The 5 Best ETFs to Invest for 2013

Buying targeted dividend ETFs is easier than buying high-yield dividend stocks.
Dividend stocks were red-hot last year as the über-volatile market sent investors headlong into what has traditionally been the most stable segment of the equity universe. And while it isn’t likely we’ll see quite as much volatility in 2012 as we did in the final four months of 2011, powerful unknowns, such as Europe’s unresolved debt issues and China’s economic slowdown, could put real pressure on global economic growth — and by extension, the fate of the world’s equity markets. That means we could be in for an extended period of volatility and more capital inflows into the dividend space.
As investors, we can buy a well-thought-out group of solid, high-profile dividend stocks to gain exposure to the segment. But it’s easier to buy targeted dividend ETFs that already contain baskets of the best — and highest-yielding — dividend-paying securities.
The 5 Best ETFs to Invest for 2013 - iShares Dow Jones Select Dividend Index
The iShares Dow Jones Select Dividend (ETF) (NYSE:DVY) is an ETF pegged to the Dow Jones index bearing its name. This ETF really saw gains during the final three months of 2011, perhaps the most volatile time for stocks all last year. The fund surged 11% over that period, and that gain came with a 3.44% annual yield (as of Jan. 13). DVY counts among its top holdings such stellar corporate names as Lorillard (NYSE:LO), Chevron (NYSE:CVX), Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB) and McDonald’s (NYSE:MCD), to name just a few. The fund’s expense ratio is only 0.40%, making the cost of owning these high-end performers very attractive.
SPDR S&P International Dividend
International stocks were by no means the best performers last year, but that didn’t stop the SPDR S&P International Dividend (ETF) (NYSE:DWX) from delivering a solid dividend yield of 4.02%. DWX’s expense ratio is 0.45%, just slightly higher than the domestic-equity focused DVY. For this modest cost, you get diversified exposure to international dividend stocks in income sectors such as telecommunications, utilities and financials.
The 5 Best ETFs to Invest for 2013 - WisdomTree Equity Income Fund
WisdomTree Equity Income Fund (NYSE:DHS) enjoyed a good year, and it performed particularly well in the final quarter. The fund is up almost 8% over the past three months, and that comes with an annual yield of 3.31%. Its holdings are based on WisdomTree’s Equity Income Index, which reads like a Who’s Who of dividend stalwarts. Companies such as AT&T (NYSE:T), General Electric (NYSE:GE), Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) and Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) top the list of payout performers you get when you own DHS. And at an expense ratio of just 0.38%, you get these great companies on the cheap.
The 5 Best ETFs to Invest for 2013  - iShares S&P U.S. Preferred Stock Index Fund
The iShares S&P U.S. Preferred Stock Index Fund (NYSE:PFF) is an ETF that gives you exposure to preferred stocks. I like this fund primarily because of its outstanding 6.99% yield, but I also like it because it diversifies your income portfolio by owning the preferred shares of some of the world’s best companies. HSBC Holdings (NYSE:HBC), General Motors (NYSE:GM), Wells Fargo (NYSE:WFC) and many others have issued high-yield preferred shares, and the easiest and cheapest way to own these equities — at an expense ratio of just 0.48% — is to have PFF in your portfolio.
The 5 Best ETFs to Invest for 2013 - Claymore/Zacks Multi-Asset Income Index
Clamymore/Zacks Multi-Asset Income Index (ETF) (NYSE:CVY) is perhaps the most eclectic fund of my five best ETFs for 2012. CVY has had a great run over the past three months, vaulting nearly 6% while offering an annual yield of 5.42%. One huge reason to love CVY is that it contains a host of different types of high-yield securities. In addition to domestic and international stocks, the fund holds real estate investment trusts, master limited partnerships, closed-end funds, Canadian royalty trusts and traditional preferred stocks. Owning CVY gives you the best of the best when it comes to income securities at a quite acceptable 0.78% expense ratio

5 Top Price-Compare Apps - SmartMoney.com

With fast-ending sales, stackable coupons and online-only discounts, in-store shoppers often have good reason to question whether the price they see is really the best deal out there. More are turning to a growing roster of price-comparison apps for an answer -- and getting mixed results.

