Articles

Bonds (and bond proxies) are hated right now. That’s our shot at big dividends—because mainstream investors’ thinking here is totally backward.

We’re going to pounce, and use this opportunity to grab ourselves a huge 7.6% payout sporting an unusual “discount in disguise.”

Tariffs: Don’t Believe the Hype

The reason for this opportunity comes back to tariffs—which I admit, dear reader, I’ve heard so much about that I’m starting to dream about them at night!

The badly flawed logic most people are applying to tariffs is this: Tariffs will drive up prices, adding to an inflation rate that, according to last week’s CPI report, hit 3% year over year, up from 2.9% the month before and a mere 2.4% in October (and was ahead of expectations, to boot).… Read more

If you’re like most income investors, you’re on the hunt for stocks and funds that can stand up to a storm these days.

So that’s what I’m going to give you below—in the form of three “all-weather” closed-end funds (CEFs) kicking out an outsized 6.8% average yield.

They’ve stood firm through every headwind imaginable—wars, pandemics, inflation, you name it—and have done nothing but profit over the long haul. Through all that, this trio has kicked out annualized total returns (with dividends reinvested) of 15%+ each.

“Shock-Proofing” Your Portfolio, Crushing ETFs

These funds’ stellar returns come from both the sector they focus on—tech—and smart management that’s kept all three going strong.… Read more

President Trump has been talking about tariffs since 1989, when he advocated for a 15% to 20% tax on imports from Japan because of unfair trade practices. This is how he describes Canada, China, Mexico and Europe today.

Trump has already imposed a 10% levy on Chinese imports. Meanwhile, Mexico and Canada have secured a 30-day reprieve from planned 25% tariffs, contingent upon their commitments to bolster border security and curb the flow of illicit drugs into the United States.

More tariffs are coming. Trump says he is willing to take the short-term pain for potential benefits.

We contrarians don’t have to grit our teeth and suffer with stocks that are suddenly tariff losers.… Read more

No two ways about it: This stock market is getting twitchy, and it’s (frankly beyond) time for all investors to take it seriously.

Trade wars. The possibility of spiking inflation. The Fed’s “will they or won’t they” act around rate cuts. And then there’s the ongoing doubt about whether AI will deliver on its big profit promises.

Our 3-Step Volatility Plan: Boost Income, Cut Taxes—and Go Beyond Stocks

We’re all feeling it: The market heads higher, and every day it does, the voice in our head telling us that a fall is around the corner grows just a little bit louder.… Read more

Have you refinanced your house recently?

Me neither. Somehow, for our house it’s already four years ago, though I can remember the transaction like it was yesterday.

Full credit for the smart financial move to my wife, who asked about refi timing over (and over) and fortunately got it through my thick head before interest rates really started to rise. Fed Chair Jay Powell was running the printing presses like crazy and long rates (mortgage included) would eventually lift from basement levels.

When refi activity slows, it is bullish for elite 8.5%-yielding Rithm Capital (RITM). RITM, our old Contrarian Income Report friend, smartly purchased a stockpile of mortgage service rights (MSRs), which gain in value as rates grind sideways or up.… Read more

Contrarians that we are, we know when we hear things that sound like “common wisdom,” we need to look just a little bit deeper.

Today, that’s what we’re going to do, with a common refrain we’re hearing a lot—that tariffs will lead to a spike in interest rates.

Then we’ll look at a bond play that’s set to benefit from this misunderstood mantra. This smartly run fund pays a dividend that yields 10.4% and comes our way monthly, too.

Tariffs Here, Tariffs There …

To be sure, tariffs have arrived. President Trump has imposed a 10% levy on all products China exports to the US (and 15% on liquefied natural gas and certain types of coal), effective last Tuesday.… Read more

We’ve got three big trends—two that investors know about and one many don’t—setting us up to grab double-digit dividends in real estate investment trusts (REITs).

Now is the time to make our move. Let’s get under the hood of this opportunity and stake out a simple strategy.

Start With the Obvious

REITs have lagged since the COVID-19 pandemic, with the benchmark SPDR Dow Jones REIT ETF (RWR) returning around 17% since the start of 2020, as of this writing.

This shakes out to a 3.3% annualized return over half a decade, well off RWR’s 8.6% average yearly return since its 2001 IPO.… Read more

Worried about the next round of tariffs? Tech disruption from DeepSeek? The geopolitical landscape?

All of the above?

Fret not my contrarian friend—here are seven wonderfully-sleepy dividend stocks. They yield between 5% and 14.1% and we are discussing them today because all seven boast low betas.

This means these shares move less than the overall market. An admirable quality when it comes to a dividend stock because we’re not here for the price drama, we’re here for the payout.

Beta represents an investment’s volatility against a benchmark. Stock beta is typically benchmarked against the S&P 500, aka “the market.” Beta is based around the number 1, so a stock with a beta equal to 1 moves with the market.… Read more

Trade tensions ratcheted up to 11 this week, and I know that for many readers the wild swings we’re seeing can feel sickening.

To you, I say that times like these are exactly why we hold the closed-end funds (CEFs) in our CEF Insider portfolio. Their high, steady dividends (more than 10% on average across the portfolio) let us collect our income while stocks regain their footing.

We also avoid the trap of panic selling, then seeing the story whipsaw the other way, locking in our losses (which would’ve happened if you’d hit the sell button first thing Monday morning).… Read more

Many of you have written in asking about DeepSeek’s latest release and its potential effects on our income portfolio and strategies. Let’s discuss the latest in AI because, yes, there are ripples into Dividendland that are not fully appreciated by mainstream investors.

(And tariff questions, we’ll get to you in the coming weeks!)

First the DeepSeek disruption in AI, and let’s take vanilla dividend darling Nasdaq 100 Covered Call ETF (QYLD), which yields 12.2% as our example. Is that big divvie still safe and secure? Income seekers are constantly staring at the fund, writing in to ask me if they have permission to:

1. Buy QYLD.