dividend Stock #9: Apple Hospitality REIT, Inc. (APLE)
Dividend Risk Score: D
Dividend Yield: 6.7%
Payout Ratio: 57%
Apple Hospitality REIT is a $3.3 billion hotel REIT that owns a portfolio of 220 hotels with an aggregate of 28,983 rooms located in urban, high-end suburban, and developing markets throughout 37 states. Concentrated on industry-leading brands, the company's portfolio consists of 94 Marriott-branded hotels, 119 Hilton-branded hotels, four Hyatt-branded hotels, and two independent hotels.



Source: Investor Presentation

Apple Hospitality's growth prospects will mostly come from an increase in rents. They were also selling less-profitable properties to acquire more beneficial properties. For example, in 2022, the company sold one hotel, a 55-room independent boutique hotel in Richmond, Virginia, for $8.5 million and acquired two hotels in Kentucky and Pennsylvania for $51 million, and $34 million, respectively.

The company does not have a long dividend history, as it became public in 2015. In 2016, the company did increase its annualized dividend substantially by 50%, from a $0.80 rate to a $1.20 rate. However, in the following years, the dividend stayed at that same rate until 2020, when the COVID-19 pandemic forced the company to cut its dividend and freeze it to a $0.20 rate for the year. In 2021, the company reinitiated the dividend by paying it every quarter instead of every month as it did before. Today, it pays a $0.08 monthly dividend.

Click here to download our most recent Sure Analysis report on APLE (preview of page 1 of 3 shown below):



Monthly Dividend Stock #8: Superior Plus Corp. (SUUIF)
Dividend Risk Score: D
Dividend Yield: 6.7%
Payout Ratio: 54%
Superior Plus Corporation is a relatively small industrial company but one of the larger propane distributors in North America. The company is the dominant distributor in Canada (30% of EBITDA), has significant operations in the U.S. (60% of EBITDA), and is also a propane wholesaler (10% of EBITDA). Superior Plus generates around $3.8 billion in annual revenues and is based in Toronto, Canada.

The company previously had a large Specialty Chemicals segment but sold this business in 2021 as part of a broader restructuring. Superior Plus is reorganizing its business to become a pure-play distribution company.



Source: Investor Presentation

Like many energy companies, Superior Plus was negatively impacted by the coronavirus pandemic and the resultant recession in the United States. As a result, the company incurred a 26% decrease in its earnings per share, from $1.63 in 2019 to $1.21 in 2020.

However, the company has stabilized its performance in recent quarters. In Q4 of 2022, the company generated an adjusted EBITDA of $135.7 million, a $30 million increase compared to the prior-year quarter.

The dividend yield will likely make up most of the returns of Superior Plus going forward, given the lack of share price growth over the last decade. Superior Plus currently distributes a monthly dividend of $0.06 per share in CAD, or C$0.72 per share annualized. In fact, the company has distributed the same dividend for several years in a row. U.S. investors need to keep in mind that the company pays its dividend in Canadian currency, which will have an impact on actual capital received based on the fluctuations in exchange rates. Based on an annualized dividend payout of $0.53 per share, Superior stock has a current dividend yield of 6.7%.

Click here to download our most recent Sure Analysis report on SUUIF (preview of page 1 of 3 shown below):



Monthly Dividend Stock #7: Phillips Edison & Company, Inc. (PECO)
Dividend Risk Score: D
Dividend Yield: 3.6%
Payout Ratio: 50%
Phillips Edison & Company is an experienced owner and operator that is exclusively focused on grocery-anchored neighborhood shopping centers. It is a Real Estate Investment Trust (REIT) that operates a portfolio of 271 wholly-owned properties. The company has a 30-year history, but it began trading publicly only in the summer of 2021. Its management owns 7% of the company, and hence its interests are aligned with those of the shareholders.

Shopping centers are going through a secular decline due to the shift of consumers from brick-and-mortar shopping to online purchases. This shift has accelerated in the last two years due to the coronavirus crisis. However, Phillips Edison is well protected from this trend. It generates 71% of its rental income from retailers that provide necessity-based goods and services and has minimal exposure to distressed retailers.



