Articles

It’s a statement we hear from readers a lot: “I’m worried about another 2008.”

I get it. After all, we’re all 11 years older and have that much less time to recover from a crash. So today we’re going to cut through the noise and look at whether there really is something to worry about here.

We’ll do it by comparing, point for point, what’s happening now to the run-up to the 2008 crash. I think you’ll be surprised by the results.

Let’s dive in.

This Happened in 2006—and Again Last March

We started hearing about the inverted yield curve—when yields on short-term Treasuries move higher than those on longer-term ones—seven months ago.… Read more

Our healthcare landlord Omega Healthcare Investors (OHI) is officially back. This 6% dividend has upside once again. We are about to receive our first payout raise since early 2018, which ends our seven-quarter drought in which the big dividend was paid but not raised.

I say “drought” partially in jest because OHI yielded a fat 10% when it froze its payout. The stock slipped on the news, but we discussed that a freeze isn’t the same as a cut, and OHI’s payout was well covered by its funds from operations (FFO).

Congratulations to you calculated contrarians who stuck with the pick.… Read more

I know you’ve got cash lying around you’d love to double. Heck, even the most buttoned-down investor wouldn’t turn down a quick 2X gain.

So let’s go ahead and double your stake—and do it safely, too.

Before you ask, no, this isn’t some wild pot-stock speculation: my 2X money plan only works on companies paying—and growing—their dividends. Like the stock I’ll show you shortly, which ballooned its payout 50% in less than three years.

The 2X growth plan we’ll dive into shortly hinges on three strategies I rarely reveal in public (but they won’t come as a surprise to my Contrarian Income Report and Hidden Yields members).… Read more

When I show people how closed-end funds (CEFs) can hand them safe 7% yields and let them retire on much less than a million bucks, they often say one thing:

“Why the heck hasn’t my financial advisor told me any of this?” 

The reasons are both simple and surprising: 1) Many financial advisors don’t fully understand how CEFs work, and 2) Some CEFs involve a bit of research, so for a lot of advisors it’s easier to recommend low-cost index funds and call it a day.

Both of these (unacceptable) reasons are costing folks millions in profits!

So today we’re going to demystify CEFs by zeroing in on a fund that’s crushed the market for nearly two decades.… Read more

Income investors have been crushed this year. Bond yields are down and stocks pay less and less “dividend per dollar” with each rally. But there’s still one little-known corner of the investing world we can look to for safe yields up to 11.8%.

Business development companies (BDC) provide debt and equity financing for small and midsize businesses. Banks, in recent decades, have deemed these types of lenders “too risky.” So, BDCs put on their big boy risk-evaluating pants and began to provide some powerful payouts that are backed by the cash flows of the firms they lend to.

Double-digit yields are the norm, not the exception, in this extremely niche area of the market.… Read more

If you own closed-end funds (CEFs), I have great news: equity CEFs are doing exactly what we want them to: crushing the market while handing us 7%+ dividends.

(And if you’re not yet in CEFs, or want to bulk up your CEF holdings, sit tight: I’ll name a fund you can buy shortly. It has an extra kick in store, thanks to an over-torqued corporate failure: I’m looking at you, WeWork.)

First, here’s what stocks have done this year:

Stocks Soar …

And here’s what CEFs are up to (with the beige line at the top being the equity CEFs tracked by my CEF Insider service).… Read more

Investors have finally pitched a tent above the WeWork circus. Should we REIT (real estate investment trust) shareholders be concerned about a fallout?

The stock was touted in some circles as a potential savior for the office REIT market. As fewer and fewer employees work in traditional workspaces, co-working spots have popped up all over the place in recent years.

Your income strategist knows from experience. Back in 2012 I was a founding tenant for a new tech-focused co-working location here in town. I’m an introvert when I work and found it impossible to take a phone call with everyone yapping in the place.… Read more

I don’t know why you’d mess around with dividend reinvestment plans (DRIPs) when you can “automatically” bag a 7.6%+ income stream and 95% upside with the strategy I’ll show you now.

Better yet, this outsized cash flow drops into your account every month! It takes almost no work. (Just one small, but potent, step, which I’ll show you shortly.)

Before we get to that, let’s look at how easy it is to use this strategy to grab dividends 4X bigger than the sub-2% payouts most folks bring in today.

This simple setup seems a lot like a garden-variety DRIP, but it has one quick “hack” that amps up our dividend and sets us up for fast 95% upside, too.… Read more

If you’re stuck with measly dividends from stocks or Treasuries, closed-end funds (CEFs) are the answer.

After all, these funds yield an amazing 7%, on average, and they let you buy in at a discount (most CEFs trade for less than their net asset value, or NAV).

The One CEF Question I Get a Lot (and the Surprising Answer)

A reader or subscriber to my CEF Insider service will sometimes ask me: can I lose money with CEFs?

The technical answer is, yes, of course—as with any investment, you can lose money. Even when you put your money in the bank, there’s a risk of losing it if the bank goes under and the FDIC collapses.… Read more

You’ve probably heard by now that investing just got a little bit cheaper. Now cheaper isn’t necessarily better, especially for those of us hunting for safe, meaningful yields to fund our retirements.

We’ll get to our diversified 3-click, 7.4%-yielding portfolio (including a couple monthly payers) in a moment. But first, more on the no-commission craze.

Following in the footsteps of Robinhood, Interactive Brokers (IBKR) announced a “Lite” version of its platform with commission-free stocks and ETFs. Then Charles Schwab (SCHW) announced it would offer commission-free stock, ETF and options trading, with TD Ameritrade (AMTD) and E*Trade (ETFC) in tow.

Online brokerages have been pushing selects sets of commission-free ETFs for some time.… Read more