Author Archive: Brett Owens

A big thank you to the 1,186 subscribers who attended our Contrarian Income Report webcast! As we discussed in the session, I did my best to address presubmitted questions during the session.

More questions came in during the live webcast. I love the enthusiasm. Let’s use our time together today to chat about your shared thoughts, curiosities and concerns.

Q: What do you think about trailing stops (with percentages)?

Q: Do you recommend trailing stops, or should we just wait for you to tell us when to sell?

Q: Would a 10% trailing stop work for your picks?

Q: How did these holdings perform during a bear market?… Read more

There are two words I’d bet cross your mind every time you buy a stock: “2008 repeat.”

As in: “I can’t afford one!”

I hear it regularly from Contrarian Income Report readers. It’s obvious why: we’re all 11 years older, and we can’t mess around—we need “correction-proof” growth and big dividends (I’m talking 6% yields and up) today!

By “correction-proof,” I mean stocks that swat away a crash, no matter if it’s October 2008, May 2018 or the pullback we saw just last month.

Sounds like a tall order, I know. But it’s not impossible.

Today I’m going to show you how I regularly find these stout plays, and how they’ve driven a steady 11.4% annualized return (mostly in safe dividend cash) for Contrarian Income Report members since we launched the service in 2015.… Read more

Energy stocks are en fuego again after a drone strike on a Saudi oil facility. We’re going to (as usual) skip the geopolitical talk and discuss oil dividends that will benefit from this disruption.

While “buy and hope” investors ponder basic ways to play the spike, you and I know that about half of energy returns come from payouts. Check out the orange line below, the total return of a popular energy index with dividends. It’s nearly double what the stock prices themselves returned:

The Real Key to Oil Riches? Dividends.

No dividend is guaranteed forever. But broadly speaking, income has been a far more reliable source of energy-sector returns than price performance, making up nearly half of energy’s total returns since late 1998.… Read more

Got some investing money you’d like to double? As in, grow it by 100% or more? Here’s the surest and safest way to do it quickly.

Well, before we get into getting rich, let’s talk about income. Not everyone needs to grow their pile of money bigger and bigger. Some of us are done accumulating and are looking for cash flow to help us cruise through retirement.

So, we have two options:

Option 1: Invest for Income Today

Put some of the cash pile into safe funds and stocks. I can show you where to find 7.2% yields, which means you can build a “no withdrawal” portfolio that spins off, say, $72,000 on a million bucks (again, thanks to the 7.2% dividends).… Read more

Let’s brush aside some financial noise today, as I’d like to show you the best retirement investment you can make.

I’m talking about secure dividends that’ll grow every year, fund your regular expenses today, plus grow your capital so you don’t have to ever worry about running out of money.

You won’t have to worry about what the Fed says, either, because this worry-free strategy is ahead of Jay Powell and his crew. In fact, this “1-click” indicator not only tells you what to buy, but it nails the “when” better than any armchair (or professional) Fed watcher.

We’re going to use real estate investment trusts (REITs) as our vehicles of choice.… Read more

Where are you going to find meaningful income to get you through retirement? Not from popular stocks, with the S&P paying less than 2%. And bonds won’t help either, as their yields are in the tank, too.

Instead let’s consider real estate investment trusts (REITs), which are tailor-made for investors who are at or nearing retirement. Specifically, I’d look to dividend-growing REITs, like the three I’m about to show you. This trio of landlords are on pace to double their dividends in just four years.

How Dividend Growth Can Quickly Double Your Money

Respected healthcare REIT Ventas (VTR) is the perfect example of how this strategy can do more than provide income.… Read more

If this were any “normal” time, we’d be able to buy safe bonds and collect enough income on our nest egg to fund our retirements. Unfortunately, this is the “new normal” where the Fed is not the friend of us current and hopeful retirees!

Jay Powell is afraid for his job, which means he’s going to cut rates and keep them low for a long time. This means we must look beyond traditional bonds for meaningful income.

What about blue chip dividend-paying stocks? Well, an 11-year stock market rally has ruined that idea. Anyone putting new money in a pricey dividend aristocrat is “buying and hoping” that the stock continues to levitate while the firm dishes its dividend.… Read more

Today I’m going to show you the one market indicator you can use to grab gains as high as 70% in nine months (or less!), plus dividends growing double-digits, too.

It’s a measure of market panic you’ve probably heard about, but here’s the funny thing: everyone is looking at this indicator backwards.

Let me explain.

First, I’m talking about the CBOE S&P 500 Volatility Index, or VIX for short. You’ve probably heard of the VIX: dubbed the market’s “fear gauge,” it’s a measure of how volatile traders see stocks in the next 30 days.

In other words, when investors are twitchy, the VIX rises—and when they’re confident, it trends down.… Read more

How much do you need to save to retire comfortably? Not as much if you think if you buy the right monthly dividend payers.

How you invest your retirement portfolio is more important than how much you have. Especially today, with “dumb” retirement money collecting just 1% in safe bonds.

That 1% won’t even get it done if you save the $1.7 million most Americans believe they need. (And don’t worry, they are wrong anyway. You don’t need nearly that much money to retire on dividends alone.)

Financial experts are incorrect, too. Here is more advice based on, well, not knowing which dividends to buy in retirement:

• The AARP says you’ll need $1.18 million to generate $40,000 a year.

“There it is – Freddo’s Ice Cream. It should be right next door,” I half-heartedly explained to my wife.

And with feigned confidence, I added, “I’ll be right back.”

I crossed the street once, then again… and walked up toward this monolith:

I didn’t see a teller window, so I walked around into the ice cream shop. Maybe that was the entrance.

Nope, just a wall. So I circled back, and the door on the left “buzzed” at me. I tried to pull it open—to no avail.

It buzzed again. I tried pushing this time, and it opened. Inside there were two teller windows, both guarded by bulletproof glass.… Read more