One of the best year-end strategies to consider is the Dogs of the Dow.

At the start of the year, you simply buy the top 10 highest-yielding stocks on the most beaten-down stocks on the Dow Jones. And, or you can buy long-dated call options on each.

In 2022, the Dogs of the Dow lost 1.6%. However, if you add in the dividends each Dog paid out in 2022, the Dogs actually returned about 2% on the year, which was far better than the major indices. For 2022, the NASDAQ lost 33%. The S&P 500 lost 19%. The Dow Jones lost about 9%.

That’s not a shock, though.

The Dogs of the Dow typically do very well. In 2021, the Dogs of the Dow returned about 16.3%. While 2020 wasn’t a great year for the Dogs, most other years have done very well. In 2019, the Dogs were up 20%. In 2018, they were up about 1%, but still beat the Dow, which fell close to 6%. In 2017, the dogs were up 19%. In 2016, they were up 16%.

Here's how the Dogs of the Dow did in 2022.

• Verizon started the year at $50.83 and closed at $39.40 – with a yield of 6.62%


• Dow Inc. started the year at $55.93 and closed at $50.39 – with a yield of 5.56%


• IBM started the year at $130.89 and closed at $140.89 – with a yield of 4.68%


• Chevron started the year at $115.25 and closed at $179.49 – with a yield of 3.16%