It's been a mostly good year for a group of blue-chip stocks, even as artificial intelligence continues to dominate the investor psyche. A cohort known as the "dogs" of the Dow Jones Industrial Average is a changing list of stocks with the highest dividend yield at the end of each year. Popularized by investor Michael O'Higgins in the early 1990s, the idea is to buy the top 10 stocks with the highest dividend yields at the start of each year.
Hopefully, their share prices will rise, an extra perk on top of the cash payouts these companies offer shareholders. Because dividend yields typically rise when stock prices fall, the idea is that traders could be getting a discount compared with historical levels. This can offer an entry point into high-quality names, especially given the Dow's strong reputation.
2024 has been an interesting trading year, with market participants focused on what many see as narrow leadership. Namely, Nvidia has soared more than 130% as AI continues grabbing investors' attention. Despite those worries about leadership, the Dow has climbed more than 4% so far this year and at one point crossed 40,000 for the first time.
For those who subscribed to the dogs theory, there's largely been upside — with 7 of the 9 stocks beating the Dow. One dog — Goldman Sachs — has returned more than 20% this year. CNBC Pro tracked how the 2024 dogs have done so far this year and compiled data from FactSet on where these names can go next.
These stats are current as o.