Tuesday, October 22, 2024
The coronavirus pandemic put the ultimate stress test on income investments. Hundreds of companies cut or suspended dividend payments. Companies that did not cut dividends through the pandemic should be high on the list for income-focused investors—and companies that grew their dividends in 2020 deserve gold stars and a place in your portfolio. In February […]
Recently, I have found myself going down the rabbit hole leading to ETFs and closed-end funds (CEFs) that use covered call strategies. These funds offer the promise of investment exposure to major asset classes or indexes, plus a high level of dividend income. Closed-end funds aren’t generally my cup of tea as many remain murky […]
I’m often asked, “what are stock options?” by some of my newer readers. Stock options are derivatives based on the value of the stock and offer the trader the opportunity to buy or sell the stock at a stated price within a specific time. The most common option trades, especially for beginners, are covered calls. […]
Many investors are playing the recovery trade, looking for those stocks and companies that are not yet out of the pandemic woods, but should see a substantial improvement in their business results as the economy continues to open. Hospitality and travel-related companies are popular stocks for this investment strategy. However, with the hospitality-related REITs, shares […]
I am in the mood to ramble. (By that, I mean I’d like to share some thoughts about current broader themes affecting investing and the economy.) We have not seen this much uncertainty in the financial world since the Global Financial Crisis nearly 15 years ago. My work lets me follow the current financial news, […]
After a year that featured tech stocks as the big winner, many investors (and television talking heads) have expressed shock that the energy sector leads the way so far in 2021. With the price of crude oil rising higher, the Energy Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLE) has gained 43% through the first five months of […]
I regularly field many questions about specific high-yield investments. The questions often specify a closed-end fund (CEFs), and the investor asking often does not realize the high-yield stock symbol that caught their interest is a closed-end fund. Today, let’s look at CEFs, both pros and cons…lots of cons. CEF stands for closed-end fund. A closed-end […]
With the major U.S. stock indexes hovering around record highs, I often am asked about selling to lock in gains, and then waiting for the next downturn to reinvest. While I do not think a wholesale move into cash is the right move, I spend a lot of time considering what to tell my subscribers […]
Last week, Seeking Alpha put out a list of low-valuation ETFs with strong performance year-to-date for 2021. The short discussion pointed out how investors may benefit from a shift away from high-valuation growth investments, to those with lower valuations that are also out of favor with the “hot stocks” crowd. The low-valuation list sports some […]
Last week, AT&T (T) stirred up tremendous investor discussion when it announced an agreement to spin off its WarnerMedia division into a merger with Discovery, Inc. (DISCA). Included in the announcement was news that the AT&T dividend would be significantly reduced after the spin-off. As investors learned about the dividend cut, the AT&T share price […]
