Even while under the pressure of managing $44 billion in assets, billionaire Ken Fisher of Fisher Asset Management still manages to throw us little guys a bone every now and again. Unlike many of his peers in the hedge fund community, Fisher has a history of filing his Form 13Fs to the SEC earlier than required, typically 20 days or more in advance of the due date.   Why is this a big deal? His early reporting increases the transparency and usefulness of his disclosure, helping investors to better interpret the filing without being too many steps behind.   This… Read More

Even while under the pressure of managing $44 billion in assets, billionaire Ken Fisher of Fisher Asset Management still manages to throw us little guys a bone every now and again. Unlike many of his peers in the hedge fund community, Fisher has a history of filing his Form 13Fs to the SEC earlier than required, typically 20 days or more in advance of the due date.   Why is this a big deal? His early reporting increases the transparency and usefulness of his disclosure, helping investors to better interpret the filing without being too many steps behind.   This quarter was no exception, with Fisher Asset Management releasing its second-quarter 13F just 25 days after the quarter ended (versus the maximum 45 days allowed by law). With this information as ripe as its going to get, I’ve picked apart Fisher’s positions to see where he’s finding high yields.   A broader interpretation of his 13F filing shows that Fisher is still bullish on finance and banking, with a special focus on REITs (real estate investment trusts) for attractive yields. Here are four of his most lucrative dividend picks. Senior Housing Properties Trust (NYSE: SNH) is one of the largest… Read More

As kids, we’re taught that “you can’t have your cake and eat it too.”  #-ad_banner-#There’s always a trade-off, always an opportunity cost to forgo in exchange for something else. For investors, it means that you can have growth, but not value — or value, but not growth. Luckily, the stock market doesn’t deal in absolutes.  I’ve found a company that offers both high growth potential along with a bargain valuation and a generous dividend. Yet where I’ve found this stock may be the biggest surprise of all. Shipping stocks haven’t been held in high regard for some time… Read More

As kids, we’re taught that “you can’t have your cake and eat it too.”  #-ad_banner-#There’s always a trade-off, always an opportunity cost to forgo in exchange for something else. For investors, it means that you can have growth, but not value — or value, but not growth. Luckily, the stock market doesn’t deal in absolutes.  I’ve found a company that offers both high growth potential along with a bargain valuation and a generous dividend. Yet where I’ve found this stock may be the biggest surprise of all. Shipping stocks haven’t been held in high regard for some time now. A look at the Baltic Dry Index (BDI) tells you everything you need to know about investor sentiment in the sector: ^BDIY data by YCharts This might cause concern among investors currently looking at these stocks, but it doesn’t reflect the general attitude that shippers and charters currently have. A strong rally is widely expected as Chinese demand for steel and coal continue to climb, and iron exports from Brazil and Australia are expected to rise as well.  Analysts predict an average range around 1,500… Read More

Anytime I find high-growth companies trading below the market’s average price-to-earnings (P/E ) ratio, I have to pinch myself. #-ad_banner-#After all, how often can you buy strong growth at a discount to the market — and get paid a dividend in the bargain? And at prices near $10, you can buy enough shares to make a strong impact on your portfolio. But before I get too excited, I need to verify the investment thesis by answering a few questions… Is the growth sustainable? How strong is the balance sheet? Does the market price make sense? Let’s take three… Read More

Anytime I find high-growth companies trading below the market’s average price-to-earnings (P/E ) ratio, I have to pinch myself. #-ad_banner-#After all, how often can you buy strong growth at a discount to the market — and get paid a dividend in the bargain? And at prices near $10, you can buy enough shares to make a strong impact on your portfolio. But before I get too excited, I need to verify the investment thesis by answering a few questions… Is the growth sustainable? How strong is the balance sheet? Does the market price make sense? Let’s take three stocks I’ve been following. All three have cheaper valuations than the S&P 500, with high projected growth and dividend yields greater than 4%. Each also has a market cap greater than $1 billion; stocks with larger market caps usually have more trading volume,   which typically makes them easier to buy and sell. Are these three worth buying? Let’s take a closer look. PDL Biopharma (Nasdaq: PDLI ) PDL Biopharma is a biotech company that develops drugs for cancer and immunologic diseases. Read More

When it comes to double-digit yields, there’s always a catch. #-ad_banner-#Some investments, such as the Sandridge Mississippian Trust I (NYSE: SDT) or the Whiting USA Trust II (NYSE: WHZ) offer dividend yields in excess of 20% simply because the market clearly understands that projected income streams will soon peter out. After accounting for the present value of future cash flows, these investments can make sense to investors who want to front-load the timing of income streams. Other high-yielders, such as oil refiners Alon USA Partners LP (Nasdaq: ALDW) and CVR Refining (NYSE: CVRR), each of which offers a yield in… Read More

