If you’ve been told it’s impossible to outperform low-cost index funds because the market’s too efficient, you’ve been lied to.

The truth is, there many funds out there that have been beating the broader stock market for years. And here’s something really surprising: there are more funds pulling off this feat now than there have been in a long time!

In fact, across ETFs, mutual funds, and closed-end funds (CEFs), there are 7,643 funds that have beaten the S&P 500’s 7.62% return over the past year.

So much for not beating the market!

Besides the fact that not choosing the low-fee passive fund will get you superior returns, you might be also be surprised by one other fact I just threw out there: a 7.62% return for stocks in general over the past year.… Read more

“Buy and hope” traders are, understandably, terrified today. Their portfolios are paying nearly nothing in dividends. Don’t you think fat 10% payouts would put them at ease a bit?

The unfortunate situation for our “B&H” friends is that they bought stocks without a plan to generate cash flow from them. They purchased their shares – probably after much of the decade-long run up – and now must hope that this old bull market is not aging in dog years!

A better idea? Demanding big dividends. After all, without cash flow, what is a stock really worth besides what someone will possibly pay us for it tomorrow?… Read more

Now that the election’s over, it’s time for us contrarians to get greedy!

And I’ve got just the thing: 3 hated buys we can use to rack up serious gains and dividends while the rest of the herd struggles to get its bearings.

Where do these 3 cash machines come from? The defense and infrastructure sectors.

Now you might see where I’m coming from on infrastructure. Probably the one thing Republicans and Democrats agree on is that our ramshackle roads, bridges and power plants need a lot of work.

More on this, including a rock-solid play for 6.5% dividends and “steady as she goes” upside, at the end of this article.… Read more

I’m sure you noticed that when America decided on a Republican-majority Senate and Democrat-majority House, the markets jumped.

The best news: it’s just the beginning of what’s likely to be a long-term uptrend in stocks. So if you sold during the recent market panic, you’re going to miss out on that upswing—that is, unless you buy now.

But what to buy? While the SPDR S&P 500 ETF (SPY) is already up 3.6% since the end of October, it still has gains ahead because of slower investors who haven’t come back into the market  after last month’s panic selling. If you buy now, you might beat a lot of them to the punch.… Read more

“Brett, I bought something for the girls. From Carter’s. Let me know when you get it.”

My mom thinks that postal delivery is a 50-50 proposition. She hedges her downside by purchasing 4X as many clothes as my young daughters actually need!

“Mom – thanks. Will do. And, you know, they’re probably good on dresses for now. They’ll be up another size in a few months.”

“Oh don’t you worry about that. I’ve got plenty of coupons,” she countered.

My folks live 2,562 miles from their granddaughters. And while long-distance grandparenting can be a challenge, the (increasingly online) experience provided by Carter’s (CRI) satisfies two of my mom’s favorite pastimes:

1. Spoiling grandkids, and
2. Shopping.

When investors look for dividends, they usually think about blue-chip names that are just as common on Main Street as they are on Wall Street. However, there are a large number of single-digit stocks flying under the market’s radar that also offer attractive yields.

Individual investors tend to gravitate toward stocks trading under $10 for multiple reasons. For one, it can psychologically feel more powerful to buy 100 shares of a company trading for $7 than just seven shares of a $100 name.

While both investments are just as likely to generate attractive returns over time, low-dollar stocks have historically proven to be more volatile.… Read more

Here’s something few people realize about closed-end funds (CEFs): sometimes, when it comes to these funds, matching the market means you’re actually beating the market.

Let me show you what I mean using the AGIC Equity and Convertible Income Fund (NIE), a CEF I recommended earlier this year. NIE has been meeting the S&P 500’s performance, though most people don’t know it.

And by meeting the S&P but giving investors a 7.5% dividend yield, it’s helped income investors actually beat the market if they’d chosen a “dumb” index fund like the SPDR S&P 500 ETF (SPY) instead.

First, let’s address the hidden returns.… Read more

Most investors buy stocks and hope they’ll go up in price. They do nothing in the interim to generate cash flow from those stocks while they sit in their portfolio.

Dividends are a good start. But did you know that it’s possible to accelerate many payouts by writing covered calls?

“Write” what?

I’ll explain. And I’ll also highlight some popular exchange-traded funds (ETFs) and closed-end funds (CEFs) that will help you generate 10% cash yields or better from this income strategy without actually handling an options contract yourself.

A call option is a contract that gives its buyer the right to purchase a stock from the seller for a certain price within a certain period of time.… Read more

It’s a pitfall that can slash your income and your nest egg overnight—and this hidden trap is particularly dangerous to your financial health right now.

I’m talking about a snap dividend cut, something poor folks still sitting on General Electric (GE) shares learned again last week, when the stock tanked 9% in a single day after GE slashed its quarterly payout 92%—to a token penny.

The sad part is, anyone could have seen this massacre coming for miles.

All you had to do was look at GE’s cash flow, which kept staggering after the company sideswiped investors with a 50% dividend cut a year ago.… Read more

If you’re still fearful about stocks as we pick up the pieces from the market’s grim October, let me ease your mind with one chart:

Stocks Still a Long-Term Winner

As you can see, that’s the market’s return over the last 10 years. As you can also see, stocks have returned nearly 2.5 times a person’s original investment in just a decade! Few other investments can make that claim.

The real problem? Income.

The average S&P 500 stock pays a lousy 1.9%, but let’s say you need 8% of your portfolio in monthly income to pay your bills in retirement. If you buy the popular SPDR S&P 500 ETF (SPY) and withdraw 8% monthly, you’ll be forced to sell in a falling market like the one we’ve seen.… Read more