Look, I’ll be honest: I’m bullish on our favorite income investments, high-yield closed-end funds (CEFs), as we head toward 2024.

Fact is, these overlooked income stalwarts are still on sale after the 2022 pullback, with the ticker we’ll talk about below going for an absurd 17.2% below its true value.

We can thank CEF investors’ conservative nature for that—they still don’t trust this year’s rebound. So our chance to grab big payouts at a discount is still available. Right now, the portfolio of my CEF Insider service is generating a rich 9.9% average yield.

But that said, we always need to keep an eye on factors that could go sideways in the future, so we can shift gears—and protect our capital and income streams—at a moment’s notice.… Read more

Last week in this column, I said it was time to buy. Today, we’ll clarify that timeline.

Buy and hold forever? Nah. Not now. Maybe never again!

To everyone that shook their head at this careful contrarian last week, thinking there is too much uncertainty in the world, well, I agree with you. The “threatdown” is real—which is why I’m not interested in holding names until the end of time.

We have conflict in the Middle East, a still-hawkish Federal Reserve, spiraling government debt and stubborn inflation. The news isn’t pretty.

That said, precarious markets create short-term and medium-term opportunity.… Read more

Our favorite tech-sector dividend growers are finally on sale—and our time to “lock in” these fast-growing payouts has arrived.

Our Tech Buying Opportunity: Fully Booted Up

These days, fear surrounds us, and we contrarian income seekers know that times of fear are when we go shopping. That goes double for tech stocks, which tumble when the 10-year rises (and vice versa).

Take last year, when the rate on the “long bond” spiked and high-flying techs, shown in purple below by the performance of the benchmark Technology Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLK) hit the deck:

10-Year Tells Us When to Buy—and Sell—Top Tech Divs

Sure, the AI hype has fueled a nice rebound this year, but this latest spike in the 10-year has given us a nice—and rare—second chance to buy in, washing out many of our faves.… Read more

Way too many financial writers have been decrying this market “pullback” we’ve seen in the last few months … but they’re entirely missing the point.

The “boring” truth is that what we’ve been seeing is nothing more than a transition from a panicked market to a more normal one. That’s the kind of setup the drama-fueled press hates—but we income investors love.

After all, in a “normal market,” we can buy our favorite high yielders—and there are plenty out there trading at bargain prices right now—without worrying about “losing our dividends” to price declines.

How do I know we’re shifting to a more normal market?… Read more

Today, more than 18 months after the press started ringing the recession alarm, they’re still at it! And we contrarian income seekers are still happy to take the other side of that argument.

After all, this overdone fear mongering has handed us an opportunity to “lock in” bigger dividend yields than we’ve been able to grab in years. Our buy window is still open—at least for now.

Even the banks are spreading fear these days. Like Société Générale, which recently warned that even a “hint” of a recession could cause a 1987-style crash in stocks. DC-focused sources are taking up the story, too, with Politico plaintively writing: “If the bond markets aren’t scaring you yet, they should be.”… Read more

The time to panic is behind us. And perhaps (way) ahead of us.

This is the time to buy, my fellow contrarian. Let’s grab bargains for maximum profits and payouts while they are still available!

Have $50,000 to invest right now? Here’s how to “put it to work” for maximum upside and profits.

• Buy a nice dividend payer. Receive income…plus joy when these stocks pop!
• Be careful not to fall in love with your new money maker. There will be a time to sell and book gains. Probably in January.

If we can keep our cool and not marry ourselves to our new holdings, we’re looking at double-digit gains in a few months.… Read more

The 10-year Treasury yield’s latest journey to the stars is setting up a terrific opportunity for us to “lock in” historically high dividend yields—and upside, too.

The time to make our move is now. Here’s why: the surging yield on the “long bond” has hit stocks—especially dividend stocks—hard. But this surge is completely unsustainable.

Look, over the last few weeks, I’ve been saying the 10-year would bump its head on the “4.3% ceiling” and retreat. The fact that it’s blown through that ceiling only means its coming fall will be that much harder—and our favorite dividend stocks will rip that much higher in response!… Read more

I recently got a really good question from a reader, who wondered how our current market situation compares to the 2008–2009 crash.

The short answer is that it really doesn’t. But the longer answer is much more interesting, and profitable, because it outlines the unique opportunity we now have to collect historically high dividends from my favorite income plays: closed-end funds (CEFs).

The Current State of Play for Income Investments

On cue, the current selloff has prompted the media to get on the gloom-and-doom train. As a result, we’re starting to see more fear in the markets. It’s tough to understate the impact this fear can have.… Read more

The safest dividend is usually the one that was just raised. Recession or no landing, bull or bear, these payers don’t care.

And neither should their shareholders because these stocks are growing their payouts between 33% and 100% per year. Per year!

Here’s why we have safety in growth. Let’s consider Old Dominion Freight Line (ODFL), a less-than-truckload (LTL) freight shipping specialist with trucks crawling America’s interstates.

While transportation is a cyclical business, ODFL is a pinnacle of stability, delivering 30% annual profit growth on average over the past seven years. And while the stock hasn’t gone up in a straight line, it has crushed the broader market in that time.… Read more

I get it: we’re all frustrated with this sluggish stock rebound. It’s been almost two years since stocks last hit all-time highs, and the S&P 500 is still sitting some 11% below the peak!

So let’s take a look at what’s behind this patience-testing market—and unpack a smart contrarian dividend play to take advantage.

2023 Is Not 2020 (or 2018)

Today’s frustration is understandable because over the last decade, we’ve grown used to markets that bounce quickly after a crash, with the 2020 COVID crash-and-rebound being the classic case. And we recovered so quickly from the 2018 pullback that you can be forgiven if you forgot about that one entirely!… Read more