Author Archive: Brett Owens

The markets sure turned against “the little guy” in a hurry.

We chatted about the massive run-up in GameStop (GME) on Wednesday. I had a buddy of mine, who just happens to be a loyal Reddit reader, catch “short squeeze” fever.

If these guys and gals had tried to go anywhere, they’d have been stopped by the temperature check. That’s how hot they were running as Wall Street big shots were being forced to “buy back” their previously shorted GME shares at astronomical prices.

But short squeezes are often short lived, and GME has already plummeted two-thirds below its peak. Why the carnage?… Read more

Can you explain GameStop (GME) stock to me?

My buddy who texted isn’t usually into stocks. They are too quaint for him—heck, bitcoin has become too mainstream for him. Something was up.

Sure enough, I checked the GME chart, and whoa! What a move. And that was before last week’s moonshot, which propelled the stock to insane 1,000%+ month-to-date gains.

GME became famous on a website called Reddit, which lets users banter about common interests. Its financial-focused wallstreetbets board has been given credit for coordinating the GME buying and subsequent moonshot.

Which, as far as I can tell, is true. But it’s important to note that the money managers who lost their fortunes in the trade have only themselves to blame.… Read more

This GameStop madness is a clear and present danger to our dividends.

Let’s stop and look at exactly what it means for our income streams, and what we’re going to buy to protect ourselves (and cash in with monthly payouts up to 8%!)

When the Dumb Money Runs, We Need to Be Careful

The whipsawing shares of GameStop (GME), AMC Entertainment Holdings and others are classic cases of “dumb money” in action: they’re among the many short squeezes breaking out across the market—where short sellers, including hedge funds, betting against a stock lose big as buyers bid the stock up in an effort to “stick it to the suits.”… Read more

An income-focused money manager friend of mine bragged to me about what he did for one of his clients.

Namely, he’s used his Contrarian Income Report subscription to smartly help her turn a modest nest egg of about $390,000 into monthly income payouts that should last…well, virtually forever.

Three years ago, he explained how he used my “retire on monthly dividends” strategy to help this nice grandmother. Here was the situation:

“She brought me $387,000 … and wants to take out $3,000 per month for 10 years.”

Well, so far, so good for Grandma.

She’s now 38 months into her $3,000-per-month dividend gravy train.… Read more

Everything is expensive—except for these dividend payers.

These bargains are left on the board because they fell so far, so fast in 2020 that the market’s subsequence bounce couldn’t quite pull them out of the gutter.

So, yields of 8.9% remain, with 89% price upside attached to them to boot. This “sure bet” sector is consolidating as we speak. Make a note of it, because when this breather wraps up, these dividend stocks could really soar.

We’ll talk specifics on these out-of-favor plays in a moment. First, let’s appreciate why this “free dividend money” is sitting out there for us to scoop up.… Read more

There are dozens of huge yields out there that no one ever talks about. I’m talking about payouts 6-times (or bigger) than the pathetic 1.5% dividend the typical blue-chip stock pays.

Swapping Dividend Yield for Shareholder Yield 

These big “hidden yields” really are hiding in plain sight. The key to finding them is to set aside dividend yield for a moment and focus on shareholder yield.

Shareholder yield is a simple measure that goes beyond dividends to show you the big-picture view of what you’re pulling in from a stock—including another way companies pay us that doesn’t get nearly enough press (or at least nearly enough positive press!).… Read more

Dividends are back. And here are 54 secure payouts that are due for a raise between now and March.

The S&P yields a lousy 1.6% as I write. It’s sad to imagine a hefty million bucks in stocks could toss off a mere $16,000 in annual income. So, we income investors need a better play.

And that, my friend, is where these rising dividends come in. They are a “double threat” because we have two ways to win:

1. The current yield, which (in many cases) will clear the 1.6% I mentioned. Plus,
2. The price appreciation that comes along with the dividend increase.

The yield on the 10-year Treasury is exhausted after its epic run to nearly 1.2%. It’s due for a breather.

Anyone who buys the long bond today can still “lock in” a 1.1% yield. But remember, this bounty won’t 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 your nest egg (let’s use $500K) by 1.1%, we must remember that the final answer is probably not $5,500 in annual income. Because if we’re raking in income from any other sources, we should lop off a chunk of this for taxes.… Read more

Long-term interest rates have awoken. The trend toward higher Treasury yields is likely just getting started, which makes 2021 an “inflection year” for us income investors.

And what better way to celebrate the paradigm shift than to buy dividend payers that are likely to double (or better!) in the months and years ahead?

Sure, some fixed-income plays are going to be punished. That’s a topic for another time. Today, we should focus on shareholder-yield darlings that see their profits increase in an outsized manner when interest rates climb.

I’m talking about stocks that will shower us with:

• Current yields today,
• Dividend raises tomorrow,
• Generous stock buybacks, and (most importantly)
• Share prices that will climb dramatically.

As Wall Street loses its mind over a long bond that pays a lousy 1%, we level-headed income investors are going to stay calm. And 7.7% on.

Yes, we “prefer” (hint, hint) dividends that are 7X the weak 1% yield the wonks are clamoring about. I’ll get to the specifics on these retirement makers—which we can buy as easily as common stocks—in a moment. First, let’s appreciate their dividend grandeur.

The Fed is content to sit on a near-zero benchmark rate until at least next year if not 2023. Compounding the problem is that yields on traditional blue chips, while always insufficient, are a downright mockery right now—the 1.55% current yield on the S&P 500 is its lowest point in 15 years.… Read more