Interest rates are near zero. Savings accounts pay next to nothing. 10-Year Treasury yields are at their lowest level since 1956 — when Dwight Eisenhower was president. And the average yield for all stocks in the S&P 500 is just 2%. That makes us one of the lowest-yielding markets in the world. But compare that to what I’m seeing in international markets. #-ad_banner-#The U.K.’s average dividend yield is 3.8%… Sweden’s average yield is 4.0%… Canada yields 3.0%… Brazil’s average yield is 4.4%… New Zealand pays 4.5%… Belgium pays 4.7%… Australia yields 4.3%… And remember, these figures are just the averages,… Read More

Interest rates are near zero. Savings accounts pay next to nothing. 10-Year Treasury yields are at their lowest level since 1956 — when Dwight Eisenhower was president. And the average yield for all stocks in the S&P 500 is just 2%. That makes us one of the lowest-yielding markets in the world. But compare that to what I’m seeing in international markets. #-ad_banner-#The U.K.’s average dividend yield is 3.8%… Sweden’s average yield is 4.0%… Canada yields 3.0%… Brazil’s average yield is 4.4%… New Zealand pays 4.5%… Belgium pays 4.7%… Australia yields 4.3%… And remember, these figures are just the averages, weighed down by large numbers of stocks that don’t yield a cent. I’ve been telling readers this for months… The simple fact is that when you start looking abroad, high yielders are practically a dime a dozen in comparison to the United States. As Judy Sarayan, a fund manager at mega-investment firm Eaton Vance explained, “There’s a much stronger dividend culture abroad… Individual investors play a larger role in those markets, and they have always demanded more dividends.” That difference is more dramatic when you start looking at some individual examples of higher yields abroad. Take banks, for instance. Here… Read More

It goes without saying that Warren Buffett is one of the greatest investors of all time. His net worth jumped to $59 billion in 2013, ranking him as one of the very richest people in the world. His average annual return of 20% in the past 55 years doesn’t just put him ahead of all peers… it means he doesn’t even have any peers. Buffett’s success in the stock market has been driven by an ultra-conservative investment style. Like many of us, Buffett loves a great deal. He only puts his money into undervalued businesses. Buffett is so famously risk-averse… Read More

It goes without saying that Warren Buffett is one of the greatest investors of all time. His net worth jumped to $59 billion in 2013, ranking him as one of the very richest people in the world. His average annual return of 20% in the past 55 years doesn’t just put him ahead of all peers… it means he doesn’t even have any peers. Buffett’s success in the stock market has been driven by an ultra-conservative investment style. Like many of us, Buffett loves a great deal. He only puts his money into undervalued businesses. Buffett is so famously risk-averse that he refuses to own technology companies. But Buffett doesn’t just sit around and wait for a great deal on a stock he wants to own. In fact, one of his favorite investment strategies allows for him to buy a stock at the exact low price he wants, all while generating huge streams of income. #-ad_banner-#You don’t have to be a billionaire to do this either. Any investor can use this trick. Buffett’s passion for value and a great deal was on display in the financial crisis of 2008. He lent Goldman Sachs $5 billion at the height of the… 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

In today’s essay, I want to tell you a story about trust and opportunity. You see, when I’m not researching and writing for my premium newsletter, High-Yield International, I also spend time as an independent investment advisor. In that role, to put it bluntly, I make my living by taking clients from big banks. #-ad_banner-#Over the years I have battled all the big names: Bank of America-Merrill Lynch, J.P. Morgan and Northwestern Mutual, to name a few. A recent engagement had me pitted against one of the giants, which shall remain nameless. When I got on the phone with him… Read More

In today’s essay, I want to tell you a story about trust and opportunity. You see, when I’m not researching and writing for my premium newsletter, High-Yield International, I also spend time as an independent investment advisor. In that role, to put it bluntly, I make my living by taking clients from big banks. #-ad_banner-#Over the years I have battled all the big names: Bank of America-Merrill Lynch, J.P. Morgan and Northwestern Mutual, to name a few. A recent engagement had me pitted against one of the giants, which shall remain nameless. When I got on the phone with him to discuss his portfolio, I said, “You are going to learn more from me in the next five minutes than you’ve learned from these guys in the last year.” I heard an awkward chuckle on the other end of the line. But I was completely serious. Five minutes later he wasn’t laughing. In fact, he was enraged. I explained to him that he was: — Overallocated to bonds. — Paying high fees in mutual funds. — In mutual funds that were underperforming the market. — Paying high advisor and execution fees. — Not using special strategies,… Read More

The year 2004 was one of the most exciting times of my life. The future looked bright. That was the year I beat out hundreds of candidates to enter an exclusive bond-trading program for a multi-billion-dollar brokerage firm. I was going to dig deeper than ever into the market. I was going to be around market junkies all day. And most importantly, I was going to become a trading hotshot and make a few million bucks before I turned 30. Three years later, two of those things had come true, and one had not… #-ad_banner-#After spending years fully entrenched in… Read More

The year 2004 was one of the most exciting times of my life. The future looked bright. That was the year I beat out hundreds of candidates to enter an exclusive bond-trading program for a multi-billion-dollar brokerage firm. I was going to dig deeper than ever into the market. I was going to be around market junkies all day. And most importantly, I was going to become a trading hotshot and make a few million bucks before I turned 30. Three years later, two of those things had come true, and one had not… #-ad_banner-#After spending years fully entrenched in the markets and learning from the sharpest minds in the business, I had learned a valuable lesson: trading is no quick path to riches. The cumulative effect of making a few hundred trades a day for years had left me emotionally and financially spent. I found myself at a crossroads. I had loved the market ever since joining the stock market club in sixth grade. I wasn’t ready to walk away from it completely, but it was clear that my relationship with the market needed to evolve. Transitioning out of trading was one of the hardest things I’ve ever had… Read More