Source: Investor Presentation

We believe Phillips Edison's 3.6%-yielding monthly dividend be considered rather safe due to the company's robust qualities, its low payout ratio, and solid balance sheet. Specifically, the trust has a payout ratio of 50% and an investment grade balance sheet, with a BBB- credit rating from S&P and a Baa3 rating from Moody's. Moreover, it has well-laddered debt maturities and no material debt maturities for the next two years. Furthermore, 85% of its total debt has a fixed rate, which is paramount in the current environment of rising interest rates.

As a side note, while Phillips Edison has an investment-grade balance sheet, its leverage ratio (Net Debt to EBITDA) currently stands at 5.3. This is above the upper limit of our comfort zone (5.0) and reveals the eagerness of management to invest in the aggressive expansion of the trust. Nevertheless, we believe that a lower leverage ratio is necessary in order to render the REIT more resilient to unexpected downturns.

Click here to download our most recent Sure Analysis report on PECO (preview of page 1 of 3 shown below):



Monthly Dividend Stock #6: Whitestone REIT (WSR)
Dividend Risk Score: D
Dividend Yield: 5.4%
Payout Ratio: 50%
Whitestone is a commercial REIT that acquires, owns, manages, develops, and redevelops properties it believes to be e-commerce resistant in metropolitan areas with high rates of population growth. The REIT currently owns 57 properties with about 5.1 million square feet of gross leasable area.

Its properties are located primarily in the southern United States, in areas with favorable demographics, such as income and economic growth. The trust's properties are located primarily in Phoenix and Houston, with smaller allocations to other major cities in Texas.



Source: Investor Presentation

As a retail REIT, Whitestone was not spared from the coronavirus pandemic of 2020. As a result of the steep economic impact of the pandemic, Whitestone REIT reduced its monthly dividend by 63% in April 2020, from $0.095 to $0.035. The reduction was expected. Whitestone's dividend-per-share was higher than its FFO-per-share every year between 2013 and 2019. A reduction during COVID-19 was both prudent and necessary. As the pandemic has subsided, Whitestone's financial position has improved, which has allowed the company to raise its monthly dividend modestly to $0.04, where it currently stands.

Whitestone's dividend seems secure going forward. We expect Whitestone to maintain a dividend payout ratio of 49% for 2023, based on our projected FFO-per-share of $0.97 for the full year. A dividend payout ratio below 50% is highly unusual for REITs and likely implies a high level of dividend safety. With such a low payout ratio, we believe the dividend is likely to increase from its current low base over the next several years. The stock currently has a 5.4% yield.

Click here to download our most recent Sure Analysis report on WSR (preview of page 1 of 3 shown below):



Monthly Dividend Stock #5: Itaú Unibanco (ITUB)
Dividend Risk Score: D
Dividend Yield: 4.6%
Payout Ratio: 31%
Itaú Unibanco is a very large bank that is headquartered in Brazil. ITUB is a large-cap stock with a market capitalization above $44 billion.

Itaú Unibanco conducts business in more than a dozen countries around the world, but the core of its business is in Brazil. It has significant operations in other Latin American countries and select businesses in Europe and the US.

Its scale is huge in relation to other Latin American banks. Itaú is the largest financial conglomerate in the Southern Hemisphere, the world's 10th–largest bank by market value, and the largest Latin American bank by assets and market capitalization.



Source: Investor Presentation

It's not uncommon for banks like Itaú Unibanco to try to cater to every type of consumer and business, just like major US banks have done by offering a range of services such as deposits, loans, insurance products, equity investing, and more, in order to attract customers. What sets Itaú Unibanco apart is its focus on emerging economies such as Brazil. However, emerging markets have struggled for many years. This is a cause for concern as economic growth is crucial for a bank's expansion, and without it, Itaú Unibanco may face challenges in producing profit expansion.

