As soon as interest rates rise, money will slosh back into bonds - leaving these dividend funds high and dry. This investment strategy is a  a safe alternative to dividends for income investors.

Today I'm going to tell you a personal story about how I learned the most important lesson of my investment career at a very early age.

Regional banks simply make sense. They are not too big to fail. And that's a good thing.

For income-deprived investors, the oil and gas sector is a great place to search for dividend stocks.

Myth: "It's impossible to collect income from small cap stocks." This myth is completely untrue.

Your investment goal can be specific - as in a desire to triple your money in junior gold miners over the next 5 years - or it could be more general - as in a desire to protect some portion of your savings in the event of a continued dollar crisis.

Are you interested in investing in oil? Silver? Agriculture? Or do you just want a fresh perspective on a specific asset class?

Once you come up with your goal, you'll be able to much more clearly pick investments appropriate for you and your portfolio. Your goal will help to focus all of your thoughts, and filter out all of the noise in the markets.

I am frequently asked by subscribers if there are any possible ways to boost returns on stocks that pay large dividends

My response is always the same - the most common and effective way to boost returns in a high-yield portfolio, without selling the stock, is to use a covered call strategy.

Before you close this email, I want to tell you that most people will never use options. They think they're complicated or risky.

This misconception is simply not true.

Evidence is mounting that the auto industry is springing back to life.

The auto industry worldwide is on the mend, and that signals opportunity for investors to become reacquainted not only with the big vehicle makers, but some of the smaller parts suppliers.

The days of the General Motors (NYSE: GM) and Ford (NYSE: F) profit machines cranking out generous earnings and dividends may be over. But that doesn't mean that there aren't solid dividend paying stocks in the auto sector.

Higher oil prices are going to make everything more expensive.

They’ll also tend to enrich oil companies. So I recommend casting your lot with theirs.

Today, I’m going to briefly discuss two of the best dividend-paying oil companies in the stock market.

These are two of the biggest oil companies in existence. They’re both trading for less than 11 times trailing earnings (cheap!) and they both have a history of raising their dividends. And they should both continue to pay healthy dividends with frequent increases in the world of rising oil prices.

What are you willing to bet on the likelihood that interest rates will stay low for the next year?

My supervisor raised this exact issue this morning. We were having a conversation about one of the investments we may recommend in an income newsletter we’ll be launching later this month.

I expressed concern about owning an income paying security that deals with interest rates. He replied, “I'd bet anything that interest rates in this country will probably NOT go up in 2011.”

Strong words for sure. If he’s right, this security will continue to pay solid 3.5% yields with the strong potential for capital gains.

If he’s wrong...well, the price of this investment could quickly and easily drop 50% or more. In light of the fact that this investment stands to benefit when interest rates drop, and that interest rates are already at rock-bottom levels, it seems like it might not be a good idea to buy it right now.

Seven months ago, this indicator flashed telling me that it was time to buy one specific energy commodity above all others. I recommended buying one simple investment to take advantage of the impending uptrend.

If you bought that investment then, you'd currently be sitting on a 25% gain and you would have collected an additional 4.2% in dividends.

The good news is that this indicator is flashing AGAIN, and I believe that if you buy this investment now, you'll be in a good position to capture similar gains over the next 6-9 months.

What am I talking about?

Well, on April 5, 2010 I wrote to you saying it was time to buy natural gas. Natural gas had just bounced off of year-to-date lows just under $4 per thousand-cubic-feet (MCF).

It's not often you get a chance to buy a commodity for the less than the price you'd pay during the Carter Administration. That's how I know the time is right to start nibbling at companies in the sector. The underlying asset is a true bargain - no matter how you dice it. So the companies that can bring this particular commodity to market and remain profitable at today's prices are destined to be huge profit machines in the coming years as the price of all "real stuff" continues to rise.

But if you're reading this letter right now, you probably don't care one lick for this commodity. It's the opposite of sexy commodities like oil or gold. In some PC circles it might even offend. It's certainly not one of those commodity investments that you'll brag to a neighbor about at a cocktail party or over a back-yard cookout.

The thing is, this boring, unloved and slightly un-PC investment has creamed the broad market over the past 23 years.

