Author Archive: Brett Owens

Mainstream financial channels have made a big deal out of the current, furious relief rally (“Is it a ‘V-shaped’ recovery?” they muse). Whether it’s a V, a W, an L, a Nike swoosh or (my favorite) a bathtub, the fact is that many cash flows—and hence the dividends they fund—are under siege.

(This is no surprise. The average bear market lasts 12 to 18 months. We are just beginning month three—yikes.)

But all hope is not lost! We can still find secure yields, even reliable monthly dividends to boot, right now. In a moment, we’ll sift through the market’s trash heap to find these valuable sources of income stability.… Read more

While most income investors stare at their portfolios, searching for the next shoe to drop, we contrarian yield collectors were treated to a rare treat this week. A dividend increase—from an income fund that now yields 8%!

We’ll talk specifics in a moment, but let’s start with the cash flow stream. This fund buys “preferred” shares, a brand of stock that most mainstream investors are not familiar with. The “first-level” types typically limit themselves to the common shares of stock, which are what you receive when you place an order to buy with your broker.

Preferred are there, too, if you know where to look.… Read more

The convenience of a one-click ETF is tempting, but in times like these, buying one can seriously cap your upside—and cause you to leave serious dividend cash on the table, too.

I know that’s a controversial statement, with the millions of ETF fanboys and fangals out there, so let me explain why you do not want to pile into these vehicles during a bear market like this one.

I’ll start with a very popular ETF, the Vanguard High Dividend Yield ETF (VYM). True to its name, it holds the stocks that pop into most people’s minds when they think about dividends, like Johnson & Johnson (JNJ), Procter & Gamble (PG), Verizon Communications (VZ) and Pfizer (PFE).… Read more

In normal times, we contrarians are stuck combing the market’s backwaters—REITs, closed-end funds (CEFs) and the like—in our hunt for outsized dividends.

But, of course, these are not normal times.

This crisis has flipped the script. Now we can get the same big payouts but with much less work. In fact, we can get them from the same stocks you’ll find in any American’s portfolio! This is a once-in-a-generation opportunity, and it can’t last.

Fishing Close to Shore

The last time I saw a situation like this was in March 2009, days before the S&P 500 bottomed in the financial crisis.… Read more

Landlords and lenders have taken it on the chin since the world shut down. And until this place is actually open for business once again, many REIT (real estate investment trust) investors are unfortunately rolling the dice on the next rent payment coming in, the next commercial mortgage payment being made.

To be fair, however, select REITs are going to be OK, and many of them are selling at bargain prices right now. In the short run, REIT prices can move together (for example, drop when the 10-year Treasury yield rises). However, as weeks turn into months and years, we usually see a great variation in the performance of REIT stocks.… Read more

Today, I’m going to show you how to find fat dividend opportunities in washed-out sectors. Let’s start with retail, where the hits just keep coming. (And the result is a few sky-high yields. Too good to be true? Let’s explore.)

You know the story by now. Amazon.com (AMZN) pioneered e-commerce, taking it from an interesting tech niche to the retail-reaper it is today. The numbers tell it all, as Statista estimates retail e-commerce sales will nearly double between 2018 and 2024.

Yes, the overall retail pie is growing, but not nearly as fast as e-commerce is. In other words, e-commerce is increasingly gnawing on brick-and-mortar’s lunch.… Read more

Is the bottom in?

Or is the market merely “sniffing glue” (as one of my friendly financial advisors aptly put it to me)?

No matter where you are currently handicapping the market, we have a proven playbook for buying big payers after a crash like the one we’ve just seen. We’ll consider the winners coming out of the 2008 crash, as well as the types of stocks that have performed well in post-pandemic China. Let’s get right into it.

Post-Crash Tip #1: Think Big

I love small companies. I lasted exactly 13 months in corporate America before fleeing to the world of small business and startups.… Read more

Right now, most investors I hear from want three things in a dividend stock:

1. Low volatility.
2. A worry-free income stream to draw on during this crisis.
3. Market-beating gains in the long run.

Sounds like a pipe dream, I know. But these three things are a lot easier to get (even these days!) than most people think. The telltale sign of a stock that delivers them is something most folks overlook: the dividend.

Specifically, I’m talking about the rate of dividend growth. In fact, I’d go so far as to say that a fast-rising payout is the No. 1 driver of share prices.… Read more

Bull market, bear market, it doesn’t matter: Underappreciated, under-covered companies always manage to make a splash.

That’s how my Hidden Yields service delivers portfolio doublers every five or six years. The market has clusters of dividend growth stocks that are too boring for the financial media or most analyst firms to lavish with coverage, and that don’t yield nearly enough for income hunters to take notice. Yet time and time again, these stocks turn into total-return machines that can rip off 15% in annual returns, rain or shine.

And the current bear market is providing a rare opportunity to pinpoint these payout powder kegs.… Read more

A friend of 30+ years gave me a ring last Friday afternoon to check in on the family. Unfortunately for him, I popped back with a little more “real life” than he was ready for!

Other than catching up, he shared that his 401(k) plan was now liquid, thanks to his company being acquired. Having a cash portfolio at times like these is a fantasy that few investors actually experience.

“I’ll share what I wrote to my CIR subscribers today. For long-term positions, don’t be afraid to have up to half of your portfolio in cash right now. I think we’re going to see nice buying opportunities in the months ahead.”… Read more