I SPY a Laggard: 5 Divvies Up to 9.2% to Buy Instead

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I SPY a Laggard: 5 Divvies Up to 9.2% to Buy Instead

Be honest. I won’t be mad, but just admit it.

You’ve got some SPY in your portfolio. So much in fact you’re probably trying to quickly change the subject from the SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (SPY).

I’m not mad. (I’m just disappointed—ha!) We refer to SPY as “America’s ticker for a reason.” It is everywhere.

And it’s OK. Really it is. Holding SPY has worked out this year. But we’re now at an inflection point—which is why we are having this conversation.

Only three stocks account for 21% of the S&P 500. Apple (AAPL), Nvidia (NVDA) and Microsoft (MSFT) determine the entire market’s moves!… Read more

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The “Electrify Everything” Trend Is Real: These Dividends Will Win Big

The media hype machine is in overdrive, pushing utility stocks as a savvy way to play AI’s growth. You’ve no doubt seen these headlines (or some of the hundreds of others like them):

  • “The Unlikely Stocks That Became a Hot Bet on AI” –The Wall Street Journal
  • “AI Could Drive a Natural Gas Boom as Power Companies Face Surging Electricity Demand” –CNBC
  • “Utility Stocks Could Be Headed for a Decade of Strong Growth, Driven by Data, AI” –Barron’s

Before we go further, let me say right off the hop that we contrarians never chase headlines—we’re always looking to buy value first and foremost—high-yielding stocks that are washed out, in other words.… Read more

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This 8.1% Monthly Dividend Pays Us While We Sleep

When it comes right down to it, there are really only two ways to get rich:

  • Through your investments.
  • Through your labor.

Let me be clear that we aren’t fans of Option 2. A J-O-B? No thanks! We’re retired—or on our way to it.

Don’t worry. Your income strategist has you covered.

How to Retire on 8%+ Dividends That Roll in “Overnight”

If you’re like me, on your dividend “paydays”—a stock’s payable date, in other words—you wake up, grab a coffee, log into your investment account and immediately do something with that “work-free” income.

Pay your bills, reinvest, drop it into an emergency fund—whatever works for you.… Read more

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Contrarians: Our Buy Window on This 8% Dividend Is Open (for Now)

It blows me away that folks still think high interest rates will be around forever. Truth is, rates are already starting to fall!

But no one’s really paying attention (yet!). Which leaves us a brief window to lock in some sweet 8%+ dividends from one of our favorite utility-focused funds. This bargain-priced buy soars when rates drop.

Look Beyond the Headlines for the Real Rate Story

Remember January, when all the talk was about how rates would be cut six times this year?

Poof. Those hopes were history before winter—such as it was—ended.

Nowadays, futures traders have almost completely thrown in the towel—they’re calling for just two rate cuts between now and January.… Read more

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2 Safe “Retirement-Maker” Dividends Up to 8.6% Paid Monthly

Would you believe, my fellow contrarian, that most of our vanilla income friends settle for utility dividends that pay quarterly?

Ha!

Unfortunately (for them) that’s no typo. There are millions of investors just like them who are OK being paid every 90 days.

Yes, ninety!

Obviously, they don’t read highbrow publications like Contrarian Outlook, where we highlight monthly dividend payers. Today we’ll discuss two that pay 8.3% and 8.6% respectively.

With yields like these, we can actually retire on dividends. Take a chunk of money that we’ve saved up and convert it into regular cash flow. A million dollars, for example, can become $83,000 or $86,000 annually in dividend income.… Read more

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I Bond Tourists: “Roll” Funds Into This Elite 8.2% Payer

You and I, my fellow contrarian, are old enough to remember when “I bonds”—US savings bonds designed to protect you from inflation—yielded 9.62%.

It was May 2022. Just 14 months ago!

Ah, the good ol’ days. Since then, Series I savings bond rates have tumbled to 4.3%.

Many readers wrote in with I bond questions earlier this year. The savings vehicles boasted a still sweet 6.89%. But they had two major limitations:

  • I bonds tie up our money for a year.
  • We can only invest $15,000 in them annually.

(The annual limit is $10,000 per person, plus an extra $5,000 per year if using a federal tax refund.… Read more

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How to Collect $132,000 in Dividends on a Million Dollars

While vanilla investors worry along with the herd, we contrarians are buying. And oh, the yields we have available!

As I write to you today, I’m staring at no less than 29 income funds that yield more than 8%. Twenty-nine paying more than eight!

For retirees with a million-dollar portfolio, this is $80,000 per year in dividend income. Actually, more, because some of these funds pay up to 13%.

Why would we sell when this is the best time to buy in years? I explained this while yapping with Moe Ansari on his Market Wrap program. Moe asked me: “We hear all the ‘Doom and Gloomers’ out there.… Read more

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Where I’m Finding Safe (and Cheap) 7% Dividends Now

This market crash has served up some terrific opportunities in closed-end funds (CEFs), many of which are throwing off safe 7%+ dividends today.

Dividends of that size, of course, are critical today, as we look to offset rising inflation. And I think we can all agree that a CD or Treasury will never match a payout like that.

But of course, not all CEFs are set to rise equally as the stock market continues to regain its footing (which I expect it to as we move through the back half of 2022), so we need to be careful about exactly which sectors—and funds—we target.… Read more

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This 6.6% Utility Play Proves Low Risk Doesn’t Have to Mean Low Yield

If you’re looking for reasons to toss and turn at night, there seem to be plenty these days…

Ever-rising prices and ever-shrinking inventories of key goods, from energy commodities to microchips.

The first period of tighter monetary policy in the US in over two decades.

A bloodbath for some of the biggest names in tech, as evidenced by the latest tailspin for Netflix just a few days ago.

There’s an old saying that the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over, yet expecting different results. But many investors seem to be doing just that, fighting this difficult environment with the same old tech stocks like Netflix and the same old index funds that are bleeding red ink in 2022.… Read more

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3 Easy Ways to “Crash-Proof” Your Portfolio, Grab 7%+ Dividends

With the swift stock-market decline we’ve seen since the start of 2022, and now, you can be forgiven if your stomach tightens just a bit when you go to check your retirement account.

So today I’m going to give you my three best tips for securing your hard-earned cash—and even better, locking in a dividend stream you can easily live off of in retirement. And no, you won’t need a seven-figure nest egg to pull off what I’m going to show you now.

Step #1: Diversify the Right Way

You no doubt know that diversification is key to protecting your wealth, but if you only go halfway, you’re hurting your gain potential (and exposing yourself to potentially severe losses).… Read more

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