Dividend aristocrats are steady dividend payers that have a long history of hiking their payouts year after year. Undoubtedly, dividend stability and growth could be vital to doing well in this market moving forward, as the artificial intelligence (AI)-driven rally continues to run out of steam and investor hype turns into gloom.
Indeed, when you take the Magnificent Seven stocks out of the equation, the S&P 500 Index ($SPX) hasn't really been feeling that much relief for the year. For now, it seems like all of the tech sector is just a violent tug-of-war between rate hikes and AI enthusiasm. Only time will tell which pulling force triumphs from here. If rate hike fears get the better of the markets, who knows how far this year's tech titans could retreat?
