what's a dividend seeking value-based investor to do....

So what about this incredible sustained rally? For the dividend-hungry, bargain-basement shopper like me, deals are hard to find.

I'm keeping myself occupied looking to re-enter sectors I had exited previously; I'm cautiously slipping back into banking, with some carefully selected regional banks; one's without large portfolios of non-performing mortgages, or a bunch of 'counter-party risk' from trading in credit default swaps, derivitives of mortgage backed securities and the like.

I like banks who loaned carefully, maintained control of their mortgage portfolio, continue to have steady earnings and pay their owners in the form of capital appreciation (single digits are fine!) and a history of rising dividends ( I can live just fine with 3-5% in that category, thank you).

I'm gratified to see how my REITs are doing; selected for companies who don't carry a lot of debt, work in industries with stable lessors, such as health care entities, If one doesn't carry a mortgage on a property, the loss of a few lessors isn't nearly as painful as having to handle debt coverage in the face of no income.

Energy costs are on the rise again, making the pipeline MLPs, the exploration companies more attractive. I like the ones who position themselves to collect fees in good times and bad, hedge the prices of their oil/gas production with long term contracts, and continue to buy up properties with proven reserves under them. This avoids the whipsaw valuations, unpredictable payouts. Better to get steady-eddy payouts, reinvest, see the position grow and the rising stream of dividends continue coming in.

I've watched Apple shoot through the stratesphere, love the products and use them, but I'd still rather get paid steadily than make a bet on who will be in vogue one season and who will the next.

Having built a very firm foundation of high-dividend, low payout ratio, modestly growing equities and a generous sprinkling of preferreds, mini-bonds, REITS and partnerships, I'm beginning to develop an interest in equities that promise higher growth in addition to a bit more modest dividend payouts.

I'll see where this takes me as the 401k contributions, employer matching, catch-up contributions and the profit sharing contributions roll in;

Overall I'm looking for 20% growth in the portfolio, from new contributions and dividend/valuation contributions. That would make 2010 a very good year.