When it comes to double-digit yields, there’s always a catch. #-ad_banner-#Some investments, such as the Sandridge Mississippian Trust I (NYSE: SDT) or the Whiting USA Trust II (NYSE: WHZ) offer dividend yields in excess of 20% simply because the market clearly understands that projected income streams will soon peter out. After accounting for the present value of future cash flows, these investments can make sense to investors who want to front-load the timing of income streams. Other high-yielders, such as oil refiners Alon USA Partners LP (Nasdaq: ALDW) and CVR Refining (NYSE: CVRR), each of which offers a yield in the 15% range, offer erratic dividends (thanks to unpredictable refining profit margins), but can still be suitable for yield-seekers who can stomach that kind of bumpy dividend performance. Yet in many other instances, a double-digit yield can simply be a trap for unwitting investors. They may have the appearance of steady dividend production, but face tremendous challenges that likely spell a reduction — or outright elimination — of the dividend. Here are two examples of the kind of double-digit yielders that you should avoid. 1. Javelin Mortgage (NYSE: JMI ) This company is structured as a real… Read More

What’s your dividend style? Do you seek out the highest dividend yields, or stocks with the most impressive track record of dividend growth? If it’s the latter, then you’re surely aware of the S&P 500 Dividend Aristocrats, which we have written about on many occasions. In an interesting twist on this theme, my colleague Christian Hudspeth recently applied a “Dogs of the Dow”-style approach to this group, focusing on the 10 components in this index that sport the current highest yields. (For an updated look at the relative yields, click here and sort by yield.) I like… Read More

What’s your dividend style? Do you seek out the highest dividend yields, or stocks with the most impressive track record of dividend growth? If it’s the latter, then you’re surely aware of the S&P 500 Dividend Aristocrats, which we have written about on many occasions. In an interesting twist on this theme, my colleague Christian Hudspeth recently applied a “Dogs of the Dow”-style approach to this group, focusing on the 10 components in this index that sport the current highest yields. (For an updated look at the relative yields, click here and sort by yield.) I like Christian’s approach. It’s likely to continually produce solid investment candidates, with its focus on stocks that are currently out of favor (dogs, in other words) but poised to win back converts. There’s also another way you can focus on this group of 54 stocks: Forget about yields, and focus on business models that are best geared for the next decade or even half-century. Here are my three favorite buy-and-hold Dividend Aristocrats for the years ahead. 1. Pentair (NYSE: PNR) It’s impossible to know what our economy will look like in the future, but we’ll likely be driving autonomous cars,… Read More

Most people don’t have a million dollars to invest. It doesn’t matter. What I’m going to show you applies no matter how much money you have to invest — whether it’s $100 or $1 million. But there is a sad truth about a million dollars. Even that heady amount wouldn’t earn you much in regular income — if you put it to work in the “traditional” ways… $567. That’s the most you will get each month if you put that $1 million into the average 1-year CD, which, according to BankRate.com, is yielding just 0.68%. For comparison, the average Social… Read More

Most people don’t have a million dollars to invest. It doesn’t matter. What I’m going to show you applies no matter how much money you have to invest — whether it’s $100 or $1 million. But there is a sad truth about a million dollars. Even that heady amount wouldn’t earn you much in regular income — if you put it to work in the “traditional” ways… $567. That’s the most you will get each month if you put that $1 million into the average 1-year CD, which, according to BankRate.com, is yielding just 0.68%. For comparison, the average Social Security check is $1,269 per month. In other words, you’d earn more from Social Security than you would from $1 million. #-ad_banner-#It’s a similar story with a number of other investments… 10-year Treasury Note — Sitting near historically low levels, if you loaned the federal government $1 million, with annual yields at 2.6%, you’d only earn $26,000 a year… or $2,600 a year on $100,000. Savings Accounts — With a maximum yield of 1%, the absolute best you’ll get from a savings account according to BankRate.com right now is $10,000 a year. Corporate Bonds — If you invest in the… Read More

When it comes to beating the market, dividends have always reigned supreme. If you’d invested $100,000 in the S&P 500 back in 1982, it would have been worth $2.3 million by the end of 2011. If you would have invested that same amount in dividend payers, you’d have $4.3 million. Not bad. That’s where most investors stop… But if you’d invested the same amount of cash using a simple strategy that too many investors often ignore, then it would have been worth $6.7 million. Many investors searching for the best total returns will simply look for… Read More

When it comes to beating the market, dividends have always reigned supreme. If you’d invested $100,000 in the S&P 500 back in 1982, it would have been worth $2.3 million by the end of 2011. If you would have invested that same amount in dividend payers, you’d have $4.3 million. Not bad. That’s where most investors stop… But if you’d invested the same amount of cash using a simple strategy that too many investors often ignore, then it would have been worth $6.7 million. Many investors searching for the best total returns will simply look for stocks with high dividends. That makes sense. But dividends don’t tell the whole story — not even half of it. If you’re looking for more cash from your investments, you should be looking at all of the ways a company distributes its cash. Don’t get me wrong — dividends can be a great indicator of company health. From 1972 through 2011, members of the S&P that don’t pay dividends returned just 1.4% per year, turning a $1,000 investment into just $1,710 according to research by Ned Davis. Meanwhile, companies that pay dividends returned 8.6% annually — significantly more than those… Read More

