Why It’s (Almost) Time to Buy This 15.6% Yielder

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Why It’s (Almost) Time to Buy This 15.6% Yielder

There are two things I need to bring to your attention right now, especially if you’re an income investor. One is my outlook for the market, as volatility really hits home.

The other is a 15.6%-yielding(!) fund that just changed its name and ticker—and really grabbed contrarians’ attention in the process.

Let’s start with what’s really going on with this wild market.

The NASDAQ is now down more than 10% from its peak price, and stocks on the whole are down for the year. I don’t expect this to last very long. My take: 2025 is likely to be a year of volatility rather than a year of decline.… Read more

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Get Rid of Those Goofy Dividend Spreadsheets

“I don’t have to make and update my goofy spreadsheets anymore!” my man Peter B. from New Hampshire writes.

Tell ‘em, Peter!

We are devoted to retiring on dividends here at Contrarian Outlook. But a little bit of work in retirement is OK. As income investors, we should be able to forecast our income.

Note that I said a little bit of work. Not a lot! I am not interested in fiddling with spreadsheets until the end of time, and neither is my man Peter.

If you’re with us, why not hop aboard the Income Calendar train with Peter and me?… Read more

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This Member of “Team Trump” Is Setting Us Up for 5% Payouts, Big Gains

At this point, I don’t think I really need to say that Trump 2.0 is a lot different than Trump 1.0. And one of those differences—which very few people are talking about—is a huge tailwind for the two big dividends we’re going to dive into today.

Think back to our first go-’round with Trump. Remember his relationship with Jay Powell? Terrible, right?

Back in 2018, he tweeted that Powell and the Fed had “no sense, no guts, no vision” when they failed to cut rates as much as the president wanted. A year later, he called Powell an “enemy.”

And that’s just a small sample of the torment unleashed upon poor Jay!… Read more

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You Ask, I Answer: Are These 8% Dividends Too Pricey?

I recently got some reader feedback that made me realize something: When it comes to our favorite income investments—8%+ yielding closed-end funds (CEFs)—there are still a lot of misconceptions out there.

It’s key that we put those right, because they’re causing some investors to miss out on CEFs, and the big (and often monthly) dividends they provide. And I know I don’t have to tell you that in turbulent times like these, high payouts like those are a lifesaver.

This reader wrote in response to a recent piece I wrote about how CEFs can be better than ETFs, pointing out two things:

  1. The three CEFs I mentioned in the piece have higher expense ratios than passive funds.

… Read more

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5 Little Stocks, 5 Big Payouts of 11%+

If Trump 2.0 rhymes with Trump 1.0, then this is an intriguing time to consider small cap dividends. Let me explain—and then we’ll highlight a handful of 11.1% to 12.6% dividend ideas.

In 2016, smaller companies popped for weeks amid largely sentiment over what President Donald Trump’s election would mean for the market broadly and small caps specifically. But that sentiment-related pop eventually turned into years of underperformance as theory became reality—and unfavorable conditions forced investors to stop betting on small caps as a group, and instead separate winners and losers.

Fast-forward to Trump 2.0. I wrote in December that small caps were soaring following Trump’s second electoral victory in hopes that reduced regulations will let these companies run free.… Read more

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5 Little Stocks, 5 Big Payouts of 11%+

If Trump 2.0 rhymes with Trump 1.0, then this is an intriguing time to consider small cap dividends. Let me explain—and then we’ll highlight a handful of 11.1% to 12.6% dividend ideas.

In 2016, smaller companies popped for weeks amid largely sentiment over what President Donald Trump’s election would mean for the market broadly and small caps specifically. But that sentiment-related pop eventually turned into years of underperformance as theory became reality—and unfavorable conditions forced investors to stop betting on small caps as a group, and instead separate winners and losers.

Fast-forward to Trump 2.0. I wrote in December that small caps were soaring following Trump’s second electoral victory in hopes that reduced regulations will let these companies run free.… Read more

Read More

5 Little Stocks, 5 Big Payouts of 11%+

If Trump 2.0 rhymes with Trump 1.0, then this is an intriguing time to consider small cap dividends. Let me explain—and then we’ll highlight a handful of 11.1% to 12.6% dividend ideas.

In 2016, smaller companies popped for weeks amid largely sentiment over what President Donald Trump’s election would mean for the market broadly and small caps specifically. But that sentiment-related pop eventually turned into years of underperformance as theory became reality—and unfavorable conditions forced investors to stop betting on small caps as a group, and instead separate winners and losers.

Fast-forward to Trump 2.0. I wrote in December that small caps were soaring following Trump’s second electoral victory in hopes that reduced regulations will let these companies run free.… Read more

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Inflation Soars … Rates Fall? Here’s the Silly Error Many Investors Are Making Now

When it comes to the economy, we’re in a bit of a weird spot: The data tells us that, despite inflation fears, interest rates are likely to fall in the year ahead.

Falling rates point in one clear direction for us contrarian income-seekers: corporate bonds. Our preferred way to tap into them? Discounted closed-end funds (CEFs) with big dividend yields.

If investors know any corporate-bond CEFs at all, they probably know the PIMCO Dynamic Income Fund (PDI). It’s the biggest of the bunch, with a $5.1-billion market cap and a monster 13.3% yield.

With that in mind, PDI is a good gauge of investor interest in corporate-bond CEFs, and that interest is booming, as we’ll see in a moment.… Read more

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This 7.6% Tariff-Proof Payout Shrugs Off Geopolitics

Uncertainty appears to be the theme of 2025. From tariffs to geopolitics, we have a nonstop flow of news that has vanilla investors quite rattled.

CNN’s Fear and Greed Index dipped back into the Extreme Fear zone earlier this week. Markets don’t like ambiguity. But that does not mean that we income investors need to sell everything. Heck, or anything! This is a split stock market and we contrarians are rolling with the dividend victors.

The bifurcated financial landscape is not news to us. We discussed the likelihood of major “winners and losers” in Trump 2.0 immediately after the November election:

Things have the potential to get wild.

… Read more

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Contrarian Signal Tells Us These 7% Dividends Are Good Buys

Let me say right now that, like most people, I have no idea where the trade tensions we’re living through will end up. But here’s something I will say: Whenever I have any doubt about the future, I look to the 10-year Treasury rate—and I recommend you do the same.

And the 10-year rate—pacesetter for rates on most loans—is screaming one thing at us right now:

Fade the inflation fears that are everywhere these days.

So we’re going to take Mr. 10-Year’s advice and “buy the dip” in 2 “bond-proxy” closed-end funds (CEFs)—each yielding around 7%—that we’ll discuss in a bit.… Read more

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