Where Are the 'Safe' Dividend Yields?

As a result, I am passing on MBIA (MBI Quote), which has a 24% yield -- tops on the insider yield screen from the Form 4s Filed at the SEC in May (see table below).

Any yield from this stock has obviously been negated by the capital loss it has handed investors trying to catch this falling knife. Taking a flyer on a stock like this isn't why I look for a yield play to begin with. I do so to find a solid income flow for my portfolio. MBIA is obviously too much of a crap shoot, and doesn't fit the bill. It's an easy pass.

High-Yielding Securities with Insider Buying

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So far this year, I've also consciously avoided jumping into the specialty finance and mortgage-REIT-related names that make up a good part of these monthly screens. If I had at least a two-year investment horizon, I could probably justify piling into all of them. But I need to show solid monthly and quarterly performance. That's led me to avoid companies that are overly reliant on crunched credit markets, rickety real estate and/or crimped consumer activity.

The insider buying in these maligned groups has been constant since the market began melting down last year. Insiders' opinion is clear: the U.S. banking and real-estate markets are going to survive. For all the nasty news flow in the financials, this simple fact is worth keeping in mind. There will come a time when jumping into this sector with both feet is going to be a very smart play for the short-term, as well as the long-term.