Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL) may soon become the best “high-yield” stock in America… #-ad_banner-#Now when I say that, I don’t mean “yield” in its traditional sense. Yes, Apple pays a dividend. But at $3.05 a share, that dividend equates to a mere 2.1% payout. The yield I’m talking about is something different. While this yield does take Apple’s dividends into account, it doesn’t stop there. It also considers other ways Apple is returning money to shareholders by buying back stock and paying down debt. As regular readers might have guessed, I’m referring to Apple’s Total Yield. Regular readers of Dividend Opportunities… Read More

Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL) may soon become the best “high-yield” stock in America… #-ad_banner-#Now when I say that, I don’t mean “yield” in its traditional sense. Yes, Apple pays a dividend. But at $3.05 a share, that dividend equates to a mere 2.1% payout. The yield I’m talking about is something different. While this yield does take Apple’s dividends into account, it doesn’t stop there. It also considers other ways Apple is returning money to shareholders by buying back stock and paying down debt. As regular readers might have guessed, I’m referring to Apple’s Total Yield. Regular readers of Dividend Opportunities are already familiar with concept of Total Yield. For those who aren’t, I’ll let Nathan Slaughter, the Chief Investment Strategist behind StreetAuthority’s premium Total Yield advisory, explain: You see, company CEOs can return wealth to you as a shareholder in three distinct ways: They can pay dividends, they can increase the value of outstanding shares by buying back their own stock and they can reduce their corporate debt. While most investors approach investing with a myopic focus on dividends, Total Yield finds and recommends stocks that use all three strategies in combination to maximize shareholder wealth. Investing with dividends… Read More

They’re some of the hottest stocks on the market.  #-ad_banner-#Since the start of this year, more than 200 of them are beating the S&P 500. I’m not talking about bank stocks, IPOs, tech stocks, private equity… or even anything speculative, for that matter.  In fact, in the past these stocks have been called the most boring stocks on the market. They were once thought of as investments exclusively for widows and orphans. But overlook them now, and you’ll probably miss out on some of the market’s best yields and returns. I’m talking about dividend-paying stocks. And their popularity… Read More

They’re some of the hottest stocks on the market.  #-ad_banner-#Since the start of this year, more than 200 of them are beating the S&P 500. I’m not talking about bank stocks, IPOs, tech stocks, private equity… or even anything speculative, for that matter.  In fact, in the past these stocks have been called the most boring stocks on the market. They were once thought of as investments exclusively for widows and orphans. But overlook them now, and you’ll probably miss out on some of the market’s best yields and returns. I’m talking about dividend-paying stocks. And their popularity is gaining in this era of volatility and low-interest rates. It’s not hard to see why investors love dividend stocks. One only needs to look at their performance record over the past four decades.  According to a 42-year study by Ned Davis Research, from 1972 through December 2013, U.S.-based dividend stocks in the S&P 500 returned 9.3% a year on average — far exceeding the 2.3% annual return for S&P stocks that didn’t pay dividends. To put that in perspective, if you had invested $10,000 in S&P 500 dividend-payers back in 1972, your investment would have grown to a whopping… Read More

We are truly in the golden age of cash flow. #-ad_banner-#Corporate profit margins have been so strong in recent years that companies have been pulling in large sums of cash every quarter. In the first few years after the economic crisis of 2008, companies sought to hoard their cash, but starting around 2010, growing share buybacks and rising dividends became the name of the game. Companies now dole out almost as much as they take in, leaving cash balances fairly static. That’s fine: Companies are well-cushioned against the next (and inevitable) economic downturn. And with cash flow continuing to pour in… Read More

We are truly in the golden age of cash flow. #-ad_banner-#Corporate profit margins have been so strong in recent years that companies have been pulling in large sums of cash every quarter. In the first few years after the economic crisis of 2008, companies sought to hoard their cash, but starting around 2010, growing share buybacks and rising dividends became the name of the game. Companies now dole out almost as much as they take in, leaving cash balances fairly static. That’s fine: Companies are well-cushioned against the next (and inevitable) economic downturn. And with cash flow continuing to pour in as margins remain near peak levels, look for more dividend hikes and fresh buyback announcements. About the only thing that could derail the buyback-and-dividend freight train would be an increase in acquisitions — but most companies are continuing to eschew acquisitions and the risks they entail. In the context of solid dividends and buybacks, it’s fair to ask: Is it better to own a company that produces solid and predictable dividends, or one that plans on buying back stock? Let’s take a look at the pros and cons of each scenario, starting with dividends. Scenario 1: The Company Begins Issuing… Read More

They’re some of the most reliable dividend-paying stocks on earth. Each controls a large stake in one of the most universal and depended-on forms of energy in the world, practically guaranteeing it will receive uninterrupted revenue for years to come. Of course, I’m talking about oil stocks. Their stable demand and reliable dividend payments make oil stocks an undoubted favorite among income investors. Yet despite being wildly popular in the income universe, most people are missing out on the world’s best opportunities in this sector… #-ad_banner-#That’s because despite being oil stock, investors think the stocks I’m about to tell you… Read More

