It’s all but official: the Federal Reserve will hike rates three times this year, and almost certainly four. If you want to protect your portfolio (and profit), now is the time to prepare.

I told you what’s driving this inflation surge—and how long it may last—in my article last Thursday.

Today we’re going to look at 2 high-yielding closed-end funds (with a massive 7.9% average income stream between them). But before we get to that, let’s kick in the doors on the most foolish myth in investing.

The Backward Fear That Handcuffs Investors

I’m talking about the ridiculous belief that higher interest rates are bad for stocks and corporate bonds.… Read more

Most of your friends are going to struggle to make any money in U.S. stocks for the next five to seven years. They’re battling not one, not two, but three major headwinds:

1. Low yields,
2. High valuations, and
3. Rising interest rates.

Historically, half of the stock market’s returns (or more, depending on the study you believe) have come from dividends. With the S&P 500 paying just 1.8%, the math isn’t promising.

An expensive market is also problematic because it makes rising multiples unlikely. The S&P index trades for 25-times earnings today – where can it really go from here but down?

Finally, rising interest rates are a concern for many income investors.… Read more

If you’re worried inflation will sideswipe your portfolio, well, you have good reason to be.

Because make no mistake, rising prices will be the story of 2018. And if you want to protect your portfolio, you need to act now. I’ll show you how a little further on.

First, let’s go toe to toe with the inflation boogeyman, and see what kind of punch we can expect him to pack this year.

A Growing Threat

Starting late last year, the consumer price index (CPI) jumped, and the increase is accelerating as we start 2018.

Prices Heat Up

Of course, that’s probably not news to you; it’s been covered daily in the media.… Read more

Let’s assume that higher long-term rates (3%+) are here to stay. Can REITs (real estate investment trusts) and high rates co-exist? Or must there be just one winner in this suddenly one-sided tug of war?

After all, as the 10-year Treasury’s yield has rallied, REITs have suspiciously suffered:

REITs and Rates: Oil and Water?

And the headline arguments against REITs during rising rate periods seem to make sense:

• REITs need cheap money to grow, and
• When risk-free assets pay more, income investors will buy them instead of REITs.

These knocks may apply to low-yielding shares, especially static payers, but they historically haven’t applied to firms (REIT or otherwise) that have been able to grow their payouts meaningfully as rates have risen.… Read more

If you’re like most dividend investors, you’re probably keeping a nervous eye on bond yields right now.

And, well, you should be—but only if you own low-yielding (or slow-growing) Dividend Aristocrats like, say, PepsiCo (PEP).

But if you buy (or already own) the 5 “undercover” high yielders I’ll show you at the end of this article, I have great news for you. You can ignore inflation, bond yields and the Fed and simply keep on collecting your fat dividend checks.

In fact, this overdone selloff has given us an open window to buy more!

Bond Yields: 1, PepsiCo: 0

Before we get to that, back to PepsiCo.… Read more

There’s one question I’ve been getting from a lot of folks lately. You may have wondered about it yourself.

It’s simply this: “Is the stock market even safe anymore?” Or another, less anxious, variation: “How can I bank fast returns while slashing my risk?”

I have great news. As I wrote back on February 8, this selloff was way overdone, and now is the time to be buying—not selling!

Better still, there’s a class of totally ignored funds that fits the bill, and many of them are screaming bargains now. That puts us in line for a big, quick price pop while they pay us up front with a massive income stream.… Read more

The market just dropped the big, ugly “C” word on us. “Correction,” that is. The old stalwart Dow Jones Industrial Average recently broke into correction territory, dipping just over 10% in two weeks before clawing a little bit of it back. Along the way, the VIX – you know, the “fear index” – spiked to its highest levels since the 2007-09 bear market.

But while many investors might see this sudden burst of volatility as a reason to run or duck for cover, I see it as a chance to go hunting in high-yield dividend stocks.

They call it a “correction” for a reason: It’s because something was broken, and a price decline fixes it.… Read more

Dividend Aristocrats – those companies that have improved their payouts annually for 50 years or more – have a mixed reputation. Sure, they’re great for dividend growth, but the likes of Coca-Cola (KO) and Procter & Gamble (PG) give off the impression that price returns can be difficult to come by.

But dividend growth and actual performance don’t have to be an either/or proposition. Today, I want to show you five dividend growth stocks that will prove just that.

Why would any investor think poorly of the height of dividend nobility? After all, the ability to crank out more cash every year without interruption for half a century is a testament to not just a company’s market-share dominance and fiscal responsibility, but also the agility to survive and remain relevant across decades of market and economic shudders.… Read more

Don’t panic.

One week ago, Elon Musk’s SpaceX launched Falcon Heavy, catapulting the billionaire’s Tesla Roadster into space. On the dashboard were two words made famous by Douglas Adams’s Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy: “Don’t Panic.”

(Read on and I’ll tell you why you should make these two words your mantra these days; how the “smart money” is playing the selloff; and reveal the one investment you need to—calmly—sell now.)

How to Keep Your Cool When Others Lose Theirs

As Musk’s Roadster orbited above, markets on earth were freaking out.

Look Out Below

In a matter of days, the 7% gains stocks racked up in less than a month were gone.… Read more

If you take the mainstream financial media at face value, you might be under the impression that all high yield bonds are in big trouble with interest rates on the move.

Wrong.

The best bond portfolios haven’t actually budged since the recent market insanity began. Take, for example, our favorite PIMCO play. Its net asset value (NAV, the actual market value of its holdings) held steady while the stock market was dropping sharply:

What Crash? This NAV is Steady

The fund’s price, meanwhile, eased down 2.2% from peak to trough. But we shouldn’t confuse price with value – we should focus on the latter, which is a more accurate measure for investing profits.… Read more