Author Archive: Brett Owens

I hear that robots are standing by to run the world.

Fine—just have them send us a nice, neat report on our dividends. Preferably daily. Thanks.

Seriously, my fellow contrarian, enough with the hype. I tried, albeit briefly, to use ChatGPT as a research assistant for this column. Really it was a softball that I knew the answer to:

Hello ChatGPT, how much did iShares 20+ Treasury Bond ETF (TLT) drop in 2022?

The answer, of course, was 31%, but the robot hadn’t been fed the info so didn’t know. I lost interest and carried on as usual, “manually” verifying my numbers.… Read more

All the “basic” investors out there are busy chasing this AI-driven rally. It’s like the crypto and meme-stock messes of 2021 all over again!

We’re not following them. Instead, we’re zeroing in on three dividend growers (including one that’s grown payouts 300% in a decade and another that’s yielding 15% for long-term holders) that have been unfairly left behind.

Before we talk tickers, let me say that it’s hard to overstate just how much of this rally is tied to AI. Check out the gains in AI darlings Microsoft (MSFT), Alphabet (GOOGL) and especially NVIDIA (NVDA) in less than six months.… Read more

We contrarians profit on analyst dislike.

Note that I did not say like. Dislike is where the dividend money is at!

Analyst ratings are a wonderful buy signal. Vanilla investors purchase payers that are widely liked—and wonder why every downgrade dents their pocketbook.

We don’t care about popularity. Heck, we prefer stocks that are far from being in analyst good graces.

Give us the disgraces. And we’ll collect our dividends while we sit back and wait for the analyst upgrades to follow.

It’s not easy to find the “uncool kids” on Wall Street. The school of S&P 500 is a joke.… Read more

Thoughtful reader Terry K. asks for my favorite utility dividend—specifically why I prefer NextEra Energy Partners (NEP) to Clearway Energy (CWEN):

Would like your thoughts on CWEN vs. NEP. I’ve looked at both and based on numbers CWEN looks to be the better option.

 

It has just raised its dividend.

 

Plus, it is better liked by other analysts.

Analyst ratings are a wonderful contrarian indicator. Thank you for writing in; I bet many of our fellow contrarians are asking the same thing! This is a great opportunity for all of us because it has been too long since we have lauded buying dividends that analysts dislike.… Read more

Our favorite high-yield bonds just hit a critical buying level. It’s time to make our move, and we’re going to give ourselves an edge by “cherry-picking” 10%+ yielding picks from the top bond minds on the planet.

And we’re going to pay nothing to do so!

The Titans of the Bond World Give Us Their Best Picks—for Free

I hate to hear people say the bond world is boring. If you’ve read about it, you know it’s packed with wild characters who’ve racked up massive fortunes.

You can’t talk about bonds without mentioning Bill Gross, the so-called “Bond King,” who basically invented the idea of trading bonds in the ’70s.… Read more

To retire on dividends, we have just two requirements. They are simple, though perhaps not exactly easy:

1. Earn safe, meaningful yields. Five percent is our floor, thirteen is our stretch goal. We’ll discuss five stocks in this dividend range shortly.
2. Keep our principal intact. To do this we’ll focus on “low beta” stocks—shares that move less than the broader market.

Beta says how much (or how little!) an investment moves compared to some benchmark. With stocks, beta is usually going to measure movement against the S&P 500.

Here’s an example. Let’s say a stock has a beta of 0.50.… Read more

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