Articles

Investors did not like what Chairman Powell and the Fed had to say this week, resulting in a 1,300-point decline in the Dow Jones Industrial Average in less than 24 hours.

When Doves Cry

As expected, the FOMC raised its short-term interest rate target on Wednesday, to a range of 2.25%-2.50%. The composite expectation of the committee for 2019 also turned more dovish, now calling for two more rate increases next year, down from three.

It’s not in the Fed’s mandate to make equity investors happy and traders quickly voiced their disapproval of the policy changes.

Prior to the announcement at 2 p.m.… Read more

You can double your money in perfectly safe, well-known dividend stocks. But only if you know the secret! Novice income investors gravitate toward higher current yields, but often that can result in hitching your sleigh to stagnant stocks with equally stagnant dividends.

For monster total returns, we want to pay attention to dividend increases. Because these hikes don’t just bump up the yield on your initial investment – they also trigger stock-price increases, too. If a stock is already paying out 3% but then juices its payout by 10%, investors will see that new 3.3% yield and buy more shares. That buying will drive the stock’s price up, and the yield back down, eventually toward 3%.… Read more

On January 1, 2018, I made my boldest prediction of the year: bitcoin was going to crash. Here’s what happened since:

Crytocurrencies Are Dying

There are lots of reasons why bitcoin has cost investors a lot of money: it’s inefficient; it’s not private; and glitches and hacking cause people to lose bitcoins. But the main reason is this: the dumb money followed the smart money—and ended up holding the bag.

I’ve seen this story play out many times, which is why I urge you to be contrarian and avoid the traps market manipulators set up, whether it was dot-com stocks in the late ’90s, housing in the mid-2000s or fantasy Internet money in the 2010s.… Read more

Moe Ansari, host of the popular Market Wrap radio show and podcast, recently asked me on air:

“Brett, how do you find dividend paying stocks that will double your money?”

He was intrigued enough by my analysis to ask me on his show, but I knew he was a bit skeptical as well. And that’s perfectly normal – even experienced investors and money managers like Moe think of dividend payers in terms of their current yields only.

Price appreciation potential often gets ignored, and the thought of achieving 100%+ profits from a safe dividend payer sounds absurd. But smart investors bank their payouts while their stocks double in price – whether it’s a bull, bear or sideways market.… Read more

I’ve zeroed in on five real estate investment trusts (REITs) set to hand you three critical things in 2019:

• High, safe payouts whose yields crush the typical S&P 500 dividend.

• Booming dividend growth: These five have already boosted their payouts an amazing 38%, on average, in the last five years—and they’re just getting started!

• Double-digit upside as an overlooked market shift kicks in, sending investors scrambling into these ironclad income plays.

Why am I so confident?

Because a long-running (and needless) worry that’s shackled REITs through 2018 has just been cast aside—but most folks are only starting to sense this big shift.… Read more

Today I’m going to show you why this market isn’t as spooked as you might think. Then I’m going to reveal the 1 sector (and 1 fund boasting an incredible 8.7% dividend yield) that’s a screaming bargain now.

Let’s start with the state of play as I write this.

Here’s a question: of the 11 sectors that make up the S&P 500, how many do you think are negative for 2018?

If you said more than 5, the pessimism of the financial press has tainted your worldview. Take a look at this table:

5 in the Red, 5 in the Green

A close look at the 11 sectors of the S&P 500 is crucial, because we quickly see that 5 sectors are green, 5 are down and 1 is flat for 2018.… Read more

The U.S. and China appear to be playing the long game with their trade talks, so investors shifted their focus more to Europe this week. The prospect of a Brexit vote fizzled out on Monday, and some selling pressure was relieved from stocks back here in the U.S.

Theresa May kicked the can down the road, so to speak, delaying a UK Parliament vote on finalizing the Brexit process, as reports suggested the measure would fail. May’s position as Prime Minister was then challenged by her own party with a confidence vote on Wednesday, which she survived.

On Thursday, Mario Draghi and the ECB announced the end of their quantitative easing (QE) strategy at the end of the year.… Read more

Today we’re going to discuss six “retirement maker” funds that pay dividends up to 10.8% annually. You will not find these types of yields in mainstream financial publications. Here’s why.

It’s important for you to fade Wall Street’s advertising machine and buy value, not hype – especially when it comes to dividend payers. Stick with excellent yet off-the-beaten-trail CEFs (closed-end funds) and ignore the marketing machines promoting their latest overrated ETFs (exchange traded funds).

Please, Whatever You Do, Don’t Buy Bond ETFs

Be careful how you buy your bonds. The most popular tickers have a few fatal flaws that’ll doom you to underperformance at best, or leave you hanging in the event of a market meltdown at worst!… Read more

Remember two months ago? The S&P 500 was hitting record highs daily—and stocks were looking at a hefty 9% gain on the year.

It feels like a dream! Because here’s where we are today:

Poof!

Now we find ourselves down 10% from those highs and staring down the real possibility of a negative year for stocks.

We’ve Been Here Before

If this has left you feeling a little shaken, you’re far from alone.

My take? Tough as it is, resist the gut-driven urge to sell, because this is a buying opportunity. (I’ve got 2 dirt-cheap funds throwing off 7%+ dividends that are perfect buys for the coming rebound.… Read more

Most dividend investors understandably love the idea of an 8% No Withdrawal Portfolio. It’s a simple yet “game changing” idea that you don’t hear much from mainstream pundits and advisors.

Find stocks that pay 7%, 8% or more and you can retire comfortably, living off dividend checks while your initial capital stays intact (or even appreciates).

Now this strategy is a bit more complicated than simply finding 8% yields and buying them. Granted the recent stock market pullback has benefited investors like us because we can snag more dividends for our dollar. Yields are higher overall, and that’s a good thing.… Read more