A lot of tech stocks were crushed last year as rising interest rates drove investors toward more conservative investments. Overlooked amid that exodus from the sector was that many blue chip tech stocks held up well throughout previous economic downturns, and pay attractive dividends, too.

Admittedly, dividend stocks generally lost a bit of their luster over the past year as rising interest rates made high-yielding CDs, Treasury bills, and bonds more attractive. However, I believe tech giants Cisco Systems (NASDAQ: CSCO), Qualcomm (NASDAQ: QCOM), and (NYSE: IBM) could still offer significantly better long-term returns than those fixed-income investments.

Image source: Getty Images.

Continue reading

Source Fool.com