I was at the State Fair with one of my best friends from Elementary School. We were 2,000 miles from our old school stompin’ grounds. And my buddy had been, ahem, a bit overserved.

“It feels like the first time!” he belted alongside Lou Gramm, the former lead singer of Foreigner. No longer kids, we had matured. Now we were slamming beers within sud-splashing distance of the Lou Gramm Band.

We’ll channel Lou and Foreigner today as we consider five fresh dividends. They don’t happen often but, when they do, it’s a special moment. A sign of actual corporate maturity. Management saying we’re no longer kids chasing growth, we’re going to start dishing cash to shareholders.… Read more

Don’t buy into the fear around office real estate investment trusts (REITs). Truth is, this is our moment to buy strong REIT dividends. We’re going to do it with a well-diversified 11.4%-yielding closed-end fund (CEF) trading at a ridiculous bargain.

Our opportunity lies in the fact that the fear around office landlords (Will the work-from-home crowd ever return? Will lease rates plummet? Is any of that priced in?) completely misses the point for investors.

Negativity Around Office REITs Has Been Off the Charts

To get a sense of the scale of fear around office REITs, consider that Fortune magazine, despite its staid reputation, told us nine months ago that the “office real estate apocalypse” was here and “even worse than expected.”… Read more

Many investors are worried. About a hard economic landing. The Federal Reserve keeping rates high. The 2024 election.

Fair enough. Fortunately, the headline worries are usually priced in. The popular “threatdown” rarely thwarts the market.

On the other hand, we contrarians fret about the scenario that may come out of left field. We worry not about a hard landing. Or a soft landing. The underappreciated risk is the no landing that reignites inflation.

Rates down, assets up—let the good times roll! It will be fun for a while. Until prices skyrocket again.

Fed Chair Jay Powell has officially pivoted from his hawkish stance.… Read more

Look, I get it: many folks love ETFs, mainly because of the cheap management fees.

I mean who doesn’t love a deal? And it is true that ETFs’ fees are a fraction of those levied by the typical mutual fund or closed-end fund (CEF).

Trouble is, most ETF buyers get exactly what they pay for! Some of the worst performers in ETF-land are dividend-growth ETFs, which sound like a nice “1-click” way to load up your portfolio with soaring payouts.

Too bad they can’t stop tripping over their own feet!

Look at how three major dividend-growth ETFs, the iShares Core Dividend Growth ETF (DGRO), Vanguard Dividend Appreciation ETF (VIG) and ProShares S&P 500 Dividend Aristocrats ETF (NOBL), have fared in the past year:

Stocks Lap Dividend-Growth ETFs

As you can see, the S&P 500 (in orange) blew past this trio, with a 24% total return.… Read more

Here’s the thing about high-yield closed-end funds (CEFs): sometimes a CEF will seem to have all the earmarks of a terrific investment: high (and monthly) dividends, reasonable fees and reputable management. But it’ll still come up short.

We, of course, love CEFs and see them as the critical pieces of our income portfolios. The portfolio of my CEF Insider service, for example, holds plenty of top-quality buys and yields 9% as I write this.

But when picking these funds, we need to make sure we don’t let a big name, high yield or so-called “low” fees dominate our thinking. We also need to look deeper, at factors like past performance and even management’s track record with its other funds.… Read more

As inflation calms down, these dividend stocks are going to fire up. I’m talking about five stocks with payouts popping between 33% and 100% per year.

And these are safe, profitable businesses powered by good ol’ fashioned cash flow. I know, what a concept. These stocks should never be cheap, but they are, thanks to the recent stock market panic in September and October.

This five-pack highlights the power of a phenomenon called the “dividend magnet.” This is where payout growth pulls a stock’s price higher regardless of whatever the broader economy is doing.

Dow component UnitedHealth Group (UNH) is a perfect example of the dividend magnet.… Read more

The first week of 2024 was a rough one for stocks—and that, oddly enough, suggests we might see a good year for stocks in 2024.

But as we’ll discuss below, recent market moves also suggest some parts of the technology sector are starting to look just a little overbought now—especially one 6.2%-yielding tech-focused closed-end fund (CEF).

I know that’s a lot to lead off with, so let’s break it down.

A week and a half before Christmas, and before last year’s Santa Claus rally, I wrote that we didn’t want a Santa Claus rally to end ’23. That’s because these year-end market bounces have historically led to the following year to be weaker for the markets.… Read more

If you don’t like these 8%, 9% and even 10%+ dividends, well, you’re not really an income investor.

That’s right. As I write, select closed-end funds (CEFs) yield 10.8%.

Ten. Point. Eight. Per. Cent!

We contrarians are locking in yields up to nearly 11%. When the market seas become choppy, we’ll stick to our script. Here it is, broken down in an 11-step playbook for these 8%, 9%, even 10.8% yields.

CEF Rule #1: Buy the Best 

Fixed-income behemoth DoubleLine runs some well-known big funds as well as smaller, lesser-known CEFs. There’s a raging dividend party in the ignored CEF corner of DoubleLine’s portfolio, with yields up to 10.8% via

DoubleLine Income Solutions Fund (DSL).… Read more

Let’s cut to the chase on dividend investing in 2024: our strategy this year will be all about interest rates.

Sure, there are other trends out there, like AI. And yep, there’s some steak behind the sizzle.

But when it comes to grabbing fast-growing—and high-yielding—payouts at the right times, rate moves will rule the roost. That’s not much of a surprise, really, as stocks have hung on Jay Powell’s every utterance for the last couple years.

But here’s the twist: Powell won’t be the headline-grabber in ’24. Look for him to fade into the background, with the Fed likely to move rates lower, maybe by a percent or so.… Read more

ETFs, mutual funds—and, yes, high-yielding closed-end funds (CEFs)—all have one surprising new year’s resolution this year: cutting their management fees.

But unlike my resolution to stop eating donuts and work out three times a week, this is a resolution that managers of these funds will likely keep—setting their funds up for higher returns as a result.

Why? Because their feet are being held to the fire.

Activists Push for Big Fee Cuts

Truth is, there’s a quiet shift happening in the world of fund management, with more people clamoring for lower fees on all kinds of funds, including CEFs like those we recommend in my CEF Insider service, whose portfolio yields 9.0% today.… Read more