Author Archive: Brett Owens

“Don’t Fight the Fed” was chapter 4 in investing wizard Martin Zweig’s legendary book Winning on Wall Street. He devoted 40 thoughtful pages to teach readers why they should “go with the flow” with respect to the Fed’s trend at any given moment.

As we recently heard from Fed Chair Jay Powell himself, the Fed is fixated on tapering. That is going to send a select group of dividend stocks to the moon.

I’m talking about “Fed-driven” price gains of 136% here—and 161% dividend hikes, too. (Those numbers aren’t pulled from the air; they’re exactly what was delivered by one of the three overlooked regional-bank stocks we’ll discuss below.… Read more

Real estate investment trusts (REITs) have become quite popular with income investors in recent years. And why not? These “retirement makers” are required to give 90% of their profits to their shareholders as dividends.

So, if you’re looking to retire on dividends, REITs are a natural place to look.

Problem is, their popularity comes at a price. The Vanguard Real Estate ETF (VNQ) yields just 2.5% today—pretty lame by its standards:

The Problem with Popularity: VNQ Pays Just 2.5%

A disappearing dividend isn’t the only problem with VNQ. Like most ETFs it tends to overweight the largest REITs, which typically translates into both lower overall yields and slower dividend growth.… Read more

This time last year, my most opportunistic subscribers took advantage of a rocky September and October—and secured annualized returns up to 117% with safe dividend plays.

We have a similar setup this year, with the September swoon “refreshing” stocks-at-large and paving the way for some spectacular moves higher. Is your portfolio ready to capture these unfolding riches?

And no, I’m not talking about crypto. We don’t need to trade Bitcoin, Ether or any “coins” with a dog’s face to meet our profit targets.

We’ll get to today’s hottest “dividend trades” in a moment. First, let’s understand why this strategy worked so well last year (and is likely to work again now).… Read more

Crypto? We contrarian income investors don’t need it.

Gambling in Bitcoin, Ether or any “coins” with a dog on the front is pointless when we can dial in a safe dividend strategy for annualized returns up to 117%.

This sneaky-smart plan is secure. It’s repeatable. And oh, by the way, it is flashing a B-U-Y signal today.

When we last used this “rinse and repeat” strategy a year ago, we bagged price gains up to 38% in as little as four months, plus dividends as high as 8.3%! Thanks to our short holding period, these gains translate into 117% profits on a yearly basis.… Read more

When the taper tantrum finally hits, these five dividends—up to 12.9%—are likely to directly benefit.

Right now, their profits are being artificially suppressed by the Fed. Once this constraint is lifted, their bottom lines are going to boom.

The Fed is currently buying $80 billion in government bonds every month. Yes, Chairman Jay Powell wants to kick this addiction, but thus far he can only bring himself to “think about it.” Eventually, he will try to cut back on this bad habit. This opens the door for us laypeople to profit and bank some big payouts.

Treasury yields are based on supply and demand.… Read more

I saw this headline float across my Bloomberg Terminal recently…

There Are More 401(k) and IRA Millionaires Than Ever

(Disclosure and digression: My “Terminal” is Bloomberg.com on my phone. I can thank my long wait at the DMV for my California REAL ID for this story.)

Fidelity Investments—apparently happy to share its customer’s financial info anonymously—says it has more than 750,000 seven-figure 401(k) and IRA accounts.

A chunk of money is great, especially when we can leave it untouched and let it grow. That was no doubt the “secret” of 99%+ of these retirement millionaires. They socked away money for decades and rode the market higher.… Read more

Today we’re going to discuss the secret to double-digit annual returns every year, forever, with secure real estate investment trusts (REITs).

We income-seekers love REITs for a simple reason: high dividends! The typical REIT yields twice as much as the average S&P 500 stock. That’s mainly because these trusts receive reliable recurring revenue—they simply collect the checks that roll in every month, take out enough to maintain the buildings and then send the rest to us.

And some REIT dividends are true standouts in today’s low-yield world, like the 5.5% thrown off by warehouse landlord W.P. Carey (WPC).

WPC is a two-time winner in our Contrarian Income Report service’s portfolio, having returned a tidy 28% in dividends and gains in 12 months in its first tour and a steady 16% return in 14 months (and counting) in its second.… Read more

Most income investors limit themselves to mere “common” dividends. But there’s no need for us to settle for 2% blue-chip yields when we can bank 6%+ payouts from the same companies.

Let’s use Bank of America (BAC) as our example. The stock should keep sailing as the 10-year Treasury rate grinds higher.

Common shares of BAC yield just 1.8% today. (This is what we receive when we type in “BAC” and hit the “Buy” button.) That’s not much. Fortunately, we can look past common dividends for higher yields without sacrificing safety.

Companies also can issue what’s referred to as “preferred stock.”… Read more

The 10-year Treasury is storming past 1.6% yet again. Look out, high yield!

I kid because I love (income). And one-point-six just doesn’t do it for me. Plus, remember, this bounty does not escape the tax man. Any interest income we earn from Treasuries—no matter how sad—is subject to federal and state taxes.

So, if we’re multiplying a nest egg (let’s use $500K) by 1.6%, we must remember that the final answer is probably not $8,000 in annual income. Because if we’re raking in income from any other sources, we should lop off a chunk of this for taxes.

Interest Received is the official IRS tax term, for my fellow tax wonks.… Read more

Goldman Sachs says the Fed will start cutting its bond purchases next month—and that sets up some of our favorite dividend-payers for a quick 61% profit surge. (I’ll reveal the tickers we need to reap this “taper bonanza” in a moment.)

Wait. Why are we taking Goldman’s word here?

Because “Government Sachs” has the deepest DC connections of any bank: former Treasury Secretaries Henry Paulson and Steven Mnuchin are Goldman grads, among many other government bigwigs. When it comes to what’s happening at the Fed, I’d take Goldman’s opinion over that of Jay Powell himself!

A Boon for Dividend Investors

To get at how we’ll flip the taper into big dividends, let’s connect it to a figure we all watch closely: the yield on the 10-year Treasury note.… Read more