11 Easy Rules for Dividends Up to 11% with Safe CEFs

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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

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If you don’t like these 10% and 12% dividends, well, you’re not really an income investor.

That’s right. As I write, select closed-end funds (CEFs) yield 12.8%.

Twelve. Point. Eight. Per. Cent!

Vanilla “investors” are panicking. Sentiment has hit washout levels. A short-term bottom is near, or perhaps already in.

We contrarians are staying calm and locking in the 10% and 12% yields. When the market seas become choppy, we stick to our script. Here it is, broken down in a 11-step playbook for these 10.1% to 12.8% yields.

CEF Rule #1: Buy the Best 

Fixed-income behemoth DoubleLine runs some well-known big funds as well as smaller, lesser-known CEFs.… Read more

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“Do you have cherries?” my buddy Ralph asked over the phone.

It was January 2021. Sports bars here in California were closed, so we naturally turned our backyard into one.

“No,” I replied. And sighed in an honest admission. “Only beer. Lots of beer.”

“No problem. I got ‘em.”

My buddy also had a mini-keg of delicious old-fashioneds. His creations were dangerously delicious. He’d begun making and aging fine adult beverages to pass time in the pandemic.

And the maraschino cherries he brought played no small role in his cocktail’s critical acclaim.

Is it five o’clock yet? Just kidding (mostly). We are talking about maraschinos in a dividend column because we finally have some bond funds worth cherry picking.… Read more

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“Coach Brett, how many points do I have?”

My star player, Captain K, was dominating the basketball game. He’d steal the ball, storm down the court, and drain the shot. Then retreat into a defensive position and do it all over again.

Two points after two points after two points. I’d have lost count if I had to count. Fortunately though, we weren’t keeping score.

Most leagues these days don’t keep score when the players are only five years old. The run is more important than the result.

But my man K knew he was “killing it,” as his dad told him from the sidelines!… Read more

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Retiring on dividends. It’s the income investors’ dream, right?

It sure beats working for the rest of our lives!

Check out this July 2023 income summary, courtesy of Income Calendar, a nifty tool we built to project dividend income. I loaded up a 10-stock portfolio, featuring popular payers we discuss in these pages:


Source: Income Calendar

This is an “equal opportunity” collection of both picks and pans. Please, don’t run out and buy Global X Nasdaq 100 Covered Call ETF (QYLD) just for its impressive 12.2% annualized yield. Let the Nasdaq bubble pop, at least!

QYLD buys the Nasdaq index and sells covered calls to generate income.… Read more

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We’ve got a once-in-5-year buy window open to us in one of the highest-yielding investments out there.

And (for once) we can thank the Fed for these cheap 8%+ payouts!

I’m talking about closed-end funds (CEFs), a corner of the market where rich 8%+ yields (and monthly payouts) are the norm.

These (too) often-ignored funds are set to spike because the last time Powell & Co. acted like they are now, CEFs’ prices soared—and they handed their lucky investors big price gains to go along with their huge dividends.

If 2023 Is 2019 Redux, CEFs Will Explode Higher

To see what I’m getting at here, think back to late 2018.… Read more

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“Do you have cherries?” my buddy Ralph asked over the phone.

It was January 2021. Sports bars here in California were closed, so we naturally turned our backyard into one.

“No,” I replied. And sighed in an honest admission. “Only beer. Lots of beer.”

“No problem. I got ‘em.”

My buddy also had a mini-keg of delicious old-fashioneds. His creations were dangerously delicious. He’d begun making and aging fine adult beverages to pass time in the pandemic.

And the maraschino cherries he brought played no small role in his cocktail’s critical acclaim.

Is it five o’clock yet? Just kidding (mostly). We are talking about maraschinos in a dividend column because we finally have some bond funds worth cherry picking.… Read more

Read More

“Do you have cherries?” my buddy Ralph asked over the phone.

It was January 2021. Sports bars here in California were closed, so we naturally turned our backyard into one.

“No,” I replied. And sighed in an honest admission. “Only beer. Lots of beer.”

“No problem. I got ‘em.”

My buddy also had a mini-keg of delicious old-fashioneds. His creations were dangerously delicious. He’d begun making and aging fine adult beverages to pass time in the pandemic.

And the maraschino cherries he brought played no small role in his cocktail’s critical acclaim.

Is it five o’clock yet? Just kidding (mostly). We are talking about maraschinos in a dividend column because we finally have some bond funds worth cherry picking.… Read more

Read More

It’s rare to see two bad years in a row. I have a hunch that 2023 may rhyme with 2009. Bear markets don’t usually last longer than a year. A spectacular shakeout early in the year could set the stage for a steady grind higher later on.

That said, we contrarians don’t buy hunches. Until we see an edge, we’ll remain cautious—and follow these rules:

2023 Rule #1: Don’t fight the Fed. Print this rule out and tape it next to your computer. Or the backside of your phone. Or whatever device you use to make trades.

As long as the Federal Reserve is tightening, the obvious path for all stock and bond prices is down.… Read more

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Last week in these pages we sang the praises of bond god Jeffrey Gundlach. His DoubleLine Income Solutions Fund (DSL) looked poised to pop:

DSL investors have three ways to win here. First, the fund pays an electric 11.5% yield. Next, its NAV is likely to rise as both short and long rates decline. And finally, the fund trades today at a 4% discount, which means we are getting paid to ride shotgun with Gundlach.

DSL: 3 Ways to Win (Last Week’s View)

We also discussed that DSL dishes its dividend monthly. Which is almost 1% every 30 days! Unheard of.… Read more

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