Author Archive: Brett Owens

Is retail dead? It depends.

While Amazon.com (AMZN) is indeed making life miserable for many brick-and-mortar outfits, I’d like to show you five dividend stocks in the space that could be a month or two away from getting a big shot in the arm.

So say the holiday crystal balls.

Salesforce.com, which provides annual holiday industry insights, recently issued its 2017 forecast, saying this year’s Black Friday will be the “busiest digital shopping day in U.S. history” – outdoing even Cyber Monday. It’s a tech dream report that includes stats such as 40% of orders coming from mobile phones, and millennials using Amazon’s Alexa and Apple’s (AAPL) Siri in droves.… Read more

The term closed-end fund (CEF) is a bit of a double entendre. An unintended one, I’m sure – and one we can leverage for safe 6%, 7% and even 8% yields with upside to boot.

The “closed” in CEF technically means that the fund’s number of shares are fixed. Which is why these vehicles can have wild price swings above and below the values of their actual assets. (Good for us contrarian income seekers – we can buy below fair value to maximize our yields and upside.)

They are also closed in their actual communications with the financial world. Fund information is often limited (sometimes to one-page fact sheets) and it’s difficult to get management to talk to you.… Read more

Today I’m going to expose a major mistake way too many folks make. Then I’m going to reveal 3 totally ignored stocks whose dividends are soaring. They yield up to 5.8% now and are poised for 50%+ gains in short order!

More on those in a moment. First, we need to talk about that classic wealth-killing blunder.

Funny thing is, it’s one of those moves that seems like the safe thing to do, but if you fall into this trap, you’ll leave a fortune in gains—and income—on the table!

I’m talking about limiting your portfolio to the household names of the S&P 500.… Read more

Dividend and growth fanatics have argued tooth-and-nail about who backs the superior strategy for decades. But time and time again, deep research shows that investors like you and I that prefer collecting quarterly checks come out on top.

The formula is simple: Plow your money into healthy-yielding dividend stocks – like the three no-brainer buy-and-hold equities I have on tap for you today – and let the outperformance roll in.

However, time and time again I stress the importance of substantial dividend yield. Low, begrudging payouts simply won’t do.

A study published by C. Mitchell Conover, CFA, CIPM, Gerald R. Jensen, CFA, and Marc W.… Read more

Preferred stocks often pay high-single-digit yields, with far less risk than their similar-yielding “common” stock cousins. While many 5% and 6% common payers are yield traps with broken business models, it is possible to find preferred payouts at these levels that are perfectly secure.

Not yet familiar with preferred stocks? With “common” shares paying so little, it’s time to get acquainted.

Most dividend darlings don’t pay much on their own common shares today. You’ll be hard-pressed to find a dividend aristocrat with a yield above 3% or a P/E ratio below 20.

On the other hand, a company will issue preferred shares to raise capital.… Read more

When the “Bond God” Jeffrey Gundlach speaks, we income seekers listen. And recently,  the preeminent yield guru on the planet shared his favorite stock idea with a private audience.

I’ll share the specifics on his recommendation in a moment, including the exact “pair trade” that Gundlach likes. But first, let’s recap why we care what he says.

His Profitable Contrarian Calls

When Gundlach speaks, he often takes heat from his peers and the media because his calls run contrary to popular belief. But he’s usually right – and profitable:

• In 2007, he warned investors to get out of subprime mortgages just before the credit markets melted down.

Let’s face it: brands are dead—and that’s terrible news for the 4 household names (and their landlords) we need to talk about today.

Research from Scott Galloway, founder of digital-research firm L2, tells the tale.

Galloway looked at the 13 S&P 500 stocks that have beaten the market for five straight years and found something shocking: just one, Under Armour (UA), is a consumer brand.

And as Galloway points out, there’s no way UA will keep that run going.

UA: The Last Brand Standing—for Now

The other 12 names on the list are mostly innovators that have sliced into old-school businesses and flipped them on their heads—think Facebook (FB), Salesforce.com… Read more

The stock market may be expensive today, but there are still bargains available in the REIT (real estate investment trust) world. Thanks to political, interest rate and even Amazon (AMZN) worries, you can add 7%+ real estate yields to your portfolio from the convenience of your brokerage account.

That said, there’s no reason to pay top dollar for REITs – not now, not ever. Today we’ll highlight three expensive REITs to avoid, and lead you toward some of the best bargains in the sector.

Price matters. Consider General Electric (GE), which has been a merely OK performer over the past few years, but has really punished investors who buy in during valuation peaks.… Read more

Junk bonds can be a great source of retirement income, or a terrible idea altogether. It depends what you buy, and really, which managers and vehicles you entrust to find value in the bargain bin.

There’s a right way to do it, and a wrong way. Let’s start with the latter, led by the popular iShares iBoxx $ High Yield Corporate Bond ETF (HYG) and SPDR Barclays High Yield Bond ETF (JNK) – the two largest junk bond exchange-traded funds (ETFs), and both top-10 fixed-income ETFs by assets under management.

You and I can do better than these dumb ETFs. They are popular thanks to their low fees.… Read more

Many retirement experts pitch real estate as the best way to bank monthly income. But do you really want to chase down rent checks and fix broken light bulbs?

I don’t. And I imagine, since you’re reading this, that you prefer your passive income to actually be passive as well.

Fortunately there’s an easier, and better, way to invest in real estate without actually playing the role of landlord. From the convenience of our brokerage accounts, we can buy real estate investment trusts (REITs) and collect truly passive income of 7%, 8% or better.

How to Collect 7%+ Rent Checks Without Playing Landlord

REITs trade like stocks, which means buying them is as easy as punching in a ticker symbol.… Read more