Articles

It probably won’t surprise you to hear that I’m hearing from a lot of investors who are concerned about protecting their portfolios, and their income streams, from the worrying times we’re facing today.

As the strategist of the CEF Insider high-yield investing service, I hear those worries, and I take them to heart with every CEF pick I make. And while talking portfolio strategy may seem a little inconsequential given the tragic events unfolding in the Ukraine, it’s vital that we do everything we can to look out for our families’ needs, especially now.

What’s more, by protecting and growing our income streams, as my colleague Brett Owens recently said, we can use our dividend dollars to help address some of today’s dire needs, whether it’s by donating to a charity helping the people of Ukraine or in the USA, by supporting family businesses that have been hit by the pandemic and, now, soaring prices.… Read more

Russia’s reckless (and, sadly, increasingly ruthless) invasion of Ukraine has put a spotlight squarely on the commodity markets. Many of them have already taken off to the moon. Crude oil, of course, was the first to hit orbit.

But there’s one hard asset that’s still flying under the radar—at least for now. And this commodity just so happens to be a source of aggressive dividend growth.

Oil, as mentioned, is most of the media’s attention. Not only has “black gold” set the investing world on fire, with the highest crude-oil prices seen in more than 13 years—but Americans are forced to watch that filter down into all-time-high gas prices.… Read more

It’s not a particularly great environment for investing lately, that’s for sure. The market is churning amid unrest in Ukraine. The rate of inflation is the highest since 1982. And the Fed has signaled an interest rate hike is all but certain.

But you may be surprised to learn there are plenty of dividend stocks that aren’t just surviving right now, but thriving. This elite group of “hidden gems” is enjoying rising share prices even as they offer up dividends twice as big as their peers.

These aren’t the usual suspects, of course. Because in 2022, the old rules of investing simply don’t apply.… Read more

Ignore the overtorqued headlines about inflation: even though prices are rising, they won’t take out the economy.

In fact, rising inflation is setting us up with a contrarian opportunity to grab double-digit dividends in a corner of the market everyone’s written off. That would be consumer-discretionary stocks, which you’d think would be the main victims of inflation, but that’s far from the case, for reasons we’ll get into shortly.

We’ll also delve into one smartly run consumer-focused closed-end fund (CEF) yielding an outsized 11% below. But first we have to talk strategy, because while there are opportunities for us, this twitchy market also includes some traps we need to watch for.… Read more

“Mom, please make sure you secure your mask first before assisting the kiddos.”

We receive this reminder every flight from at least one flight attendant. Mom receives the reminder while your income strategist sits across the aisle (a mile away as far as his parenting partner is concerned) in an uneventful seat dubbed Daddy Island.

This, of course, runs counter to Mom’s (and even Dad’s) instinct. If your kid is in trouble, your first, second and third reaction is to help your child first. The airline’s point is that we can best help our children by first securing our own oxygen.… Read more

When a market storm hits, we dividend investors can protect our wealth and grab steady payouts when we buy stocks backed by strong recurring revenue.

It’s one of the oldest business models there is! Here’s how it works: customers pay for the services these companies provide every month, year or whatever, which gives them predictable—and ideally growing—profits.

What’s more, these payments are “sticky”: once buyers start making them, they’re quickly “out of sight, out of mind,” automatically pulling from their bank accounts (or dropping onto their credit cards) on the regular.

(I’ll show you two such firms in a moment, one of which is converting its recurring revenue into a recurring payout that soared 88% in just two  years.… Read more

This market’s insistence on falling—even though earnings are soaring—has opened up a strong buying opportunity for us dividend investors.

And we’re going to tap it to grab a rare “double discount” on an 8%-yielding closed-end fund (CEF) that no one’s noticed. This income-and-growth machine has soared 260% since inception and has the potential to crush stocks this year, thanks to its undeserved markdown.

More on that below. First, let’s talk about this stock-market disconnect, because recent declines have yanked the S&P 500’s price-to-earnings ratio down to 23.8. That may not sound cheap, but it’s far below last year at this time, when valuations hit a nosebleed 43.7.… Read more

Over longer time periods, dividend stock prices tend to follow their dividends—for better or for worse.

Sometimes, the stock price gets there first. This can be a race to the sky, in the case of a rising dividend. Or a race to the basement, when a payout is about to be cut.

For example, we had been concerned about Kraft Heinz’s (KHC) dividend for years. Income investors “sniffed out” the inevitable payout cut before the lower quarterly dish became official:

Kraft’s Stock Price Tipped Off Its Dividend Cut

Investors waste no time ditching a troubled dividend when a firm has hacked its payout in the past.… Read more

These are trying times, so let’s talk about how we’re going to protect our retirement (and our families’ futures) as market volatility increases.

The Ukraine crisis is, of course, first and foremost a humanitarian tragedy the world is racing to respond to, as it should. It’s also being felt well beyond the borders of Russia and Ukraine, with rising energy prices fueling inflation fears, which are, in turn, causing panic in global markets.

High, Monthly CEF Dividends Help Stabilize Our Portfolios

At times like these, closed-end funds (CEFs) are a good investment choice because their high dividends help us meet our income needs while volatility increases: as I write this, our CEF Insider portfolio is delivering an 8% yield, on average, and we’re getting a predictable income stream, too, with 16 of our 21 holdings paying us monthly.… Read more

We’ll talk about protecting our retirement portfolios—and finding safe dividend stocks—in a moment. But first, let’s appreciate the Ukrainian woman who offered sunflower seeds to Russian soldiers in her neighborhood.

You’re occupants.
You’re fascists.
Take these seeds and put them in your pocket
So at least sunflowers will grow when you all lie down here.

She gave the soldiers a full minute of nonstop verbal barrage. You can watch it with captions here.

Warning, her language is not safe for work—which makes the interaction all the more special. (Hat tip to Ukraine’s Twitter feed for the post. Their government has put on a master class in social media marketing over the past week.)… Read more