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Back from Key West thirty six hours late, thanks to Delta. I had the opportunity to read lots of financial clutter in paradise - a tedious task the Keys made pleasant. Between the Mohitos,fresh fish and other assorted culinary delights, I navigated a conclusion that earning a nice yield (assuming a stable dollar, more reasonable fuel cost expectations and other commodity cost stabilization) with ETFs and stocks that are less thrilling than the double shorts and other eclectic plays should be just fine for Mr. and Ms. Investor. And perhaps for more sophisticated investors such as yourself.

The following ETFs are higher yielding securities that one may consider to fulfill this theme:

HYG -iShares iBoxx $ High Yield Corporate Bond at 8.06% priced at $93.63
IPE -SPDR Barclays CapiTIPS at 5.41% priced at $51.35
LAG -SPDR Lehman Aggressive Bond at 4.87% priced at $52.78
SDY -SPDR S&P Dividend at 4.63% priced at $47.34
PGF -PowerShares Financial Preferred at 7.32% priced at $18.71
FDL -FirstTrust Morningstar Dividend at 5.66% priced at $15.72
CVY -Claymore Zacks Yield at 6.77% priced at $20.52

Within my own portfolios, I have added certain stocks that appear to have a positive future and sustainable income to provide for current yield and future dividend increases in line with the company's history. Here are a few to ponder:

AEE - Ameren at 6.28% priced at $40.46
ATG - AGL Resources at 5.03% priced at $33.39
BMY - Bristol-Myers Squibb at 5.66% priced at $21.89
CINF- Cincinnati Financial at 5.64% priced at $27.64
ED - Consolidated Edison at 6.00% priced at $39.00
EPD - Enterprise Products Partners, LP at 7.04% priced at $29.25
GE - General Electric at 4.23% priced at $29.33 (if management changes)
LRY - Liberty Property Trust at 6.80% priced at $36.74
PFE - Pfizer at 6.71% priced at $19.07
RAI - Reynolds American at 6.51% priced at $52.21
SO - Southern Company at 4.77% priced at $35.23
T - AT&T at 4.54% priced at $33.06
USB - US Bancorp at 5.56% priced at $30.60
WFC - Wells Fargo at 4.47% priced at $30.45

Other companies such as Dow Chemical, Verizon and a host of pipeline MLPs deserve consideration on merit.

The point being:
If a generally passive investor wishes to construct a handsome income stream in dollars using a diversified mix of sectors, ETFs and stocks, now is a great time to execute.