4 Stocks to Buy for Big February Dividend Hikes

Brett Owens, Chief Investment Strategist
Updated: February 6, 2017

Today, I want to talk to you about my favorite strategy for beating the market and building long-term wealth.

If you’ve been reading my regular columns on Forbes and ContrarianOutlook.com, you probably already know what it is: buy dividend growth. (I’ll name 4 individual stocks that should be on your list now in just a moment.)

Because as I’ve written before, stocks that regularly hike their payouts outperform any other kind of company over time. You can give yourself a bigger edge if you invest in companies that surprise the market with bigger-than-expected dividend hikes.

Take Cisco Systems (CSCO), which “accelerated” its quarterly payout last February: after three years of $0.02- and $0.03-a-year increases, Cisco “went big,” boosting its dividend by $0.05, or 23.8%.… Read more

3 Diversified Funds Paying Up To 9.5%

Brett Owens, Chief Investment Strategist
Updated: February 5, 2017

Instead of meticulously picking one high paying stock after another – in hopes of building a secure dividend stream – how about simply buying a fund or two that does everything for you?

After all, you’ve already made the correct asset allocation in choosing dividend stocks – which outperform non-payers by a wide margin. There are money managers who can perform quite well with this mandate.

Some of them run “multi-asset” funds, which don’t get much press. That’s too bad, because the best yield 6% or more and focus on cash-generating assets such as real estate investment trusts (REITs), master limited partnerships (MLPs) and junk bonds.… Read more

Buy or Sell: 3 Real Estate Plays Paying up to 8.6%

Brett Owens, Chief Investment Strategist
Updated: August 4, 2017

The headlines in the global real estate space are terrifying right now. It’s the kind of negative press you see in just two situations: the throes of a full-blown crash, or near a market top.

This is the latter.

Sure, high-yield opportunities are available – like the three REIT funds yielding 5% to 8.6% that I plan on highlighting for you today. But concern about a planet-wide real estate bubble is well-founded.

The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development believes various international markets’ property prices are reaching dangerous heights, and that several countries’ high prices were “not consistent with a stable real estate market,” according Britain’s The Telegraph.… Read more

4 Bargain REITs With 5.0% Yields and Big Upside

Michael Foster, Investment Strategist
Updated: February 2, 2017

Real estate investment trusts (REITs) just don’t get the respect they deserve. And that’s too bad, because owning just a handful can make a huge difference in your investment returns.

I’ll reveal four of my favorite REIT buys now in just a moment.

First, let me explain why I’m pounding the table on the sector today.

The main reason: REITs often pay dividend yields far above your average S&P 500 stock. What’s more, they’re obligated to pay out 90% of their taxable income as dividends, which forces management to take a disciplined approach to growth.

In addition, REITs give you a very liquid way to invest in physical assets; your shares represent a part of the actual buildings the trust owns.… Read more

3 Bulletproof Income ETFs for 2017

Brett Owens, Chief Investment Strategist
Updated: August 4, 2017

Analysts are divided by whether they think this hard-charging bull market can last through the rest of 2017, but most market watchers agree on one thing: It’s going to be a bumpy ride no matter what. That’s why today, I’m going to show you a trio of funds that are designed to fend off volatility … and deliver high income to boot!

Within just a few days, President Donald Trump has signed a slew of executive orders and presidential memoranda with wide-reaching missions – withdrawing from the Trans Pacific Partnership, freezing federal workforce hiring and, of course, starting to roll the “border wall” rock down the hill.… Read more

The Worst Retirement Mistake You Can Make (and How to Avoid It)

Michael Foster, Investment Strategist
Updated: January 31, 2017

Many people think a conservative, disciplined approach to retirement will help you reach your financial goals. They’re wrong.

If you invest too conservatively, you’ll never retire. At the same time, if you educate yourself about the financial options out there and invest accordingly, you can retire much, much earlier.

Let’s take a look at the math.

Higher Returns, Earlier Financial Freedom
Higher-Returns-Earlier-Retirment-Chart

In the chart above, I’ve broken down how much money you need according to how much you spend per month and what rate of return you get on your investments.

At one extreme, if you spend $1,500 per month and get a 9% annual rate of return, you need just $200,000 to retire.… Read more

5 High-Yield REITs With Big Upside in 2017

Brett Owens, Chief Investment Strategist
Updated: January 30, 2017

If you’re wondering which sector is set to take off in 2017 (and who isn’t?), look no further than real estate investment trusts (REITs).

I’ll get into why I’m so bullish on REITs—and name 5 great buys now—in a moment.

First, let’s look at the sector’s recent performance, and what it says about where REITs (which own properties ranging from warehouses to apartment buildings) are headed.

Here’s how the Vanguard REIT ETF (VNQ) has done since January of last year, compared to the benchmark SPDR S&P 500 ETF (SPY):

REIT Investors Fall Behind
VNQ-SPY-2016-Total-Return-Chart

Three things stand out here: 1) REITs spiked last summer, when the Brexit vote sent investors scrambling for stability and yield; 2) they didn’t get much pop from the year-end Trump bump; and 3) they’re still way off their 2016 peak and trailing the market as a whole.… Read more

4 Best Fidelity Funds for A Secure Retirement

Brett Owens, Chief Investment Strategist
Updated: August 4, 2017

Fidelity Investments has a laundry list of highly rated mutual funds – so let’s delve into a quartet of funds that are top-tier choices for retirement investors. The recipe for retirement success includes safety, durability, income and cost-efficiency, among others – these four funds have these qualities in spades!

Fidelity Investments is the No. 2 player in the mutual fund world, boasting $1.7 trillion in total assets across its expansive lineup of offerings. Just like Vanguard – which also boasts a number of excellent retirement funds – most of Fidelity’s assets are long-term in nature.

Why is that important? Because it shows that while some of Fidelity’s funds can be used to make short-term plays, most of its mutual funds are buy-and-hold investments – in other words, exactly what you’re looking for if you’re planning out a retirement portfolio.… Read more

These 12 Stocks Could Double Under Trump

Michael Foster, Investment Strategist
Updated: January 26, 2017

Goldman Sachs recently recommended over 80 stocks that are poised to jump during President Trump’s administration.

That’s a lot of stocks. Not all of them are dividend payers, and many of them have already jumped dramatically in the last few weeks, bringing them at or near their 52-week highs.

You might think this means it’s too late to buy into the Trump rally, but it isn’t.

I’ve gone through Goldman’s picks and selected a dozen high-quality, low-priced stocks with a history of strong dividend payouts and the potential for dividend growth. Half the portfolio has a history of very high dividend growth, while the other half has very good dividend coverage and the potential for future dividend growth.… Read more

Six 6% Yields (With 60% Upside, Too)

Brett Owens, Chief Investment Strategist
Updated: January 25, 2017

As interest rates rise, the best defense will be a good offense. Research from Nuveen and Ned Davis confirms what we already knew – that dividend growth stocks outperform everyone else in the 36 months after a Fed rate increase:

Stock Returns After Fed Increases
Dividend-Growth-Post-Fed-Increase

That’s no surprise either, because payout growers always outpace their counterparts.

Everyone loves dividends, but dividend hikes are underappreciated. Not only do they increase the yield on your initial capital, but they often are reflected in a price increase for the stock.

For example, if a stock pays a 3% current yield and then hikes its payout by 10%, it’s unlikely that its stock price will stagnate for long.… Read more