2 “Fire Sale” Dividends Up to 10% to Buy Now (with upside)

Michael Foster, Investment Strategist
Updated: July 26, 2018

One of the most reliable income-producing sectors has been hit hard over the past year, handing you a terrific shot at outsized dividend yields running all the way up to 10%.

In a moment, I’ll show you two funds that let you grab these huge income streams at a big discount—and one that looks like a strong buy but is way overpriced and headed for a fall. You’ll want to keep that one as far away from your portfolio as possible.

The sector all three of these picks come from is utilities—one of only two sectors of the S&P 500 that’s down over the past year (the other being consumer staples), with a 2.6% overall decline.… Read more

A Crash-Proof Way to Bank $63,720 in the Next 12 Months

Brett Owens, Chief Investment Strategist
Updated: August 2, 2018

Market gyrations don’t matter when you can generate $63,720 over the next 12 months on a capital base as modest as $350,000. The secret? Monthly cash flow that adds up to 20% average annual returns regardless of what stocks do.

It’s an income investors’ dream – banking regular payments without having to worry about a pullback for the pricey (and increasingly wobbly) stock market.

“Buy and hope” investors are, understandably, terrified today. They’ve bought their shares – and now all they can do is hope the aging bull market keeps climbing higher.

We income investors prefer to calculate rather than gamble.… Read more

Your Passport to Underappreciated 7% Yields

Brett Owens, Chief Investment Strategist
Updated: July 25, 2018

Subscribers to my Contrarian Income Report have enjoyed safe yields of 7% or more over time – and enjoyed long-term price stability – thanks to two simple principles:

  1. Buy stocks and funds when they’re out of favor. That way, prices are lower and yields are higher when we make our purchase.
  2. Rely on dividends alone for income. That way, ups and downs in the stock price won’t cripple their usefulness to a retirement portfolio. In fact, we use them in our favor.

2018 hasn’t exactly been up to snuff. Most market experts expected the Trump tax cuts, breakneck economic growth and fat corporate earnings to shoot the market to the moon.… Read more

1 Click for a 6.9% Dividend and a Quick 8.2% Gain

Michael Foster, Investment Strategist
Updated: July 23, 2018

If you want high dividends right now (and who doesn’t?), but you don’t want to overpay, there’s one place you need to look: utilities.

There are three ways to tap into this sector, but only one hands you the most upside and fattest dividend yields from these unloved cash-spinning companies:

  1. Buy utility stocks individually
  2. Buy ETFs specializing in utilities
  3. Buy closed-end funds (CEFs) specializing in utilities

The third option is the best one. To understand why, we need to go back a few months.

Back on March 1, I recommended Reaves Utility Income (UTG), a utility CEF that yields 6.9% (spoiler: those big yields are common with CEFs and are a big reason why these funds are an awesome bet for income investors).… Read more

Revealed: A Massive 7.4% Dividend From … Bank Stocks!?

Brett Owens, Chief Investment Strategist
Updated: July 21, 2018

If you’ve held off on bank stocks for the last few months, I have good and bad news for you.

The good? You’ve still got time to get in before the banks take off on their next surge.

The bad? After the big profits this hated sector has posted in the last couple weeks, your window is closing fast!

So today we’re going to look at why 5 of the 6 biggest US banks look strong now … but being the dividend hounds we are, we’re not going to buy “regular” bank stocks, with their pathetic sub-2% dividend yields.

No way.… Read more

Dump These 2 Double-Digit Dividends in Danger

David Peltier, Senior Investment Analyst
Updated: July 20, 2018

One of the best characteristics about dividends is they usually offer a consistent, preferably growing stream of income. However, investors can easily fall into the trap of becoming complacent that future payments will continue to flow in, even when the business isn’t generating enough cash to fund the dividend.

The higher the yield being offered generally means the riskier the dividend is and sometimes losses can outweigh the expected income. For example, Dynagas LNG Partners (DLNG) cut its 16% yield back in April and shares are down 25% since.

With government bonds paying around 2% to 3%, dividends above 10% need to be scrutinized closely and I’ve identified two that are in danger of disappearing.… Read more

The Next Recession: When It Will Happen and How to Prepare

Michael Foster, Investment Strategist
Updated: July 19, 2018

I’ve been thinking a lot about recessions lately.

It’s pretty hard not to, because warnings about recessions are coming from financial pundits and big banks with increasing frequency. Most recently, an economist at Citigroup warned in a research note that a recession was likely to come in the next 18 months, because the US Treasury yield curve is flattening.

This person isn’t a lone wolf.

Many economists, including a lot of wonks at the Federal Reserve, are fiercely debating whether our flattening yield curve is a sign that a recession is around the corner. And the fear is intensifying, since the difference between the yield on the two-year and 10-year Treasuries is a meager 25 basis points, the narrowest in over a decade.… Read more

A Cheap Cash Cow with 51% Upside

Brett Owens, Chief Investment Strategist
Updated: July 18, 2018

The credit card business naturally lends itself to good investor returns over most time periods.  But we can bank 50% to 100% gains per year by purchasing when dividend growth is high but a stock is cheap due to headline worries.

And today, we have the perfect news story to set us up for 51% profits over the next twelve months. After a decade of runaway gains, there is actually but one cheap credit card stock to buy for income and upside. And it’s not one of these popular horses:

Plastic Always Pays (Investors): 223% to 770% Returns

The “Big 5” enjoyed total returns up to 770% over the last decade thanks to incredible dividend growth in recent years:

Nothing Plastic About These Payout Curves

Investors have caught on to the fact that Visa (V) and Mastercard (MA) – which returned 770% and 758% over the last decade, and increased their dividends more than ten-fold – are excellent businesses.… Read more

1 Click to Boost Your Dividend Income 59%

Brett Owens, Chief Investment Strategist
Updated: July 17, 2018

It’s a question I get from investors all the time: “Should I take my dividends in cash or reinvest them through a dividend reinvestment plan (DRIP)?”

My answer: unless you want your cash sitting in your account earning zero, your best bet is to reinvest any dividend money you don’t need to pay your bills.

But we don’t want to practice “buy and hope” investing, either, whether we do it through obsolete DRIPs or the old-fashioned way.

When I say “buy and hope,” I mean putting your cash into household names like the so-called Dividend Aristocrats and “hoping” for higher stock prices when you cash out in retirement.… Read more

3 Ways to Cash in on Trump’s Trade Wars (and grab dividends up to 10%)

Michael Foster, Investment Strategist
Updated: July 16, 2018

With the recent market downturn, you might be worried that stocks are headed for trouble. Don’t be.

Because there’s one really good reason to be greedy now that the market has become fearful again, and it can be summed up in two words: earnings season, which “officially” kicks off when Alcoa (AA) reports its results on July 18.

So far, 2018 has been one of the best years for company earnings in history—and that trend is set to continue.

First, let me tell you why. Then I’ll give you 3 funds you can buy today to lock in the gains that this temporarily depressed market is set to hand us.… Read more