Author Archive: Brett Owens

Real estate investment trusts (REITs) are one of the market’s best sources of high yield. But they can also be one of its searing sources of heartburn.

For your sanity’s sake, and for the good of your retirement savings, avoid the five high-yielding REITs I’m going to warn you about today. Then reinvest that money into the sure-fire 8% yielders I’ll highlight after that.

REITs are set up, by design, to be income powerhouses. That’s the deal. They get to evade Uncle Sam, and in return, they have to funnel the lion’s share of their profits to shareholders. But a mandate only goes so far – if a REIT has less cash to redistribute, simple math says you and I suffer.… Read more

The Federal Reserve’s increased aggression over the past couple of years has finally come home to roost. The yield on the 10-year Treasury recently rocketed above 2.8% – a four-year high – while the 30-year cleared the 3% mark.

That’s bad news for investors in many traditional dividend-paying blue chips.

The 10-year T-note might as well have been a “high-yield” savings account the past few years, offering almost laughable income of less than 1.4% as recently as 2016. That kind of environment gives investors “yield goggles,” making even no-growth stocks look attractive as long as they’re paying out near 3%.

Just look at the performance of the Consumer Staples Select Sector SPDR (XLP) – a collection of companies such as Procter & Gamble (PG) and Coca-Cola (KO) – against the 10-year Treasury rate.… Read more

Market gyrations don’t matter when you can generate $69,137 over the next 12 months on a capital base of just $350,000. The secret? Monthly cash flow that adds up to 20% average annual returns regardless of what stocks do.

It’s an income investors’ dream – banking regular payments without having to worry about a pullback for the pricey (and increasingly wobbly) stock market.

“Buy and hope” investors are, understandably, terrified today. They’ve bought their shares – and now all they can do is hope the market regains its footing.

We income investors prefer to calculate rather than gamble. It’s why we demand dividends.… Read more

Interest rates are soaring, the market is panicking … and dividend stocks are yesterday’s news. Right?

Yes and no.

While some double-digit paying dogs should be sold immediately—market meltdown or no—there are other stocks (here I’m talking about top-notch dividend growers) that are ripe to be bought for 25%+ upside in the next 12 months.

There’s no doubt the 10-year Treasury yield’s recent run to 2.8%, an 18% rise since January 1, has slammed the brakes on the stock-market rally and hit high-yield plays like REITs particularly hard.

10-Year Rises, High-Yielders Wobble

If you hold high-yielders in your portfolio, you know what I’m talking about.… Read more

Dividend growth is the key to retirement because it fends off the effects of inflation. Even amid low inflation of 2% to 3% a year, a stagnant dividend will actually lose 2% to 3% of purchasing power a year. The only way to actually grow your income over time, then, is to invest in companies whose management makes rising dividends a priority.

That’s one reason you should buy stocks before their dividend increases. And we’ll review nine upcoming payout raises in a moment.

But there’s a second reason that’s coming to the fore of late: interest rates.

While the Federal Reserve has tried to put the spurs to interest rates with five bumps to the Fed funds rate since December 2015, bond yields haven’t cooperated much.… Read more

Looking for dividend payers with the most price upside? They’re available, even in this pricey market. You just need to follow the free lunch signs…

Five months ago, I told readers to grab the “hurricane dip” in the best reinsurers. My Hidden Yields subscribers specifically were told to buy shares in Validus (VR) on September 15.

Why reinsurance? Why then? And why Validus?

Let’s answer these three questions, because they’re the reason Hidden Yielders woke up to 44% gains last Monday morning (and banked 51% total returns in 5 months).

This “Free Lunch” Was Cashed at Once (for 51% Gains)

(Then I’ll share my top 7 dividend growers with 51% upside by July 4th, too – for those of you who missed our reinsurance party.)… Read more

Most investors are familiar with stock splits, but the real money is made when dividends “split.”

I’m talking about secure triple-digit returns in just 5 years (or less). And you could wind up with two dividend streams instead of one!

I’ve seen this strategy pay off time and time again.

And there’s really only one step: buy a recently spun off dividend-growth stock (or hold on to the “new” company if one of your holdings splits up) and tuck it away. Then watch as one—or both—take off into the stratosphere, cranking up their payouts as they go.

In the next few paragraphs, I’ll show you 2 spinoff stocks that have done just that, handing shareholders a 123% average return since they broke off from their parent companies no more than 5 years ago.… Read more

I told you that the Infracap MLP ETF (AMZA) was a dog. Well, the fund just cut its dividend by 37%.

This is one of the biggest ETF payout cuts in recent memory, and it’s a gut punch to shareholders who rode out massive underperformance for the income tradeoff. That payout mattered. Just look at the difference between price returns and total returns in the chart below:

Just because a yield is wrapped in a fancy ETF wrapping doesn’t mean it’s safe.

This ETF dividend slash could be the first of several. So let’s talk about three ETFs – which pay between about 9% and 24% – whose dividends are far from secure.… Read more

The stock market is overdue for a correction (to say the least). And when the rising tide pulls back, certain dividend dogs will be exposed.

It’s all well and good to chase 5% and 6% dividends as “bond proxies” when the market continually grinds higher. It’s another story when stocks begin to wobble – and an entire year’s worth of yield is jeopardized in a down week!

Of course some dividend stocks will hold up just fine. But we’re going to pick on three that are likely to be exposed when the bullish music stops.

Gladstone Investment (GAIN)
Dividend Yield: 6.8%

Back in July, I highlighted Gladstone Investment Corporation (GAIN) as a business development company stud amidst a pair of BDC duds.… Read more

“First-level” investors – those who buy and sell on headlines – mistakenly believe that real estate investment trust (REIT) profits will suffer if rates rise.

Sure, in the short run, the “rates up, REITs down” theory puts on quite the show. When the 10-Year Treasury’s yield rises, REITs usually fall. And when its yield drops, REITs usually rally. This inverse relationship tends to hold up over multiple days, weeks and even months:

A Short-Run Seesaw Between REITs and T-Bill Yields

However the “long view” shows that many of these short-term moves are merely noise. It is possible for REITs and higher rates to coexist in profitable harmony:

But Long-Run REITs and High Rates Can Co-Exist

Investors who are bailing on REITs are missing out, because they are currently paying their highest yields this decade:

Highest REIT Yields Since the Financial Crisis

Most income hounds get it wrong.… Read more