Author Archive: Brett Owens

$500K can be enough money to retire on. Even as early as age 50!

The trick is to convert the pile of cash into cash flow that can pay the bills. I’m talking about $42,353.38 per year in dividend income on that nest egg, thanks to 8%+ average yields.

These are passive payouts that show up every quarter or, better yet, every month. Meanwhile, we keep that $500K nest egg intact. Or, better yet, grind that principal higher steadily and safely.

Got more in your retirement account? Cool—more monthly dividend income for you!

We’ll talk specific stocks, funds and yields in a moment.… Read more

BlackRock, the world’s largest asset manager, is turning its back on long-term Treasuries—and that’s rattling the bond market.

That, in turn, has the mainstream crowd turning its back on ALL bonds.

Mainstream crowd turning its back? That’s all we need to hear! In a second, I’ll reveal a 9% “contrarians only” dividend that’s tailor-made for this critical time in Bond-land.

First, let’s break down what the global investment titan is telling us here: In its weekly commentary, released June 2, BlackRock laid things out in stark terms (or at least as stark as a stuffy financial institution gets!):

“Our strongest conviction [bolding mine] has been staying underweight long-term US Treasuries.”… Read more

Small-cap stocks haven’t been this cheap in decades. This valuation advantage gets interesting when we add big fat dividends and today, we’ll discuss five cheap small stocks yielding between 8.3% and 17.1%. (That’s no typo by the way—we only talk serious dividends here at Contrarian Outlook!)

The Apples, Google and Microsofts of the world are priced like luxury goods. Smaller stocks, meanwhile, have been left at the discount rack. Let’s shop:

• S&P 500: 21.2 times earnings (pricey!)
• S&P MidCap 400: 15.4 times (better…)
• S&P SmallCap 600: 14.7 times (bingo!)

The valuation spread between the S&P 500 and S&P 600 hasn’t been this wide since Bill Clinton was wondering whether dot-com was one word or two.… Read more

Big companies are about to make even more money. They have discovered they no longer need armies of new hires to grow—extremely bullish news for shareholders because human employees are expensive.

Good ones can also be notoriously elusive. For example, I’m the longest-standing member of my kids’ school marketing committee, and we’re always scrambling for volunteers (what non-profit isn’t?).

Until now, that is.

Over the weekend, we welcomed the most talented marketer I’ve ever worked with to our team: ChatGPT 4.5. “GPT” graciously accepted our volunteer position, and we’re already actively boosting online referrals for the school. I’m learning cutting-edge “AI referral” techniques straight from the entity that invented them.… Read more

Gold prices have taken a breather—and we’re getting a rare opportunity to snag two shimmering dividend plays paying up to 8.3%.

Here’s why this setup is on the table: While recession worries are still valid, they’re overblown. Plus, the doomsayers are missing critical details set to kick gold higher. Let’s break all of this down, then get into the 8.3% (and growing) payouts the archaic metal is poised to deliver.

The “No-Landing” Economy: Alive, Well—and Bullish for Gold

Last fall, we talked about a “no-landing” economy in the US, where growth ticks along, but inflation sticks around, too. Fast-forward to today, and that’s pretty much how things have played out.… Read more

The “big, beautiful bill” has turned into a bitter pill for bonds. As you’ve undoubtedly heard, bond buyers aren’t exactly thrilled about lending more money to a $36 trillion debtor that’s digging itself deeper into a financial ditch.

Prior to the proposed “One Big Beautiful Bill Act” (OBBBA), the Congressional Budget Office (CBO)—famous for crunching numbers through rose-colored glasses—already projected a $1.9 trillion deficit for 2025. Now, the CBO estimates that the current House-passed version of OBBBA will add an extra $3.8 trillion to the national debt over the next decade.

This leaves Uncle Sam staring into a $40 trillion hole, deepening by roughly $2 trillion each year.… Read more

Wall Street analysts have “Buy” ratings on 388 stocks in the S&P 500. That’s over 76% of the index!

Thank you, suits, for the curation. No, seriously. We contrarians are going to comb through the Holds and, even, the lone Sell:

Analysts Rate Most Stocks as “Buys”

Source: S&P Global Market Intelligence

Analyst optimism is the norm. Analysts need access, companies provide them with access. One hand washes the other, thus it is rare to see unfavorable ratings on stocks.

The problem with a Buy rating is that there is nobody left to upgrade the stock. Every delta is a downgrade.… Read more

As I’m sure you have heard, Moody’s downgraded US debt last weekend.

The stock market panic that ensued lasted for, oh, about an hour of trading.

Why did this already get shrugged off? It’s a classic empty-calorie headline. The practical impact of the downgrade to top holders of Treasuries—banks and pension funds—is nil.

Treasuries are still classified as top-grade collateral, which means banks can continue to leverage these securities. T-bills are just as good as cash for bank reserves, as they were before the downgrade. No need to scramble for new collateral.

And Treasuries still have investment-grade status, which means pension funds don’t have to make any moves.… Read more