Articles

Small-cap stocks haven’t been this cheap in decades. This valuation advantage gets interesting when we add big fat dividends and today, we’ll discuss five cheap small stocks yielding between 8.3% and 17.1%. (That’s no typo by the way—we only talk serious dividends here at Contrarian Outlook!)

The Apples, Google and Microsofts of the world are priced like luxury goods. Smaller stocks, meanwhile, have been left at the discount rack. Let’s shop:

• S&P 500: 21.2 times earnings (pricey!)
• S&P MidCap 400: 15.4 times (better…)
• S&P SmallCap 600: 14.7 times (bingo!)

The valuation spread between the S&P 500 and S&P 600 hasn’t been this wide since Bill Clinton was wondering whether dot-com was one word or two.… Read more

Here’s a surprise from a die-hard closed-end fund (CEF) fan like me: Sometimes CEFs aren’t your best bet.

I’ll admit, that’s tough for me to say—especially when the average CEF yields a historically high 9.1%. (CEF yields are usually around 8.5%). That high yield partly reflects the fact that many CEFs are trading at steep discounts to their net asset value (NAV).

Translation: The fund is trading for less than what its underlying portfolio is worth. That, in turn, has resulted in lower prices among some CEFs, along with higher yields (as yields and prices move in opposite directions).

All of this simply means that CEFs are generally out of favor right now, which is an opportunity for us.… Read more

Big companies are about to make even more money. They have discovered they no longer need armies of new hires to grow—extremely bullish news for shareholders because human employees are expensive.

Good ones can also be notoriously elusive. For example, I’m the longest-standing member of my kids’ school marketing committee, and we’re always scrambling for volunteers (what non-profit isn’t?).

Until now, that is.

Over the weekend, we welcomed the most talented marketer I’ve ever worked with to our team: ChatGPT 4.5. “GPT” graciously accepted our volunteer position, and we’re already actively boosting online referrals for the school. I’m learning cutting-edge “AI referral” techniques straight from the entity that invented them.… Read more

Gold prices have taken a breather—and we’re getting a rare opportunity to snag two shimmering dividend plays paying up to 8.3%.

Here’s why this setup is on the table: While recession worries are still valid, they’re overblown. Plus, the doomsayers are missing critical details set to kick gold higher. Let’s break all of this down, then get into the 8.3% (and growing) payouts the archaic metal is poised to deliver.

The “No-Landing” Economy: Alive, Well—and Bullish for Gold

Last fall, we talked about a “no-landing” economy in the US, where growth ticks along, but inflation sticks around, too. Fast-forward to today, and that’s pretty much how things have played out.… Read more

We’ve got a rare “delayed reaction” income play on our hands right now. Thanks to the April stock-market plunge, we can now pick up 12%+ dividends at attractive discounts. But I don’t expect this opportunity to last very long.

I know early April feels like a while ago, but it created our opportunity, and the chance to buy is still available today. It lies in closed-end funds (CEFs). (I’ll show you three that pay those outsized 12%+ yields in just a second.)

In a nutshell, these three funds trade at discounts to their portfolio values—known as “net asset value,” or NAV, in CEF-speak.… Read more

This latest US debt downgrade is a buying opportunity for us contrarians. I say that because we had the same (profitable) setup the last three times the ratings agencies took Uncle Sam’s credit rating down a peg.

You might find that last sentence surprising. Three times? Indeed, the US government has seen its debt downgraded on three different occasions: 2011, 2023 and most recently a couple of weeks ago.

You can be forgiven for not remembering all of these: In some cases (2023 comes to mind), they didn’t really make headlines. In others, they set up a small dip in stocks (and stock-focused closed-end funds yielding 8%+) that was well worth buying.… Read more

The “big, beautiful bill” has turned into a bitter pill for bonds. As you’ve undoubtedly heard, bond buyers aren’t exactly thrilled about lending more money to a $36 trillion debtor that’s digging itself deeper into a financial ditch.

Prior to the proposed “One Big Beautiful Bill Act” (OBBBA), the Congressional Budget Office (CBO)—famous for crunching numbers through rose-colored glasses—already projected a $1.9 trillion deficit for 2025. Now, the CBO estimates that the current House-passed version of OBBBA will add an extra $3.8 trillion to the national debt over the next decade.

This leaves Uncle Sam staring into a $40 trillion hole, deepening by roughly $2 trillion each year.… Read more

Plenty of investors miss out on the huge yields (often north of 8%) that closed-end funds (CEFs) offer. There’s one simple reason why: They get way too hung up on management fees.

We’re going to look at a few reasons why that is today—and one easy way you can make those fees disappear entirely.

But first, just how high are the fees we’re talking about? Well, the average fee for all CEFs tracked by my CEF Insider service is 2.95% of assets. In contrast, the largest ETF on the planet, the SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (SPY), has a fee of just 0.09%.… Read more

Wall Street analysts have “Buy” ratings on 388 stocks in the S&P 500. That’s over 76% of the index!

Thank you, suits, for the curation. No, seriously. We contrarians are going to comb through the Holds and, even, the lone Sell:

Analysts Rate Most Stocks as “Buys”

Source: S&P Global Market Intelligence

Analyst optimism is the norm. Analysts need access, companies provide them with access. One hand washes the other, thus it is rare to see unfavorable ratings on stocks.

The problem with a Buy rating is that there is nobody left to upgrade the stock. Every delta is a downgrade.… Read more

Let me start with a prediction: the S&P 500 will gain about 5% this year—not great, but not bad, either.

This isn’t really a Nostradamus-level call: I’m simply annualizing the gain the market has posted so far in 2025, as of this writing.

We can think of this year as the middle stage of the business cycle—where inflation is cooling, the labor market is softening, and consumer spending is starting to slow (emphasis on starting to).

In other words, it’s the perfect setup for us to make sure we’re well diversified by looking at assets beyond stocks. At the top of our list?… Read more