About Us

Laser Focus World is an industry bedrock—first published in 1965 and still going strong. We publish original articles about cutting-edge advances in lasers, optics, photonics, sensors, and quantum technologies, as well as test and measurement, and the shift currently underway to usher in the photonic integrated circuits, optical interconnects, and copackaged electronics and photonics to deliver the speed and efficiency essential for data centers of the future.

Our 80,000 qualified print subscribers—and 130,000 12-month engaged online audience—trust us to dive in and provide original journalism you won’t find elsewhere covering key emerging areas such as laser-driven inertial confinement fusion, lasers in space, integrated photonics, chipscale lasers, LiDAR, metasurfaces, high-energy laser weaponry, photonic crystals, and quantum computing/sensors/communications. We cover the innovations driving these markets.

Laser Focus World is part of Endeavor Business Media, a division of EndeavorB2B.

Laser Focus World Membership

Never miss any articles, videos, podcasts, or webinars by signing up for membership access to Laser Focus World online. You can manage your preferences all in one place—and provide our editorial team with your valued feedback.

Magazine Subscription

Can you subscribe to receive our print issue for free? Yes, you sure can!

Newsletter Subscription

A Laser Focus World newsletter subscription is free to qualified professionals:

The Daily Beam

Showcases the newest content from Laser Focus World, including photonics- and optics-based applications, components, research, and trends. (Daily)

Product Watch

The latest in products within the photonics industry. (9x per year)

Bio & Life Sciences Product Watch

The latest in products within the biophotonics industry. (4x per year)

Laser Processing Product Watch

The latest in products within the laser processing industry. (3x per year)

Get Published!

If you’d like to write an article for us, reach out with a short pitch to Sally Cole Johnson: [email protected]. We love to hear from you.

Photonics Hot List

Laser Focus World produces a video newscast that gives a peek into what’s happening in the world of photonics.

Following the Photons: A Photonics Podcast

Following the Photons: A Photonics Podcast dives deep into the fascinating world of photonics. Our weekly episodes feature interviews and discussions with industry and research experts, providing valuable perspectives on the issues, technologies, and trends shaping the photonics community.

Social Media

Bluesky • Facebook • Instagram • LinkedIn • YouTube

Meet the Laser Focus World Team

Editorial

Sales

Editorial Advisory Board

  • Professor Andrea M. Armani, University of Southern California
  • Ruti Ben-Shlomi, Ph.D., LightSolver
  • James Butler, Ph.D., Hamamatsu
  • Natalie Fardian-Melamed, Ph.D., Columbia University
  • Justin Sigley, Ph.D., AmeriCOM
  • Professor Birgit Stiller, Max Planck Institute for the Science of Light, and Leibniz University of Hannover
  • Professor Stephen Sweeney, University of Glasgow
  • Mohan Wang, Ph.D., University of Oxford
  • Professor Xuchen Wang, Harbin Engineering University
  • Professor Stefan Witte, Delft University of Technology
My Watchlist
Indicators
Industrial Laser Index
Markets
Stocks
ETFs
Tools
Markets:
Overview
News
Currencies
International
Treasuries

The Dogs of The S&P 500 And Why To Invest In Them

By: MarketBeat
The Dogs of The S&P 500 And Why To Invest In Them 

The Dogs of the S&P 500 (NYSEARCA: SPY) is a little-known and seldom-followed strategy more investors should be aware of. Modeled on the Dogs of the Dow (NYSEARCA: DIA), the investment strategy targets the best stocks in the weakest sectors of the S&P 500. While not a guarantee of success, the idea is that this year’s weakest stocks will or could be next year’s strongest simply because of valuation. This year’s Dogs are down an average of 31% on a sector basis compared to much stronger gains for the leaders. In this light, there are some values to be found and, looking at this year’s Dogs of the S&P 500 (as of November 2022), there are some interesting plays for investors that need yield and capital gains in 2023. 

