Author Archive: Brett Owens

Let’s talk about consumer staples dividends today. If we’re heading for a slowdown then we need to be picky about our payouts. When the economy slows, discretionary spending is often punted but staples continue to be bought.

Today we’ll discuss five dividends between 4.2% and 10.7%. These “must have” products can provide our portfolios with important recession-resistant qualities.

Year-to-date staples have been flat and, in this market, that is great. Their sideways action has lapped the over-owned S&P 500 this year:

Consumer Staples: Doing Exactly What We Expect Them to Do

Consumer staples stocks tend to have more stable operations that result in more stable share performance in turbulent markets.… Read more

For the past 16 years, the world has piled into a “long US” trade. American stocks, bought with dollars, have propped up investment portfolios around the globe since the Great Financial Crisis.

From March 2009 to early 2025, the S&P 500 soared by 600%—that’s seven times! Why would anyone own anything else when SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (SPY) was sizzling?

But bulls don’t run forever. Last summer, we contrarians discussed a potential inflection point for SPY—the likelihood that the index’s best gains were behind it.

And here we are.

A global trade war has triggered a flight from SPY.… Read more

Trade war volatility rages on—and we contrarians are playing offense and defense with a “homegrown” stock whose dividend has skyrocketed in the last five years.

This unsung stock soared double-digits in the 2022 mess—and it’s doing so again. More on that history in a second.

First, that skyrocketing dividend is the key to our “offense” here. That’s because dividend growth is the No. 1 predictor of stock gains—and a rising payout is the ultimate “magnet,” pulling share prices higher as it grows.

And this company’s stock has fallen well behind its payout growth, handing us a “sweet” (hint!) current yield of 3.3%.… Read more

Worried about the trade war and your retirement portfolio? Then I have two words for you: monthly dividends.

Today we’ll fawn over four monthly payers that yield up to 17.4% annually. That’s no typo. Hop in my favorite income vehicle and we’ll motor over this market carnage together.

The current market environment is nearly perfect for contrarians like us. How is that possible with tariff policy still, ahem, unfolding? Well the market is still full of fear and the weak hands have washed out.

If Everyone Wants to Panic-Sell to Us, We Should Let Them!

If you’re worried that the fear is justified because we are heading for a recession, let’s consider defensive stocks.… Read more

Are we having fun yet, my fellow income investor?

We’re now in a bear market, whether the financial media or our intrepid politicians admit it or not. Peak to trough the S&P 500 dropped 21% intraday. Based on closing prices the decline was “only” 18%, however—not quite the technical 20% drop that defines a bear market.

Regardless, let’s not split hairs and call this what it is—the third bear market of the 2020s. Three bears. And it’s only 2025!

You may be wondering, as I was, if this is normal. It is not, my friend. Since 1900 we have averaged 1.77 bear markets per decade.… Read more

The powers that be are playing a high-stakes game of “tariff roulette”—and I don’t know about you, but I don’t want to put my life savings on the table here!

But we’re not among the crowd bailing on stocks, either.

No way. We’re retirees (or aspiring retirees!) and we demand income. So instead, we’re going to look to “tariff-proof” (or “recession-proof,” if you think this trade war is sending us there) our portfolio. And we’re going to do it while cutting our tax bill, too.

Our timing is right here, because the jump in 10-year Treasury rates we’ve seen since the “Liberation Day” tariff announcement has given us a window to secure one of my favorite tax-free 8.4% payers at a “double discount.”… Read more

Although some tariff hikes have been paused, a recession is still very much in play.

Just a few days ago, I wrote that “this is the time to recession-proof our retirement holdings.” And why not? GDP estimates have tanked. So has consumer sentiment.

Goldman Sachs made headlines for raising its probability of recession (from 20% to 35%). Fine, but equity analysts often get caught up in crowds.

What was more striking was hearing a similar message from the debt watchers. Consider this post from Mark Zandi, Moody’s Analytics’ chief economist:

In my previous post, I showed readers how to recession-proof their portfolio with municipal debt.… Read more

“Americans prepping for retirement aren’t watching the markets,” Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said on Sunday.

Scotty, please. At least try to pretend you have some connection with reality.

Sure, we income investors have it better than most hopeful and current retirees. We do not rely on stock prices for income, per se. Our dividend portfolios provide us with cash flow that we use to pay our bills.

Imagine living by the “4% withdrawal rule” right now, selling 4% of our stocks every year, hoping we don’t run out of money—while the S&P 500 is dropping 4% every day as Wall Street battens down the hatches for a global recession or worse?… Read more

There aren’t a lot of things we can say for certain these days, but there is one: We dividend investors are far better off than the mainstream crowd!

Consider the unlucky souls who hold “America’s ticker”—my name for the SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (SPY). I call it that because, well, pretty well everyone owns it (it’s okay if you have SPY hiding somewhere in your portfolio—we don’t judge!)

These poor folks have taken the brunt of the market crash—and they’re getting “paid” a mere 1.4% for the pleasure.

Our Dividend Picks Are Built for Trying Times 

We contrarian dividend investors, meantime, know the value of high, safe payouts.… Read more

The only thing I love more than dividends is dividend growth. And ‘tis the season for payout raises as  first-quarter earnings season kicks into gear.

I have my eye on companies that have recently announced dividend hikes of 28%, 52%, even 150%. If we get similar dividend growth this time around, great—more money in our pockets. But just as important is the confidence they’d be communicating with big raises amid an extremely uncertain economic environment.

Regular readers know about my “Dividend Magnet” strategy—three signs that can lead to massive price gains. The most important sign is dividend growth, which is management’s way of saying “We’re growing profits, and we know those profits are going to stick!”… Read more