The Surprising Link Between AI, Jobs and 3 BIG Dividends (up to 8.5%)

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The Surprising Link Between AI, Jobs and 3 BIG Dividends (up to 8.5%)

Still wondering if AI will replace human workers? Well, you can stop. Because it’s already happening—and boosting corporate profits as it does.

That’s tough news for workers, of course. But there’s a silver lining for those of us investing for dividends. Because the “growth-without-hiring” trend AI has touched off is setting up one of the strongest income opportunities I’ve seen in years. (I’ll name three AI plays yielding up to 8.5% below.)

Wait, AI is setting the stage for big dividends?

I know. AI is known for a lot of things—many of which have been, er, less than helpful, such as infringing on copyrights and forcing McNuggets on pleading McDonald’s (MCD) drive-thru customers.… Read more

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CEF Deep Dive: The One “Profit Indicator” Everyone Gets Wrong

The other day, we broke down how return of capital (ROC) can be both good and bad for investors in 8%+ yielding closed-end funds (CEFs). But in the case of high-quality CEFs, ROC is, contrary to what most people think, a good thing.

Today we’re going to look at some real-world examples to explain how, in fact, return of capital can make up a large share of a fund’s returns.

To do so, we’re going to go into five Nuveen funds, the Nuveen S&P 500 Buy-Write Income Fund (BXMX), Nuveen Dow 30 Dynamic Overwrite Fund (DIAX), Nuveen S&P 500 Dynamic Overwrite Fund (SPXX), Nuveen NASDAQ 100 Dynamic Overwrite Fund (QQQX) and Nuveen Core Equity Alpha Fund (JCE).… Read more

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3 Big Dividends (Yielding 7.9%) Built for Post-Election Drama

Well, that was fast. As you no doubt know by now, stocks gave back their post-election bump nearly as fast as they took it. Now they’re more or less where they started pre-election.

There’s a story behind this “pop and drop” that showed me something we need to bear in mind more and more as we head into 2025 (and a new presidential term): The need to diversify our portfolios, not only within stocks but (especially, with more volatility likely) beyond them.

And that need for diversification goes for our holdings of high-yielding closed-end funds (CEFs), too.

Now, market veterans will no doubt be quick to say that these short-term moves are just noise, and in the long term it doesn’t really matter who is the president.… Read more

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“Double Discount” Alert: How to Buy Microsoft Cheap (With a 7% Dividend)

I recently had dinner with a friend who’s a small business owner, and he swears by ChatGPT. The tool is saving him time, effort and (to be blunt) future employee hiring.

A lot of people think AI is imploding—hence the selloff in tech stocks we saw following last week’s softer-than-expected jobs report.

But the truth is, AI is simply moving past the initial excitement we see with every new technology. As AI embeds itself in the apps and devices we use every day, it’ll boost productivity, just like it’s doing for my friend.

As that happens, we’ll want to make sure you have some AI exposure in our portfolios, especially as ChatGPT replaces more expensive humans, a trend that’s already in motion, as we can see from last week’s jobs report.… Read more

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Thank Absurd Media Negativity for This Cheap 6.9% Payout

As a contrarian dividend investor, I’ve always looked to buy when media-driven worries run directly counter to the data.

And these days, the media is more negative than it’s ever been, despite the data showing the economy is performing well. Today we’re going to exploit that divide and look at an overly discounted, 6.9% dividend that’s nicely positioned to profit from it.

Media and Experts Distort Their Real Views All the Time 

What I’m really talking about here is the so-called “vibecession,” we discussed a few months ago—the feeling that we’re in a recession even though the data says the economy is performing well.… Read more

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The Surprising “Signal” These 8% Dividends Give Before They Soar

Closed-end funds (CEFs) are my No. 1 income plays for a reason that goes beyond their huge dividends: We can tap these off-the-radar (for now!) funds for big price gains, too.

We do this in my CEF Insider service using a time-tested CEF tactic: Buy CEFs trading at discounts to net asset value (NAV, or the value of their portfolios), then sell them at par or, better yet, a premium.

This isn’t rocket science: We’re following the oldest investor play there is: Buy low and sell high! To do it, we’re letting the discount to NAV, a critical CEF metric, be our guide.… Read more

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The Surprising “Signal” These 8% Dividends Give Before They Soar

Closed-end funds (CEFs) are my No. 1 income plays for a reason that goes beyond their huge dividends: We can tap these off-the-radar (for now!) funds for big price gains, too.

We do this in my CEF Insider service using a time-tested CEF tactic: Buy CEFs trading at discounts to net asset value (NAV, or the value of their portfolios), then sell them at par or, better yet, a premium.

This isn’t rocket science: We’re following the oldest investor play there is: Buy low and sell high! To do it, we’re letting the discount to NAV, a critical CEF metric, be our guide.… Read more

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This Ticker Turns Nvidia Into a 9.2% Dividend Payer

Stock market rallies climb walls of worry. Well, we have no shortage of such worries today!

A few days ago, Bloomberg lamented there was “no relief in sight for bonds”. This was ironic because relief—the catalyst for the next big bond rally—is hidden in plain sight. Despite the despair, 10-year Treasury rates are still a ways off from their recent 5% highs last October:

Reality Check: Rates Still Lower Than Last Year

If they put in a “lower high”—as I’m expecting they will, thanks to a slowing economy and labor market—it will be wildly bullish for bonds (which trade inverse rates.)… Read more

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This “Apocalyptic” News Is Our Shot at Cheap 7%+ Dividends

It’s starting again—the media has its hooks into a new story to scare investors, in yet another effort to gain attention.

The upshot is that we’ve now got a very nice opportunity to pick up a special kind of closed-end fund (CEF) that yields 7%+ and does something unusual to limit downside.

This setup reminds me just a bit of 2022, when buying fear gave contrarians bargains, and historically high dividend yields, too.

The Media-Driven “Crisis” That Doesn’t Exist

Let’s start to trace out our opportunity here by first talking about the media, which I probably don’t have to tell you is more interested in getting an emotional reaction (mainly fear and worry) out of its audience more than anything else these days.… Read more

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You Can’t Spell Mania without AI: 4-Stock Play Yields 7.4%

I don’t always buy into stock bubbles. But when I do, I prefer dividend plays.

We can’t spell “mania” without AI, of course. Artificial intelligence has been the flavor of 2023. But what if—what if—the excitement around AI accelerates into 2024?

It could happen. Last week I spent half of a recent post-holiday-light-viewing dinner discussing AI with a friend. My buddy is increasingly looking to AI tools like ChatGPT and Bard to help run his services business. After all, why not—they are improving by the week and cheaper than humans. There is some steak behind the AI sizzle.

(What did we spend the other half of dinner doing?… Read more

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