Right now, thousands of Americans are making a mistake that threatens to lock in the losses they’ve suffered in this downturn.

Worse, these folks will be stuck on the sidelines in the rebound, watching helplessly as other stocks soar and their holdings stagnate, or even drop further.

I’m talking about people who hold master limited partnerships (MLPs) and buy into the myth that these companies—owners of oil and gas pipelines and storage facilities—are simply “toll bridges,” making them a relatively safe play on energy.

Worse, many of these folks think MLPs can benefit from the huge glut of oil and gas building up around the globe.… Read more

A friend of 30+ years gave me a ring last Friday afternoon to check in on the family. Unfortunately for him, I popped back with a little more “real life” than he was ready for!

Other than catching up, he shared that his 401(k) plan was now liquid, thanks to his company being acquired. Having a cash portfolio at times like these is a fantasy that few investors actually experience.

“I’ll share what I wrote to my CIR subscribers today. For long-term positions, don’t be afraid to have up to half of your portfolio in cash right now. I think we’re going to see nice buying opportunities in the months ahead.”… Read more

I know it’s hard not to worry about your portfolio, and income stream, these days, but we will make our way through this crisis. When we do, your holdings will bounce back—and likely faster than the market if you hold strong dividend stocks.

And, when the time is right, I expect we’ll get a chance to snap up some huge dividends for dimes on the dollar. I’ll keep you posted on when we’ll move—and what to buy—in my Contrarian Income Report service.

(These are the types of dividend bargains that are only available once a decade. I’m talking about the post-crash worlds of 1987, 2002, 2009 and, coming soon, late 2020.)… Read more

Has the market bottomed, or are we headed for another leg down before we can start to even think about any upside? It’s a debate that will be with us for a while yet.

But maybe not in every corner of the market. Because there’s a funny thing happening with closed-end funds (CEFs): for some of these high-yield investments, the recovery has already come.

Let me explain.

In a selloff, a CEF can get hit in a couple ways, namely from the market and from investors. In the case of regular stocks, these are the same. But for CEFs, there’s a key difference: while CEFs trade on the open market, like stocks, they have a fixed number of shares (hence the name“closed-end funds”).… Read more

Successful dividend investing can actually be pretty simple. Don’t trade for years, perhaps for a full decade, and then buy super high-quality dividend stocks at bargain basement prices.

One set of trades every decade. Not bad.

It’s the way of the world. There’s always something brewing. From the “original crash” of modern times, 1987, to the tech bubble bursting in 2000 or the financial world nearly collapsing in 2008.

Now, it’s 2020, and the world is again ending. We’ll make it to the other side, of course, but between here and there we are going to have a fantastic opportunity to buy blue-chip dividends.… Read more

These days, we’re hearing a lot of pundits pontificating about which way the markets will go. But let me suggest something none of them are talking about:

What if stocks trade more or less flat for the next while?

It’s a contrarian call, to be sure, but there’s reason to think markets may be, well, kind of quiet in the coming days or weeks. And there’s a way we can squeeze a big 9.2% income stream out of just that kind of market.

The Flat-Market Theory

I know what you’re thinking: how on earth could stocks just hold their breath while America is on lockdown, possibly for a long time to come?… Read more

I hope you are taking care of yourself, and your family. This is a good time to hunker down, both in life and in our investing strategy. Brighter days are ahead—let’s make sure we get there with ourselves and our portfolios relatively intact.

On the other side of this pandemic and shutdown, we may eventually be presented with a “March 2009” type of buying opportunity. Big yields for dimes on the dollar. When the time is right, we’ll load up our income portfolios with these bargains and resume our usual light banter in this weekly missive.

Unfortunately, I don’t think we’re on the other side of this just yet.… Read more

In recent weeks, we’ve discussed proven strategies for protecting and growing our nest egg (and dividends) in this crisis. These are the times when fortunes are made and big income streams are built. However, we must be extra careful about our purchases, with plenty of “payout landmines” suddenly spread around the market.

In last Tuesday’s article, for example, we covered the most powerful indicator of dividend safety: the payout ratio, specifically dividends as a percentage of free cash flow (FCF). Unlike net income, which can be manipulated, FCF is the clearest picture of the cash a firm is generating.

That makes the FCF payout ratio the perfect one-step test to run on your holdings.… Read more

There’s no doubt portfolios everywhere are whipsawing due to the selloff.

But I’ve got good news for you: going by the historical record, this pullback will likely be shorter than most people think, and if you buy now—particularly if you target a select group of high-yield stocks and closed-end funds (CEFs)—you’ll outperform your fearful friends when the bounce-back comes.

Meantime, you’ll open up a nice new income stream to meet your cash-flow needs today. It literally is the best of both worlds!

Let’s dive into what the facts say about this bear market’s duration. Then I’ll name two funds worthy of your attention now.… Read more

These 39 stocks are supposed to hike their dividends soon. How many of these raises are still going to happen?

The first-quarter earnings season is approaching, and that typically means a weekly flow of companies announcing upgrades to their regular payouts. Indeed, I’m about to show you 39 stocks, yielding up to 47.9%, that are on the schedule and expected to deliver dividend raises over the next couple of months.

However the sudden bear market has thrown a gigantic monkey wrench into this quarter’s dividend routine. Dividends are dropping like flies.

• Ford (F), which I warned about, has suspended its dividend.