The Communications Sector - Down 37% YOY 

The Communications Sector (NYSEARCA: XLC) is down 37% on a YOY basis driven by a very tepid outlook for earnings growth. The sector is expected to post a decline of -14% for the year and the Marketbeat.com consensus estimate is trending lower so expect this figure to fall. Looking out to next year, however, the sector is expected to be the #4 sector in regard to earnings growth at about 10%. Now, the dividend for the Communications Sector ETF XLC isn’t all that much at 1.15% but there are some more interesting choices when you dig down into the holdings. 

The #1, #2 and #3 holdings for this sector are Meta (NASDAQ: FB) and Google (NASDAQ: GOOG) including Google Class C shares which are 2 of the 5 FAANG stocks. These are easy to pass by because it is easy to get exposure to these stocks if they are not already present in a portfolio. The #3 and #4 names are Netflix (NASDAQ: NFLX) and AT&T (NYSE: T) which makes the 3rd FAANG name already and AT&T is yielding 5.85% so AT&T is the most attractive choice from the income perspective. While not a flashy name or one with a robust outlook the 5.85% yield and 7X EPS valuation is a hard thing to pass up. Verizon (NYSE: VZ) is also trading about 7X earnings and it pays a relatively safe 6.75%. 

The Consumer Discretionary Sector - Down 33% YOY 

The Consumer Discretionary Sector (NYSEARCA: XLY) is down about 33% from November 2021 and it do id driven by a tepid outlook for earnings. The 2022 consensus is sitting at -13% and trending lower but offset by a very robust outlook for 2023. The sector is expected to post a 36% increase in EPS and, although that figure is trending lower, consumer discretionary should be the leading sector in regard to earnings growth. This sector is also chock full of names easy to overlook including Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN) (4th of 5 FAANG names so far) and Tesla (NASDAQ: TSLA) (another name you probably already own). Further down on the list of discretionary names are McDonald’s (NYSE: MCD), Home Depot (NYSE: HD), and Lowe’s (NYSE: LOW) which average about 2.32% in yield and all come with impressive histories of dividends payments and distribution increases. 

The Technology Sector - Down 23% YOY 

The Technology Sector (NYSEARCA: XLK) is down about 23% YOY despite an outlook for earnings growth in 2022. The consensus figure for this sector is about 4.0% in 2022 and 4.6% in 2023. At the sector level, the ETF is yielding about 0.95% annually which is a lot better than most of the stocks within the group. The real takeaway is the Technology Sector’s top 5 holdings can be broken down into FAANG stocks, chips stocks, and payment processors. The FAANG names are Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) (#5 on the list of FAANG names) and Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) which counts as the + in FAANG+. The 1 chip stock in the group is NVIDIA (NASDAQ: NVDA) which pays a very weak 0.10% yield and faces a combination of headwinds (gaming and PCs) and tailwinds (data center and cloud). The payment processors are Visa (NYSE: V) and Mastercard (NYSE: MA) which also pay tepid dividends but have safe and reliably growing distributions. The highest-yielding name in the top 10 is Cisco (NASDAQ: CSCO), however, and it yields a safely growing 3.2% while trading at comfortable 13X earnings. 

More News

View More
DoorDash Buys Deliveroo: A Game Changer?
Via MarketBeat
Tickers DASH
Is Netflix's Ad Deal With Amazon the Catalyst for a New Uptrend?
Via MarketBeat
Topics Government World Trade
Tickers AMZN NFLX TTD
Clearway Energy’s Price Dip: 3 Reasons It’s a Signal to Buy
Via MarketBeat
Tickers CWEN
Biotech Breakouts: 3 Stocks With Massive Upside Potential
Via MarketBeat
Tickers IBRX MAZE VKTX
Powering Up: A Buy Rating Signals GE Vernova's AI Tailwinds
Via MarketBeat
Topics Artificial Intelligence Economy Energy
Tickers GEV
Stock Quote API & Stock News API supplied by www.cloudquote.io
Quotes delayed at least 20 minutes.
By accessing this page, you agree to the following
Privacy Policy and Terms Of Service.