Regarding its dividend, Itaú Unibanco has a conservative approach. The bank pays out dividends to shareholders based on its projected earnings and losses, with the goal being the ability to continue to pay the dividend under various economic conditions. Along with providing its recent quarterly results, the company also slightly increased its monthly dividend from $0.0033 per share to $0.0034 per share. Still, the yield is quite low at 0.83%. Thus, Itaú Unibanco isn't a pure income stock by any means, as its yield is simply too small to be attractive to most income investors.

Click here to download our most recent Sure Analysis report on ITUB (preview of page 1 of 3 shown below):



Monthly Dividend Stock #4: U.S. Global Investors, Inc. (GROW)
Dividend Risk Score: D
Dividend Yield: 3.5%
Payout Ratio: 24%
U.S. Global Investors began more than 50 years ago as an investment club. Today, it is a publicly-traded registered investment advisor that looks to provide investment opportunities in niche markets around the world. The company provides sector-specific exchange-traded funds and mutual funds, as well as an interest in cryptocurrencies. U.S. Global Investors produced $24.7 million in annual revenue in 2022 and has a market capitalization of just $44 million.

The company is currently experiencing rapid topline growth, which we expect to continue over the next half-decade as its network and brand power continue to improve incrementally. The company is betting heavily on its precious metals, crypto, and airline funds to drive assets under management higher. Furthermore, its economies of scale should drive enhanced profitability, enabling it to grow its dividend as well. Finally, management currently has a share repurchase program underway that could also drive earnings-per-share growth over time.

U.S. Global Investors has an impressive track record of paying monthly dividends for over 14 consecutive years, which is commendable. The current payout of $0.09 per share annually results in a yield of 3.1%, which, on a yield basis, may not be very attractive. However, it is noteworthy that the company has tripled its dividend since the onset of the pandemic.

It is important to mention that the company has a history of cutting its dividend. In the past decade, GROW has reduced its dividend, with the annual dividend per share being as high as $0.24 in 2012.



Source: Koyfin

Given the uncertain outlook for earnings growth, we anticipate that dividend growth may be challenging to achieve in the near future. Nonetheless, the company's strong balance sheet suggests that it can continue paying dividends for a while, especially if it funds them with cash on hand rather than relying solely on earnings.

Click here to download our most recent Sure Analysis report on GROW (preview of page 1 of 3 shown below):



Monthly Dividend Stock #3: Realty Income Corporation (O)
Dividend Risk Score: C
Dividend Yield: 5.0%
Payout Ratio: 79%
Realty Income owns more than 11,000 properties and has a market capitalization in excess of $40 billion. Realty Income focuses on standalone properties rather than ones connected to a mall, for instance. That increases the flexibility of the tenant base and helps the trust diversify its customer base.

The trust has earned a sterling reputation for its dividend growth history. Part of its appeal certainly is not only in its actual payout history but the fact that these payouts are made monthly instead of quarterly. Indeed, Realty Income has declared 633 consecutive monthly dividends, a track record that is unprecedented among monthly dividend stocks. Impressively, the company has increased its dividend more than 120 times since its initial public offering in 1994. Consequently, Realty Income is a member of the Dividend Aristocrats.



Source: Company's IR

We believe the company's dividend growth prospects remain robust, powered by the company's proven recipe for driving accretive growth through its expansion strategy. The trust has a very long history of growing its asset base and its average rent, which have collectively driven its FFO-per-share growth. We don't believe this has changed.

That said, Realty Income's FFO-per-share and dividend growth may modestly slow down in the coming years due to the ongoing increase in interest rates, which affects all REITs. Still, we believe Realty Income's balance is rather healthy, with its credit profile featuring a net-debt-to-EBITDA ratio of 5.3x and a weighted average term to maturity of more than six years.

