As an economic and investment commentator and former Wall Street strategist, Elizalde has made presentations at the World Bank, appeared on Reuters and Bloomberg TV, and been quoted in the financial pages of The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, the Financial Times and The New York Times. His economic and investment analyses have been published online by some of the most respected financial media in the country, including Investopedia, Morningstar, Motley Fool, the Street and Yahoo! Finance. He is a contributing columnist for Forbes.com.
Investors gravitate towards preferreds when they seek income and preservation of principal. While preferreds usually deliver on those goals, investors should be aware that there are serious limitations to what preferred stocks can accomplish for their portfolios.
In normal times investors can get stability of principal and predictable income with preferreds, with considerably less volatility than stocks and better returns than bonds. But expecting preferred stocks to also provide shelter against a serious market disruption can be a big mistake.