China’s over-the-top COVID lockdowns are setting up a surprising “all-American” dividend opportunity for us contrarians.

The pushback, which President Xi (shockingly) didn’t see coming, has shuttered plants left and right. Last Monday alone, Honda, Yamaha and Volkswagen closed factories in China, as did Nissan, Mazda and Mitsubishi.

And Apple (AAPL) has likely lost out on six million high-margin iPhone 14 Pros as protests shut down a factory in Zhengzhou run by key supplier Foxconn. The stock responded instantly:

Apple: Still a Little Too Multinational for Wall Street

How, you may wonder, is all this bad news setting up a dividend opportunity for us?… Read more

Rising rates have sunk bond prices—and sent their yields higher.

The upshot? Now is a good time to add high-quality corporate bonds to your portfolio. And if you do so through one closed-end fund (CEF) we’ll name in a second, you’ll be able to do so with a 13.4% dividend that grows.

To be honest, bonds have already started to rise, and we’ve been taking advantage in my CEF Insider service. In October, for example, we picked up the Nuveen Core Plus Impact Fund (NPCT), which yields 11.3% today. We’ve grabbed a 6.8% return so far, including one dividend payout of 10 cents a share.… Read more

Bonds are finally an intriguing place for retirement income.

Safe Treasuries still pay a respectable (by their standards, at least) 3.7%. But we contrarians can do better.

Today we’re going to discuss three bond funds ready to rally. They pay 8.6%, 9.1% and—get this—9.6% per year.

Those are not typos. These are fat freaking yields.

Yes, These Bond Yields Are Real. And They Are Spectacular.

And even better still, you can buy these bonds for as low as 90 cents on the dollar! How is that? Well, the cheapest fund trades for just 90% of its net asset value (NAV).… Read more

I visited Florida a few months back, and witnessed a rather hilarious scene — a gaggle of teenagers, stamping out of the water as they shrieked about sharks in the water.

It was hilarious, of course, because there weren’t any sharks. What had terrified them was actually just a curious manatee.

It’s easy to understand why those kids freaked out. Sharks are terrifying to most people. The group spotted a dark shape in the surf and instantly panicked rather than take their chances.

But guess what: Swimmers very rarely encounter sharks. In a typical year, there are only about 10 humans killed by sharks… and about 100 run-ins with sharks in total.… Read more

Let’s be honest: after the year we’ve just put in, we’re all exhausted. But we can’t let our guard down. Because at times like these, it’s easy to let alarmist headlines skew our buy and sell decisions.

Worse, the clamor, and almost always incorrect market predictions that dominate the news these days, can lure you away from the reliable dividend payers you need to fund your retirement.

I hate to see that happen to investors—especially when they could easily use high-yield closed-end funds (CEFs) to retire on dividends alone. I’ve got three “low-drama” CEFs that can get you there, thanks to their outsized 8.1% average yield.… Read more

“Get tomorrow’s Bloomberg headline, today, at Contrarian Outlook!”

Our new slogan for 2023? Perhaps. I bring it up because our bond recession trade has already gained steam into an outright bandwagon.

Just three weeks ago, we contrarians shouted alone in the dividend woods. “Buy these safe bonds paying 4.2% before a 2023 recession!”

Our logic was simple. The 10-year Treasury bond hadn’t paid 4% or more in 14 years. With stocks looking shaky (to say the least!), the 4-handle coupon was attracting some whale buyers, including our man the “bond god” Jeffrey Gundlach (more on him in a moment).… Read more

Beware of Wall Street “wisdom” now more than ever. Especially when it comes to the most commonly quoted maxim for retirement: it’s based on a rule that was never designed for times like these!

I’m talking about the so-called “4% rule,” which says you should sell 4% of your nest egg every year in retirement.

Sounds simple, right?

Trouble is, it slashes your income stream and caps your upside in one go! It’s especially dangerous advice to follow in a downturn like the 2022 mess.

Let’s say, for example, you own $200,000 worth of Cisco Systems (CSCO) shares. Cisco is one of the most reliable dividend payers in the tech space, hiking its payout for years and continuously growing it (though not spectacularly: Cisco’s annual hikes usually only come in at just one or two cents a share).… Read more

What if I told you there was a way for you to get a steady 9% dividend tax-free?

My guess is you’d be interested, especially after the tough year we’ve endured. Sure, 2023 is looking better, but no one knows what’s coming our way when it comes to inflation and rates, so more volatility is pretty much guaranteed. So a steady payout, especially sans taxes, could be the perfect fit for your portfolio.

Many investors’ response to the past year has been to go to cash. And while that may help avoid losses, it also puts you in the path of inflation running near 8%.… Read more

We love dividend stocks because they pay us now. But hey, I’m greedy. And when I research income plays, I want more than just those payouts.

I’m looking for price gains, too. Give me a dividend with a stock that could potentially double, and we’re talking.

These types of stocks are rare, but they’re not impossible to find. They tend to share five key “dividend double” characteristics. Let’s discuss them now.

Dividend Key #1: Annual Dividend Growth

The core trait of an excellent long-term dividend holding is dividend growth, for numerous reasons.

For one, dividend growth is a pretty sure sign that the underlying company has the financial fortitude to pay the bills.… Read more

We’re in one of the trickiest times I’ve seen in my investing career: inflation is receding and we’re well positioned for gains next year. Yet after the year we’ve had, many folks are still hesitant to jump into the market.

Even the 12%+ dividends we’re seeing in our favorite high-yield investments, closed-end funds (CEFs) haven’t been enough to tempt many of them.

I get it.

This period reminds me of the early months of 2009, when “green shoots” were appearing in the economy and markets, but investors were still too scarred by the preceding plunge to get in. But those who did buy then—around the bottom in early March 2009—have done very well:

Buying in Times of “Investor Shell Shock” Pays Off

We’ve got a similar opportunity now.… Read more