First off, let me just say what an honor it is to be taking the reins of The Daily Paycheck. I certainly have some big shoes to fill, but I feel up to the challenge.

For those who don’t know me, I spent some time as a financial planner and wealth management advisor before coming to StreetAuthority full time in 2004. I’ve covered a lot of investment ground here over the past 14 years, from commodities to micro-caps. But most of my time and energy have been spent in the pursuit of quality dividend payers and interest-bearing securities.

More Of The Same
I strongly believe that The Daily Paycheck has emerged as the best all-purpose income-oriented publication in the entire industry. (Not to take anything away from my other advisory, High-Yield Investing, which has a slightly different mission.)

The Daily Paycheck‘s three distinct portfolios — High-Yield Opportunities, Fast Dividend Growers and Steady Income Generators — represent a well-rounded, diversified approach to income investing that has served readers well since its inception nearly nine years ago. In that period, we’ve processed more than 3,000 “paychecks” for a total distribution of nearly $140,000 in dividend payouts. And most of the payers have appreciated nicely in their own right.

#-ad_banner-#So, I don’t intend to make any format changes or feel the need for a big portfolio makeover. As they say, if it’s not broke, don’t fix it. My goal is to make this transition as seamless as possible.

In other words, expect business as usual around here.

Genia and I look for many of the same traits in a potential candidate: predictable cash flows, sustainable dividend coverage, reasonable valuations, favorable competitive position, positive industry growth outlook. So it’s no accident that some of our portfolio holdings overlap.

That being said, I strive to keep overlapping newsletter recommendations to a minimum. Going forward, don’t expect to see many — if any — duplicate picks between The Daily Paycheck and High-Yield Investing.

As you may know, we have a portfolio at The Daily Paycheck reserved for reliable lofty yields of 7% or better. If you like this section, then I would encourage you to test drive High-Yield Investing, where much of the content is centered on securities with even higher payouts of 10%. And rest assured I’m chomping at the bit to be able to exclusively bring you my best recommendations for The Daily Paycheck‘s Fast Dividend Growers and Steady Income Generators portfolios.

For now, though, I’m not making any changes to The Daily Paycheck‘s holdings. But no two analysts will see eye-to-eye on virtually every single position. So there will probably be a few positions that are let go over time. If you happen to own one, don’t panic — it doesn’t necessarily mean that I’ve spotted a red flag. It could just be that the stock belongs to an industry group I don’t follow closely. Or maybe I’m just dialing back exposure to an overweight area.

Now Is A Great Time To Be An Income Hunter
Fortunately, this is a great time to be an income hunter. While continued Fed rate tightening does present some challenges, they are navigable. And rates on everything from newly-issued municipal bonds to preferred stocks are resetting at higher levels closer to historical norms — helping our investment principal work just a little bit harder.

Meanwhile, there were 948 dividend hikes among U.S. companies last quarter (the median increase was 10.3%). It doesn’t hurt that we’re seeing an extended run of 20%+ earnings growth among S&P 500 businesses. And thanks in part to corporate tax reform (and subsequent cash repatriation), total dividend distributions are on pace to reach $440 billion in 2018, shattering last year’s record of $420 billion.

Incidentally, that’s more than $1 billion a day being returned to investors. And since our raison d’etre is to put more cash in readers’ pockets each day, these statistics are music to my ears.

Don’t Forget Buybacks
Even for those accustomed to dealing with large sums, one trillion is a colossal number. If stacked up in $100 bills, it would reach an altitude of 630 miles — more than twice as high as the International Space Station.

You might have heard that Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL) recently became the first American company with a market value of $1 trillion, followed shortly after by Amazon.com (Nasdaq: AMZN). The latter was worth only $600 billion back in January before an impressive 75% surge this year put it across that mythical threshold.

Both examples are a testament to the powerful wealth creation engine of the U.S. stock market. In fact, the combined market value of all U.S. equities has grown by an astonishing $22 trillion since 2009 — enriching the net worth of every American with a 401(K) or brokerage account.

But that’s not the trillion I’m referring to.

I’m talking about a Goldman Sachs report showing that U.S. companies have invested $754 billion in stock buybacks this year and are on pace to spend over a trillion for the first time ever. That would shatter the previous annual record of $809 million in share repurchases from 2007.

If issuing new shares dilutes the ownership interest of stockholders, then buybacks accomplish the exact opposite by magnifying it.

Many executives are quick to attribute the positive impact of tax reform, which lowered corporate taxes and removed some of the penalties associated with repatriating cash held overseas. And that cash is being deployed through other channels as well.

Meanwhile, capital expenditures on new plants, equipment and other expansion projects jumped 21% to $159 billion — a new quarterly record. According to a Bank of America survey, other priorities include paying out bonuses to employees.

So we’ve got a record amount of spending on new projects to help spur profit growth.

Simultaneously, there is unprecedented stock buyback activity, meaning those earnings will stretch further on a per-share basis.

Let’s Get To Work
While a market correction could happen at any time, the cumulative impact of all these factors (rising dividends, buybacks, and capital investment) should act as a brisk tailwind as we move into 2019.

We’ll learn more about each other in due time over the next few months. And I’m excited about the opportunities on the horizon. In the meantime, if you’d like to join me and give The Daily Paycheck a test-drive, go here.