We begin by reviewing the monthly total-return chart of the S&P 500 Utilities sector. The trend is repairing itself after breaking below a decade long uptrend line last year. For assets purchased for their income or yield such as bond funds or Utilities stocks, we can derive a lot of information from total return or dividend adjusted data. For example, last week the Utilities total return chart reached new monthly closing highs, the price index did not. In fact, the price index is still trading well below its 2022 highs. So, what does this mean? Investors who first bought or owned the sector through 2023’s drawdown of ~30%, have been made whole thanks to Mr. Dividend. I find it extremely important to involve both price and total return when analyzing assets known for their income.
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