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Dear Mr. Berko: We have been with our broker, who may be getting long in the tooth, since October 2008. Our original $525,000 investment, from which we take $1,200 a month, has grown to $557,000. Because we would like to take more money out of this account and not touch any of the principal, he wants us to buy the following three stocks: 7,000 shares of Atlantic Power at $3.70 because it pays 10 percent, 7,000 shares of Intersections at $4.60, paying 18 percent, and 10,000 shares of China Nepstar Chain Drugstore, which pays 13 percent, at $2.43. Please give us your thoughts on these income stocks.

S.T.

Oklahoma City

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Dear S.T.: I don’t know what your real objectives are, but if you invested $525,000 in late 2008 and have taken out only $1,200 each month, your account value should be a lot higher than $557,000. Frankly, I would be telling that cirrhotic bumbler of a broker to take a long walk off a high Alp. During the past five years, we have enjoyed a stock market so spectacular that even a drunken monkey could have given you more income and better performance. Where did this stumblebum come up with those doozies?

In January of last year, this Atlantic Power (AT-$3.87) traded in the $12-$13 price range and paid $1.10 a share. The following month, the dividend tanked to 36 cents, and Atlantic headed to the toilet; but it still pays almost 10 percent. Atlantic Power is a power generation and infrastructure company that owns, operates and maintains 28 power generation facilities in the U.S. and two in Canada plus a 300-megawatt wind facility, a short drive from your home. Together these facilities produce 3,300 megawatts of power, which Atlantic Power sells to utilities and other large users under long-term purchase agreements. Revenues in 2013 grew to $551 million, but its long-term debt inched to $2 billion. Atlantic Power hasn’t made a dime in the decade it’s been in business, and I see no reason the next decade should be any different! There’s no joy here.

China Nepstar Chain Drugstore (NPD-$2.32) is the Chinese version of Walgreen Co., with 2,100 retail drugstores in 77 cities across 14 of China’s 23 provinces. In the past 10 years, revenues have more than doubled, to $2.7 billion, but earnings have been pathetic, and so has the stock performance. In the summer of 2009, China Nepstar traded at between $7 and $8, and its dividend was $1.50. Now the dividend has been lowered to 30 cents, though it does yield a hefty 12.1 percent. Earnings this year will come in at less than a dime, and Reuters, the only brokerage on Wall Street following China Nepstar, believes 2015 earnings will come in under a nickel. I suspect that the dividend will be cut again. I don’t trust Chinese accounting practices. I don’t trust their corporate managers. I can’t read a Chinese income statement or a Chinese balance sheet, though I can read a Chinese menu. I’m a sucker for Chinese food, even though everything tastes the same. But I’m not enough of a sucker to recommend China Nepstar, even if it yields 12.1 percent.

Intersections (INTX-$3.94) pays an 80-cent dividend, which yields a too nifty 17.9 percent. In the summer of 2011, a reader who had inherited 65 shares of Intersections from his father asked whether she should round out her position to 100 shares. When I told her “no,” she was insulted and accused me of besmirching her “father’s memory.” And I’m also going to tell you “no,” because I can’t find a single brokerage company on the Street that covers this Chantilly, Va., company, which sells subscription-based consumer protection services. According to its filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, Intersections had $297 million in revenues in 2013 and lost 14 cents a share. I have no idea whether Intersections will be profitable or be able to pay its dividend this year or next. Run away from this stock.

I don’t know what your account looks like, but I suspect that it’s littered with detritus similar to the three above. Please have a professional review your portfolio ASAP. This character is dangerous to your wealth.

Address your financial questions to Malcolm Berko, c/o The Daily Journal of Commerce, P.O. Box 8303, Largo, FL 33775, or email him at [email protected]. © 2014 Creators.com