NEW YORK ( TheStreet) -- If you are old enough, you may remember something called the Nifty Fifty, which during the 1950s and 1960s were touted as solid-performing stocks you could buy and hold forever.
It turns out that "forever" lasted until 1972, when a 10-year bear market took over. Until then they had a good run. Looking over the list, what strikes me is how well the Nifty Fifty mirrored the U.S. economy at the time. Lots of manufacturing, retailing, energy development and beer. There are some interesting entries too. S.S. Kresge. Really? Simplicity Patterns? Yes, that Simplicity Patterns, which sold sewing pattern guides. Eastman (ahem) Kodak. Now, as to where the money is, look at the dividends of technology companies. According to the same S&P report, the companies within the technology sector are paying more dividends than companies of any other sector. In the aggregate, they account for 14.7% of all dividends paid by S&P 500 companies. That's up from just 6% in 2007. There is probably, or should be, a Nifty Fifty list of technology companies. If there was such a list, stocks listed below held by the GMG Defensive Beta Fund ( MPDAX) would surely be on it.
- Intel ( INTC) International Business Machines ( IBM) Microsoft ( MSFT) Cognizant Technologies ( CTSH) Apple ( AAPL) Oracle ( ORCL) Cisco ( CSCO) Adobe Systems ( ADBE)