They’re some of the most reliable dividend-paying stocks on earth. Each controls a large stake in one of the most universal and depended-on forms of energy in the world, practically guaranteeing it will receive uninterrupted revenue for years to come. Of course, I’m talking about oil stocks. Their stable demand and reliable dividend payments make oil stocks an undoubted favorite among income investors. Yet despite being wildly popular in the income universe, most people are missing out on the world’s best opportunities in this sector… #-ad_banner-#That’s because despite being oil stock, investors think the stocks I’m about to tell you about carry too much risk. They’ve never heard of most of these companies, so they automatically dismiss them as speculative growth plays. Nothing could be farther from the truth. Let me explain… Many investors seeking a reliable income stream have been flocking to big oil stocks that have paid healthy dividends over the past few years. That’s to be expected. The steady income offered by some of these companies easily bests the typical S&P 500 stock. Chevron (NYSE: CVX) for example, pays a 3.4% dividend yield right now — almost double the 1.9% yield offered by the average stock in… Read More

Dividend investing is changing. Over the past decade, many dividend-paying companies have slowly trended away from paying traditional dividends. Don’t get me wrong, many long-time dividend payers will keep paying and growing their dividends into the future. But certain ones are starting to reward shareholders in two other, more tax-friendly ways. Fortunately for investors, these two hidden, “extra payments” could be much more valuable than traditional dividends alone. (I recently talked about each of these extra payment types here and here.) #-ad_banner-#That’s why over the past few weeks, I’ve been telling you about a new way to invest in dividend-paying… Read More

Dividend investing is changing. Over the past decade, many dividend-paying companies have slowly trended away from paying traditional dividends. Don’t get me wrong, many long-time dividend payers will keep paying and growing their dividends into the future. But certain ones are starting to reward shareholders in two other, more tax-friendly ways. Fortunately for investors, these two hidden, “extra payments” could be much more valuable than traditional dividends alone. (I recently talked about each of these extra payment types here and here.) #-ad_banner-#That’s why over the past few weeks, I’ve been telling you about a new way to invest in dividend-paying stocks. It’s the single best way I know to get market-beating returns from your dividend stocks, as I’ll show you in today’s example. It’s called Total Yield investing. I call it that because it looks at all the ways a company rewards shareholders. This not only includes dividends, but also accounts for two other “extra payment” metrics: stock buybacks and debt paydown. You’re familiar with how dividends work. If you invest $100 into a stock with a 10% dividend yield, you can expect to receive $10 in dividends (or 10%) a year from that investment. The other two “yields” are… Read More

Recently, I investigated installing solar panels on my roof to reduce my monthly energy bills.   The financial calculations are fairly involved. There is the cost of the panels, the additional cost to my homeowners insurance, a utility company rebate, a federal tax break, the cost of the energy I use and the cost of the energy I produce that I could sell back to the utility company. It was just about the time that I was inundated with estimates when I received this email from a reader of my premium dividend advisory, The Daily Paycheck: “Your newsletter… Read More

Recently, I investigated installing solar panels on my roof to reduce my monthly energy bills.   The financial calculations are fairly involved. There is the cost of the panels, the additional cost to my homeowners insurance, a utility company rebate, a federal tax break, the cost of the energy I use and the cost of the energy I produce that I could sell back to the utility company. It was just about the time that I was inundated with estimates when I received this email from a reader of my premium dividend advisory, The Daily Paycheck: “Your newsletter is my favorite of all I receive. I have been concentrating on a portfolio of monthly dividend payers only to maximize monthly income. I have concentrated with those funds that pay a minimum of 7% or better. What are the pro and cons of this and what can I do to improve the strategy? (I’m addicted to monthly paychecks!)” — Thanks, Dave E., Escondido, Calif. #-ad_banner-#Dave’s email reminded me that one of the best ways to tackle monthly bills — is with monthly dividends. Why Dividend Frequency Matters When considering a new security, income investors search out its… Read More

Investors who were gutsy enough to buy real estate investment trusts (REITs) at the height of the economic crisis in 2008 have been well rewarded. Not only did these REITs see their shares soar from those lows, but they’ve been treated to a surging tide of dividends.#-ad_banner-#​ Case in point: Simon Property Group (NYSE: SPG), the nation’s largest REIT. Its stock has rebounded more than 150% in the past five years, and if you bought Simon back when it traded at $45 in the summer of 2009 and held on,… Read More

Investors who were gutsy enough to buy real estate investment trusts (REITs) at the height of the economic crisis in 2008 have been well rewarded. Not only did these REITs see their shares soar from those lows, but they’ve been treated to a surging tide of dividends.#-ad_banner-#​ Case in point: Simon Property Group (NYSE: SPG), the nation’s largest REIT. Its stock has rebounded more than 150% in the past five years, and if you bought Simon back when it traded at $45 in the summer of 2009 and held on, then today’s $5 annual dividend would work out to be a juicy 9% dividend yield. But this kind of window has most likely closed. Not only has the share price surge pushed the dividend yield down below 3%, but the dividends themselves are no longer growing at an impressive rate. Simon’s Dividend Growth Is Cooling For Simon Property Group, the era of double-digit growth in yields may have come to an end, which is a concern since its dividend yields aren’t all that compelling anyway. Outside the U.S., it’s unclear if REIT dividends will grow any faster,… Read More

