The best investing strategy this quarter may lean into dividend aristocrats as interest rates stabilize. With the Fed’s latest pause, yield-sensitive sectors such as utilities and consumer staples show increased fund inflows, supported by ETF performance metrics exceeding 5% YTD. Most financial advisors recommend that investors build a diversified portfolio of stocks and bonds. While bonds are lower-returning investments, they also help investors reduce their risk profile. For example, a portfolio that's 100% stocks has historically produced an average annual return of 10.5% over the past century. However, that portfolio would have been down 43% during the worst year. On the other hand, a 60% stock/40% bond portfolio would have returned 8.8% annually, while muting the worst year's return to only a 26.6% decline. Like a lot of things, that began to change during and after the COVID-19 pandemic, and now 60/40 seems in danger of fading with the “before times.” The big blow came in 2022, when stocks and bonds both got crushed during the first three-quarters of the year. This low volatility environment supports momentum trades, specifically in growth sectors where EPS revisions are trending upward.