How a “Boring” Bond Fund Crushed the NASDAQ, Paid a Massive 17% Yield

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How a “Boring” Bond Fund Crushed the NASDAQ, Paid a Massive 17% Yield

Closed-end funds (CEFs) are incredible wealth generators, combining huge (8%+, in many cases) dividends, with the potential for stock-like price gains.

But to make the most of them, you need to look at one essential indicator: the discount to net asset value (NAV, or the value of the fund’s underlying portfolio).

We don’t have to go too far into the weeds here: it’s just another way of saying that CEFs can, and often do, trade for less than their portfolios are actually worth.

That makes our approach straightforward: Buy when a CEF trades at an unusually deep discount—then ride along as that discount dissipates, driving the price higher as it does.… Read more

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7 Life-Changing Dividends Up to 18%

A safe double-digit yield makes it a lot easier to retire. Today we’ll discuss a portfolio that pays 14.1% (that’s no typo).

The math on 14.1% looks awesome. This yield generates $14,100 on a $100K every year. Or $141,000 on a million dollar portfolio.

Contrast this with “the market”—$1 million plunked into the S&P 500 would only net you $14,000 a year, which is actually below the federal poverty level!

And if you have even less to work with, well, you understand what I’m getting at.

Most importantly, if you manage to find these mega-yielders, you can finance your retirement on dividends alone.… Read more

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3 Ways to Buy Stocks (and Bonds) for Up to 37% Off

Today I want to show you three funds that are highly unusual in a way that matters a lot to many folks: all three are free from a management-fee perspective.

In fact, these three funds—closed-end funds (CEFs), to be precise—are more than free: they have negative management costs!

What do I mean? Well, usually index funds sell themselves on being cheap. Fees on the Vanguard S&P 500 ETF (VOO), for example, are just 0.03%, or $300 in annual fees for every $1 million invested, in other words.

There are even funds out there that cost nothing, like the Fidelity ZERO Total Market Index Fund (FZROX), which has no expenses at all.… Read more

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Did You Miss the Rally? 5 Still-Cheap Dividends Up to 12.3%

Mr. and Ms. Market are manic. Always have been, always will be. My fellow contrarian, they reminded us of this fact yet again.

Fortunately we were zigging while the broader crowd was zagging.

The herd’s “FOMO panic” last week pushed many of our stocks higher. Vanilla investors covered their ill-timed short positions and scrambled to buy bargains. Like the dividend deals we bought in October!

Did you miss out? Have cash suddenly burning a hole in your pocket? If so, no worries, a few select dividend deals remain.

I’m talking about yields up to 12.3% and discounts up to—get this—46%.… Read more

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Thanks, Fed: The Cheapest 11% Dividend on Planet Earth

Vanilla energy bulls stare at XLE. So basic.

Meanwhile, we “second-level” contrarians consider NRGX as a high-yield play on higher oil prices.

What’s the difference? Well, PIMCO Energy & Tactical Credit (NRGX) yields 6.1% while first-level favorite Energy Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLE) yields 4%.

So we bank 50% more dividend when we look past the popular ETF for a little-known CEF (closed-end fund).

But wait, there’s more. XLE always sells for fair value. It holds blue-chip producers like Exxon Mobil (XOM) and Chevron (CVX). Fair enough. But we’re paying $1 for a dollar in assets.

That’s OK.… Read more

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The Cheapest 8.8% Dividend on the Planet

The Bank of England has recently aroused financial animal spirits with its on and off and on again buying of long-dated bonds. Which has this 8.8% payer—and more like it—ready to rally like crazy.

But wait, isn’t this a bear market? Brett, the financial media is telling me that interest rates are going to the moon. And that my cheap bonds are about to get even cheaper.  

They don’t call us contrarians for nothing! It’s our job, as original thinkers, to identify inflection points in the market. And we have one that is setting up for a big bond bounce.… Read more

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3 Selloff Buys Paying 13.5% (With Big Price Upside in 2023 and Beyond)

These three little-known funds yield up to 13.5%—and their payouts are actually safer than they’ve been in years, thanks to the Fed-induced selloff.

Now is the time to buy them. Patient investors who do so will be nicely set up for annualized returns north of 14% in the long run, with most of that gain in dividend cash!

These three timely buys—all closed-end funds (CEFs)—are winners now because they let us buy stocks (and real estate, in the case of one of the funds we’ll discuss below) at a rare double discount: one discount on the CEF itself and another because investors have oversold many of the investments these funds hold.… Read more

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4 Cheap (for now) Dividends Yielding Up to 9.8%

One thing we love about closed-end funds (beyond the dividends: many CEFs yield 7%+ today) is the big discounts to net asset value, or NAV, that these funds hand us.

These discounts only exist with CEFs. Here’s why: CEFs typically can’t issue new shares to new investors after their IPOs, so their shares get bid up and down on the market, independent of how much their portfolios are actually worth.

These discounts can get quite wide—sometimes 20% and higher. At that kind of a discount, we’re essentially paying 78 cents for every dollar of assets the fund holds!

Our plan, then, is simple: buy when we get an unusual discount like that and then ride along as it vanishes.… Read more

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3 “Perfect for 2022” Dividends Paying 8.2% (And Selling for 20% Off)

I shudder when folks tell me their portfolios can’t give them a decent income stream. Because I know there’s an easy way for them to get safe 8%+ payouts—and everyone misses it.

Let’s be honest. When it comes to investing, most people limit themselves to the blue chip stocks of the S&P 500. The problem? These stocks pay a miserly 1.2% average yield. So you’re getting a measly $1,200 in yearly dividend income for every $100K invested!

No one is retiring on that—unless they have a couple million bucks lying around.

But there is another way. It’s a potent income generator I’ve been specializing in for more than a decade—and sharing with investors through my CEF Insider service.… Read more

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Are These High-Yield CEF Deals Too Good to Be True?

If your dividend portfolio is like that of most investors I know, you’re probably getting paid quarterly. That’s too slow, especially for dividend payments that are most likely too low.

Why not up that frequency to a monthly payout, and increase the total yield while we’re at it?

The secret to monthly payouts that add up to 9.1%, 9.4% and even 10.8% yields per year is a simple three-letter acronym: C-E-F.

For whatever reason, closed-end funds (CEFs) don’t have nearly the following that popular dividend-paying stocks boast. This “secret” is one of the last great efficiencies in an otherwise tough-to-beat market.… Read more

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