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Today we’re in a situation that looks a lot like 2016. And back then, some savvy contrarians tapped it to grab quick 62%+ returns. The same setup is back again—and so is our chance for more upside, plus yields north of 10%.

There are two closed-end funds (CEFs) poised to deliver those high yields (and overall returns); we’ll compare two popular options in a moment. First, let’s delve into the state of the corporate-bond market, because there are a lot of misconceptions floating around right now.

“Junk” Bonds Not as Risky as They Seem

You might know high-yield bonds by their nickname: junk bonds.… Read more

The stock market keeps falling and falling because, for the first time in 14 years, there’s nobody to catch it.

The “Fed put” has expired.

The genesis of the Federal Reserve’s implicit put—the notion that the Fed will fix any decline—was the 2008 Financial Crisis. With the financial system on the ropes, the stock market itself became “too big to fail” as far as the Fed was concerned. Then-Chairman Ben Bernanke printed a bunch of money, boosted the market and became a Wall Street (bank, at least) hero.

Since then, the Fed has cradled the stock market. Anytime the S&P 500 hiccups or corrects, the central bank steps in to print money.… Read more

Today we’re going to “onshore” ourselves 2 unsung dividend payers that are pumping out cash: one has seen its cash flow surge 367% in just the last three years—feeding a quick “dividend double” for its shareholders.

Both of these payouts have plenty of room to grow from here, thanks to today’s biggest—and least discussed—megatrend.

I’ll share the tickers on these two stealth dividend plays in a second.

As for the megatrend, the hint was in the first line: most people haven’t noticed, but American multinationals are “onshoring”—or bringing manufacturing back to the USA—in droves. This shift will only accelerate in the years ahead, and will make folks who buy the right stocks now some very big profits (and dividends!)… Read more

Municipal bonds are too often ignored by investors. Which is a huge missed dividend opportunity.

It’s too bad, because billionaires have been using “munis” to anchor their portfolios for years. And with good reason: as we’ll see in a second, munis can perform well when rates rise. They also pay a high “hidden” yield that beats anything you’d get on a Treasury—and most stocks.

“Munis” Offer Safe, High—and Tax-Free—Yields

I say munis’ yields are “hidden” because they’re tax-free. If you’re in a high tax bracket, I probably don’t have to tell you how valuable a tax-free yield is, but the numbers here are very compelling.… Read more

“Hey Brett, how’s business?”

“Awful,” I admitted. “But we’re a startup. If we can improve from awful to simply bad, it will be a big milestone for us.”

That was one economic meltdown ago, back in 2008. I had just left my “day job” to start my first company. On cue, the Great Recession descended upon us.

But the gloomy economic backdrop didn’t matter. Actually, it was a blessing. A recession is actually the best time to start companies and grow them.

As a startup with no money, we were able to cobble our limited resources together to get the company off the ground.… Read more

Wall Street has been giving investors whiplash lately, as the big rebound from July evaporated in August. And as we look to close out the year, more volatility is sure to follow.

Most financial news channels blame the choppy environment on rising interest rates, rampant inflation or other macroeconomic boogeymen. But that’s just because the media needs to keep you clicking on headlines if they want to get paid! The real reason for recent volatility is much simpler.

It’s not really troublesome data points driving the market, but rather troublesome bouts of “first order” thinking.

Spend time around toddlers or pets and you’ll see the perils of first order thinking on display.… Read more

Some major—and almost totally ignored—news from Washington, D.C., is about to upend the biotech world, turning America into “the world’s pharmacy” in short order—and giving us a chance to buy a solid 6.8% dividend for just 91 cents on the dollar.

That might sound hard to believe for woebegone biotechs, which have fallen further than the S&P 500 this year, going by the performance of the benchmark iShares Biotechnology ETF (IBB). That’s despite the sector’s importance during the pandemic—and despite the fact that some 10,000 Americans turn 65 every day, sharply increasing demand for pharmaceuticals as the senior cohort grows.

Biotech Catches a Cold

The problem is that despite these tailwinds, biotech is weighed down by the same problems that are dragging on the rest of the economy: lower R&D funding as interest rates rise, and supply-chain issues that are hurting productivity.… Read more

Why chase the market when we can let 15% per year—every year—come to us?

This is the perfect time to buy what I call “hidden yield” investments. These are stocks that dish out dividends today. But, more notably, they have an important catalyst coming in the year ahead that will help boost their stock prices.

This trigger is so powerful that it sends these stocks sailing by 15% or more per year, every year. Which is truly great when other equities and even bonds are getting buried around us.

We’ll talk about these stocks and their “dividend spark” in a moment.… Read more

“Deglobalization” is the dividend trade of the 2020s. And we’re going to tap it for safe dividend growers with real assets and real cash flow.

I’ll drop two tickers in a second.

Signs that our interconnected world is coming unglued are everywhere. Supply chains are still a mess. Europe is getting set to ban (or slap a price cap on) Russian oil. Speaking of Putin, his immoral invasion of Ukraine is, er, not going well. He’s even going cap in hand to North Korea for spare parts for his ramshackle military!

Meanwhile, Chinese President Xi gazes across the Taiwan Strait, while shuttering his own economy (and vital trading ports) in pursuit of his insane zero-COVID policy.… Read more

Most folks don’t know it, but real estate has clobbered stocks in the long run, and it’s poised to pull off a win again in 2023.

And we dividend investors are nicely lined up to cash in, thanks to a fund throwing off a blockbuster 9.9% yield that’s the perfect play here. I’ll drop the name and ticker in a sec.

First, you read that right: real estate does outperform stocks over the long haul—and by no small amount, either! It’s clear as can be in this comparison between the SPDR Dow Jones REIT ETF (RWR), the index fund for publicly traded real estate investment trusts (REITs), and the S&P 500 over the last 20 years.… Read more