5 Floating-Rate Funds Paying Up to 11.7% at Big Discounts

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5 Floating-Rate Funds Paying Up to 11.7% at Big Discounts

What’s up with floating-rate funds? Why haven’t they all, well, floated higher in price as interest rates have risen over the past couple of years?

Is there any hope that they’ll finally float?

Today we’ll discuss five such funds—underperforming yet now cheap because of it—yielding up to 11.7%. Can they live up to their billing? We contrarians want to know because they are trading at large discounts to their net asset values (NAVs).

First, a primer on floaters. Floating-rate securities such as bank loans have variable coupons (interest payments) that are recalculated regularly—often quarterly, sometimes monthly—to reflect changes in short-term interest rates.… Read more

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The Safest Bond Fund for 2022: My Mattress

We’ve been extolling cash in these pages since the start of this year. As the Federal Reserve prepared to pause its money printer, we contrarians booked profits and stacked dollar bills.

Long before the media began saying “bear market,” we recognized that a volatile 2022 was highly likely. We were ready for a decline.

As I write, our premium portfolios are all sitting on sizeable cash positions:

Yup. Plenty of capital ready to be deployed after the final “wash out” in the markets.

These comfortable cash seats have served us well. Bonds kicked off their worst start to a year since 1788 (per Nasdaq).… Read more

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Why Are Floating-Rate Bonds Sinking as Rates Rise?

Floating-rate bonds are supposed to be sailing right now.

So why are they sinking?

Last week we lamented the reason most bond funds are down this year. The runaway long rate is to blame.

Ten-year Treasury bonds began the year yielding 1.5%. Now, they pay 2.4%, a whopping 60% more in a quarter!

Nobody wants the 1.5% vintage when they can “level up” to 2.4%. So the old 1.5% bonds, while still paying their coupons, lose value.

So do funds that own Treasuries. The iShares 20+ Year Treasury Bond ETF (TLT), one of the most popular bond tickers on the planet, is down 10% year-to-date.… Read more

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These 560 Investments Pay 6%+ Dividends (with 79% Payout Growth)

Return to the office? Heck, we income investors don’t need to return to work—period.

We can turn our nest egg into a cash flow machine, with big dividends to cover our monthly expenses. I’m talking about retiring on dividends alone.

Yes, we’re three buys away from kicking back, collecting payouts and watching our portfolios continue to tick higher. Best of all these dividends have upside, which will power our nest egg to new highs. They serve as the “payout magnets” that pull our investments higher with each dividend raise.

Most importantly, this “three-click” portfolio is well diversified, with 560 different income investments.… Read more

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The Best CEFs for Rising Interest Rates

Thank you to our 1,578 Contrarian Income Report subscribers who attended our Q1 webcast last week! We received 114 questions during our one-hour call, plus several dozen more beforehand. Amazing.

Thank you for the thoughtful questions. I’ve read each and every one. Let’s chat about popular closed-end fund (CEF) topics today. (Next week, we’ll circle back with your equity-focused dividend questions.)

Q: Brett, what are your thoughts about Calamos Convertible Funds (such as CCD, CHI and CHY), which are currently yielding about 8%? Thank you.

Convertible bonds are a big beneficiary of Jay Powell’s money printing activity. Convertibles pay regular interest.… Read more

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Floating Rate Bonds: The Retirement Play for 2021?

My friends and I couldn’t have been more excited about our college commencement speaker. Fresh off an electrifying cameo in the 2003 comedy movie Old School, James Carville’s next act was Cornell University.

At 21 years old, we had no idea what Carville actually did for a living. (Answer: Political consultant.) And though he was an engaging and entertaining speaker, I don’t remember a single word the “Ragin’ Cajun” said. Too bad, because he has had some major wisdom to impart.

Ten years earlier, Carville made an observation that is more prescient now than ever. After watching bond investors rebuff President Clinton’s economic stimulus proposals because they demanded a higher interest rate for US Treasuries, Carville coined this gem:

“I used to think that if there was reincarnation, I wanted to come back as a president or the pope or as a .400 baseball hitter.

… Read more

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You’ll Never Guess: These 6%+ Yields Could Return 20%, Fast

The last time we had this Fed setup, these safe 6%+ paying bonds jumped 20% in the year ahead!

The setup? The likelihood that short-term interest rates (as set by the Federal Reserve) will go nowhere over the next 12 months. To see this we’ll turn to the Fed funds futures, which are contracts that reflect real money being bet on the Fed’s upcoming action (or lack thereof). Collectively they comprise the smartest crystal ball available this side of Jay Powell.

Right now, the smart money is giving “no hike” a 75% probability between now and January 2020. And when we add in the bets on a rate cut or two, we’re looking at a 92% chance that rates will either be unchanged or lower this time next year:

Smart Money Bets 75% “No Hike” for 12 Months

This is bullish for – you’ll never guess – floating rate bond funds.… Read more

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The Tax Plan Tees Up 20%+ Yearly Gains From REITs, Forever

The IRS already allows REITs (real estate investment trusts) to avoid paying income taxes if they pay out most of their earnings to shareholders. As a result these firms tend to collect rent checks, pay their bills and send most of the rest of the cash to us as dividends.

But the IRS considers the dividends you and I receive from our REITs “nonqualified” dividends. This means they are taxed at our regular income rate.

Until now, that is. REIT investors will benefit from the tax breaks that “pass through” businesses will receive in the 2018 tax code. Investors will be allowed deduct 20% of their REIT dividend income (per U.S.… Read more

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9 “Rising Rate” Buys for Big Gains and Cash Payouts Up to 9.6%

The overheating yield on the 10-Year Treasury note has investors scrambling for interest-rate (and inflation) insurance.

So today I’m going to give you 4 proven strategies—and 9 terrific investments—that will give you just that. Plus we’ll grab massive dividend yields (up to 9.6%!) and upside too.

More on all of this shortly. First, we need to talk about the one move you don’t want to make right now.

The Worst Mistake You Can Make When Rates Climb

When rates rise, folks holding long-duration bonds take a double hit, because their bonds drop in value as newer, higher-yielding ones come on the market—causing them to miss out on a shot at a bigger income stream, too!…
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