From 12% Yields, 14% Gains to the Next Dividend Train Leaving the Station

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From 12% Yields, 14% Gains to the Next Dividend Train Leaving the Station

When we buy dividend stocks, we’re looking for more than just the dividend. Price gains are preferred as well.

Greedy? Nah. Not if we time our buys right. It is possible to have our payouts and watch our stocks go up, too.

Two months ago, we recommended Annaly Capital (NLY) in these pages. Annaly dished a safe 12.9% dividend, well-funded by income. And the mortgage REIT (mREIT) had upside potential to boot.

Vanilla investors were worried about a recession, missing a time-tested maxim of income investing: As rates fall, REITs rise. This “rate-REIT seesaw” was about to tip and catapult Annaly’s price higher.… Read more

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My Top 6 Dividend Stocks for 2026 (Buy Now, Don’t Wait)

Let’s get our 2026 dividend shopping finished ahead of time, shall we?

Come January, we’ll have plenty of company from vanilla investors, rushing to “figure out the new year.” Trends. Predictions. Buy this!

But there’s no reason to wait. We already know some of the key dimensions of 2026. Interest rates, for one, are on their way down. Fed Chair Jay Powell has delivered two rate cuts to end the year, with more to follow.

Whether or not Powell personally delivers them doesn’t matter to us. Powell is on his way out. But the Fed show will go on, with a ringmaster ready to roll.… Read more

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Wall Street Missed This. We Didn’t (We’re Cashing in With 7% Dividends)

It’s no secret this economy is slowing—at least in the near term. That’s given us contrarians a (time-limited!) buy window on the “dividend twofer” we’re going to dive into today.

One of the tickers we’ll talk about below pays a sturdy 7% now. The other yields 4.9% and sports a source of upside no one has noticed (except us, of course!).

Both are utility plays, which tend to rise as the economy slows, lowering interest rates as it does. Let’s get into this opportunity, starting with last week’s GDP report, which said, yes, the US economy did shrink to start the year.… Read more

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A 7% “Dividend Fortress” for the Trade War (plus an Easy Way to Track Payouts)

There aren’t a lot of things we can say for certain these days, but there is one: We dividend investors are far better off than the mainstream crowd!

Consider the unlucky souls who hold “America’s ticker”—my name for the SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (SPY). I call it that because, well, pretty well everyone owns it (it’s okay if you have SPY hiding somewhere in your portfolio—we don’t judge!)

These poor folks have taken the brunt of the market crash—and they’re getting “paid” a mere 1.4% for the pleasure.

Our Dividend Picks Are Built for Trying Times 

We contrarian dividend investors, meantime, know the value of high, safe payouts.… Read more

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Contrarian Signal Tells Us These 7% Dividends Are Good Buys

Let me say right now that, like most people, I have no idea where the trade tensions we’re living through will end up. But here’s something I will say: Whenever I have any doubt about the future, I look to the 10-year Treasury rate—and I recommend you do the same.

And the 10-year rate—pacesetter for rates on most loans—is screaming one thing at us right now:

Fade the inflation fears that are everywhere these days.

So we’re going to take Mr. 10-Year’s advice and “buy the dip” in 2 “bond-proxy” closed-end funds (CEFs)—each yielding around 7%—that we’ll discuss in a bit.… Read more

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Contrarian Signal Tells Us These 7% Dividends Are Good Buys

Let me say right now that, like most people, I have no idea where the trade tensions we’re living through will end up. But here’s something I will say: Whenever I have any doubt about the future, I look to the 10-year Treasury rate—and I recommend you do the same.

And the 10-year rate—pacesetter for rates on most loans—is screaming one thing at us right now:

Fade the inflation fears that are everywhere these days.

So we’re going to take Mr. 10-Year’s advice and “buy the dip” in 2 “bond-proxy” closed-end funds (CEFs)—each yielding around 7%—that we’ll discuss in a bit.… Read more

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3 Contrarian Picks for Trump 2.0 (Yields Up to 7.5%)

At times like these, I’m reminded of a quote from Howard Marks, the most successful value investor you’ve likely never heard of. (Warren Buffett is a fan.)

Marks’s monthly “Oaktree Memos” are well worth a read. And in his insightful book, The Most Important Thing: Uncommon Sense for the Thoughtful Investor, he wrote:

“What’s clear to the broad consensus of investors is almost always wrong.”

This quote has been on my mind lately because everyone is convinced that Trump 2.0 will lead to higher inflation.

I’m sure you can see where I’m going: Higher inflation begets higher interest rates.… Read more

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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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