Click here to download our most recent Sure Analysis report on O (preview of page 1 of 3 shown below):



Monthly Dividend Stock #2: TransAlta Renewables Inc. (TRSWF)
Dividend Risk Score: C
Dividend Yield: 7.8%
Payout Ratio: 68%
TransAlta Renewables, based in Calgary, Alberta, is a renewable energy infrastructure company that holds the title of Canada's largest wind energy producer with a market capitalization of $3.2 billion. They have been involved in renewable power generation for over a century and were spun off from TransAlta in 2013. With a diversified portfolio, TransAlta Renewables has economic interests in several facilities, including wind, hydroelectric, natural gas, solar, natural gas pipelines, and battery storage projects, with an ownership interest of 2,965 megawatts of generating capacity.



Source: Annual Report

Investors are drawn to TransAlta Renewables because of their high dividend yield, which has been maintained or increased annually since 2014 at an average growth rate of 2.5%. However, rising interest rates may compress its CaFD, putting dividends at risk if the company doesn't deleverage quickly enough. In 2018, the payout ratio was 71% based on earnings and 82% using distributable cash, but this ratio decreased to 66% in 2021 and 75% in 2022.

We expect a payout ratio of approximately 64% in 2023, assuming recent deleveraging efforts have a positive impact on the bottom line. Hence, despite this concern, we anticipate that the company will maintain its payouts in the near future.

Click here to download our most recent Sure Analysis report on TRSWF (preview of page 1 of 3 shown below):



Monthly Dividend Stock #1: Banco Bradesco S.A. (BBD)
Dividend Risk Score: C
Dividend Yield: 1.6%
Payout Ratio: 11%
Banco Bradesco is a financial services company based in Brazil. It offers various banking products and financial services to individuals, corporations, and businesses in Brazil and internationally. The company's two main segments are banking and insurance, including checking and savings accounts, demand deposits, and time deposits, as well as accident and property insurance products and investment products.

The 2020 COVID-19 pandemic year was very difficult for Banco Bradesco, as the global economy was negatively impacted by the coronavirus pandemic. Fortunately, the company has recovered notably during the past two years.

In FY2022, the company reported it expanded its loan portfolio to R$891.9 billion ($171 billion), a 9.8% growth year-over-year, or 1.5% quarter-over-quarter. Additionally, its client base in its AGORA digital investment brokerage app grew by 19.2% to 886.2K, with $13.2 billion of invested funds.

While we would typically price in positive growth in the company's EPS results based on its continuous product expansion, such growth could be wiped once again by FX changes. This has been a consistent theme for the company. Its EPS has been improving gradually in constant currency, but it is shown as flat or reduced over the years when converted into USD due to the BRL's depreciation against the USD.



Source: Investor Presentation

The company usually pays around $0.0036 per share each month, accompanied by one or two special dividends per year, which define the final amount. It is worth noting that the company had consecutively grown its dividend annually from 2012 to 2019, but again, FX changes have distorted that amount. The annual dividend should be higher than Banco Bradesco's $0.04 annualized monthly dividend, as it only includes the base payouts. The company has a history of paying special dividends as well. Still, it's almost impossible to forecast their value, especially given the FX factors involved.

Click here to download our most recent Sure Analysis report on BBD (preview of page 1 of 3 shown below):



Final Thoughts
In conclusion, monthly dividend stocks can be an attractive option for investors seeking a steady source of income, whether that's for covering one's everyday expenses or for regular compounding. While no investment comes without risk, some monthly dividend stocks have demonstrated a history of financial stability, consistent earnings, and reliable dividend payments.

Our list of the ten safest monthly dividend stocks presented in this article includes companies from a variety of industries that rank high based on our Dividend Risk scoring system.

Nevertheless, there are numerous other monthly dividend stocks available, each with its unique features and benefits. We recommend exploring these options to find the ones that align with your requirements and preferences. However, it is essential to keep in mind that every investment carries its own inherent risks, so be sure to conduct thorough research before making any decisions.

If you are interested in finding more high-quality dividend growth stocks suitable for long-term investment, the following Sure Dividend databases will be useful:

The major domestic stock market indices are another solid resource for finding investment ideas. Sure Dividend compiles the following stock market databases and updates them monthly:

Thanks for reading this article. Please send any feedback, corrections, or questions to support@suredividend.com.

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