I grew up (and still live) in the Deep South. I’ve also been managing money for the very wealthy for nearly two decades. One of the first things I learned about wealth in this region is that a lot of it was created by forestry and timber many generations ago.  #-ad_banner-#The seemingly bottomless bowl of money that was created when someone’s great- great-grandfather managed to buy timberland when it was a dime an acre never ceases to amaze me.  So when I discovered a stock that could help investors grow their wealth like an Alabama timber baron, I… Read More

I grew up (and still live) in the Deep South. I’ve also been managing money for the very wealthy for nearly two decades. One of the first things I learned about wealth in this region is that a lot of it was created by forestry and timber many generations ago.  #-ad_banner-#The seemingly bottomless bowl of money that was created when someone’s great- great-grandfather managed to buy timberland when it was a dime an acre never ceases to amaze me.  So when I discovered a stock that could help investors grow their wealth like an Alabama timber baron, I paid attention. CatchMark Timber Trust (NYSE: CTT) is a pure-play timber REIT (real estate investment trust) that owns, harvests and manages timber. The company currently owns interests in about 320,400 acres of timberland located in Alabama, Georgia, and Texas.  CatchMark went public in January of this year and recently conducted a secondary offering using the proceeds to extinguish debt and purchase additional acreage which has increased by 36% since year end 2013. CTT data by YCharts Since its debut, CatchMark shares have chugged sideways… Read More

It’s an idea that the richest and most powerful people in the business world almost never say out loud. But takeover king Wilbur Ross knows it. So does Herb Allen, the most exclusive banker in the world. And you can bet your boots that billionaire Warren Buffett knows what I’m about to tell you. In fact, he’s often said these are the types of deals he wants to pursue… #-ad_banner-#Here’s Wall Street’s dirty little secret: The best investments in the world — those with the biggest returns and some of the highest yields — are not listed on any stock… Read More

It’s an idea that the richest and most powerful people in the business world almost never say out loud. But takeover king Wilbur Ross knows it. So does Herb Allen, the most exclusive banker in the world. And you can bet your boots that billionaire Warren Buffett knows what I’m about to tell you. In fact, he’s often said these are the types of deals he wants to pursue… #-ad_banner-#Here’s Wall Street’s dirty little secret: The best investments in the world — those with the biggest returns and some of the highest yields — are not listed on any stock market. They’re privately held… According to an investing trade group report, as of June 2013, the private market outperformed the S&P 500 (including dividends) by 1.2 percentage points and 6.8 percentage points for five- and 10-year periods, respectively. From June 2003 to June 2013, the private market has averaged 15% annualized returns. And it’s not limited to just recent performance. A study by professors at Duke and Ohio State covering a period from 1984 through 2010 found that private market investors earned 18% more than the S&P 500. It’s proof that when it comes to investing, the rich really are… Read More

My 3-year-old son is obsessed with big, loud trucks — and garbage trucks are his absolute favorite. #-ad_banner-#So you can imagine the excitement every Friday morning when the garbage truck stops in front of our house. At the first clang of the trash can, he sprints to the window. Intensely engaged, he curiously demands a step-by-step explanation of the entire garbage collection process. His enthusiasm for garbage trucks sent me looking into investment-worthy waste stocks. While they’re not the most glamorous, they can make great investments. Because clean cities are a necessity, their business is non-discretionary. As a… Read More

My 3-year-old son is obsessed with big, loud trucks — and garbage trucks are his absolute favorite. #-ad_banner-#So you can imagine the excitement every Friday morning when the garbage truck stops in front of our house. At the first clang of the trash can, he sprints to the window. Intensely engaged, he curiously demands a step-by-step explanation of the entire garbage collection process. His enthusiasm for garbage trucks sent me looking into investment-worthy waste stocks. While they’re not the most glamorous, they can make great investments. Because clean cities are a necessity, their business is non-discretionary. As a result, many waste collection stocks show steady growth, despite economic turbulence. Within in the waste industry, my favorite is North America’s largest garbage collection company, Waste Management (NYSE: WM). (As my colleague Marshall Hargrave recently noted, it’s also Bill Gates’ favorite stock in that industry.)   WM’s 3.4% forward annual dividend yield tops 90% of the stocks listed on the S&P 500 Index. Over the past 10 years, dividends have doubled, while payouts have increased 11 straight years. Despite its name, the company’s business isn’t limited to trash. It’s also a top green energy producer. In fact, Waste Management… Read More