My monthly High-Yield Investing newsletter is devoted exclusively to income-oriented investments. In each issue I not only introduce my readers to a variety of new high yielding investing ideas, but I also provide continued guidance on several dozen of the market's best and brightest income-generating opportunities. I organize these various picks into the following four model portfolios...

"Income Anchors" Portfolio -- This portfolio contains stocks with above-average dividend yields. And since dividend payments are by no means guaranteed, I only invest in financially solid companies that should have the ability to continue paying sizable dividends in the years ahead.

Ultra-High Yield Portfolio -- This portfolio focuses on quality investment opportunities that offer above-average dividend yields. These include real estate investment trusts (REITs), royalty trusts, master limited partnerships (MLPs), preferred shares, and income deposit securities, among others.

Double-Barrelled Growth Portfolio -- Stocks in this portfolio offer investors the best of both worlds -- a steady income stream and strong capital gains. Some of the stocks in this portfolio may have average or below-average dividend yields (versus the S&P 500) at the time of purchase, but all are expected to deliver above-average returns over the long term.

Dividend-Focused Funds Portfolio -- This portfolio includes a mix of income-oriented-ETFs (exchange-traded funds) and a variety of outperforming mutual funds. These funds should provide a steady income stream and also help diversify an income portfolio.

In the analysis below I'll introduce you to two quality companies that I'm now considering adding to my "Income Anchors" Portfolio. In addition, I'd encourage you to stay tuned for further updates throughout the next several weeks. In those updates I'll introduce you to a variety of additional stocks and funds that I'm now considering adding to my other portfolios.

"Income Anchors" Watch List
Although I reserve my actual "Income Anchors" Portfolio picks for paid subscribers to my monthly High-Yield Investing newsletter, below you'll find several companies that I now considering as possible new additions to this portfolio. I am constantly researching and following these stocks, and I may eventually add them to this portfolio if and when their risk/reward profiles meet my stringent investment criteria:

National Fuel Gas (NFG, $28.10) -- Although this Northeastern gas distributor is a public utility, the firm generates just a third of its profits from government-regulated business lines. National Fuel also runs non-regulated gas pipeline, production and storage businesses, as well as a timber business. This unique mix gives NFG stable but growing earnings. It also gives the firm some flexibility in raising money.

For instance, in 2003 National Fuel sold some of its timber lands at top dollar and used the proceeds to buy new pipeline assets. The added pipeline has enabled the firm to expand its gas delivery network in New York and Pennsylvania -- two states with some of the highest gas demand in the country. In a few years, the company also plans to connect the pipeline to the high-demand New York City market.

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Although many utilities are now saddled with heavy debt loads, NFG is an exception. Company management runs a tight ship and has whittled down its debt -- the firm's debt/equity ratio now stands at very safe sub-1.0 levels. The firm's dividends also appear to be secure. NFG's steady earnings growth, which has measured in at about +6% a year for the past five years, is behind the firm's remarkable record of 34 straight years of dividend increases. Right now, NFG yields 4.0% and pays an annual dividend of $1.12 per share.

Meridian Bioscience (VIVO, $15.13) -- This Biotech firm is one of the few that pays such a hefty dividend. Far from being a fledgling upstart, for the past three decades the company has been a profitable maker of diagnostic kits to test for infectious diseases. The market for these kits, which account for the lion's share of the firm's earnings, is highly competitive. However, about five years ago VIVO also moved into the lucrative business of making proteins and antigens for new drugs and vaccines. This February, the firm bought a leading maker of proteins and antigens, O.E.M. Concepts, in the hopes of expanding this product line. Meridian expects the purchase to add one or two cents to its bottom line this year and four or five cents next year.

Company earnings, which have grown a robust +20% a year for the last five years, are expected to grow +13% this year and +32% next year. For an income investor looking for exposure to the high-growth Biotech industry, this stock could make an interesting portfolio addition, as the company pays a 48-cent per share annual dividend (3.2% yield).

Important Note: The above article was merely a small excerpt from a recent News Flash we sent to subscribers of our premium, income-oriented investing newsletter -- High-Yield Investing. In each issue of that newsletter, editor Carla Pasternak delivers a host of other investing ideas and tips designed to help you earn steady gains and above-average income from your portfolio. To receive your copy of our most recent High-Yield Investing newsletter, as well as other guidance similar to this every month, you'll need to register for this separate publication. Please visit one of the following links to continue...

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