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

Why chase the market when we can let 15% per year—every year—come to us?

This is the perfect time to buy what I call “hidden yield” investments. These are stocks that dish out dividends today. But, more notably, they have an important catalyst coming in the year ahead that will help boost their stock prices.

This trigger is so powerful that it sends these stocks sailing by 15% or more per year, every year. Which is truly great when other equities and even bonds are getting buried around us.

We’ll talk about these stocks and their “dividend spark” in a moment.… Read more

26 days.

That’s how much diesel America has in its collective tank. Imagine that: a fuel that powers the shipment of goods pretty well everywhere. And only 26 days of it left.

It’s a crisis no one is talking about. Except folks in the shipping business. Or those who’ve had to buy home heating oil (a diesel derivative) recently.

Okay, I’ll admit I’m being a tad dramatic, as that 26-day figure is a rolling number: new diesel is added at one end as it’s burned at the other. But even so, the amount of diesel in storage has sunk to its lowest levels in 70 years.… Read more

Despite all the doom and gloom out there, there has never been a better time to retire.

I know that sounds absurd, but it’s true, especially if you plan to retire on dividends alone. With the 2022 crash crushing stock prices—and driving up dividend yields—it’s prime time to grab some outsized payouts for cheap!

But the blue chips that everyone buys are not the answer. Because even with the selloff, the average S&P 500 stock’s yield has risen to … 1.6%.

No way that’ll cut it, and Treasuries won’t cut it, either. Buying the 10-year at the current 3.8% yield only gets you $19K a year in dividends on your $500K—poverty-level income.… Read more

Thank you, bear market. Thanks to a terrible 2022, we have four dirt-cheap dividend payers dishing up to 9%.

These are cash cows I’m talking about. Companies that gush free cash flow and shovel it back to us in the form of big yields.

Earnings are accounting numbers. Cash flow is real life.

And it’s not out of deals, either—in fact, over the past few days, I’ve kept increasingly close watch over a four-pack of cash cows with high yields of up to 9% and deliciously low prices.

But given a still-dangerous market environment, we need to focus on quality.… Read more

Income investors can, in many ways, be even harsher critics than growth investors.

That’s because while some traders can delude themselves into believing the fancy growth stories of biotech or software startups … for “risk off” investors interested in dividends, the numbers matter.

And when a company isn’t measuring up, it shows.

There’s no greater proof of that than tools company Stanley Black & Decker (SWK). The stock has stumbled dramatically over the last year as supply chain pressures brought about the pandemic were compounded by rising raw material costs.

Thanks to weak margins and flat revenue, the stock is down a gut-wrenching 56% or so year-to-date.… Read more

Savvy contrarians know that when markets crash, the most beaten-up sectors are often the ones that lead the (inevitable) surge higher.

It’s one of the most reliable trends in investing. With their valuations (and dividend yields) crushed, these stocks are tempting bait for bargain hunters who like to run against the herd.

The 2008 financial crisis is a great example. Financial stocks, which were pummeled as millions of mortgages went bust, went on to soar after the market bottomed in ’09. So did real estate investment trusts (REITs).

Which is why I’m looking to roughed-up tech stocks, and tech-focused closed-end funds (CEFs), to lead the way in 2023.… Read more

“Hey Brett. How’s the weather out there in California?”

My usual reply is “warm and sunny.” Simple. Gives the asker what they expect and keeps the pleasantries moving along.

If I was one for small talk, I would be tempted to mix in a confusing and way-too-detailed response. Like this:

“The weather? Well, Sacramento hit a low of 27 degrees in the early morning hours of February 24. And we cooked at an extreme 116 degrees on September 6. It has been quite the 12 months!”

Twelve months? Who cares about 12 months? Well, bond funds do.

Last week, we highlighted the iShares 20+ Year Treasury Bond ETF (TLT): “It (TLT) boasts a 4.1% yield and has some serious upside potential.”… Read more

Now is the best time to roll out our favorite dividend “hack.” It’s a sneaky-smart strategy that lets us “time” the market for soaring dividend payouts (and a steady drip of price gains, too).

Our plan consists of two simple steps, which we’ll look at now. Then I’ll name two stocks that are perfect for this strategy. Both look set to roll out big dividend hikes soon.

Step 1: Buy Just as a Payout Hike Is Announced

We’ll start by “timing” our buys just as dividend hikes are announced. That’s a veteran move because a company’s stock almost always rises with its payouts—a predictable pattern I call the Dividend Magnet.… Read more

Despite last week’s market pop, there are still plenty of terrific dividend buys out there. But don’t waste your time with lame payers like General Mills (GIS), with its 2.7% yield. Or the miserly 2.2% you get from a so-called “Dividend Aristocrat” like McDonald’s (MCD).

Inflation is still at 7.7%! That’s far ahead of these pathetic blue-chip yields. We just can’t afford to own low payers like these any longer.

We need much more income if we want to achieve the dream scenario: a retirement funded entirely by dividends. That’s the path we’re going down today, with three closed-end funds (CEFs) boasting an incredible average yield of 10.5%.… Read more