#-ad_banner-#There are more than 14,000 stocks currently trading on American exchanges. 

That’s 14,000 decisions you have to make when deciding whether to invest your money in small-cap stocks or blue chips, dividend payers or long-term growth stocks. 

Narrowing down your choice to the perfect investment can be daunting, especially when trying to balance high reward potential with the lowest possible risk. 

But I’ve found a collection of stocks that can practically make your decision for you. They offer better yields, higher returns and less risk than the broader market… And every investor should consider adding these eight stocks to their portfolio today. 

I call these eight stocks “Hall of Fame” investments. Not because their best days are behind them, but because these firms boast qualities that rank them among the best performing, most shareholder-friendly companies on the planet. 

Here’s a look at the stocks that made my “Hall of Fame” list: 

The first reason you should consider investing in one or more of these powerful companies is that these stocks are market-beaters. In a side-by-side comparison, these eight stocks crush the broader market by a wide margin. Over the past 10 years, while the S&P 500 has returned 115%, these companies returned 304%, on average. 

And while the average yield in the S&P is a meager 1.9%, these companies pay an average yield of 7.4%. 

The second reason to own these stocks is that they can outperform in practically any market. 

During the 2008 recession, the market lost upwards of 60% of its total value and didn’t hit its pre-recession price levels for five years.

By comparison, these eight stocks recovered their pre-recession levels in less than two years after the crisis began. And by the end of the Great Recession, they’d earned investors an average gain of 10%. 

Throughout that time, none of these stocks missed a single dividend payment. In fact, many of them continued to raise their payouts during this period of market turmoil. 

And over the past decade, they’ve combined to offer investors more than 150 dividend raises. That’s more than one payout increase every single month. 

Now I’ve shown you what these eight stocks have offered shareholders in the past. But the final reason I think you should consider adding them to your portfolio today is that each of these unique companies boasts a powerful competitive advantage that can help keep it dominant for many more years to come. 

One of these companies for example — Government Properties Income Trust (NYSE: GOV) — is a real estate investment trust focused on owning and operating properties primarily leased to government tenants. 

In total the firm boasts a $1.9 billion real estate portfolio, consisting of 71 properties located across 31 states. 

Those properties are leased around to 38 different agencies of the U.S. government, including the FBI, the IRS and the U.S. Postal Service, as well as 12 state governments and the United Nations. 

It’s easy to see why around the office we refer to it as “Uncle Sam’s Landlord.” And Uncle Sam has been good to this company. The company has brought in more revenue every year since its 2007 IPO, earning more than $250 million in 2014. 

That’s a 243% increase over just seven years. And much of that income has trickled down to the firm’s net margins, which have consistently surpassed 20%. 

GOV isn’t shy about sharing that cash either. Currently the company pays an impressive 10.4% dividend yield, nearly five times higher than the S&P average. 

Like I mentioned above, I’ve found seven other companies just as impressive as GOV. And each of them can offer you better yields, higher returns and less risk than investing in the broader market. 

One for example, owns more than 51,000 miles of oil and natural gas pipelines — enough to circle the planet twice. 

That’s a huge competitive advantage, as no rival firm will be able to come along and compete with the company’s massive transportation volume. 

Another, currently paying an 8.7% dividend yield, allows investors to benefit from one of the largest private wealth transfers in American History. 

Action to Take: Sadly, I don’t have time to give you my full analysis on each of these companies right now. But I’ll tell you this — these aren’t companies you hear about very often. Just like GOV, I’m sure many of the stocks in my “Hall of Fame” list will be new to most investors. 

But I think each and every one of them has the power to greatly enhance your portfolio’s income-generating power and overall performance. 

Choosing your investments doesn’t have to be stressful. Especially if you stick high-yielding, market-beating companies like the eight that made my list of High-Yield Hall of Famers. 

If you’d like view my full research and insights on each of these eight companies, I invite you to visit this link.