Author Archive: Brett Owens

This “growth without hiring” trend we’ve been talking about these past few weeks is en fuego: Microsoft (MSFT) is the latest to say it’s cutting expensive humans, announcing last week that it will lay off 9,000 people.

That comes on top of 6,000 cuts in May. Six thousand here, 9,000 there. As they say, pretty soon you’re talking about serious numbers!

The tech bros aren’t saying it out loud—though some, like Amazon.com (AMZN) CEO Andy Jassy, are (he could barely conceal his enthusiasm when discussing this seismic shift from expensive humans to cheaper machines)—but AI is clearly “at work” in Big Tech, pushing out humans by the thousands.… Read more

ADP showed us that the private sector is now shedding jobs. That’s bad for workers—but it’s great news for earnings season.

Slowing employment means easing wage pressures and lower inflation. It also brings better profit margins and, our favorite of all, dividend hikes. Let’s talk about five firms that recently raised their payouts 25% to 400%

Are these one-hit wonders or will AI-driven savings make these dividend hike sequels even better?

Profit growth brings dividend growth. Which then translates to share-price gains. That’s the idea behind my “Dividend Magnet” strategy. When a company announces that it’s going to pay more for the foreseeable future, it’s a bold statement.… Read more

Ignore the vanilla mainstream media. Small business mojo is gaining steam. Main Street getting its groove back will directly benefit these two (7.2% and 8.8%) dividends.

The NFIB Small Business Optimism Index washed out in April alongside the stock market. Despair hit desperation levels not seen since December 2012. But the malaise has quickly given way to positivity.

Small biz sentiment has increased for two straight months and counting. Why the turnaround? Two letters: AI.

Shanell Camp, owner of Shaded by Shanell (an up-and-coming beauty brand) explained her excitement to me about ChatGPT, her “go to” resource for brainstorming, marketing help and more.… Read more

Will the new peace in the Middle East hold? What will happen when the “reciprocal tariff” deadline arrives on July 9?

Truth is, no one knows. But we contrarians DO know this: Shaky times like these are tailor-made for us.

Yes, the S&P 500 has been shrugging off all of this (stocks do climb a wall of worry, after all). That’s true. But it’s also caused a lot of mainstream investors to miss the many strong dividend deals that are still on the board.

Near the top of my list for these “dumpster-dive” payers is the Hershey Co. (HSY).… Read more

“Programmer.”

My wife nailed it as we stepped into the open house, staring into the front room labeled “home office.” Shoes off, respecting the homeowners still living there.

“They’re hoping for a rentback,” explained the realtor. “The couple has to move out of town for work.”

Ah, another casualty of the return-to-office mandate! Back to the Bay Area for these two. They’re far from alone. Major cities—Boston, New York, San Francisco—are shaking off five years of downtown rust, preparing for commuters back four or more days each week.

Even here in Sacramento, I had to battle morning traffic this week for the first time in more than five years.… Read more

Let’s talk about oil and gold dividends. Whether or not the new peace in the Middle East holds, there are some high-quality dividends worth owning anytime. These generous payers (up to 8%!) provide peace of mind just in case the geopolitical Jenga set gets knocked loose again.

We’ll start with crude, which had rallied to one-year highs. I was originally going to advise not chasing the “Strait of Hormuz” oil rally. Futures indicated (and still do) that lower prices are likely ahead. January 2026 still trades cheaper—suggesting temporary disruption at worst.

Back at home, you’ve probably heard (not least from me, often) that President Trump wants a lower Fed Funds Rate!… Read more

Stocks—especially dividend stocks—have every reason to shoot higher from here. In fact, they have 7 trillion reasons.

That’s how much Americans have parked in money-market funds. But a chunk of that is about to shake loose. When it does, I see it piling into top dividend payers (and growers)—including the three we’ll discuss below.

Investors Wait for the Stock-Market “Bat Signal”

Before we get to that, the chart above is worth a look. Starting last summer, pre-election fears sent investors piling into money-market funds, pushing assets past $7 trillion.

Then something strange happened: They pulled cash out of these funds after the “Liberation Day” tariffs were announced.… Read more

Let’s talk about energy dividends because, well, you know why. But let’s not chase the headlines.

Let’s focus on energy “toll collectors” that will make money regardless of tomorrow’s geopolitical landscape. Steady cash flows support these 4.2% to 9.5% yields.

This runs counter to the outlook for exploration and production companies, as well as equipment and service providers, which have profits that are tightly bound to the price of energy commodities. These stock prices follow crude oil movements too closely.

Energy infrastructure companies are calmer plays. Companies that own and operate pipelines, processing plants and storage facilities aren’t nearly as reliant on energy prices—they just take a cut whenever oil, natural gas, nat-gas liquids, etc.,… Read more

We’ve been dividend-hungry lately. Our Wednesday missives brought ten income ideas since the end of April!

It’s a busy week for our brood! If you bought these payers, you have five ex-dividend dates (the dates when the stock trades at a price minus—“ex”—the dividend per share) on deck this week. Plus a payday for our “Goldilocks” tariff play, Corteva Agriscience (CTVA).

This neat weekly view comes to us courtesy of Income Calendar, our homegrown dividend tracker. We developed IC for serious income investors like yourself. The tool projects every dividend payment with accuracy that is unmatched in the industry.… Read more

Still wondering if AI will replace human workers? Well, you can stop. Because it’s already happening—and boosting corporate profits as it does.

That’s tough news for workers, of course. But there’s a silver lining for those of us investing for dividends. Because the “growth-without-hiring” trend AI has touched off is setting up one of the strongest income opportunities I’ve seen in years. (I’ll name three AI plays yielding up to 8.5% below.)

Wait, AI is setting the stage for big dividends?

I know. AI is known for a lot of things—many of which have been, er, less than helpful, such as infringing on copyrights and forcing McNuggets on pleading McDonald’s (MCD) drive-thru customers.… Read more