Dogs of the Dow
ValueOn the first trading day of each January, buy the 10 highest dividend-yielding stocks in the Dow 30, equal weighted. Hold for the year, then rebalance. Yield is estimated from trailing 12-month dividends over price.
See this in the terminal — live earnings bands, fair value and rates.
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Chasing the highest dividend yields feels safe. Safe isn't the same as better.
The rule. On the first trading day of each January, buy the 10 highest dividend-yielding stocks in the Dow 30, equal weighted. Hold for the year, then rebalance. Yield is estimated from trailing 12-month dividends over price.
What actually happened.
- $10,000 became $17,787. The same $10,000 in Dow Jones (DIA) became $64,379. This strategy trailed the benchmark by $46,593.
- Compounded at 3.9% a year vs 13.2% for the benchmark.
- Best year: 2013 (+25%). Worst year: 2016 (-0%). This is not a smooth ride.
The catch. At its worst, this strategy fell -9% from a prior peak — shallower than the benchmark's -37%. Would you have held through that? Most people don't. That's the whole game.
The takeaway. The lesson isn't "this idea is stupid." It's that the simple, boring benchmark is harder to beat than the pitch decks admit. Before you try to be clever, respect the index.
Drawdown from prior peak
Calendar-year returns
| Line | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dogs of the Dow | +14% | +16% | +25% | +10% | -0% | -0% | -0% | -0% | -0% | -0% | -0% | -0% | -0% | -0% | -0% | -0% |
| Dow Jones (DIA) | +9% | +10% | +30% | +10% | +0% | +16% | +28% | -4% | +25% | +10% | +21% | -7% | +16% | +15% | +15% | +11% |
Dividend yield is estimated from trailing 12-month dividends over price; small timing differences vs the exact index-date yield are possible. How we test
Rebalance: annual (first trading day of January), equal weight · Window: 2011-09-02 → 2026-09-02 · Last run Sep 2, 2026 · JSON