AT&T (T)

5.3% YIELD. Fear of dividend taxes going up in the states caused a selloff in dividend stocks. AT&T has said it will roll out a new large Cap-X program and that is why it has sold off. He owns it for the dividend.

Thinks there is a bit of a rotation out of defensive stocks. Telecom is weakening quite a bit in terms of relative strength versus the other sectors. Loves the 5.2% dividend, which is fairly safe. Not a strong earnings growing company. He would use a stop/loss at about 10% below the 200 day moving average.

Since 2009, this company has had a phenomenal run. It is up 40%. Telcos are effectively a proxy play on GDP. The only concern he has on this in the near term is really the pension liability. Feels that as the US starts to recover, we’ll see higher interest rates and this should move slowly back on side. Good dividend. On weakness, you might want to add some.

Cable and wireless providers have been tremendous stocks to hold for at least the last 4 years. 4.8% dividend. The question arises, would you rather own AT&T at 4.8% dividend or would you rather buy a Canadian telco. The big advantage of owning a Canadian in a taxable account is that you get the dividend tax credit. Great industry.

(A Top Pick Oct 19/11. Up 36.23%.) Pays a 4.6% dividend. Expects the growth of the dividend to increase by about 3.5% over the next 3 years per year. Low beta risk.

This is very close to a Sell. Has done quite well recently and is trading 15X forward earnings. Pays a very fine dividend but it is getting a little rich. Last quarter was interesting because Apple (AAPL-Q) didn’t sell as many phones and this company did better. When the iPhone 5 comes out there is going to be a whole lot of subsidy going on. Would move onto something with a little better valuation.

What a beautiful up-trend. Starting to flatten out, typical pause within an up-trend. Good entry point.

(A Top Pick Aug 11/11. Up 40.34%.) Expects to see margin expansion continue in the wireless business. 5% dividend. Still likes.