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I get lots of pushback when I post an article panning exchange-traded funds. ETF fanboys (and girls) base their love on two things: ETFs’ cheap management fees and convenience, because they let you jump into an entire sector in one click.

My response? Handle these so-called “set it and forget it” plays with a lot of caution—or risk a big dent in your savings.

Getting What You Pay For

Far too many ETFs (like the four I’ll reveal below) are cheap for a reason: lousy returns! Worse, some aren’t even cheap—like my “second-worst” pick below, which charges an outrageous 2.1% fee and has no one at the helm at all.… Read more

With the market on the rise from its Christmastime lows, it’s natural to wonder if you’ve missed out on the rebound.

Good news: you haven’t—and today I’m going to tell you why we’re still looking at a terrific buying opportunity, even though stocks have gained more than 5% since bottoming in late December:

The Recovery Is Here

The 5.3% jump since the start of 2019 isn’t the result of fundamentals (those haven’t changed), new news (there haven’t been any significant developments) or an end to political gridlock (the shutdown has remained in effect). Instead, it’s been a clearly psychological change: with the new year, the market has a new attitude.… Read more

The broader stock market averages digested recent gains this week, as trading activity was shortened by the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday on Monday.

Trade talks with China appear to have reached a stalemate, as U.S. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross said on Thursday that the two sides were “miles and miles” apart from settling trade issues. Back at home, the Federal government shutdown found a temporary solution on Friday. The deal re-opens government operations through Feb. 15, as Congress and the White House will continue to discuss border security.

Earnings Season in Full Force

Despite the holiday, it was a busy week for earnings.… Read more

Seven point six percent is the average dividend for my 20 favorite stocks and funds today. These payouts provide us with a secure “No Withdrawal” Retirement Portfolio. We never have to sell any shares thanks to our dividend-powered cash flow:

Of course, we prefer upside as well. Why settle for a mere dividend when we can add some price appreciation, too! It’s possible with these high payers, and we typically enjoy gains one (or more) of these ways:

1. Additional dividend growth powers our stocks higher. Other investors see their already-generous yields rising even higher and pay more for our shares.

Many investors hear the word “leverage” and immediately get nervous—but the truth is, borrowed cash is actually vital to big closed-end fund (CEF) returns.

I’ll show you why—and how a huge misunderstanding about leverage will lead to big gains for CEFs this year—in a moment.

Before we get to that, though, we need to understand why this one simple word sends investors into a cold sweat in the first place.

A 90-Year Old Tale

The cloud hanging over leverage stretches back to the crash of 1929, and tales of stockbrokers who borrowed too much cash before the collapse and then leaped out their office windows.… Read more

A crazy stock market is perfect for covered call writers. When volatility is high, so are option premiums, which means this popular income strategy should be a profitable one throughout 2019.

New to covered calls? Here’s how they work:

1. You buy at least 100 shares of a stock or fund. You now own these outright. (Why 100? Because one covered call contract covers 100 shares of underlying stock.)
2. You then sell (“write”) covered calls at a price around or above the stock’s current price for additional income. In doing so, you are agreeing to sell the stock at that price – the “strike” – in exchange for money today.

My friend is a young 41-year old millionaire. And the poor guy is basically broke!

Meanwhile there’s a conservative yet savvy grandma in the Midwest raking in more monthly income than my boy, on a modest $387,000 in savings.

What’s her secret? We’ll get to that in a minute. First, let’s lament my man’s millionaire curse.

His stash of cash does him no good, other than giving him something to worry about. His million-dollar problem? He doesn’t know how to turn his green pile into a steady, sustainable income stream.

And since he believes in efficient markets, he has no interest in exploring investments that could pay him 7% or 8% annually – providing him with $75,000+ in yearly income while leaving his capital intact (or better than intact) to boot.… Read more

It’s a retirement-killing mistake far too many fund investors make—and it’s so easy to spot that you’ll be kicking yourself if you fall into this trap!

So let’s expose this classic blunder right off the top: I’m talking about buying two deadly types of funds: leveraged and inverse exchange-traded funds (ETFs).

Blacklisted by the Big Fund Companies

In a nutshell, these funds promise outsized returns by borrowing money and investing that cash in a so-called winning strategy (leveraged ETFs) or by short selling a losing strategy and delivering the returns to shareholders (inverse ETFs).

Sounds logical, right?

Trouble is, both approaches fail miserably in the real world.… Read more

The Dow Jones Industrial Average emerged from correction territory this week, as investors applauded earnings in the financial sector. At the same time, markets chose to ignore the now record-long U.S. government shutdown and ongoing Brexit saga in the U.K.

Financials Start Earnings Season On Positive Note

Bank of America (BAC), Citigroup (C) and Goldman Sachs (GS) all traded higher this week, after posting solid quarterly results. The earnings news was not all rosy however, as Morgan Stanley (MS) fell short of expectations on Thursday. Outside of the financial sector, Ford Motor (F) also cut profit expectations this week.

As the following chart shows, quarterly reporting activity will continue to pick up next week and the floodgates really open in February.… Read more

Think you can’t retire on anything less than a million bucks?

Many people would answer that question with a “yes.” If you’re one of them, I have great news: the “million-dollar myth” is just that, a myth.

I’ll tell you why in a second. Then I’ll reveal 4 buys throwing off a safe cash dividend yielding 8.5%—letting you fund your golden years on a lot less.

(These 4 are the tip of the iceberg, by the way. At the very end of this article, I’ll give you 20 more retirement lifesavers paying gaudy 8% average dividends, as well!)

A Million-Dollar Retirement … on $470K!?… Read more