I heard the same question from readers all through 2022: when will we back up the truck and start buying again?

Your dividend strategist sympathizes. We “pivoted” early, starting back in late 2021, selling early and often in my Contrarian Income Report and Hidden Yields dividend-investing services.

Heck, we coined the term “pivot” long before the press did! And while Wall Street has been betting on a rebound all year, the truth is, they’ve been wrong, wrong and wrong again. 

Now 2023 is here and we’re sitting on a big pile of cash. Of course, cash doesn’t pay dividends. But our mattresses are still outperforming 90% of investors out there!… Read more

There’s a disconnect setting up in the energy market that’s a flashing yellow light for investors—particularly if you’ve been playing high-flying oil stocks in 2022.

That would be the fact that oil stocks have become “unhooked” from the underlying oil price, as you can see below:

Oil Stocks Zig, Oil Prices Zag

The purple line is the United States Oil (USO) ETF, which tracks the price of light, sweet crude delivered to the distribution hub at Cushing, Oklahoma.

The orange line is the Energy Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLE), a proxy for oil stocks, with big-cap names like ExxonMobil (XOM), Chevron (CSX) and Marathon Petroleum (MPC) among its holdings.… Read more

There’s no doubt that 2022 was the year of energy, as the Russian invasion of Ukraine caused supply shocks that sent oil and gas prices soaring. But with inflation data more muted and most of the disruptions now long priced-in as we enter a New Year, it may be time to start getting much more selective about the energy sector.

That’s particularly true if you’re an income-oriented investor in it for the long haul. Cyclical sectors like energy can see big swings and high volatility, both for the share prices of companies in the sector as well as for their dividends.… Read more

Sure, 2023 brings a lot of uncertainties, but one thing we can be sure of is that buying stocks now—particularly if you do so through high-yield closed-end funds (CEFs)—will likely pay off in the long run.

I say that we CEF buyers stand to gain in the long run because, well, history is on our side here. Consider that even folks who bought the average S&P 500 stock at the height of the market in January 2020 are still up about an annualized 6%. That’s less than stocks’ long-term 8% average, sure, but it’s still a decent profit, all things considered.… Read more

A terrible 2022 is our income treat. There’s never been a better time to retire on dividends than right now.

Today we’re going to spotlight three diversified dividend funds that yield 8% on average. That’s right, put $500K into these tickers and we’re looking at $40,000 per year in payouts.

Or $80,000 on a million. You get the idea. This is what I call a secure 8% “No Withdrawal” Portfolio where we get to retire on dividend income alone, without ever touching our capital. (The strategy has become so popular that Tom Jacobs and I wrote a book on it!)… Read more

Today I’m going to show you a two-part dividend-growth strategy that actually made money for one group of investors in the disastrous year that was 2008.

Before we get into the specifics on this technique and an example stock, I want to level with you: I do believe that stocks are likely to head lower in the coming weeks.

That said, if we look one year out from today, I like our chances. But we’re going to give ourselves an added level of security by purchasing stocks with these two traits:

1. Strong—and better yet accelerating—dividend growth, because a rising payout is the No.

Don’t lament the lack of a Santa Claus rally this year, because it comes with a bright silver lining: we dividend investors have more time to pick up big yields on the cheap.

Here’s why: America’s economy is still growing, with analysts booking forecasts for 3.7% earnings growth in the fourth quarter of 2022. What’s more, sales for S&P 500 companies are up 10%, and earnings have been rising all year.

Yet the market is still downbeat.

In other words, share prices are divorced from reality, and it’s only a matter of time before they correct. However, given the year we’ve had, it could still be a while before investors develop an appetite for stocks again.… Read more

Ten percent dividends are no joke.

We’re talking $50,000 in annual payout income on $500K. Or $100,000 in yearly dividends on a million dollars.

This is serious cash flow. And best of all, we’re talking yields—which means, if we buy right, we can sit tight, collect these payouts and keep our nest egg intact.

Generous yields give us a big advantage over vanilla investors, who fawn over traditional blue chips (paying 2% to 3%). That’s not enough. It’s easy math.

Let’s reference the million-dollar portfolio again. If we invest in the “broader market,” the S&P 500 yields 1.5%. It’s proxy, the SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (SPY), pays a meager $15,000 in annual income.… Read more

If you made money investing in oil this year, congratulations! But I have a warning: now is the time to take profits—especially if you hold the two oil funds we’ll discuss below.

Before we get to those, let’s talk a little more about oil’s big year. If you bought earlier in 2022, you managed to pick up on the only sector in the green this year—and well into the green, too: the Energy Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLE), a good benchmark for oil stocks, has climbed 55% so far in 2022, while the S&P 500 has headed the other way, dropping some 20%.… Read more

Let’s book these 104% profits today.

We’ll sell this winner and then consider a 9.3% dividend that could really soar in 2023. It couldn’t be any cheaper, either—this high-quality fund is trading at a 17% discount to fair value!

But wait, there’s more in the bargain bin. I’ll also share a 5.9% payer that is, likewise, trading for just 83 cents on the dollar—also 17% off!

More on these incredibly cheap dividends in a moment. First, the winner.

Remember when we “pounded the table” on Exxon Mobil (XOM) in April 2021? We were right. The then-6.1% payer was too cheap!… Read more