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Nearly 40% of smartphone owners use their phones for in-store price comparisons, making it the top mobile shopping-related activity, according to Nielsen. And even those with regular cell phones run price checks: During the 2011 holiday shopping season, 19% of consumers used their phone to compare products or prices in store, up from 15% in 2010 and 3% in 2009, according to customer service research firm ForeSee. "It's such a great development for consumers," says Deborah Mitchell, executive director for the Center of Brand and Product Management at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Experts warn, however, that the apps may not always be so effective and some stores are determined to thwart them. "Retailers obviously don't like them," says Brad Spirrison, the managing editor for review site Appolicious. To keep customers from making an easy comparison, some now use store-specific barcodes that the apps can't scan, or negotiate with manufacturers for exclusive model numbers -- which means a fast search won't turn up any results.
Apps are also only as good as their underlying price-search engine, says Edgar Dworsky, the founder of ConsumerWorld.org. Some stores or sites may be excluded from results, and partner retailers may be given preference in the listings. The software may update pri! ces only sporadically or fail to include shipping, which can distort results, he says. And local search results are often limited to big-box retailers, with no mom-n-pop listings. "Maybe I'm being a little old-fashioned, but I tend to do my homework on a computer at home before I go to the store," he says. "That makes it easier to check a few sites for comparison."
Still, having a reliable price-comparison app or two on your phone can be a smart spot-check. Some stores may even be willing to match deals the apps find. Here are five the experts say are worth the download:

RedLaser

• iPhone, Android, Windows

One of the big names in mobile price checks, RedLaser lets shoppers scan barcodes or conduct manual searches by typing in a product's name, Spirrison says. Experts say it tends to read product barcodes more easily and accurately than other apps, which may cut down search time. Searches for a $200 Microsoft Xbox 360 4GB turned up an extensive 99 online results, including eBay auctions (eBay acquired the startup in 2010), and listed a few independent shops in local results, too. Cheapest prices: $144 on eBay, $190 at a nearby Dell store. Local results are sorted by proximity rather than price, however, so be prepared to scroll through to find the cheapest deals. A spokeswoman says the cheapest local price is noted at the top of overall search results, but it's worth looking through them all -- Toys R Us allows users to link through the app to reserve items for in-store pickup, and Best Buy will too at some point this spring.

Decide.com

• iPhone, Android

Not only will this free app find gadget prices online and nearby, it also notes whether there's a new model due out soon or other factors that could impact pricing. "It'll tell you whether you should buy the item now or wait," Dworsky says. A new 2012 model 42" Panasonic Viera, for example, gets a "buy" rati! ng, sinc e the site expects prices to hold steady. It found sets for $600 at a nearby Best Buy, and online as cheap as $470 at PCConnection.com. App users can scan barcodes or type in a product name to find items, and sign up for price-drop alerts if they decide to wait. But check the confidence rating on predictions about price changes -- Decide.com claims 77% turned out to be accurate on average. "It's a bit like the weather," says spokesman Michael Paulson. "But an 80% chance is still good buying information."

Google Shopper

• iPhone, Android

"One scan and it will show you all the places an item is available online, and near you," says Michelle Madhok, the founder of SheFinds.com. Shoppers can also hunt for a product by snapping a picture some items, or saying its name. A hunt for the game "The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim" on PlayStation 3, regularly $60, turned up a new copy for as little as $36 online -- and a note that the seller didn't have any reliability rating. Local results were plentiful, too, although none were below sticker price. Google Shopper also integrates with other Google products, letting users get Google Maps directions to that local store or check the latest daily deals via Google Offers, she says. Local listings note availability, although Madhok says it's still a good idea to call and confirm. (Clicking on a store listing includes the option to call.) A Google spokeswoman says the feeds are updated on a regular basis.

Price Check by Amazon

• iPhone, Android

"As a consumer it pays to keep track of what Amazon is doing," says Mitchell. If there's a cheaper price online, they're often the site that has it, she says, so it's worthwhile to try the free price-check app, which lets users search by scanning a barcode, snapping a picture or saying or typing in the product name. (Users on other platforms, including BlackBerry and Windows, can try the ! Amazon M obile app, which offers the same price-checking capabilities, but requires an extra click or two to access them among other features in the app.) A $450 Dyson AM02 tower fan at Sears came up as cheap as $339 on the site. The catch with both Amazon apps, of course, is that they only check prices on Amazon. The company did not respond to requests for comment.

