This Understated BlackRock Move Drove a Fast 12% Gain (More on the Way)

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This Understated BlackRock Move Drove a Fast 12% Gain (More on the Way)

One often-overlooked way for closed-end funds (CEFs) to give us a profit boost is for management to buy back a fund’s shares.

By now, buybacks are probably familiar to most investors: With “regular” stocks, buybacks reduce a company’s share count, which boosts earnings per share and other per-share metrics, indirectly boosting share prices.

With CEFs, buybacks have a bit of a different effect. With these high-yielding funds, we want to focus instead on how buybacks affect the discount to net asset value (NAV, or the value of a CEF’s underlying portfolio).

Buybacks, Fixed Share Counts Help Management “Control” CEF Discounts

Members of my CEF Insider service know that we love discounts to NAV because they’re the primary indicator of CEF value.… Read more

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This Huge Tech Dividend Is 16% Off (But Is It a Buy?)

Every now and then here at Contrarian Outlook, we have a “big-dividend shootout”—we pit two big payers against each other and see which one wins out.

It’s a great way for us to accomplish two things as investors: 1) Grab the safest high dividends with the most upside, and 2) Sharpen our portfolio-building skills.

My beat is closed-end funds (CEFs), which are known for huge (and often monthly paid) dividends. These actively managed funds are a bit of a unique challenge to analyze because they each hold a lot of assets—often numbering in the hundreds.

Luckily there are a few indicators we can use to single out the best ones.… Read more

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This Huge “Dividend Shift” Dropped May 3 (You Can Still Get In)

A couple weeks ago, on May 3, BlackRock, the world’s largest investment firm, did something that will send a shockwave through our favorite high-yield investments: closed-end funds (CEFs).

The result is likely to be higher prices for CEF investors in the future—and even steadier dividends, too. Most folks missed this change, but it’s only a matter of time until it makes itself known. We’re already seeing it kick in with some of these high-paying funds.

Before we go further, let’s be clear on what we’re talking about: The $400-billion universe of CEFs currently yields an eye-popping 8.2% on average.

How is that possible?… Read more

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Boom or Bubble? With Up To 13% Yields, I Don’t Care!

AI bubble? Bear market rally? I don’t care because I see five dividends between 10.1% and 13.5%.

Now that’s rarified air for yields! A benefit of a manic market such as this, where we have fear alongside insanity at the same time.

The five double-digit dividends we’re about to discuss aren’t tied to individual stocks, either. These payouts are dished by diversified funds with dozens or hundreds of holdings. All have experienced managers at the helm.

They just happen to be cheap because CEFland is still on sale after a rough run in 2022. Which is where we contrarians pick up the case.… Read more

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Colossal Cash Machines: 5 CEF Yields of 10% or More

Bull or bear? Who cares when we can collect dividends between 10.1% and 11.8%.

That’s not a typo. The S&P 500 pays 1.7%. The 10-year Treasury yields two points more at 3.7%.

That’s better—but it ain’t 11.8%!

The same million-dollar retirement portfolio can either generate $17,000, $37,000 or $118,000 per year. Tough choice!

And better yet, the double-digit dividends I mentioned aren’t penny stocks. We’re talking about diversified funds, with dozens of holdings, managed by skilled advisors that often have decades of experience at the helm.

How Do You Spell “Massive Income”? C-E-F.

A couple of weeks ago, we discussed CEFs versus ETFs:

“If I can give you just one piece of advice to start 2023, it’s this: do not trust your dividend income to ETFs!”

… Read more

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Colossal Cash Machines: 5 CEF Yields of 10% or More

Bull or bear? Who cares when we can collect dividends between 10.1% and 11.8%.

That’s not a typo. The S&P 500 pays 1.7%. The 10-year Treasury yields two points more at 3.7%.

That’s better—but it ain’t 11.8%!

The same million-dollar retirement portfolio can either generate $17,000, $37,000 or $118,000 per year. Tough choice!

And better yet, the double-digit dividends I mentioned aren’t penny stocks. We’re talking about diversified funds, with dozens of holdings, managed by skilled advisors that often have decades of experience at the helm.

How Do You Spell “Massive Income”? C-E-F.

A couple of weeks ago, we discussed CEFs versus ETFs:

“If I can give you just one piece of advice to start 2023, it’s this: do not trust your dividend income to ETFs!”

… Read more

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This “Double-Discounted” 11.8% Dividend Has a Big Edge in 2023

There are three big overlooked trends in the stock market now, and by tapping each one, we can set ourselves up for some very nice long-term gains in my favorite high-yield vehicles: closed-end funds (CEFs).

The 11.8%-yielding CEF we’ll discuss further on, the BlackRock Innovation & Growth Trust (BIGZ), is a prime example of a CEF with loads of upside potential now. I’ve also got a collection of buys yielding up to 9.6% on average (with many paying dividends monthly) waiting for you in the portfolio of my CEF Insider service.

Inside 2023’s “Double Discount” on CEFs

CEFs’ high dividends are one reason why we favor these funds.… Read more

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An 11%+ Dividend Plan Your Adviser Won’t Tell You About

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

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How to Collect $132,000 in Dividends on a Million Dollars

While vanilla investors worry along with the herd, we contrarians are buying. And oh, the yields we have available!

As I write to you today, I’m staring at no less than 29 income funds that yield more than 8%. Twenty-nine paying more than eight!

For retirees with a million-dollar portfolio, this is $80,000 per year in dividend income. Actually, more, because some of these funds pay up to 13%.

Why would we sell when this is the best time to buy in years? I explained this while yapping with Moe Ansari on his Market Wrap program. Moe asked me: “We hear all the ‘Doom and Gloomers’ out there.… Read more

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These 3 Funds Could Hand You $5,000 a Month in Dividend Cash

One nice thing—and probably the only nice thing—about the 2022 market selloff is that it’s given us dividend investors an opportunity to grab 10% yields we can count on for the long haul.

They come to us from closed-end funds (CEFs), a (too) long-neglected asset class that, frankly, is looking better and better every day for those looking to retire on dividends alone—and frankly we all should be.

I do want to emphasize the long haul here, though, because at this stage of the market correction, you can put some money to work effectively, either by picking up individual funds here and there or by dollar-cost averaging (DCA) to build up your income stream (and portfolio) at a reasonable price.… Read more

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