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I spend a lot of time parsing the latest economic data before recommending funds in our monthly CEF Insider service. And while the business press almost always leads with fear when it comes to the economy, the real numbers tell us something else entirely.

Case in point: The three little-discussed economic stats we’re going to dissect today. Taken together, they tell us that now is a great time to buy stocks.

But to make the most of the shifts they foretell in the economy, 8%+ yielding closed-end funds (CEFs) are a far better pickup.

Here are the three factors I’m talking about (in order of importance):

1. American incomes are still growing.

My six-year-old hooper was having an outstanding YMCA practice. She was leading the drills, encouraging her teammates and almost dribbling between her legs. So close.

And then, the very next minute, she was throwing a fit in the corner. Her tantrum would last the remainder of practice. She missed the end of the time-honored “kids versus coaches” game which the kids (as always) dominated.

One of the coaches (her father, and your income strategist) was not thrilled with her pouting but also not totally surprised. Parenting a soon-to-be-first grader is a rollercoaster. Best to enjoy the good moments and get through (or mentally block out!)… Read more

If you’ve been reading my columns for a while, you’re probably sick of hearing about the “Dividend Magnet.” (I’m starting to think I should put it on my license plate. Too bad the California DMV has a seven-character limit!)

Well, we got another quick Dividend Magnet win last week, when my latest pick for our Hidden Yields service, FedEx Corp. (FDX), shot up 17% five days (including a weekend) after our buy call.

An Immediate Dividend Magnet Win

To be honest, we Hidden Yield-ers are used to seeing gains on stocks that grow their dividends fast, like FDX, which hiked its payout 112% in the last five years.… Read more

There are three very clear signs the stock-market bull will keep stampeding. Let’s dive into them, then talk about two discounted funds set to ride those gains (and pay us rich dividends up to 11.4% in the process).

Bullish Signal #1: The US Worker is Strong

There’s a lot of pessimism about the US economy out there, even though it’s doing well. We’ve discussed why this is before—it’s ultimately due to the media getting more pessimistic—but this chart proves the point.

Since the Federal Reserve started tracking workers’ average weekly earnings in 2006, they’ve risen at a steady rate of about 2.6% annualized from then to 2020.… Read more

I love the economics of real estate. But a landlord I’m not. Please, change your own lightbulb—don’t call me.

Enter real estate investment trusts (REITs), which provide us with landlord-style income from the comfort of computers and smartphones.

Why are these “virtual fourplex” deals available in convenient ticker form? Thank Congress (no, seriously!) By law, the bulk of a REIT’s income has to be returned to us, the shareholders, in the form of dividends. Even an average REIT is going to pay more than most other sectors, and some REIT dividends can get downright enormous—like the 7.8% to 22.3% yielders I’ll discuss here in a moment.… Read more

As a contrarian dividend investor, I’ve always looked to buy when media-driven worries run directly counter to the data.

And these days, the media is more negative than it’s ever been, despite the data showing the economy is performing well. Today we’re going to exploit that divide and look at an overly discounted, 6.9% dividend that’s nicely positioned to profit from it.

Media and Experts Distort Their Real Views All the Time 

What I’m really talking about here is the so-called “vibecession,” we discussed a few months ago—the feeling that we’re in a recession even though the data says the economy is performing well.… Read more

If you don’t like these 8%, 9% and even 10%+ dividends, well, you’re not really an income investor.

That’s right. As I write, select closed-end funds (CEFs) yield 10.6%.

Ten. Point. Six. Per. Cent!

We contrarians are locking in yields up to nearly 11%. Here’s how, broken down in an 11-step playbook for these 8%, 9%, even 10.6% yields.

CEF Rule #1: Buy the Best 

Fixed-income behemoth DoubleLine runs some well-known big mutual funds and ETFs as well as smaller, lesser-known CEFs. There’s a raging dividend party in the ignored CEF corner of DoubleLine’s portfolio, with yields up to 10.6% via DoubleLine Income Solutions Fund (DSL).… Read more

Some of our favorite high-yield dividends just did something stunning: They sent their investors’ payouts soaring—in some cases by more than 30% overnight.

All of these high-paying dividend growers are municipal bond funds, a corner of the market many folks see as boring—if they know about it at all.

I don’t know what’s “boring” about a payout that leaps double-digits in one go—and hands us a 7%+ tax-free dividend, to boot!

That’s exactly what’s happened at a slew of “muni” focused closed-end funds (CEFs) in the last month or so. (Municipal bonds are issued by state and local governments to fund infrastructure projects).… Read more

Closed-end funds (CEFs) are my No. 1 income plays for a reason that goes beyond their huge dividends: We can tap these off-the-radar (for now!) funds for big price gains, too.

We do this in my CEF Insider service using a time-tested CEF tactic: Buy CEFs trading at discounts to net asset value (NAV, or the value of their portfolios), then sell them at par or, better yet, a premium.

This isn’t rocket science: We’re following the oldest investor play there is: Buy low and sell high! To do it, we’re letting the discount to NAV, a critical CEF metric, be our guide.… Read more

Who cares what financial “pundits” are yapping about? Show us the money. Show us what the insiders are scooping up!

I was going to say “cue the Drake meme.” Let me go ahead and tee that up.

Insider buying, generally speaking, is more predictive than insider selling. The C-level types may sell stock to buy new boats or bribe their kids’ way into college. (Ha!)

But when these guys and gals buy, it’s for one reason. They believe their stock’s price is undervalued, and that it’s due to pop.

Insider buying activity has been quiet of late. No surprise there: The market is setting new highs on the regular, and many execs are nervous about buying when their stocks are at or near all-time highs.… Read more