My “Preferred” Path Through the Tariff Minefield (Yields Up to 10.5%)

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My “Preferred” Path Through the Tariff Minefield (Yields Up to 10.5%)

President Trump has been talking about tariffs since 1989, when he advocated for a 15% to 20% tax on imports from Japan because of unfair trade practices. This is how he describes Canada, China, Mexico and Europe today.

Trump has already imposed a 10% levy on Chinese imports. Meanwhile, Mexico and Canada have secured a 30-day reprieve from planned 25% tariffs, contingent upon their commitments to bolster border security and curb the flow of illicit drugs into the United States.

More tariffs are coming. Trump says he is willing to take the short-term pain for potential benefits.

We contrarians don’t have to grit our teeth and suffer with stocks that are suddenly tariff losers.… Read more

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Bond Bargain Alert: 3 Secure Funds Yielding 8% to 9%

Bond bargain alert! Three secure funds yielding 8% to 9% are for sale on the discount rack.

Thanks to a two-year run of rising interest rates, these bond-like investments are cheap. I don’t expect this to be the case for long, with rates ready to relax.

These hybrid vehicles are part-stock, part-bond. They prioritize yield over price gains, which is just fine for us income-focused investors.

These “preferred” stocks share some elements of common stocks (the normal shares of companies that most of us own). We buy preferreds on a stock exchange. They represent ownership in a company. And they can move higher and lower in price.… Read more

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Your Retirement Playbook: How Much You Need + 3 Big Dividends to Get There

Let’s go ahead and use the quickest, most reliable strategy I know of to kickstart a reliable 7% income stream that rolls our way every month.

My specialty is writing about stocks, bonds and closed-end funds (CEFs), but all of these are really a means to the end of achieving financial independence. What really matters is how much income you can pull out of these investments to fund your lifestyle.

The answer is a lot more than you might imagine. I’m going to show you how to pull 7% out of three funds that pay monthly and offer diversified income streams based on bonds issued by large, well-established companies (think of this portfolio as being like a big commercial bank, but one diversified across the world).… Read more

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3 Preferred Funds to Play the Powell Pause, Yields up to 9.2%

The Fed “pause” is on—and that means we’re this much closer to the first rate cut since the COVID-caused race to zero.

It’ll soon be “game on” for fixed income of all sorts. And that includes one class of stock that has been kicked deep into value territory—giving us a potential one-two punch of high income (6.9% to 9.2% yields) and a violent bounce off the bottom.

More on these sweet payouts in just a second.

A High-Yield Way to Ride Powell’s Coattails

Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell and his henchmen at the central bank recently made the call to keep the benchmark fed funds rate level—a clear acknowledgement that the economy is indeed slowing.… Read more

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How Big Do You “Prefer” Your Dividends? 7%? 8%?

Mere “common stocks” fell 18% in last year. But these preferred shares are set to do better. Especially for contrarian income seekers like us.

I’m talking about safe 7% to 8% yields. Backed by good old fashioned cash flows. With double-digit price upside, too, as these share prices bounce back after a rough run.

A quick primer if you’re new to preferred stocks. They are part stock, part bond—and all yield, as we’ll see in a minute.

Preferred stocks trade around a par value and deliver a fixed amount of regular income, just like a bond. They don’t have any voting rights, which also is like a bond.… Read more

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Time to Buy the Bottom in These 8%+ Yields?

As contrarian income seekers we buy when yields are high and prices are low. Today, we’re going to explore a three-pack of dividend funds that pays 8.5%.

This is “retire in style” income. We put a million dollars in these plays and get paid $85,000 per year. Plus, we keep our principal intact.

And wait, there’s more. The cheapest of these three funds is currently trading for just 89 cents on the dollar. Yes, that’s an 11% discount to the value of its underlying holdings.

Too good to be true? Or bottom-fishing bargain? Let’s explore my preferred dividend strategy and these three dividend machines.… Read more

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These 7%-8% Monthly Dividends Are on Sale!

One of the market’s most secure, steady sources of generous yield is going through a rare turbulent moment. But these 7% to 8% yields—paid monthly, no less!—are selling at discounted prices we only see once every five years or so.

Is it time for us contrarians to consider “backing up the truck” to load up on these monthly dividend machines?

Why “Preferred” Dividends are This Cheap

“Preferred” stocks are stock-bond hybrids that rarely make Wall Street’s highlight reels. We like it that way, because these funds pay.

These underappreciated secrets don’t usually suffer this bad, either.

You Rarely See Preferreds Get Clobbered This Bad

The reason preferreds are usually so steady is that they simply collect income.… Read more

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The Beautiful, Boring Secret to Landing 7% Dividends

As Wall Street loses its mind over a long bond that pays a lousy 1%, we level-headed income investors are going to stay calm. And 7.7% on.

Yes, we “prefer” (hint, hint) dividends that are 7X the weak 1% yield the wonks are clamoring about. I’ll get to the specifics on these retirement makers—which we can buy as easily as common stocks—in a moment. First, let’s appreciate their dividend grandeur.

The Fed is content to sit on a near-zero benchmark rate until at least next year if not 2023. Compounding the problem is that yields on traditional blue chips, while always insufficient, are a downright mockery right now—the 1.55% current yield on the S&P 500 is its lowest point in 15 years.… Read more

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3 Pullback-Proof “Preferred” Payouts Averaging 7.4%

Is this a quick (buyable) blip? Or the next bear market?

While the Wall Street suits guess away, we can do better than the buy and hope crowd. After all, why hope when we can secure our retirement with sustainable cash flows? I’m talking about yields of 6%, 7% or even 8% or more that barely blink when the markets melt down.

These investments are easy to buy. In fact, we purchase them just as we would a mere “common” stock. But here, we’re looking past the obvious to purchase these preferred payouts (yielding 7.4% on average, we’ll talk tickers in a moment).… Read more

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This “Dividend Inflator” Turns a 5.6% Payout Into 7.1%+

Preferred stocks are hands-down the most ignored investments in this crisis. That’s too bad, because they’re one of the best ways to get a high, safe income stream. And you can supercharge their dividends by purchasing these “dividend unicorns” through preferred-stock closed-end funds.

Before I go further, let me say that if the term “preferred shares” has your eyes glazing over, I get it: most people feel these investments are too obscure to bother with. But stick with me, because preferreds are actually perfectly suited to today’s contradictory economy, with its high numbers of bankruptcies and a rising stock market.… Read more

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