I have just started reading this. I am on Chapter 1, and I am hooked. It is an eye-opener. https://www.routledge.com/The-Owner...he-US-Stock-Market/Peris/p/book/9781032273198
Dividends suck in the USA. You have to pay taxes on them. It's better to have unrealized capital gains. If you live in a jurisdiction where dividends aren't taxed, then dividends would be okay.
The book addresses this argument in detail. What if you want or need a regular income stream from your investment? If you hold the stock long term, i.e., more than a year, then dividends are taxed at the same rate as capital gain.
Due to the "pendulum" effect (swings one way, then swings the opposite way), the market is due for a large reality check. Specifically, profitability (e.g. "Unicorn stocks") And more specifically, the ability to pay regular dividends. Consistent dividends are the benchmark. And regular dividend increases are the brass ring. Qualified dividends are taxed at the LTCG rate. (Qualified implies a holding period, which technically excludes day traders). Most of these stocks are in stable demand, health care, or energy. I own CVX and XOM, both created by JD Rock Sr. There are not a lot of stocks 100+ years old, still in their basic original business model. Hmm...
When high growth falters dividend stocks are all the rage. Therefore if they are to become all the rage again it means high growth has receded. Has it?
It is a strange environment currently. On the one hand we have high growth in niche industries like AI/GPUs/Hyperscalers, industrial reshoring & the greening of industries. On the other hand with relatively high interest rates you can get high dividends via public & private loans which are mostly floating rate so they benefit from rising CPI/PCE. Gundlach even referred to that yesterday in his post Fed commentary. Some CEFs that specialize in private credit & mezzanine loans you can get upwards of 15% returns.
These are often identified as business development companies. BDCs are indeed a type of closed-end fund. They have to meet certain criteria, and they get special tax treatment. There are only a couple hundred of them out there.