Consumer Reports Mobile Shopper

• iPhone, Android

At $5 for one-year access, Consumer Reports' offering is among the priciest price-compare apps. But users also get the group's expert ratings, reviews and buying advice, which cost $30 a year to see online, says Dworsky. Shoppers can scan a barcode, type in a product or look for top picks by category. Searches for a "best buy"-rated $60 Expert Finish steam iron, for example, turned up online prices as cheap as $49 at TechLoops.com, and also pointed to a local Best Buy that had it in stock. App users can also access brand reliability ratings for single-brand retailers like Gap or Cole Haan. Users can't access auto ratings, however, and complaints about the app on iTunes say some ratings aren't up-to-date. Spokesman Kevin McKean says the ratings are CR's latest, but because the nonprofit buys and tests everything itself, some categories may not have ratings for every item, or have them immediately.

This Medical Device Stock Could Double your Money

In today's uneven stock market, investors end up overlooking many appealing companies. And right now, they are particularly ignoring growth stocks. This usually happens when fears surface that the global economy could be heading into recession.
In times of economic stress, the health care sector is usually seen as a safe haven. But recently, many leaders in the industry have also been out of favor.

The passing of a historic health care bill in the United States last year has increased concerns that regulation will cut into profits of health care firms. Among those concerns: a 2.3% excise tax on medical-device sales, set to begin in 2013. This is obviously a negative aspect, but it isn't likely to adversely affect the inherent appeal of companies with leading devices, technologies and global growth platforms.
Add it all up, and I see a rare opportunity for investors to buy quality health care stocks.

Medical device firm St. Jude (NYSE: STJ), for instance, has such appeal. Besides a focus on growth, one of the company's main goals is to save and improve lives with its medical devices, which have become vital in the treatment of cardiac, neurologic and chronic-pain disorders. The company makes, for example, mechanical heart valves and implantable cardioverter defibrillators (ICDs), which detect cardiac arrhythmia and correct it by delivering shocks to the heart.
This wide range of technologically sophisticated devices is being widely adopted across the world, which has put the St. Jude on a remarkable growth trajectory. Last year, healthy sales of existing products, new product introductions and increased global reach resulted in a 10% sales growth to $5.2 billion, compared with $4.7 billion in the year before. In fact, 2010 marked the first time sales exceeded $5 billion. Earnings growth was even better, rising more than 20% to $2.75 per diluted share. In addition,! foreign sales -- which make up more than half of the company's total sales -- are growing in excess of 20% a year.
The company is also impressively profitable. Last year alone, it boasted a net profit margin of almost 18%. This represented the highest margin in the past five years, placing the company well ahead of rivals and the market in general. To put this into perspective, the health care industry as a whole has a net margin of roughly 6%, while the S&P500 average is only about 12%.
Growth expectations for all of 2011 speak to St. Jude's operating consistency. Analyst projections are currently calling for sales growth of 10% to $5.7 billion and $3.27 in earnings per share, a growth of nearly 20%. But these levels of annual increases are nothing new to existing shareholders. In the past five years, annual sales and profit growth have averaged 12% and 21.5%, respectively. The past decade is equally impressive, with annual sales growth of 16% and annual profit growth of 22%.
St. Jude also has a healthy new lineup of devices that will likely drive growth going forward. Included in the new product mix are neuromodulation devices that deliver small amounts of electricity to the nervous system to help treat chronic conditions such as Parkinson's disease and migraine headaches. Its management team estimates 18 new growth drivers should generate $18 billion in additional sales within the next five years.
In terms of archrivals, St. Jude competes against pure-play rivals such as Medtronic (NYSE: MDT) and Boston Scientific (NYSE: BSX). Medtronic boasts a market capitalization of nearly $36 billion, which is close to three times St Jude's market cap of $12.5 billion. But despite an equally impressive lineup of medical devices, its already substantial size is a barrier to double-digit growth. Boston Scientific has a current market cap of less than $9 billion, but has had obstacles to overcome, including the acquisition of Guidant back in 20! 06, whic h hamstrung it with too much debt, and manufacturing problems that continued well after the purchase was completed.