Weekly Market Summary: Stocks Attempt Recovery as Volatility Persists

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Weekly Market Summary: Stocks Attempt Recovery as Volatility Persists

The ongoing trade dispute with China frightened U.S. investors again on Monday, sending the Dow Jones Industrial Average down 617 points. However, markets were able to claw back those losses over the next three trading sessions.

While no resolution has been made between the two superpowers, the war of words has since quieted down. In addition, investors cheered solid earnings reports from blue-chips, like Cisco Systems (CSCO) and Wal-Mart (WMT).

Calculating the Tariff Cost

Still, President Trump has vowed to consider tariffs on another $300 billion of Chinese goods next month, if the two countries don’t agree to a truce by the G20 Summit in Japan.… Read more

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Weekly Market Summary: Nasdaq Snaps 8-Session Winning Streak As Earnings Season Winds Down

The U.S. and China held another round of trade talks in Washington D.C. this week, ahead of the looming March 1 deadline for potential tariff increases. Trading activity was relatively quiet during the holiday-shortened week and the Nasdaq Composite Index ended an eight-session winning streak on Thursday.

Fed on Hold, Q4 GDP on Deck

Investors digested the minutes from the January FOMC meeting on Wednesday and Fed funds futures are now factoring in a 92% probability that the committee will take no action with interest rates in either direction in 2019.

Looking ahead to next week, Fed Chairman Powell will be on Capitol Hill on Feb.… Read more

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5 Funds to Buy on This Dip for Big Gains and 11.5% Dividends

Ignore the doomsayers: 2019 is setting up to be a strong year for equities—and a great year for dividend investors like us.

I know this might surprise you, so let’s break it down. Further on I’ll give you 5 funds (with dividends up to 11.5%!) that are flashing buy signals you can’t afford to ignore.

So why am I so bullish on the year ahead?

Thanks to the record-breaking profit growth we’ve seen in 2018, along with continued steady gains in employment and wages, there’s little reason to believe next year will bring the big downturn everyone’s worrying about. Instead, the Fed’s prudent scaling back of interest-rate hikes should fuel more growth.… Read more

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5 Blue Chip Dividends That Are Doomed

Even legends can lose their edge. This applies to acclaimed investors and dividend aristocrats alike.

2018 was an explosive news year that will be remembered for many reasons. But one thing that will go under the radar is how this year has been a turning point for numerous old-guard dividend stocks. These companies have been no-brainer holdings in countless retirement portfolios for years – in fact, chances are you hold one if not several of them.

I’m going to highlight five of these revered but poorly aging blue chips in a minute. But first, I want to show you the danger of avoiding warning signs, even in legendary investments.… Read more

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Boost Your Portfolio’s Yield by 400% Overnight

The stock market is way up – and ironically, that’s terrible news for us dividend investors. Yields haven’t been this low in decades! The S&P 500 pays a measly 1.8% today. If you have a million-dollar portfolio, that’s a lousy $18,000 per year in income. Pathetic.

Most people invest their money in index funds like those that mimic the S&P 500. We can do better – four-times better, to be specific – and raise our dividend income by 400% simply by selling these mainstream plays and buying bigger payouts that are better values.

Specifically we’re going to discuss stocks, bonds and funds that pay 7.3% to 8% instead of the broader market’s lame 1.8%.… Read more

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Sell Now: 3 Blue Chips with Slowing Dividend Growth

Bigger isn’t always better when it comes to dividends. Deutsche Bank recently pointed out “the first half of 2018 has seen the sharpest underperformance of dividend stocks since the financial crisis”, as measured by the Dividend Aristocrats.

Most readers are already familiar with this group of 53 names within the S&P 500 index, many paying out billions of dividends each quarter, with the most common trait being they’ve each boosted payouts a minimum of 25 consecutive years.

However, another item several of the Aristocrats share in common, is that the Law of Large Numbers is catching up to them. They may be paying out more to investors each year, but as my colleague Brett Owens has often pointed out, it’s how much the dividend is growing that is the best predictor for building wealth over time.…
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Ranking Retirement Income Strategies Worst to First (for Safe 8%+ Yields)

Today we’re going to talk about the single biggest risk you face in your golden years.

But don’t worry—I’ll also show you how to clobber that risk and set yourself up for an easy $40,000 in cash for every year of your retirement. More on that below.

Let’s address the nasty risk first—the very real chance you’ll outlive your nest egg. A sweeping study says you could be very wrong about the length of your retirement.

A Hidden Danger

Here’s what the numbers say: in 1992, the University of Michigan asked 26,000 Americans 50 years of age and older how long they thought they’d live.…
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Ranking Retirement Income Strategies Worst to First (for Safe 8%+ Yields)

Today we’re going to talk about the single biggest risk you face in your golden years.

But don’t worry—I’ll also show you how to clobber that risk and set yourself up for an easy $40,000 in cash for every year of your retirement. More on that below.

Let’s address the nasty risk first—the very real chance you’ll outlive your nest egg. A sweeping study says you could be very wrong about the length of your retirement.

A Hidden Danger

Here’s what the numbers say: in 1992, the University of Michigan asked 26,000 Americans 50 years of age and older how long they thought they’d live.…
Read more

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4 Darling Dividends Amazon Will Crush Next

Let’s face it: brands are dead—and that’s terrible news for the 4 household names (and their landlords) we need to talk about today.

Research from Scott Galloway, founder of digital-research firm L2, tells the tale.

Galloway looked at the 13 S&P 500 stocks that have beaten the market for five straight years and found something shocking: just one, Under Armour (UA), is a consumer brand.

And as Galloway points out, there’s no way UA will keep that run going.

UA: The Last Brand Standing—for Now

The other 12 names on the list are mostly innovators that have sliced into old-school businesses and flipped them on their heads—think Facebook (FB), Salesforce.com (CRM) and, of course, Amazon.com (AMZN).…
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Why You Need to Invest in Closed-End Funds

By now you probably either invest in closed-end funds (CEF) or have heard more folks talking about them.

There’s a good reason why: dividends!

With 10-Year Treasuries yielding around 2.3% and your typical S&P 500 stock paying even less—just 1.9%—there’s a very good chance none of the folks you know are clocking dividends that can even beat inflation, let alone provide a decent income stream!

So when an investment comes along throwing off yields of 7%, 9% … even 11%, people take notice.

In a moment, I’ll show you exactly why these outsized yields exist—and how to grab a slice of this cash for yourself.…
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