Author Archive: Brett Owens

I get a lot of questions from readers about high-paying “preferred shares.” And most of these queries have one thing in common: worry!

You see, many of these folks are concerned that preferreds—known for their outsized dividend yields funded by safe cash flows—will get swamped as interest rates rise.

So today I’m going to show you why you can set these fears aside. Further on, I’ll reveal a preferred-stock fund that lets you rope in an outsized 7.3% cash dividend and price upside, too.

First, I should say that preferred shares aren’t alone in stoking investor fears. Other high-yield investments are, too, such as real estate trusts (REITs) and utilities.… Read more

Do you own the next GE? I’m talking about five dividends that are not as sacred as their shareholders mistakenly believe. We’ll review them in a minute.

First, the warning signs. Many investors were kicked in the gut by General Electric (GE) last year, no thanks to pundits who ignored numerous red flags and encouraged people to buy GE and its historically generous yield. Sure, 5% isn’t “high,” but in a sleepy industrial like General Electric, that’s certainly attractive at a glance.

It also was downright dangerous.

Anyone keeping tabs on the all-important payout ratios for General Electric’s dividend had to see the writing on the wall.… Read more

If you want to clobber the stock market – and double your money every two or three years – then buying companies with accelerating dividends is an absolute must.

And I’ve got good news for you: there’s never been a better time to buy them.

That’s because dividend growth is on a sugar high: research firm IHS Markit recently predicted that global dividends would jump 10% this year—a new record.

What’s more, if you’re looking to grow your nest egg fast, you’re in luck, because accelerating dividends are the beating heart of my personal 3-step system for banking 12% annual returns for life.… Read more

It’s something I hear from readers all the time: “Brett, the 7%+ dividends you recommend in the Contrarian Income Report service are well and good, but are dividends that high really safe to invest in? I’m worried about a dividend cut.”

The answer?

They are absolutely safe—so go ahead and enjoy the outsized cash payouts delivered by our Contrarian Income Report selections, which I’ve carefully chosen and safety-checked to let you retire on a $500k nest egg (and maybe even less).

And for stocks outside of our portfolio, you just need to take a few quick steps to stay off the rocks.… Read more

Most people are chasing big dividend payers right now in this “3% world” we live in. Meanwhile, a small group of “hidden yield” stocks are quietly handing smart investors growing income streams PLUS annual returns of 12%, 17.3%, or more.

Let’s talk about how to find these stocks, and bank 12% returns or better every single year, by following a simple two-step formula.

See, everyone wants dividend stocks with good current yields. It’s easy to scan a newspaper or financial website and pick out the stocks that are paying 3%, 4%, 8% or whatever number you might consider “good.”

Yet that’s NOT the right way to pick dividend stocks.… Read more

Lazy financial writers like to say that higher bond yields will hurt dividend stocks. This blanket statement may sound reasonable, but it’ll cost you money if you take it at face value.

Pundits have called sleepy dividend stocks like General Mills (GIS) “bond proxies” in recent years. GIS has paid 3% (more or less) over the last three years. That compared favorably with the 10-year note, which paid 2% (more or less) over that time period.

So, the story goes, investors had been buying stocks like GIS instead of safe bonds like Treasuries to scrape an extra 1% or so. But with Treasuries rallying to 3%, these same investors have “demanded” a higher yield from GIS.… Read more

Most “high bracket” investors love the idea of tax-free muni bonds. But they aren’t sure where to buy them, and often end up using exchange traded funds (ETFs) as their vehicle of choice.

Bad idea.

Muni ETFs provide a smooth but unfulfilling ride. The popular iShares National Muni Bond ETF (MUB) for example has rewarded its investors with a drama-free decade. Prescient investors who foresaw the big crash of 2008 and piled into munis saved themselves a year of heartburn and earned $50,000 in Federal tax-free income on every $100,000 they saved from stocks:

MUB is Steady, But Unspectacular

Stocks, as usual, were better over the long run.… Read more

What if I told you there’s a way you can buy your favorite blue chips and get a dividend up to 6 times bigger than what these stocks pay today?

Let’s be honest: with an income stream like that, backed by household names like Pfizer (PFE) and AT&T (T)—more on these two stocks below—you’d leap at the chance, right?

The truth is, you’d be crazy not to.

Well, now you can. And today I’m going to show you exactly how to do it—and 2 quick moves to get you there instantly.

Like Buying Cheap in 2009 … and Knowing What Happens Next

Funny thing is, for a brief, shining moment in the not-so-distant past (early March 2009), many blue chips actually did deliver payouts of 7%, 10% and more.… Read more

Environment, social and governance (ESG) investing. Socially responsible investing (SRI). Sustainable investing. These are some of the biggest investing buzzwords of the past few years, pointing to a movement by investors pushing companies to be more conscious about their impact on issues such as climate change, diversity, human rights and sustainability.

But ESG, SRI and the like are more than just buzzwords. They’re actually the principles behind several hot-performing stocks, as well as some of the more attractive dividend-yielding blue chips on Wall Street. And today, I’ll explain how some of these “do-gooder” stocks actually translate their principles into better profits, bigger share gains and fatter dividends that we can compound into retirement riches.… Read more

Just because you’re a dividend investor doesn’t mean you’re fated to “grind out” income 3% and 4% at a time. With a slight change to your current (dare I say pedestrian?) strategy, you can keep your dividends and enjoy 81% to 437% price upside or more.

These types of life-changing returns are easily achievable within a few years. You just need to employ the “ultimate contrarian dividend strategy” – and buy select born again payouts.

The strategy is two-fold:

1. Find the stocks with rock-bottom sentiment around them, and
2. Only buy them when a cheery outlook is guaranteed.

First, Find Firms Burdened With This “Stigma”

Contrarian investing works because it capitalizes on over-negative sentiment to find value.… Read more