Author Archive: Brett Owens

These dividends are about to break free from their regulatory shackles. Once the cuffs are off, we’re going to see payout hikes up to 100%.

Even the dividend growth “laggards” in this group are due for 11% and 17% hikes. As these payouts pop, their stock prices may certainly follow.

Here’s why.

For the past decade, income investors have overlooked the big banks. The Great Recession burned a hole in the brain of every retiree who lived to tell about it.

The U.S. Treasury bailed out America’s financial sector with the Troubled Asset Relief Program, which disbursed roughly $427 billion to buy toxic assets from (and even equity in) U.S.… Read more

The market looks like it’s about to fall apart. Which means we contrarians will step in, and smartly bank more dividend for our dollar.

Some of us park our dry powder in cash. Others stash in conservative bond funds to juice a bit more yield out of our savings. Let’s talk about these bonds because this is an ideal time to say goodbye to them (for a while!)

As dividend investors, we are naturally allergic to cash. After all, why leave money in dollars earning nothing when we can move it to a stock or fund yielding something?

As I write our Contrarian Income Report portfolio yields 6.3%.… Read more

It’s mid-2021, and stock prices are up, dividend yields are down, and you’re probably wondering what the heck to buy for a decent income stream as we thunder toward 2022.

It’s a head-snapping reversal from where we were a year ago, which makes now the perfect time to step back and plot our next dividend moves.

So let’s piece together our game plan for the rest of the year—and into 2022—by ranking five popular (and not so popular!) investments known for income from worst to first. You’ll find many individual tickers to put on your list here, too—including one yielding a healthy 6.8% today.… Read more

Preferred stocks are the little-known answer to the dividend question:

How do I juice meaningful 5% to 6% yields from my favorite blue-chip stocks?

“Common” blue chips stocks usually don’t pay 5% to 6%. Heck, the S&P 500’s current yield, at just 1.3%, is its lowest in decades.

But we can consider the exact same 505 companies in the popular index—names like JPMorgan Chase (JPM), Broadcom (AVGO) and NextEra Energy (NEE)—and find yields from 4.2% to 6.9%.

If we’re talking about a million dollar retirement portfolio, this is the difference between $13,000 in annual dividend income and $42,000. Or, better yet, $69,000 per year with my top recommendation.… Read more

Collecting dividends is fun. Doubling our money is even better.

From time to time, Mr. and Ms. Market will present us with a deal that includes payouts plus price upside. I’m talking about 50% to 100% returns from secure dividend payers.

These “dividend doubles” require a catalyst. Some event that, if it unfolds, would launch profits—and the firm’s stock price!

Higher interest rates are a compelling “catalyst bet” today. The 10-year Treasury yield tripled between August and April. We noted a few months back that the rate move was due for a breather, and that’s exactly what has unfolded with the benchmark rate briefly edging below 1.3% last week:

Time to “Buy the Dip” in Interest Rates?… Read more

Let’s give ourselves a double shot of dividend and share-price growth by diving into a group of stocks I guarantee your friends are missing out on.

I’m talking about financial firms—particularly those that buy back their shares. We want to get into these stocks now because Fed Chair Jay Powell just took the shackles off lenders when it comes to buybacks and dividends, after the nation’s 23 biggest banks aced their “stress tests.” (Prior to June 30, the amount a bank could put toward dividends and buybacks couldn’t be more than the average of its last four quarters of earnings.)

Repurchasers Roar Back

This means we’re lined up for a surge in bank-stock buybacks—and we love repurchases because they cut the number of shares outstanding, juicing earnings per share (EPS).… Read more

Believe it or not, in today’s “no yield” world, there are still 845 stocks that boast dividend yields of 3%. And 34 that pay more than 10%!

You Still Have Options

Note: U.S.-listed companies and funds with market capitalizations or AUM greater than $300 million. Source: Standard & Poor’s

Big yields can make a big difference. A 3% payout on a million-dollar portfolio is $30,000 per year in dividends. That’s nice, but we can “supersize” it to $100,000 annually with the 10% payers.

If any of these yields are safe, of course.

In the world of high yield, security is tricky.… Read more

We individual investors have many edges on the Wall Street suits. Betting on the next government handout, however, is not one of them.

Megatrends, on the other hand, are our wheelhouse. Professionals excel at “looking ahead” three to six months. Fortunately for us, their eyes glaze over beyond a year! This is where you and I can regain our advantage when it comes to infrastructure income investing.

While Wall Street weighs the trees, we will consider dividends from the broader megatrend forest. Let’s highlight some aspects of the potential American Jobs Plan that also happen to be infrastructure trends already in motion.… Read more

The retirement-income battle never ends! Last summer, we watched cautiously for the next dividend cut. This summer, we’re tracking inflation.

No matter the worry, we can apply my “2-step retirement income plan.” It’s designed to keep inflation, another virus wave or pretty well any other calamity from impacting our dividend streams.

Inflation Sideswipes Retirees

First, though, we can “thank” Jay Powell and his runaway money printer for our sleepless nights. You can’t tell me that goosing the money supply by 30% in a little more than a year doesn’t have something to do with rising prices:

Powell Drains Retirees’ Buying Power

And retirees—the folks with the least amount of wiggle room in their monthly income—are taking the brunt.… Read more

For the past few weeks, I’ve been drawing up a roadmap of how income investors like us can fend off inflation’s impending march.

Utility stocks. Small banks. Heck, small businesses.

But they all center around one central theme you can find in just about any corner of the market: dividend growth. Show me a payout that is heading higher, and I’ll point you to a stock price that is likely to follow.

We’ve got a big summer ahead, with 48 dividend raises on the way! Here’s why these stocks are must-watches for the months ahead.

Why We All Need Bigger Dividends Over Time

It’s simple math.… Read more