Falling interest rates have hurt savers. People in retirement and those who are close to retirement have seen their income from savings and investment decline significantly as interest rates worked toward the zero line. The broad based economic weakness in tangent with the deterioration in the credit markets have brought economically sensitive assets down in value. Therein rests the opportunity to take advantage of lower prices to potentially generate higher income through dividend yields.

One of the hardest hit sectors in the financial markets has been debt financed companies. This includes the REITs or Real Estate Investment Trusts. These companies are required by law to pay out 90% of their earnings to qualify as a REIT. The Internal Revenue Code lists the conditions a company must meet to qualify as a REIT. For example, the company must pay 90% of its taxable income to shareholders every year. It must also invest at least 75% of its total assets in real estate and generate 75% or more of its gross income from investments in or mortgages on real property.

IAMGOLD Corp (IAG) is a Canadian based mining company that participates in worldwide exploration and development of mineral resources and produces roughly 1 million ounces of gold annually from eight property locations on three continents: North America, South America and Africa. The company boasts the largest cash flow ratio on investment in the entire industry and is second among top mining companies in terms of achieving earnings per $1000 invested. Revenue, adjusted net earnings and cash flow have all risen sharply through the first 9 months of 2008.

IAG MAINTAINS STRONG FINANCIAL POSITION

Guidance Software (GUID) is the world leader in digital investigations. Their EnCase suite of forensic software products has become the industry standard and is used by consultancies, law enforcement and government agencies for searching, collecting, preserving, analyzing and authenticating electronic computer forensic data for use in criminal and civil court proceedings. Their customer base exceeds 28,000, including more than half of the Fortune 500 and over 1000 government and law enforcement agencies worldwide.