Author Archive: Brett Owens

The stock market is currently caught up in its deepest slide since July. We contrarians are prepared to move quickly for deep-dip-buying opportunities.

Right now, I’m paying close attention to already-high-paying corners of the market, where we can get 9.4% to 13.1% yields right this very minute. I’m talking about from the business development company (BDC) industry, where those sky-high yields aren’t rare—they’re the norm. In fact, right now, if we threw darts at a board of BDCs, we’d be likelier to hit a double-digit payout than one in the single digits.

But it’s not just the yields I love—it’s the access.… Read more

“I don’t have to make and update my goofy spreadsheets anymore!” my man Peter B. from New Hampshire writes.

Tell ‘em, Peter!

We are devoted to retiring on dividends here at Contrarian Outlook. But a little bit of work in retirement is OK. As income investors, we should be able to forecast our income.

Note that I said a little bit of work. Not a lot! I am not interested in fiddling with spreadsheets until the end of time, and neither is my man Peter.

If you’re with us, why not hop aboard the Income Calendar train with Peter and me?… Read more

At this point, I don’t think I really need to say that Trump 2.0 is a lot different than Trump 1.0. And one of those differences—which very few people are talking about—is a huge tailwind for the two big dividends we’re going to dive into today.

Think back to our first go-’round with Trump. Remember his relationship with Jay Powell? Terrible, right?

Back in 2018, he tweeted that Powell and the Fed had “no sense, no guts, no vision” when they failed to cut rates as much as the president wanted. A year later, he called Powell an “enemy.”

And that’s just a small sample of the torment unleashed upon poor Jay!… Read more

If Trump 2.0 rhymes with Trump 1.0, then this is an intriguing time to consider small cap dividends. Let me explain—and then we’ll highlight a handful of 11.1% to 12.6% dividend ideas.

In 2016, smaller companies popped for weeks amid largely sentiment over what President Donald Trump’s election would mean for the market broadly and small caps specifically. But that sentiment-related pop eventually turned into years of underperformance as theory became reality—and unfavorable conditions forced investors to stop betting on small caps as a group, and instead separate winners and losers.

Fast-forward to Trump 2.0. I wrote in December that small caps were soaring following Trump’s second electoral victory in hopes that reduced regulations will let these companies run free.… Read more

Uncertainty appears to be the theme of 2025. From tariffs to geopolitics, we have a nonstop flow of news that has vanilla investors quite rattled.

CNN’s Fear and Greed Index dipped back into the Extreme Fear zone earlier this week. Markets don’t like ambiguity. But that does not mean that we income investors need to sell everything. Heck, or anything! This is a split stock market and we contrarians are rolling with the dividend victors.

The bifurcated financial landscape is not news to us. We discussed the likelihood of major “winners and losers” in Trump 2.0 immediately after the November election:

Things have the potential to get wild.

Let me say right now that, like most people, I have no idea where the trade tensions we’re living through will end up. But here’s something I will say: Whenever I have any doubt about the future, I look to the 10-year Treasury rate—and I recommend you do the same.

And the 10-year rate—pacesetter for rates on most loans—is screaming one thing at us right now:

Fade the inflation fears that are everywhere these days.

So we’re going to take Mr. 10-Year’s advice and “buy the dip” in 2 “bond-proxy” closed-end funds (CEFs)—each yielding around 7%—that we’ll discuss in a bit.… Read more

One of our old flames, a former Contrarian Income Portfolio holding, has pulled back sharply in recent weeks. Time to buy the dip in this 4.3% dividend? Let’s discuss.

Kinder Morgan (KMI) is a blue-chip energy payer that boasts 79,000 miles of pipelines, which transport crude oil, carbon dioxide and other products, though chiefly natural gas. In fact, some 40% of natural gas produced in the U.S. flows through Kinder’s systems. It also has 139 terminals that store petroleum products, chemicals, renewables, and more.

But venerable though it might be, Kinder Morgan is having a rocky start to the year, courtesy of a nearly 15% slide since its Q4 earnings report in January—and this sudden downturn in price has me eyeballing KMI (and a handful of other high-dividend energy names) again.… Read more

Often as dividend investors we buy stocks that provide us with income now. We take the current yield and happily collect the monthly or quarterly payout.

Sometimes, though, it is wise to punt a bit of current yield today in exchange for serious upside tomorrow. Especially when a megatrend is unfolding, as we have in the energy sector today.

A dual boom in electric vehicles (EVs) and artificial intelligence (AI) tools is driving a transformation in power generation. New batteries are needed for storage. The grid is being tapped for more and more “juice.” This is a potential windfall for income investors who are tuned into this important energy transition.… Read more

In the last few weeks, we’ve talked a lot about “hated” dividends set to soar as mainstream investors get it wrong on Trump 2.0.

Last week, we covered utility stocks, “bond proxies” that look great here, and a 7.6%-yielding utility fund to buy now.

This week we’re shifting to another despised corner of the market, again thanks to the new administration—healthcare. But our play isn’t some middling payer, like 3%-yielding Johnson & Johnson (JNJ).

A 13% Dividend That Grows

Instead, we’re going to drop a “1” in front of that “3” and buy a 13%-yielding healthcare closed-end fund (CEF).… Read more

Stocks are climbing a wall of worry, which is a hallmark of bull markets. Higher equity prices really do require fear!

Today we’ll highlight the least-liked stocks on Wall Street. Why? Because each analyst has nothing to do but upgrade these plays from here. As always, we’ll focus on big dividends—I’m talking about yields starting at 6% and going all the way up to 24%.

Let’s recap our profitable sources of fear. First, the broader market per one of our preferred “vanilla gauges”:

Source: CNN Fear & Greed Index

While retail investors are fearful, analysts at large are quite bullish. At least on paper.… Read more