Author Archive: Brett Owens

Election chaos—especially after Friday’s bombshell—could be a knockout blow for this market bounce. I’m worried. And going by our Contrarian Outlook mailbag, plenty of readers are, too.

A typical question goes like this: “Brett, what should I buy/hold/sell if X/Y/Z happens after November 3?”

Now we have to add the president’s positive coronavirus test into the mix!

Rest easy—I’ve got you covered. Today we’re going to talk about two stocks you could hold through 2021, 2022, 2023, and beyond. These companies’ current dividends are much higher than the S&P 500 average. But the real story is their dividend growth, which will triple up your income stream in short order.… Read more

Dividend safety matters more than ever today. And we can’t take the continued presence of a payout for granted, either. There are still shoes waiting to drop on dividends that are widely thought to be “secure.”

But how do we verify dividend safety?

The answer is simple: We look for stocks that are throwing cash at shareholders like it’s no big deal. By “following the money” we’ll also find shares that are:

• On pace to double their dividends every few years, with
• The safest dividends to boot.

The conventional wisdom says you can trust companies with entrenched, long-growing dividends because they have a reputation to uphold.… Read more

Is it time to buy the dip?

Almost. And when we do, let’s not just “buy” an index fund (or worse, a lame ETF!) and “hope” that we timed it right. No, no, we contrarian income seekers can do better.

Let’s instead choose investments that cash flow. In a moment we’ll talk about one that yields 7.4%.

And let’s not buy them at mere “face value” either. Only the unsophisticated first-level types, as our man Howard Marks calls these marks, pay full price! We can, and should, demand discounts in addition to the pullback.

The major indices have officially “corrected” from their September highs (which is typically defined as a 10% decline).… Read more

Finally—a selloff! It’s the perfect time for us to add secure monthly dividend stocks to our portfolio now that their valuations have landed back here on Planet Earth. I’m talking about every-30-day payers with dividends that annualize up to 7.1%.

Their price decline has increased their dividend yields, giving us a shot at a terrific combo: higher yields, monthly payouts and price upside. Yes, you read that right. We don’t have to “settle” for 7.1% yields that are paid to us monthly. By buying right, we can capture some price gains, to boot.

Monthly Dividend Stocks Make Sense for Retirees—and Aspiring Retirees

If you’re relying on your portfolio for income, monthly dividends are a godsend, because managing your cash flow from stocks paying quarterly is a total headache.… Read more

Are you trying to grind out a livable retirement on dividends alone? It’s possible, and it doesn’t require millions and millions already in the bank. (Even today, with interest rates in the tank.)

However, we must step outside the mainstream to achieve this. After all, why mess around with a standard $15,600 a year in retirement income when we can “supersize” that annual yield haul up to $108,000?

The “standard” $15.6K is what we get listening to mainstream financial advisors and pundits, and buying the vanilla ETFs that they recommend. The latter $108K is what we can achieve with a little bit of original thinking.… Read more

Last week, Federal Reserve Chair Jay Powell reiterated his stance that he’s keeping rates at zero for a while. It was no surprise, but it confirms that we’ll continue to ignore US Treasury bonds. They might not pay enough in our lifetimes to warrant our attention ever again!

Instead, we’ll turn our focus to higher paying fixed income vehicles. I’m talking about corporate bonds, convertible bonds and “preferred” stock. They all dish more dividend per dollar than lame T-Bills.

But is this the best time to buy them, with an election just around the corner? It’s a common question, as I’m seeing many subscribers writing in to ask:

Brett, what dividends do we need to Buy/Hold/Sell if X/Y/Z happens in November?… Read more

I know you’re struggling to find cheap stocks to buy these days (or at least stocks that aren’t cheap for a reason!). This pullback is a bit helpful, but not enough for us dividend investors—the average S&P 500 stock yields a pathetic 1.7% as I write this.

That’s nowhere near enough dividend income to retire on, unless you’re sitting on a portfolio $2.5 million or more!

But don’t worry, there are always bargain-priced dividends out there—we just have to go a step beyond what the mainstream crowd is buying. Today I’m going to show you one such investment; it’s my favorite one to buy for big dividends and upside.… Read more

What if I told you that, even in this expensive stock market, that we can still find yields of 9%, 10%… heck, even 20%?

Volatility is back, and with it, some discounted stocks with generous yields that we can snag. We’ll talk big dividends up to 20% today.

An S&P 500 index fund, as usual, won’t pay you enough income to retire. You have to buy the pricey basket and hope it’ll keep levitating higher. A purchase of the popular index today and you’ll barely squeeze out $18,000 in dividends by this time next year. That’s not much but it’s downright lavish compared with the $6,700 you’d eke out of a 10-year T-note.… Read more

Who doesn’t like a safe, stable utility dividend? In today’s zero-rate, VIX-spiking world, it’s a throwback to simpler times—the “old school” type of dividend we’d like to accumulate sufficiently to retire on!

Heck, twenty years ago to this date, we could have bought shares in Southern Company (SO) and enjoyed a 6.5% yield. A $100,000 stake in Southern would have paid $6,500 every year in dividends.

Plus, regular raises were on the way. After a stagnant few years, Southern began hiking its payout every year. That 6.5% yield would eventually grow to a fat 12.4% yield on cost:

Southern’s 20-Year Yield Rise

But wait, there was more.… Read more

Let’s not assume our retirement savings will benefit from the Federal Reserve’s bout of 2020 money printing. Inflation could be a real problem, as soon as 2021. So let’s talk about stocks that are not only protected but likely to benefit from Jay Powell’s prolific “efforts.”

(In other words, dividend stocks that’ll double while investors are fixated on deflation.)

When it comes to inflation, many folks have a dangerous blind spot. They recall 2008, and the Fed’s then-extraordinary actions late that year, which gave us a narrow escape from deflation, and no inflation to speak of.

Just think back to that time.… Read more