The market is always driven by either fear or greed. Right now, fear holds sway. There is a global flight-to-quality underway that has investors seeking shelter in government bonds, the safest of all harbors. As we know, bond prices move inversely to yields. So, payouts have fallen off a cliff… 3%, 2%, 1%. Look out below. Current bond yields are so low they would be laughable – were they not jeopardizing the retirement of hard-working people. —Recommended Link— Paragon Trading System Brings Gains of 2,500% Kept under wraps for 30 years, Jim Fink is finally… Read More

The market is always driven by either fear or greed. Right now, fear holds sway. There is a global flight-to-quality underway that has investors seeking shelter in government bonds, the safest of all harbors. As we know, bond prices move inversely to yields. So, payouts have fallen off a cliff… 3%, 2%, 1%. Look out below. Current bond yields are so low they would be laughable – were they not jeopardizing the retirement of hard-working people. —Recommended Link— Paragon Trading System Brings Gains of 2,500% Kept under wraps for 30 years, Jim Fink is finally revealing his Paragon trading system to the world. It’s the same system that let Jim walk away from Wall Street with a $5 million fortune at just age 37. And now, a select group of investors are following in his footsteps. We’re so confident in the system, that we will guarantee you the opportunity to turn $5,000 into $125,000. ​​Click Here Now. My premium newsletter, High-Yield Investing, has been around for fifteen years. When the newsletter was launched in July 2004, decent payouts were plentiful. The 10-Year Treasury yield stood at 4.7%. And AAA-rated corporate bonds… Read More

We just passed a major milestone. No, I’m not talking about the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing (although that is certainly worthy of recognition). But while we’re on the subject, it would be remiss of me to not cite a couple of examples of what the market has done for investors since that historic date in July 1969. #-ad_banner-#If you bought a few shares of Walt Disney Co (NYSE: DIS) back then, they would have since multiplied in value 400 times over. Better still, a stake in McDonald’s (NYSE: MCD) would have delivered an astronomical return of… Read More

We just passed a major milestone. No, I’m not talking about the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing (although that is certainly worthy of recognition). But while we’re on the subject, it would be remiss of me to not cite a couple of examples of what the market has done for investors since that historic date in July 1969. #-ad_banner-#If you bought a few shares of Walt Disney Co (NYSE: DIS) back then, they would have since multiplied in value 400 times over. Better still, a stake in McDonald’s (NYSE: MCD) would have delivered an astronomical return of 82,000%, including dividends. That’s what happens when you become a part-owner in iconic American businesses, reinvest your dividends dutifully, and harness the long-term power of compound interest – which brings us to the real milestone I was talking about. $150,000. That’s the cumulative distributions of dividends and interest we’ve collected in our Daily Paycheck portfolio since it was created in January 2010. The latest running tally through last month is 3,389 “paychecks” worth a total of $155,219. And while August looks to be somewhat of a slow month for dividends, we’re still scheduled to receive $1,313. That money… Read More

Whenever a sinking share price pushes a dividend yield above 10%, the market is usually expressing some skepticism regarding dividend sustainability. That’s even more true at 15% and higher… With an annual dividend of $1.00 per share and a current share price below $4, WPG carries an extreme yield above 25%. Clearly, investors have some serious doubts. The market was expecting a dividend cut when the company released its second-quarter results a few ago. They didn’t get one. Washington Prime reaffirmed its policy of distributing $0.25 per share each quarter. And it earned $0.27 in funds from operation (FFO), enough… Read More

Whenever a sinking share price pushes a dividend yield above 10%, the market is usually expressing some skepticism regarding dividend sustainability. That’s even more true at 15% and higher… With an annual dividend of $1.00 per share and a current share price below $4, WPG carries an extreme yield above 25%. Clearly, investors have some serious doubts. The market was expecting a dividend cut when the company released its second-quarter results a few ago. They didn’t get one. Washington Prime reaffirmed its policy of distributing $0.25 per share each quarter. And it earned $0.27 in funds from operation (FFO), enough to cover the distribution with room to spare. Management forecast full-year FFO of $1.20 per share – providing a minimum coverage ratio of 120% on the $1.00 per share annual distribution. Unless that has changed over the past few days, the company is generating enough cash to continue paying its current dividend. But should it? That’s a better question to ask. I say no. Dividends are eating up most of the firm’s cash flow, leaving little for required maintenance expenditures. They run about $65 million annually, or $0.30 per share. But the bigger drain on capital is redevelopment costs needed… Read More

