Preferreds are Preferred
Friday, March 5, 2010 at 10:40AM As shown below, the ETF that tracks US preferred stocks has soared to new bull market highs in recent days. While preferreds got crushed during the financial collapse, investors have really been bidding them higher during this bull market.
While preferreds fell more than common stocks during the '07-'09 bear market, their gains since the March '09 lows have been more than enough for them to outperform common stocks over the entire bear market/bull market cycle that started when the market hits its all-time high on October 9th, 2007. Since March 9th, 2009, PFF is up 153%, while the S&P 500 is up 66%. Since 10/9/07, PFF is down 18.76%, while the S&P 500 is still down 28.25%.
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Reader Comments (2)
A very useful article because most investors don't even consider preferred stock, an investment that is well-suited for for this uncertain economic environment.
Problem is, this is history. Many if not most preferreds are at full value. My largest holding now trades at a premium. They could go higher if people assume zero interest rates will go on forever, but that is a dangerous bet.