Author Archive: Brett Owens

We were only a minute into our home-from-school commute. But I wasn’t going to last seven more.

“Hey!” I asserted in my dad voice. “If I hear any more whining about the air conditioning, it’s going off. And we’re rolling down the windows. And…”

I paused for effect and soaked in the temporary silence.

“We’ll drive home like it’s the 1980s.”

Two small gasps emerged from the back seat. My threat appeared to hit home.

My kids know from household folklore that car rides in the ‘80s were no joke. Seat belts were present, but not required. Smoking in the driver’s seat was common.… Read more

There’s a $600-billion river of cash flowing straight out of Corporate America—and straight into some dividend investors’ pockets. Today we’re going to grab our share.

Companies don’t make much of the cash outlays we’re going to talk about. You might catch a line or two about them in an earnings release, but that’s it. That’s because they’re trying to stay below the radar of the Biden Administration, which is starting to tax these payouts, and has even threatened to quadruple the slice they’re taking now.

As for us, we’re not really focused on these cash payouts themselves (though we’ll happily take our share!).… Read more

The stock market is coming off another sugar high, but REITs (real estate investment trusts) are still cheap. That’s great news to us income investors, who look past the piddly paying blue chips on the S&P 500. We prefer REITs because they pay, and we appreciate a deal when we see one:

REITs Remain Near Their Bear-Market Lows

REITs are on the mat because the Federal Reserve has relentlessly hiked rates. Good. Those of us who want to retire on dividends alone love how wide REITs’ yield spread over basic stocks has become.

Even a vanilla fund like Vanguard Real Estate ETF (VNQ) is a better income source than “America’s ticker”—VNQ yields 4.1% while SPDR S&P 500 ETF only pays 1.6%.… Read more

Vanilla energy bulls stare at XLE. So basic.

Meanwhile, we “second-level” contrarians consider NRGX as a high-yield play on higher oil prices.

What’s the difference? Well, PIMCO Energy & Tactical Credit (NRGX) yields 6.1% while first-level favorite Energy Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLE) yields 4%.

So we bank 50% more dividend when we look past the popular ETF for a little-known CEF (closed-end fund).

But wait, there’s more. XLE always sells for fair value. It holds blue-chip producers like Exxon Mobil (XOM) and Chevron (CVX). Fair enough. But we’re paying $1 for a dollar in assets.

That’s OK.… Read more

This week, we’re going to pick up some rich 8%+ payouts alongside … Taylor Swift?

You read that right. Turns out the favorite singer of everyone from, well, my two daughters to the attorney general of the United States is a fan of our favorite income plays: closed-end funds (CEFs).

That news broke in the form of a tweet from billionaire investor Boaz Weinstein, head of Saba Capital Management. Weinstein apparently heard from Swift’s dad (who used to work for Merrill Lynch) that the singer does, indeed, hold CEFs.

“Having a blast watching our daughters sing every lyric tonight in Philly,” Weinstein tweeted.… Read more

The stock market has a potential to be a hot mess this summer. Banks are failing. We’re heading towards the most telegraphed recession of all time. I could go on…

But I’ll spare you and say hey, just show us the dividends, baby!

A select group of income heroes are displaying notable “relative strength” right now. This is a fancy way of saying these stocks are going up while the market meanders sideways or lower.

Which, of course, is what we want. Contrarian favorites that will zig while the market zags (or sags!)

A few years back, I saw this quality in A.O.… Read more

“We remain on track to deliver on our best in class 12% to 15% annual distribution per unit growth expectations…”

Translation: We’re going to hike our dividend by 12% to 15% per year.

Kirk, you have my full attention. Please continue.

“Through at least 2026…”

Kirk, we’re talking three more years of 12% to 15% dividend growth?! We’re in.

Our man is the chief financial officer (CFO) of NextEra Energy (NEE). NEE is the largest developer of renewable energy in North America. It’s one of the fastest dividend growers in the utility space.

NEE is one of those great dividend stocks that is rarely cheap because everyone knows it’s awesome.… Read more

Interest rates are topping out—and it’s finally time for us contrarians to get greedy. We’ll start with a group of funds throwing off double-digit yields and trading at big discounts.

In fact, I’ll hand you a ticker that’s throwing off a 10% dividend—paid monthly—shortly. We’re buying bonds again today because interest rates are topping. And when rates fall, bond prices rise. It really is that simple.

To see what I’m getting at, think back to last fall. Stocks and bonds were both hammered, putting a big dent in the idea that the vaunted 60/40 portfolio—a long-touted retirement mix of 60% stocks and 40% bonds—was safe.… Read more

What’s up with floating-rate funds? Why haven’t they all, well, floated higher in price as interest rates have risen over the past couple of years?

Is there any hope that they’ll finally float?

Today we’ll discuss five such funds—underperforming yet now cheap because of it—yielding up to 11.7%. Can they live up to their billing? We contrarians want to know because they are trading at large discounts to their net asset values (NAVs).

First, a primer on floaters. Floating-rate securities such as bank loans have variable coupons (interest payments) that are recalculated regularly—often quarterly, sometimes monthly—to reflect changes in short-term interest rates.… Read more

The Wall Street Journal Reports:

Gee, thanks. I have something to add, WSJ friends.

IT’S A BANKING CRISIS. DON’T BUY DIVIDEND ETFs AT ALL!

In a rising market, fine. I can hold my nose. Though, you know, even a popular ticker like Schwab US Dividend Equity ETF (SCHD) is a lazy option that’ll cost you.

SCHD owns 104 dividend stocks and PepsiCo (PEP) is its top holding. PEP pays a piddly 2.6% but its yearly dividend growth is decent—not great but not AT&T (T) awful, either.… Read more