You don’t have to be a billionaire guru to benefit from this strategy — you just have to act like one. You say you wouldn’t touch them with a ten-foot pole? You’re not alone. In a 2011 survey, securities broker TD Ameritrade found that more than three-quarters of “buy and hold” investors have never bought or sold stock options. The reasons? “Too risky,” according to a third of the respondents. Twenty-five percent said they “don’t need them,” and another 23% admitted they “don’t know how they work.” Yes, stock options can be risky, but so is investing in Apple (Nasdaq:… Read More

You don’t have to be a billionaire guru to benefit from this strategy — you just have to act like one. You say you wouldn’t touch them with a ten-foot pole? You’re not alone. In a 2011 survey, securities broker TD Ameritrade found that more than three-quarters of “buy and hold” investors have never bought or sold stock options. The reasons? “Too risky,” according to a third of the respondents. Twenty-five percent said they “don’t need them,” and another 23% admitted they “don’t know how they work.” Yes, stock options can be risky, but so is investing in Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL). And, no, stock options are not necessarily “needed” by everyone — only those investors who want to reduce exposure to market volatility, preserve capital and, yes, generate income. Take Warren Buffett, for example. #-ad_banner-#The King of Buy and Hold first bought stock in Coca-Cola (NYSE: KO) in 1988. At the time, Buffett said he expected to hang on to the shares of this “outstanding business” for “a long time.” Today, Coca- Cola is Buffett’s largest holding. As of September 30, the Oracle owned 400 million shares of Coca-Cola, valued at $15.2 billion — a fifth of his equity portfolio. Read More

It’s the most lucrative investing strategy I’ve ever found. It won’t happen overnight, but I’m convinced anyone can earn a significant amount of money with this strategy. Let me explain… Last week, I shared some of the details behind my $1,353 per month, “Daily Paycheck” strategy (you can read that issue here). Consider your typical income portfolio. It holds a position in a few dividend payers and maybe a fund or two. You get paid occasional dividends, that’s for sure. But because you only hold a few positions that pay quarterly dividends, the income you receive is inconsistent. #-ad_banner-#That’s where… Read More

It’s the most lucrative investing strategy I’ve ever found. It won’t happen overnight, but I’m convinced anyone can earn a significant amount of money with this strategy. Let me explain… Last week, I shared some of the details behind my $1,353 per month, “Daily Paycheck” strategy (you can read that issue here). Consider your typical income portfolio. It holds a position in a few dividend payers and maybe a fund or two. You get paid occasional dividends, that’s for sure. But because you only hold a few positions that pay quarterly dividends, the income you receive is inconsistent. #-ad_banner-#That’s where my “Daily Paycheck” strategy is different. The goal is to build a high and steady stream of income. And as I’ve told you before, I want to build a portfolio that pays a dividend for every day of the year. So right now, I’m earning more than 30 dividend checks a month from my portfolio. At the same time, I’m generating an average yield of 6.3%… and that’s when interest rates — which fuel the yields on most “normal” income investments — are their lowest in history. There’s a major caveat, though. And it’s one that will cause most investors… Read More

Whoever said drinking, smoking and gambling were habits of poor men got it all wrong. #-ad_banner-#So-called sin stocks have long been known to give investors reprieve in both good times and bad, flourishing in bull markets and offering consolation during downturns. Alcohol, tobacco, gambling and certain other categories of entertainment (ahem) are all considered sin (or vice) stocks, with some funds and analysts grouping defense stocks into the mix as well. In this article, I’ll focus on my favorite makers of alcoholic drinks.  As is often the case with alcohol, spending doesn’t drop drastically (and may actually increase,… Read More

Whoever said drinking, smoking and gambling were habits of poor men got it all wrong. #-ad_banner-#So-called sin stocks have long been known to give investors reprieve in both good times and bad, flourishing in bull markets and offering consolation during downturns. Alcohol, tobacco, gambling and certain other categories of entertainment (ahem) are all considered sin (or vice) stocks, with some funds and analysts grouping defense stocks into the mix as well. In this article, I’ll focus on my favorite makers of alcoholic drinks.  As is often the case with alcohol, spending doesn’t drop drastically (and may actually increase, in some cases) when the economy stumbles. And what is frequently the reaction when the market recovers and makes new highs? Why, pop the bubbly, break out that nice bottle of wine, or buy a few rounds at the bar, of course! The name of the game for alcohol producers in 2013 was fighting weak foreign demand, solidifying domestic brewers as the standout winners. Will 2014 continue this trend, or can we expect the mega-breweries and distillers to gain their footing again? With a market cap of $175 billion, Anheuser-Busch InBev (NYSE: BUD) is far and away the largest brewer… Read More