Author Archive: Brett Owens

Most investors ignore the “magnetic” connection between dividends and share prices. It’s causing them to miss out on huge gains—and setting them up for big losses, too.

Here’s what I mean: in my earlier article in our ongoing series on my “Dividend Magnet” approach to investing, I gave you example after example of how a rising dividend almost inevitably drags a company’s share price up with it.

This is one of the main reasons why we demand a dividend that’s not only growing but accelerating in my Hidden Yields dividend-growth service.

It’s clear as a bell in the chart of Texas Instruments (TXN), below, one of the examples we discussed in our previous article.… Read more

Patience is the key to being a successful contrarian investor.

We buy when fear is widespread. Bear markets are our friends. Let’s sit back and let the market’s valuations come down to us.

I wrote very recently that the market is this close to sending out a market-wide buy signal. Let’s get ready to back up the truck.

Today, we’ll discuss targets for retirement income yielding a ludicrous 12.9%—after all, a self-sustaining portfolio that allows you to live off dividends alone can give you enormous peace of mind once you’re past your working years.

And if those dividends land in your mailbox or account every 30 days or so, matching your monthly bills…well, that’s even better.… Read more

Have we seen the lows yet?

Well, we’re oversold and due for a rally. Overdue, really. (Stop me if you’ve heard this before…)

Assuming we get a bounce, I’m still inclined to sell any rips higher that we see.

Someday we’ll buy this dip. Heck, we’ll back up our dividend truck. I just don’t think it’s time yet.

First, I’d like to see market breadth begin to improve under the surface. This is often what typically happens before markets bottom. We see individual stocks begin to “act better” than the Dow or S&P. These leaders quietly establish their lows and begin to rally.… Read more

Look, I’m as ready for this selloff to end as you are. And when stocks drop—sending dividend yields skyward—I so badly want to back up the truck.

As value-focused dividend investors, buying dips is what we live to do. Sitting in cash is agonizing to me, as I’m sure it is to you, too.

But it just isn’t time yet. Which is why I’ve recommended just one stock this year in my Contrarian Income Report service, while urging my readers to stockpile cash. And after last Thursday’s dumpster fire, we’re sure glad we did!

We’ve also lightened up our portfolio over these last few months, including taking some nice profits on three bank stocks we sold in May:

There was nothing wrong with these three: they were just benefiting from the Fed’s injection of cash into the markets, and the gap between the 10-year Treasury (at which they lend to clients) and the Fed’s policy rate (at which they lend to each other).… Read more

Get your dip-buying lists ready, because it’s almost time to pounce.

Just recently, I explained to investors that, as a contrarian, we only want to fully dive into the market when we have a clear edge—the kind of edge you get when Wall Street has fully capitulated:

“We only want to fully invest when the regular investor has thrown in the towel. And there are plenty of indicators that can tell us exactly when our time has come. Consider, for example, the closely watched CNN Fear/Greed Index, which sits at 26 as I write.”

That was just a week ago.… Read more

Attention, growth investors! A quick stock market question for you.

(Dividend people, you are welcome to play, too.)

Take a quick peek at the chart below. The lines are revenue gains over the past twelve months for four stocks.

Three of them are top holdings in ARK Innovation ETF (ARKK). The fourth, well, is a contrarian special that careful readers already know. (Hint, hint.)

Which sales curve would you want to own?

Pick Your Growth Stock

Did you peek at the key? Of course you did. Well, were you surprised that Exxon Mobil (XOM) was running laps around these three laggards?… Read more

Look, I know it’s heartbreaking to invest in this dumpster-fire market. Heck, even if you do everything right and only buy top-quality dividend stocks, they still seem to plunge a day (or two at most!) later.

This is why, in last Tuesday’s article (the first in a series on how my proven “Dividend Magnet” plan can boost your returns), I urged folks to keep a healthy cash pile to invest on the other side of this crash—and that time will come! I’ll tell you when we’ll fully deploy our hoard in my Hidden Yields dividend-growth service.

Meantime, we’ll continue to trade lightly—buying only in small lots and only for the long haul.… Read more

What’s better than a 9.3% dividend stock? How about one that’s poised to pop as interest rates rise?

Business development companies, or BDCs for short, are overlooked by most income investors. That’s too bad for them because these dividend deals can be pretty sweet.

Especially when rates are rising.

BDCs cut loans to small businesses. Their inflation-friendly component comes from floating rate loans. BDCs that lend this way make more money when rates rise.

BDCs came to life in 1980 when Congress whipped up these tax-advantaged entities. Like the REITs we all love, BDCs are cleared by Uncle Sam for tax-free profits, provided they dish most of their green as dividends.… Read more

Here’s some advice you might be surprised to hear from an investment-newsletter writer: Do NOT buy stocks right now.

That is, unless you can answer an emphatic “yes!” to these three questions:

1. Are you investing for the long term?
2. Are you investing in stocks that are not only growing their dividends but accelerating that payout growth?
3. Are you only investing a small portion of your holdings (and ideally keeping the bulk in cash to ride out this storm)?

If you answered yes to all three, great! I’ll show you what you must demand in any dividend grower to ensure you’re locking in a safe payout while protecting yourself from today’s Fed-driven market panic.… Read more

The point of a bear market is to bring price-to-earnings (P/E) ratios back down to earth. Preferably into single digits.

I like P/Es under ten because it means that the company at least has a chance to pay us back within a decade. Give me a P/E of eight, a business I’m comfortable with and I’ll happily wait the eight years.

Bonus points if I can get paid to wait, which is where dividend stocks come in.

Thanks to this unfolding bear market, we finally have discounts in High Yieldland. We recently chatted about five cash flowing bargains, and here in just a minute, we’ll discuss another five.… Read more