Wall Street analysts have one job: predict where companies’ earnings are going in the coming quarter. Sounds simple enough, except said suits aren’t so good at it!

For the most recent earnings season, these forecasting fruit flies buzzed around modeling 12% earnings growth for the quarter. The S&P 500’s companies showed 27% profit growth—more than double what the “experts” predicted in their spreadsheets. They were way off.

So what does it mean when earnings come in at more than double the forecast? It means these companies have plenty of room—and reason—to hand more of that cash back to us. And that matters because over the long run stock prices follow their dividends.… Read more

The wind is shifting around AI—and we’re getting set to ride the next wave with dividends up to 12.3%.

Today we’re going to discuss what I see as the “intersection” between AI’s growth and the 8%+ income streams we’re drawing from the portfolio of our CEF Insider service.

Then we’re going to spotlight three CEFs in the sweet spot: They’re profiting indirectly from AI’s growth, while giving us exposure to sectors beyond tech.

Here’s why I see that as a strong move now.

On the one hand, AI is helping companies find new efficiencies. And I know I don’t have to tell you that tech is driving big investments across the economy.… Read more

Happy anniversary to my friends Charlie and Ginny, who were fired by their lame financial advisor this time last year.

Why? And, more importantly, how are they doing one year later? Let’s discuss.

Our friends have the same goal as retirees like us: to put the pile of money we saved our entire lives to work for us in retirement. Then, use said pile to provide income, so we don’t have to worry about the pile, the market, the news, and the headlines.

That is where the couple “went wrong,” according to the person they paid to give them “advice!”

Their transgression?… Read more

Sell in May? Ha! Try “buy in July.”

Truth is, summer is the best time to troll for dividend deals—especially July. We’re going to “back up the truck” on two tickers in a sec.

Why July?

Because it’s the strongest month of the year for stocks, according to a 2024 report from the Carson Group, a financial-advisory firm. Here’s the upshot: Over the 20 years leading up to July 2024, the S&P 500 rose 2.3% on average.

And that’s just the average. Many years saw bigger gains than that.

This is our short-term play.

On the horizon, we’ve got the midterms.… Read more

There are plenty of reasons to buy closed-end funds (CEFs), but the one that most investors love most is pretty obvious.

The income!

The average CEF yields 8.7% as I write this. And while most investors have been conditioned to believe that this level of payout is unsustainable, this is not the case with CEFs. Many of these funds sport yields of 8% or more and haven’t cut payouts in years, even decades.

In fact, several have grown their dividends in that time.

The reason why is simple: The stock market gains around 10.6% per year on average. So a CEF that invests in stocks and pays 10.6% per year can maintain payouts, theoretically, since the fund is just handing that profit to shareholders as a dividend.… Read more

We should avoid REITs right now because the Fed talks tough about raising rates.

Or we should buy REITs right now because the Fed’s worries are overblown.

Which is true? Well, it depends.

Let’s talk about our beloved real estate investment trusts, or REITs, which we favor as retirement-focused investors. REITs must dish most of their profits to us as dividends. A congressional act created them decades ago, and it requires them to send us at least 90% of their taxable income as payouts, in exchange for tax advantages.

Now the lazy Wall Street maxim holds that REITs trade opposite interest rates.… Read more

Every now and then, something happens that shines a light on the value of our favorite income investments—our 8%+ paying closed-end funds (CEFs).

These stout income plays are so valuable, in fact, that some activists are willing to go all the way to the Supreme Court to gain more influence over them.

Let me explain.

A couple weeks ago, the nation’s top court released a decision that meant a lot for CEFs, including those in the portfolio of our CEF Insider service, which yields 8.7% on average as I write this.

Let me set the scene, starting with the activist in the spotlight.… Read more

The Supreme Court just ruled on our closed-end funds (CEFs).

Wait. What? Our beloved dividend machines, the lightly driven passenger payout cars we ride to comfy retirements? Our CEFs?

Yes, the third branch of the US government just spent its time deliberating a legal question about our humble, underfollowed CEFs. Why do the courts care about our underowned and unappreciated funds?

We love ‘em because they’re obscure. Underfollowed. And, best of all, inefficient.

Wall Street whales can’t jump into our profitable CEF pond. Most of these funds are $2 billion in market cap or less. If a whale cannonballed in, the entire sector would pop and the value would instantly disappear.… Read more

New Fed Chair Kevin Warsh’s hawkish debut has given us a “3-stage” plan for 12% dividends now—and strong gains later.

Here’s how I see that playing out, plus two tickers we can use to grab that reliable double-digit income stream.

3 Reasons Why My Falling-Rate Call Still Stands

First up, I haven’t budged on my call for lower rates. But these things rarely happen in a straight line. In fact, had the Iran conflict not occurred, we’d almost certainly be talking about rate cuts today. 

But oil prices are falling as I write this, and the International Energy Agency just predicted a supply glut next year.… Read more

ASA Gold & Precious Metals Limited (ASA) is a standout among closed-end funds (CEFs), but not for the reasons we’d like!

For one, this gold-focused CEF pays almost no dividend itself (its yield is a meager 0.14% as I write this). That’s unusual for a CEF, as investors mainly buy these funds for their high yields. As I write this, the portfolio of my CEF Insider service yields a stout 8.9% on average.

As the fund’s name says, its main function is to give investors access to physical gold (64.2% of the portfolio). Silver makes up another 5%, and shares of gold-mining companies account for most of the rest.… Read more