Right now, the market only cares about one thing: Brexit. The market is volatile—which means now is a time to buy, buy and buy more as fears drive stocks too cheap.

But the simple fact is no one knows exactly how Brexit will impact the world’s various economies. For sure, there’s a consensus that Britain will take a hit—how big of a hit, though, is uncertain. And then there’s fear that political instability will impact Europe. But why should that cause the S&P 500 to lose 5% in just a few days?

Simply put: it shouldn’t.

Which is why I’m getting greedy as the world gets fearful.… Read more

Britain’s out – should you care? It depends on what’s in your portfolio today.

Here’s a five-point checklist to help you Brexit-proof your nest egg. There’s no shortage of noise floating around about the potential ramifications. Let’s separate the “first-level” headline worries from the second-level realities – and make sure your portfolio is set to thrive regardless of the nonsense coming out of Europe.

Reality #1: Interest Rates Here Aren’t Going Anywhere

Regular readers know I’ve been skeptical of the Fed’s “tough talk” about raising rates ever since it started. Perfectly good high paying issues have been pummeled by their empty threats of sustained hikes, providing contrary-minded income investors like us with excellent buying opportunities.… Read more

All weekend long I’ve heard from investors terrified of Brexit’s impact on their nest eggs. For the most part, they are in or near retirement—and now more than ever they are looking to shift more of their portfolio into fixed-income securities.

The problem? These are grim times for fixed-income investors. A one-year CD yields around 1.25%, and 10-year Treasuries aren’t much better, at 1.6%. That’s flirting with an all-time low—and leaves you with a loss after inflation.

But don’t worry. There are still good places to hunt for yield in the fixed-income space. In a moment, I’ll give you two options that together pay out a tidy 6.0%, so a $250,000 investment in each one would bring in a nice $30,000 income stream.… Read more

It’s a done deal: an interest rate hike this month or next—a prospect that was already slim—is officially off the table.

The final straw? A dismal labor report showing just 38,000 jobs created in May, the fewest in six years. But that’s not the only thing that killed the June hike. Tack on inflation well below the Fed’s 2% target and an economy growing at a modest 2% clip, and there’s simply no reason to raise rates now.

Futures markets agree, with traders calling for just a 4% chance of a June hike and only 1-in-4 odds in July. You have to go way out to December before a significant likelihood materializes (43% for a quarter-point, 19% for a half-point).… Read more

A good retirement portfolio is diversified and dividend-focused. Diversification is important financial defense, but dividends are your financial offense. They compound on themselves because companies that pay dividends have an implied agreement with their shareholders that they’ll continue bumping them up.

Not all do, of course – but I’ve identified five dividend growth stocks that you can bank on. Today they yield an average 3.6% and each has not only a strong history of increasing dividends but also strong dividend coverage – which means their payouts (and stock prices) are likely to keep growing for the foreseeable future.

Now let’s get into these five dividend growers…

They are General Motors (GM), Target (TGT), Pfizer (PFE), Edison International (EIX) and Phillip Morris (PM).… Read more