The next payment will go out to shareholders of record as of September 30^th, with the actual check going out on October 15^th. So you still have a few days to pick up shares if you're interested in grabbing the dividend.

As I said, it's a monthly dividend, so if you want to wait for more of a dip, you won't miss out on the income by waiting a few weeks. But with these monthly players, I'd recommend averaging in each month so you collect dividends all the way along. And reinvest those dividends to enjoy the miracle of compounding interest.

I'm still bullish on this stock. The reasons are the same they were six months ago - the downside for a company like this one is somewhat limited when natural gas prices are this low.

I've written about unpopular, unloved and/or ignored commodities before - like lead, uranium, alcohol and farmland - even marijuana.

We can argue about the merits and drawbacks of being a responsible citizen-investor with regard to those commodities, but I don't think there's a person alive who really feels proud to invest in the topic of today's article. And trust me, I've heard from some squeaky wheels when I write about these types of topics.

And while it might be true that there's a certain degree of 'right' and 'wrong' that we need to grapple with when it comes to investing, it's my sole job as the author of this publication to bring quality investment opportunities to your attention.

I make no statement or value judgment about my personal feelings towards this commodity I'm about to mention or the company that sells it - I'm just doing my job. In fact, I've avoided writing about this topic for the very reason that it's icky. It's almost universally viewed as "bad." Popular opinion could scarcely be worse.

I don't write this letter in a vacuum - thankfully my analysis and scrawlings are propped up and influenced by true giants in the commodity investing field. If you've been a reader for very long you probably know that I closely follow the work of the legendary commodity investor Jim Rogers.

Unfortunately, Jim doesn't have a daily blog I can peek at. But I've increasingly been looking at a semi-daily letter published by prognosticator and economist David Rosenberg of the investment firm Gluskin Sheff.

(You can sign up to receive Mr. Rosenberg's letter for free by clicking here now - I strongly recommend it.)

Though he's not specifically a commodity analyst, he's currently a precious metals bull, so I find myself agreeing with his analysis most of the time.

Mr. Rosenberg recently revealed an interesting strategy that I know some of you will be quite interested in.

Before I reveal the name of this stock, I want to point out that buying a company with farmland in the mix is a great diversification play - and doubly so when it pays a dividend.

That's because when you buy this type of company, you're getting exposure to the continued profitability of its underlying farm business, but you're also buying actual farmland that the company owns - and if you've been reading this letter, you probably know that I'm extremely bullish on farmland prices.

I also happen to be bullish on the commodities that grow on farms; corn, wheat, sugar, cattle, pigs, chickens, etc.

The dividend is just a small bonus, but I know there are readers out there interested in income, so it's worth a mention - even though it's only a 2% annual yield.

Yesterday I discussed the overwhelming importance of oil and its implications for your investments.

My most important advice in yesterday's issue was buried down at the bottom, so you might have missed it. Here it is to recap:

"if I can leave you with one thing to keep in mind, it's to remember the importance of oil - even for non-commodity investments. You need to look at all of your investments, from stocks even down to bonds and savings accounts, and think about how oil price fluctuations could affect the bottom line of the underlying assets and businesses you're invested in."

I also promised that I would look into some specific oil investments to buy under the assumption that the recession has resumed or is on the horizon.

During a recession, oil prices tend to sag due to decreased demand for oil, which doesn't usually bode well for most types of oil companies.

Today you can buy a 10-year Treasury bond and get a 3.11% yield - but wouldn't you rather own shares in a company that pays a better yield, and has the potential to increase in share price?

I usually try to find companies that benefit directly from higher commodity prices, but in this case, I've found a company that could benefit despite higher commodity prices...

This company pays a 3.4% dividend - and better yet it has the ability to raise or lower prices at will. That's because it takes one of the cheapest commodities on the planet (corn) and turns it into an easily consumable good - with a price markup in the triple digits. Whether you believe we're headed into deflation or inflation, pricing control is hugely important.

More on this pricing control in a minute...

Most people buy Treasuries precisely because they want safety.

If you're worried about safety, I'd make the argument that buying shares of

April 13 (SmallCapInvestor.com) – Shares of Rural Cellular Corporation (Nasdaq: RCCC) have moved into positive territory on news the wireless communications provider reported an increase in preliminary first-quarter operating income.