‘A paid hack’: Nouriel Roubini called out Kevin O’Leary for his ties to disgraced FTX — but Mr. Wonderful still likes these low-risk stocks for income
The downfall of cryptocurrency exchange FTX has impacted quite a few celebrities. That includes Kevin O’Leary — a star on CNBC’s Shark Tank program — who was a spokesperson and investor in the exchange.
He’s was called out by famed economist Nouriel Roubini.
“Kevin O’Leary is a paid hack for FTX,” Roubini said at Abu Dhabi Finance Week. “I hope that CNBC is going to get rid of him.”
To be sure, O’Leary has been one of the more outspoken proponents of cryptocurrency, but that’s not his entire investing strategy — far from it.
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Mr. Wonderful is actually a believer in investing in dividend stocks.
“When I started to do some research I found out one interesting fact that changed my investment philosophy forever,” he said in a Forbes interview. “Over the last 40 years, 71% of the market returns came from dividends, not capital appreciation.”
“So rule one for me is I’ll never own stuff that doesn’t pay a dividend. Ever.”
If you share the same view, here’s a look at the three top holdings at O’Leary’s flagship ETF — ALPS O’Shares U.S. Quality Dividend ETF (OUSA).
Home Depot (NYSE:HD)
Home Depot may not seem as exciting as crypto, but it’s the top holding at OUSA, accounting for 5.25% of the fund’s weight.
The home improvement retail giant has around 2,300 stores, with each one averaging approximately 105,000 square feet of indoor retail space, dwarfing many competitors.
While many brick-and-mortar retailers floundered during the pandemic, Home Depot grew its sales nearly 20% in fiscal 2020 to $132.1 billion.
And the company continued its momentum as the economy reopened.
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In Q3 of Home Depot’s fiscal 2022, sales increased 5.6% year over year while earnings per share improved by 8.2%.
The company also raised its quarterly dividend by 15.2% to $1.90 per share earlier this year. At the current share price, it yields 2.3%.
Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT)
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