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Forget bonds, smart investors today want dividends.

The reason is simple -- with the Federal Reserve continuing to stomp on interest rates, the yields that investors can get from dividend-paying stocks are better than the yields they can get from even longer-duration Treasury notes.

This week, Bespoke Investment Group noted:

With the 10-Year US Treasury now yielding 1.74%, it is now paying a coupon that is less than the dividend yield of more than half of the stocks in the S&P 500. As of today's close, there are now 271 stocks in the S&P 500 that have a greater yield than the 10-Year US Treasury.

While that may sound notable on its own, consider this: When looking at the S&P 500's overall yield, prior to the 2008/2009 crash, we have to go all the way back to 1958 to find the last time that the S&P yield was greater than long-term Treasury yields. This isn't an opportunity that comes around very often.

And remember that while the dividend payouts for many S&P 500 companies will continue to grow as the companies' profits grow, the payout that you'll get from a Treasury note stays fixed.

Big, giant yields! The first place that many investors head when they are thinking dividends is the biggest, fattest dividends out there. And, let me tell you, there are some seriously plump payouts in the S&P 500 right now.

Telecom companies in particular light up the radar for investors looking for huge payouts as Frontier Communications (Nasdaq: FTR) , Windstream (Nasdaq: WIN) , and CenturyLink sport respective yields of 11.9%, 10.5%, and 7.5%.

While these aren't on the top of my buy list, there are solid arguments to be made in their favor. For instance, while land-line telephone service may not be nearly the business it once was, the broadband Internet services that these companies also provide are indispensable for most consumers and businesses these days. And even a quick glance at my favorite financial statement -- the cash flow statement -- shows that these companies absolutely gush cash.

That said, these aren't growth businesses. The major avenue for growth in the industry is via acquisition. And even so, there may be a greater possibility of dividends decreasing than increasing. Frontier's annual payout was $1 per share in 2009, but today it's $0.40. And according to data from S&P Capital IQ, Windstream hasn't increased its dividend since 2007.

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