If you’re cutting back on stocks because interest rates are rising, you’re making a mistake.

But don’t just take my word for it (after all, I am a dyed-in-the-wool dividend-stock fan). Ask Ned Davis Research, which released its latest research on the relationship between stocks and rates about a year ago.

The finding? When the Fed moved slowly on rate hikes, stocks dropped immediately after each announcement … but went on to gain 10.8%, on average, in the next 12 months.

And as I’ve mentioned before, when Ned Davis’s researchers took a longer view—from January 1972 through December 2014, a period that saw far faster rate hikes than we’ll likely see this time around—they found that dividend growers outshine any other kind of stock, and not by a little.… Read more

Few people know it, but you don’t have to buy a stock for the price you see on Yahoo Finance.

The truth is, you can buy some of the best large cap dividend payers for cheaper: and I don’t mean a little cheaper. I’m talking a 16% discount.

How?

Through a closed-end fund (CEF) that’s trading at a ridiculously high discount to its net asset value (NAV). That’s despite a strong track record, low expenses and an attractive 4.4% dividend yield.

Let’s break each of those things down one at a time, starting with the name of this unheralded investment.

It’s called Tri-Continental Corporation (TY), and it holds some of America’s safest and highest-quality stocks.… Read more

The investment mantra “Don’t fight the Fed” may soon be replaced by a timelier one.

Don’t fight Trump Tower!

The S&P 500 has returned 4.3% in the month since the election. But certain sectors (such as banks and energy) have climbed even higher, faster. While others (such as REITs) initially languished.

Some of these moves are due to correct. But we also have a set of spectacular dividend growers selling for their cheapest prices this decade. Let’s sort through these Trump trades to find the remaining pockets of value for yield and price upside.

Banks: Below Book No Longer

As recently as spring, some of the best banks on the planet were selling for less than their book value.… Read more

It’s as close to a sure thing as you can get: interest rates are headed higher.

The futures market tells the tale. Right now, it pegs the odds of a hike at the Federal Reserve’s December 14 meeting at near 100%:

Everyone Agrees: Rates to Rise

What’s more, futures markets expect interest rates to go up again in 2017. So if you invest in bonds in a market like this, you need to consider how you can protect yourself from higher rates.

I’ll show you a one-buy option that will do just that—and hand you a nice 6.9% yield in the process—in just a moment.… Read more

With the election in the rear-view—and Inauguration Day just a few weeks off—plenty of investors have asked me what they should do with their portfolios now.

I’ll name five bargain dividend growers that should be on your buy list in a moment. But first, here are 2 sectors—and 9 stocks—you need to handle with care.

Let These 4 Growth Rockets Cool Down

On October 3, I pounded the table on defense stocks, namely Raytheon (RTN) and Northrop Grumman (NOC), and infrastructure plays Cummins (CMI) and Parker Hannifin (PH).

I hope you followed that advice, because all four have beaten the SPDR S&P 500 ETF (SPY) since then.… Read more

You can take it to the bank: interest rates are going up.

Everyone from Janet Yellen to Donald Trump says it needs to happen. Traders betting through the Fed futures markets agree, pegging the odds of a quarter-point rate hike at the Fed’s December 14 meeting at 94.9%:

More hikes seem likely next year, if oil prices keep rising, taking inflation along with them.

Since higher rates are bad for high-yield assets, does this mean it’s time to give up and accept that 2% dividends are the only income you can expect in this market?

No way.

Because there’s an easy way we can protect ourselves from higher rates and still collect a nice 6.8% dividend yield.… Read more

If you could earn 5% to 6% in income every year from a stock you don’t have to watch … you’d hold it today, right?

Well, if you don’t already, here’s your wake-up call.

Preferred stocks are a rarely talked about type of corporate equity that packs a one-two punch of high yield and low volatility. But that’s not why they’re called “preferred” – that moniker comes from the fact that preferred dividends take priority over common shares’ dividends, and must be paid out first. If a company wants to cut or suspend its payouts, it must do so to common shares before preferred shares.… Read more

The last time this happened, municipal bonds soared 40% over the next 12 months.

These usually-steady payers are coming off their worst month since September 2008, according to Standard & Poor’s, when its “muni” index dropped 4.8% (and popular funds fared even worse):

The Last Muni Bloodbath in Sept 2008…

October 1, 2008 didn’t mark the bottom for munis. But it turned out to be a pretty good time to buy, with these funds returning up to 38.4% in the ensuing 12 months!

… Gave Way to This 12-Month Muni Boom

Those were scary times. The financial world was melting down, and prominent pundits feared that municipalities would be the next wave of defaults.… Read more

On the lookout for safe dividends? (Who isn’t, right?)

These days, you generally have three options: large-cap stocks with long dividend histories, municipal bonds and US Treasuries.

Treasuries are considered the safest of that group, and large-cap stocks the riskiest, but they’re still much safer than plenty of other investments, such as small caps and junk bonds.

I’ll show you two low-risk investments that are great buys now in a moment. But first, I want to tell you why recent events have called the safety of some of the options I just named into question.

Let’s start by looking at the following chart:

“Safe” Assets Turn Volatile

First, note how the iShares S&P National AMT-Free Municipal Bond Fund (MUB), a good proxy for municipal bonds as a whole, is the least volatile of the three funds shown above.… Read more