Utilities Aren’t Boring with Yields up to 11%

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Vanilla investors are freaking out that Jerome Powell & Co. won’t cut rates right away.

Who cares if we’re buying safe yields up to 11.0% like the three we’re about to highlight. This trio is positioned to benefit from an upcoming bull run in utility stocks:

“To be sure, long rates might hover around these levels for a bit. But the Fed’s rate hikes will eventually add up, and the much-talked-about recession will arrive. That will result in lower interest rates, both on the ‘short’ end (controlled by the Fed) and the ‘long’ (determined by the 10-year Treasury rate). As rates fall, the prices of bonds and ‘bond proxies,’ like utilities, will pop.”

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Few folks know it,  but there’s a comically ignored indicator that regularly hands out safe 8%+ dividends—plus payouts that surge double-digits.

I’m talking about insider buying.

When it comes to the buys and sells of the folks in corporate C-suites, Peter Lynch said it best: “Insiders may sell their shares for any number of reasons, but they buy them for only one: the think the price will rise.”

Far be it for me to “edit” Lynch, but I’d add one more thing: these ballers also think the dividend is safe.

Think about it for a second: dividend safety is priority No.… Read more

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The Federal Reserve is finally beginning to admit that it’s here and, at the moment, it’s spectacular. Chairman Jay Powell is still sticking with his “it’s only transitory” story, at least for now. Mr. and Ms. Market were spooked for a moment, until they remembered that money printing flows directly into the stock market.

So, we dividend investors continue our hunt for safe, meaningful yields amidst this mania-of-sorts that has enveloped everything from tech to lumber to crypto to big tech again. We’ll discuss five safe utility dividends—paying up to 9.9%!—in a moment.

First, let’s review the agency’s acclaimed “dot plot” which showed not only that the central bank was now expecting rate hikes by 2023, but that we’d get a pair of them.… Read more

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What the heck would a jump in inflation mean for our dividends? I’m getting that question from readers a lot these days, so today we’re going to take a closer look.

Then we’ll dive into three sectors—and three dividend payers (including one yielding an eye-popping 10%)—you’ll want to put on your radar now.

All three of these stocks boast high yields and/or strong dividend growth, plus big upside potential. Taken together, I expect their total returns to easily outrun any rise in inflation—and interest rates—we’ll likely see.

Money Printer Revs Up

The argument that we’re heading for a jump in inflation is pretty clear—a few days back, we saw the consumer price index (CPI), the go-to measure of inflation, pop 2.6% in March from a year ago, way more than expected.… Read more

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Most people don’t realize it, but there are 500 funds out there paying massive dividends: I’m talking rich 7% payouts on average.

That’s five times more than index funds pay! And many of these 500 criminally overlooked funds clobber their benchmarks, too.

I’m talking about closed-end funds (CEFs), which are run by real human beings, not algorithms. And despite what most advisors will tell you, the stock-pickers running CEFs beat the market on the regular.

To see what I mean, consider two CEFs: the  Duff & Phelps Utility & Infrastructure Fund (DPG), which holds utility stocks  like NextEra Energy (NEE) and Dominion Energy (D), and the Tekla Healthcare Opportunities Fund (THQ), holder of major drug firms like Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) and Abbott Laboratories (ABT).Read more

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What’s does 2020 hold for your utility stocks (and closed-end funds)? Will these steady income plays hand us another round of big gains and dividends? Or is there trouble ahead?

These are reasonable questions to ask after these “boring” stocks poured on a huge—and rather “un-utility-like”—26% total return last year:

Utilities or Exploding Small Caps? Tough to Tell.

Let’s dive into three critical factors that will tell the tale for utilities in 2020. And because it’s the season for forecasts, I’ll throw in my verdict on the sector for the coming year, too, and name five utility closed-end funds (CEFs) paying huge dividends of 6.3%… Read more

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I run into a lot of investors who think retirement investing is a two-act play.

In Act 1, when you’re younger, you try to balloon your nest egg with high-risk growth stocks that pay little (and often no) dividends.

Then, in Act 2, as you near—and enter—retirement, you pivot to the big dividends you need to pay your bills.

Trouble is, this approach exposes you to far too much risk, so today I’m going to show you a better way.

Your Best Play: Big Dividends and Growth—Right Now

I’m talking about 10 funds that can hand you dividends up to 9.8% right now, plus annual returns of 10% or more.… Read more

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It’s easy to see why investors love utilities:

  1. Low volatility
  2. High yields

But there’s a problem: recent scares like the inverted yield curve mean some utilities, and utility funds, have gotten ahead of themselves and are more prone to a pullback than most folks think. (The three 7%+-yielding closed-end funds (CEFs) I’ll show you shortly top this “overpriced” list.)

The worst part is, many people think utilities are underbought, because the benchmark Utilities Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLU) is up 8.3% year-to-date, half the 16% gain of the SPDR S&P 500 ETF (SPY).

But that’s recency bias. Stretch the timeline to 12 months and things look very different:

Utilities Get Pricey

Interest-Rate Pause Should Boost Utilities.Read more

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The “yield curve” has inverted—and that could be terrible news for your dividends!

But don’t worry: there’s a “pullback-proof” way to keep your income and your nest egg secure—no matter if there’s stock-market fire behind all this yield-curve smoke.

Below I’ll reveal three stocks perfectly positioned for whatever lies ahead: if the market tanks, they’ll likely trade flat, thanks to their cheap valuations (and sturdy dividends).

And if it all turns out to be hype and the market keeps rolling higher? They’re poised to skyrocket while handing you a 7.1% average payout (with one of these stealth buys even throwing off an amazing 9.3% yield!).… Read more

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You’ve no doubt seen tons of articles splashed across the Web (over)hyping the hottest investing trends to jump on now. But which promising technologies can we actually tap for payouts and dividends (preferably today)?

The “mainstream” list is endless: cryptocurrencies, marijuana stocks—even gene editing (where the white coats actually alter DNA to wipe out diseases like cystic fibrosis).

I hope you’re not taking the bait, because gambling on shaky themes like these can put a huge dent in your nest egg. Check out the stomach-churning ride pot stock Aurora Cannabis (ACBFF) has been on this year:

Aurora’s Bad Trip

That nasty fall even includes a 19% gain last week after Constellation Brands (STZ) invested $5 billion in Canopy Growth (CGC), the biggest marijuana stock by market cap.… Read more

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