BMY

Collecting $1,000 a month in dividends requires a large capital base that changes with stock prices. Picking the wrong yield can expose you to a dividend cut when you need it most.

Merck (MRK) has returned about 85% over the past year and at about $150 trades roughly 4% below its 52-week high. A year ago, management spent earnings calls managing fallout from a steep drop in GARDASIL sales. That problem has left the lead. What management opens with instead is a much larger claim, and it settles years from now.

Social Security's projected 2027 COLA raise sounds promising until you realize retirees feel higher prices months before benefits catch up. Five blue-chip dividend stocks already pay yields that outpace that adjustment, and some have raised their payouts for decades straight.

Bristol Myers Squibb reported positive top‑line results from its Phase 2 QUINTESSENTIAL trial of the first‑in‑class GPRC5D‑directed CAR T therapy, Arlocabtagene Autoleucel.