This “Earnings Disconnect” Could Hand You 10.9% Dividends (with upside)

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Markets have freaked out over the coronavirus—but there’s good reason to believe they have overreacted—I gave you a few of these reasons in my March 19 article.

There’s another reason we need to talk about today: corporate earnings.

While it’s true that earnings expectations have fallen since the outbreak began, they haven’t fallen as much as you’d think. At the start of the quarter, analysts expected 4.4% earnings growth from S&P 500 companies. Now they’re expecting a 0.1% earnings decline.

That’s basically flat, and it’s better than the earnings declines we saw at the start of 2019, when stocks were rallying, so this news shouldn’t scare investors away.… 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 a proven way to get in on a closed-end fund (CEF) before its next huge surge: watch for the managers to buy shares of the fund with their own cash—then dive in right alongside them.

I’m telling you this now because one of the smartest minds on Wall Street just dumped a pile of his own money—$2.6 million, to be precise—into one of the funds he personally manages.

Such a brazen move by an insider is one of my favorite buy signals. Today I’m going to reveal both the investor and the 9.6%-yielding fund he just snapped up. Of course, we’ll also cover the many reasons why you should seriously consider copying his canny move now.… Read more

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Since launching my CEF Insider service in early 2017the picks I’ve given subscribers have outperformed the broader CEF market—even through the recent market volatility that’s caused just about everything to go down.

The key to this performance is a process of analysis and selection that is both complicated and straightforward. I have a checklist of 52 points I go through to choose the right fund. I apply these one by one, first using some of the broader points to screen funds, then zooming in closer, using more complex analysis to bring you my very best buys.

While it’d take a long time to go through that entire checklist, I want to share with you a five-point system that I use as a springboard for picking winning CEFs for CEF Insider.… Read more

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If you’re still fearful about stocks as we pick up the pieces from the market’s grim October, let me ease your mind with one chart:

Stocks Still a Long-Term Winner

As you can see, that’s the market’s return over the last 10 years. As you can also see, stocks have returned nearly 2.5 times a person’s original investment in just a decade! Few other investments can make that claim.

The real problem? Income.

The average S&P 500 stock pays a lousy 1.9%, but let’s say you need 8% of your portfolio in monthly income to pay your bills in retirement. If you buy the popular SPDR S&P 500 ETF (SPY) and withdraw 8% monthly, you’ll be forced to sell in a falling market like the one we’ve seen.… Read more

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Readers often ask me how to build a portfolio that holds its own in down times but hands them more income than the measly 2.6% long-term US Treasuries pay.

So today I’ll show you how to do that. With the 4 bargain-priced closed-end funds (CEFs) I’ll show you below, which also boast strong track records and high income streams, you can keep the dividends flowing, regardless of the market’s tantrums.

An added plus? Your nest egg will be spread across asset classes, giving you extra protection.

Buy No. 1: A Buffett-Friendly CEF With Big Upside

With a long-term average total return of around 8.5% per year, US stocks need to be at the heart of any income portfolio.… Read more

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If you’re like most folks, you’re so used to collecting dividends quarterly that it may not have occurred to you that your portfolio can pay you every month.

But it’s true, thanks to a small set of stocks that delivers cash payouts month in and month out like clockwork (I’ll reveal 3 with especially juicy dividend yields—up to 6.8%—below).

Monthly Checks You Don’t Have to Work For

If you’re a retiree, this may take you back to your workdays—when your paycheck rolled in at the same time as your monthly bills. Subtract one from the other and voila: you knew exactly how much disposable income you had.… Read more

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With over 500 closed-end funds (CEFs) on the market, how do you choose the best one?

It’s not an easy question to answer, because there are literally dozens of metrics any CEF investor should look at before buying.

But you don’t have to worry, because in a moment, you’re going to get the “guts” of the 5-point system I’ve carefully designed to pick winning CEFs for our CEF Insider service.

So why is it important to have a good system?

Because if you don’t, you could find yourself holding an empty bag—like investors who bought the Virtus Total Return Fund (ZF) at the start of the year because they were seduced by its 15.3% dividend yield.…
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If you make just one New Year’s resolution this year, make it this: buy monthly dividend stocks. Today I’m going to give you 3 that should be at the top of your list.

The benefits of monthly payouts go way beyond the convenience of getting paid every month, just as our bills show up (although that’s a great bonus that can save you a lot of time watching your cash flow in retirement).

There are a couple other overlooked benefits monthly payers give you:

  • They’re a sign of dividend safety: Smart C-suite types know that a dividend is a promise to investors, and they wouldn’t commit to sending one out every month if they weren’t serious about keeping—or raising—the payout.


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