17.1%.

If you only pay attention to only one number this earnings season, this should be it.

It’s the first-quarter profit gain the suits at FactSet have S&P 500 companies pegged for. And if that’s where the final number lands, it’ll be the biggest profit bonanza in 7 years!

Better yet, the S&P 500 trades at around 16.5 times its next 12 months of forecast earnings. That’s way down from 18.5 in January.

The upshot?

Ignore the terrifying headlines battling for your attention day in and day out. This market is ripe for buying. And dividend-growth stocks should top your list—as should the 7.4%-paying fund I’ll show you shortly.… Read more

When investors ask me why they should invest in closed-end funds (CEFs), I tell them three things:

First, CEFs pay an outsized income stream—7% yields are easy to get and easy to sustain with a CEF portfolio.

Second, CEFs often trade for less than their intrinsic worth. While ETFs trade at their net asset value (NAV, or the liquidation value of the assets in their portfolios), CEFs can trade for 10% less … or even more.

That can set you up for nice 20%+ upside on top of those 7%+ dividends.

And finally, if not most importantly, a bunch of CEFs have crushed the S&P 500 for years.… Read more

Want more yield and price upside in your portfolio? You can get both from bonds – if you think a little contrarian, of course.

Just avoid the four common mistakes most bond investors make, and you’ll probably do better than most stock jockeys!

“First-level” financial advisors tell you to sell some stocks and buy more bonds as you get older. Their reasoning is that you should be trading upside for yield and security as you go.

You could actually trade all of your stocks for bonds today and retire comfortably on as little as $500,000. If you buy the right bonds.… Read more

While most income investors are reaching for big yields right now, a small group of “hidden yield” stocks are quietly handing smart investors growing income streams plus annual returns of 12%, 27.1% and even 54% or more per year.

So if you want to double your money every few years – and double your income as well – then you need to focus on the seven stocks I’m about to share.

(All seven are about to hike their dividends. Yet the “forward-looking market” hasn’t yet priced in these payout raises. This is free money the market is giving us, thanks to the most “underrated” shareholder return vehicle.)… Read more

It’s everyone’s dream—a double-digit yield. And what’s dreamier than a 13.6% payout?

That’s exactly what the little-known, small fund I’m going to show you today promises.

And you should run away fast.

Before I explain why, let me tell you what this fund does and how it works.

I’m talking about the Stone Harbor Emerging Markets Income Fund (EDF), a tiny fund focusing on developing countries that has just $229.4 million in assets under management.

For the last 8 years, the fund’s managers have been doing their best to make it grow (and keep its juicy 13.6% payout coming) by choosing the best stocks, bonds, foreign currencies and other assets in emerging markets.… Read more

“First-level” investors – those who buy and sell on headlines – mistakenly believe that real estate investment trust (REIT) profits will suffer if rates continue to rise. They’re wrong. This is actually an ideal time to buy the strongest names in the sector.

Note that I said strongest. The sector’s popular proxy is something you should avoid, despite its popularity. I’ll call it out in a moment.

Overall, rising rates are actually good for the best REITs because it signals a rolling economy. These landlords have no problem raising their rents when their tenants are making money.

Unfortunately, the business world is increasingly becoming a neighborhood of “haves” and “have nots.”… Read more

Today, the 10-year Treasury pays just 2.7%. Put a million bucks in T-Bills, and you’re banking $27,000 per year. Barely above poverty levels!

Hence the appeal of closed-end funds (CEFs), which often pay 8% or better. That’s the difference between a paltry minimum-wage income of $27,000 on a million saved or a respectable $80,000 annually.

And if you’re smart about your CEF purchases, you can even buy them at discounts and snare some price upside to boot!

Unfortunately this rising-rate environment has income seekers scared of CEFs. Many of my readers have asked me if they should bail on our high paying vehicles.… Read more

It’s happening again: blood is in the streets.

And if you remember the timeless advice of Warren Buffett, you know what to do: be greedy.

Because this selloff shouldn’t be happening (I’ll show you why in just a couple paragraphs)—and as a result, there are plenty of extremely undervalued bargains just waiting to be snapped up.

Toward the end of this article, I’ll reveal 3 funds chock full of high-quality, oversold stocks and yielding up to 6.4%. But first, let’s look at what’s driving this income (and gain) opportunity. It comes down to a glaring (and very temporary) disconnect in the market.… Read more

Had enough market drama? If so, it’s time to trade in your overly-sensitive stocks for some domestic cash cows paying 5% or more.

I’ll show you how to find these secure yet somewhat-obscure payers in a minute. They are ideal income investments (especially today) because…

• Their monthly payments are comfortably powered by secure cash flows,
• They pay us more than Treasuries (5%+), and
• Their coupons reset higher as rates rise.

Facebook’s folly, the Fed’s latest murmurs and even trade tariffs are mere noise in this corner of the income universe. Cash is king in these parts, and these firms have plenty to cover your yield no matter what Zuck mumbles to Congress or how much China taxes pork.… Read more

The 10-Year Treasury yield is holding at 2.85%, but another run to 3% is coming soon. Let’s use this breather to sell our weakest dividends and replace them with stocks that should actually head higher as rates rise.

You know the playbook by now. When the 10-Year yield rallies, it crushes stocks with pathetic yields or meager dividend growth. These “bond proxies” get dumped for the real thing as first-level investors scamper to the 3% yields on “safe” US government debt.

If your portfolio relies on laggards like these—I’m talking about penny-a-year hikers like AT&T (T) and Walmart (WMT), or stocks that haven’t hiked their payouts in years, like Wynn Resorts (WYNN)—I have two words for you:

Sell now!… Read more