Investors are beginning to turn their attention back to corporate earnings. They might not like what they see. While actual results are still coming in, we are tracking toward a 3% decline. That would mark the second-straight negative quarter — the technical definition of an earnings recession. This slowdown follows ten straight quarters of uninterrupted growth, including an extended streak of double-digit increases.  By itself, this isn’t necessarily a reason to panic. Still, there are other troubling signs…  Business investment has been tepid. The boom in capital spending on new equipment and factories has stalled, the stimulative effects of corporate… Read More

Investors are beginning to turn their attention back to corporate earnings. They might not like what they see. While actual results are still coming in, we are tracking toward a 3% decline. That would mark the second-straight negative quarter — the technical definition of an earnings recession. This slowdown follows ten straight quarters of uninterrupted growth, including an extended streak of double-digit increases.  By itself, this isn’t necessarily a reason to panic. Still, there are other troubling signs…  Business investment has been tepid. The boom in capital spending on new equipment and factories has stalled, the stimulative effects of corporate tax overhaul wearing off… Meanwhile, the damaging trade war could reignite at any time. The hostilities may even spill over into the currency markets if the White House decided to weaponize the U.S. dollar, deliberately weakening it to put domestic exporters on a more level playing field. Meanwhile, the global economy continues to cool, particularly across Europe. Even more concerning, China (the world’s economic growth engine) is seeing the weakest economic output in 30 years.  The point is, any of these wild cards could trip up the market. And with the major averages having ascended to record heights, it’s a… Read More

Don’t get lulled into a false sense of security.  Yes, it’s been an amazing run for the markets this year. The 17% surge in the Dow Jones Industrial Average since the beginning of 2019 has made us forget all about the market’s woes last December. That 700-point freefall on Christmas Eve is now just a distant memory.  #-ad_banner-#All that consternation about an inverted yield curve? Those worries have melted away.  The prospect of an interest rate cut has provided a temporary distraction. But understand that the Federal Reserve is only shifting course and loosening monetary policy because it sees darkening… Read More

Don’t get lulled into a false sense of security.  Yes, it’s been an amazing run for the markets this year. The 17% surge in the Dow Jones Industrial Average since the beginning of 2019 has made us forget all about the market’s woes last December. That 700-point freefall on Christmas Eve is now just a distant memory.  #-ad_banner-#All that consternation about an inverted yield curve? Those worries have melted away.  The prospect of an interest rate cut has provided a temporary distraction. But understand that the Federal Reserve is only shifting course and loosening monetary policy because it sees darkening in the macro skies. Now more than ever, it’s important to focus on what’s working in the market. And what better way to start than by looking for companies that are raising their dividends? After all, all things being equal, if a company is giving shareholders a raise at this late point of the economic cycle, then there’s a good chance management has confidence that it can generate enough cash to cover the payout in any condition.  That’s why every month I make a point to research possible dividend raisers for the next month or so and share my findings… Read More

Nobody likes to be early to a party. After all, it can be painfully awkward at times before the rest of the crowd shows up. In fact, you may even wonder why you bothered to come in the first place. That’s what’s happening right now with one of our energy picks over at High-Yield Investing.  In short, my readers and I spotted a solid company whose stock was so oversold — so unloved — that we just had to buy. And while we love collecting the 5% yield it’s paying right now, the stock price itself has yet to rebound. … Read More

Nobody likes to be early to a party. After all, it can be painfully awkward at times before the rest of the crowd shows up. In fact, you may even wonder why you bothered to come in the first place. That’s what’s happening right now with one of our energy picks over at High-Yield Investing.  In short, my readers and I spotted a solid company whose stock was so oversold — so unloved — that we just had to buy. And while we love collecting the 5% yield it’s paying right now, the stock price itself has yet to rebound.  So to understand what’s going on (and why I think we’re overdue for a spike in the shares), let’s consider a completely different “unloved” sector for a moment…  —Recommended Link— SECRET: Add $8,760 Extra to Any Retirement Account​ Finally revealed! This “long lost” secret turns a quick 3-minute phone call into the opportunity to collect $8,760 checks. Every payment is backed by the full authority of the U.S. Government… and over $1.75 billion will be delivered to income-seeking Americans. But your action is required TODAY while the enrollment window is open. … Read More