Bond God’s Bond Warning: Should We Dump All Junk?

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Bond God’s Bond Warning: Should We Dump All Junk?

Brilliant bond manager Jeffrey Gundlach—aka the “bond god”—has decreed that it’s time to sell “junk” bonds. And he’s gone as far as to say that one-third of corporate bonds should probably be rated as junk.

Gundlach is one of the few “gurus” that we pay attention to. He called the subprime mortgage crisis ahead of time in 2007, an epic rally in US Treasuries earlier this decade, and President Trump’s election in early 2016 (when few gave the Republican candidate a chance.)

And his two closed-end funds (CEFs) are excellent long-term additions to a retirement portfolio. Over the last six years his two DoubleLine funds have roared to 72% and 54% total returns (with the majority of these gains coming as cash dividends:)

DoubleLine CEF’s Deliver: Distributions Plus Gains

But no guru is perfectly clairvoyant!… Read more

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Dividend Portfolio FAQs: Your Questions, My Answers

A big thank you to the 1,186 subscribers who attended our Contrarian Income Report webcast! As we discussed in the session, I did my best to address presubmitted questions during the session.

More questions came in during the live webcast. I love the enthusiasm. Let’s use our time together today to chat about your shared thoughts, curiosities and concerns.

Q: What do you think about trailing stops (with percentages)?

Q: Do you recommend trailing stops, or should we just wait for you to tell us when to sell?

Q: Would a 10% trailing stop work for your picks?

Q: How did these holdings perform during a bear market?… Read more

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Dividend Portfolio FAQs: Your Questions, My Answers

A big thank you to the 1,186 subscribers who attended our Contrarian Income Report webcast! As we discussed in the session, I did my best to address presubmitted questions during the session.

More questions came in during the live webcast. I love the enthusiasm. Let’s use our time together today to chat about your shared thoughts, curiosities and concerns.

Q: What do you think about trailing stops (with percentages)?

Q: Do you recommend trailing stops, or should we just wait for you to tell us when to sell?

Q: Would a 10% trailing stop work for your picks?

Q: How did these holdings perform during a bear market?… Read more

Read More

Dividend Portfolio FAQs: Your Questions, My Answers

A big thank you to the 1,186 subscribers who attended our Contrarian Income Report webcast! As we discussed in the session, I did my best to address presubmitted questions during the session.

More questions came in during the live webcast. I love the enthusiasm. Let’s use our time together today to chat about your shared thoughts, curiosities and concerns.

Q: What do you think about trailing stops (with percentages)?

Q: Do you recommend trailing stops, or should we just wait for you to tell us when to sell?

Q: Would a 10% trailing stop work for your picks?

Q: How did these holdings perform during a bear market?… Read more

Read More

Our Favorite CEF’s NAV Just Dropped: Buy, Hold, or Sell?

“There it is – Freddo’s Ice Cream. It should be right next door,” I half-heartedly explained to my wife.

And with feigned confidence, I added, “I’ll be right back.”

I crossed the street once, then again… and walked up toward this monolith:

I didn’t see a teller window, so I walked around into the ice cream shop. Maybe that was the entrance.

Nope, just a wall. So I circled back, and the door on the left “buzzed” at me. I tried to pull it open—to no avail.

It buzzed again. I tried pushing this time, and it opened. Inside there were two teller windows, both guarded by bulletproof glass.… Read more

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The Perfect Income Portfolio: Take Your 2% Dividends Up to 8%

If this were any “normal” time, we’d be able to buy safe bonds and collect enough income on our nest egg to fund our retirements. Unfortunately, this is the “new normal” where the Fed is not the friend of us current and hopeful retirees!

Jay Powell is afraid for his job, which means he’s going to cut rates and keep them low for a long time. This means we must look beyond traditional bonds for meaningful income.

What about blue chip dividend-paying stocks? Well, an 11-year stock market rally has ruined that idea. Anyone putting new money in a pricey dividend aristocrat is “buying and hoping” that the stock continues to levitate while the firm dishes its dividend.… Read more

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I Love CEFs – But I Hate These 212 Loser Funds

Closed-end funds (CEFs) are increasingly becoming favorites of retirees looking for income. And why not? Many pay 5%, 6% and even 7% or more today. In a world where stocks yield 2% and bonds just 3% or so, the extra dividends can be the key to a comfortable retirement.

The “closed” in CEF technically means that the fund’s pool of shares is fixed. Which is why these vehicles can have wild price swings above and below the values of their actual assets. (Good for us contrarian income seekers – we can buy below fair value to maximize our yields and upside.)

They are also closed in their actual communications with the financial world.… Read more

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How to Turn A 6.9% Yield into a 16% Annual Dividend

A crazy stock market is perfect for covered call writers. When volatility is high, so are option premiums, which means this popular income strategy should be a profitable one throughout 2019.

New to covered calls? Here’s how they work:

  1. You buy at least 100 shares of a stock or fund. You now own these outright. (Why 100? Because one covered call contract covers 100 shares of underlying stock.)
  2. You then sell (“write”) covered calls at a price around or above the stock’s current price for additional income. In doing so, you are agreeing to sell the stock at that price – the “strike” – in exchange for money today.

… Read more

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These 1-Click “Dividend Machines” Yield 8.8% with 56% Upside

Certain closed-end fund (CEF) investors are getting a little desperate for dividends. It’s tough to blame them for reaching for 5%, 6% and even 7%+ yields in a 2% to 3% world.

But by grossly overpaying for funds, they are risking too much capital to bank these payouts. If you own any of the five popular funds I’m about to call out, you should consider selling them immediately.

(There are bargain replacements, after all. I’m talking about funds trading as cheap as $0.88 on the dollar and yielding 7.2%. We’ll discuss specifics in a moment.)

“First-level” income seekers can be greedy one minute and fearful the next.… Read more

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How to Buy Rate-Proof and Crash-Proof 8%+ Bonds

If you take the mainstream financial media at face value, you might be under the impression that all high yield bonds are in big trouble with interest rates on the move.

Wrong.

The best bond portfolios haven’t actually budged since the recent market insanity began. Take, for example, our favorite PIMCO play. Its net asset value (NAV, the actual market value of its holdings) held steady while the stock market was dropping sharply:

What Crash? This NAV is Steady

The fund’s price, meanwhile, eased down 2.2% from peak to trough. But we shouldn’t confuse price with value – we should focus on the latter, which is a more accurate measure for investing profits.…
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