With interest rates near 0% and traditional income investments like savings accounts and certificates of deposits (CDs) earning next to nothing, blue chip telecom stocks like AT&T (NYSE: T) and Verizon (NYSE: VZ) have become wildly popular. That makes sense. Telecom is a “recession-proof” industry. Regardless of what’s happening with the economy, people will still need cell phones and cable TV. And with both stocks yielding over 4.5%, both companies look like a good choice for income investors in search of high yields. But what if I told you there was a way to squeeze a 24% yield out of… Read More

With interest rates near 0% and traditional income investments like savings accounts and certificates of deposits (CDs) earning next to nothing, blue chip telecom stocks like AT&T (NYSE: T) and Verizon (NYSE: VZ) have become wildly popular. That makes sense. Telecom is a “recession-proof” industry. Regardless of what’s happening with the economy, people will still need cell phones and cable TV. And with both stocks yielding over 4.5%, both companies look like a good choice for income investors in search of high yields. But what if I told you there was a way to squeeze a 24% yield out of these very same high-quality stocks? Suddenly, the deal seems a whole lot more enticing… Let me explain how normal investors can do this… #-ad_banner-#First, we start with a stable, well-known stock like Verizon. Verizon benefits from owning a huge barrier to entrance, something Warren Buffett always looks for in his investments. Its national fiber-optic network stretching from Maine to California has helped secure its position as the leader in the domestic mobile market, now boasting 100 million subscribers. It also has more than 20 million fixed-line customers and 9 million broadband subscribers. When you add it all together, Verizon’s massive… Read More

One of the few certainties in the market is that investors will always search for new ways to profit. And there is one strategy that continues to gain popularity. #-ad_banner-#That’s because it enables investors to make money regardless if stocks go up or down. It also provides the potential for… Read More

As I write this I’m sailing across the sky, 35,000 feet in the air in a Boeing (NYSE: BA) 777, heading home from a great vacation in Grand Cayman. It’s one of the most beautiful islands in the Caribbean. White sandy beaches and great snorkeling and diving. I also like vacationing in Grand Cayman because of its stable currency. The Cayman dollar is pegged to the U.S. dollar. That fixed-exchange rate shelters the Cayman dollar from unpredictable price swings that could negatively affect its economy. It also makes it easy for me to forecast my expenses for the week. But… Read More

As I write this I’m sailing across the sky, 35,000 feet in the air in a Boeing (NYSE: BA) 777, heading home from a great vacation in Grand Cayman. It’s one of the most beautiful islands in the Caribbean. White sandy beaches and great snorkeling and diving. I also like vacationing in Grand Cayman because of its stable currency. The Cayman dollar is pegged to the U.S. dollar. That fixed-exchange rate shelters the Cayman dollar from unpredictable price swings that could negatively affect its economy. It also makes it easy for me to forecast my expenses for the week. But that kind of currency stability is an anomaly in many emerging markets right now. For countries with floating rate currencies, inflation has been wreaking havoc. In India, onion prices recently jumped 300%. In Brazil, the CPI (consumer price index) topped the highest estimates in 2013. In Turkey, key lending rates were raised from 7.75% to 12% to defend the value of the lira. In Argentina, inflation recently spiked to 25%.  Naturally, investors want to know if these signals are transitory or the beginning of a larger issue. Opinions on the Street are mixed. Here’s what I think… In the short… Read More

I’ve told you before about the enormous number of high-yielding stocks abroad. If you remember, my research team and I found only 25 profitable U.S. companies were paying yields of more than 12%… compared to 93 overseas. Although the numbers fluctuate daily, that means roughly 79% of the world’s highest yields are found outside of U.S. markets. To me, the amount of high-yield international dividend-payers out there is one of the market’s biggest secrets. But there’s another big potential benefit to investing in international companies that most investors fail to consider. #-ad_banner-#This simple move could make investors extra gains of… Read More

I’ve told you before about the enormous number of high-yielding stocks abroad. If you remember, my research team and I found only 25 profitable U.S. companies were paying yields of more than 12%… compared to 93 overseas. Although the numbers fluctuate daily, that means roughly 79% of the world’s highest yields are found outside of U.S. markets. To me, the amount of high-yield international dividend-payers out there is one of the market’s biggest secrets. But there’s another big potential benefit to investing in international companies that most investors fail to consider. #-ad_banner-#This simple move could make investors extra gains of 10% or more — even in a single year. It doesn’t require any extra effort… in fact, it happens automatically when you invest in international companies. Here’s how it works… Say five years ago you took the trip of a lifetime to Australia. Back then, $1.00 Australian was worth roughly $0.65 U.S. dollars. That means a hotel room priced at $100 Australian dollars only cost about $65 U.S. dollars thanks to a favorable exchange rate. But today, the Australian dollar has increased while the U.S. dollar has plummeted in value. Just $1.00 Australian is now worth $0.91 U.S. dollars. Read More

For as good as 2013 was for stocks, it was equally bad for bonds. #-ad_banner-#Bonds posted their lowest return since 1994. Investment-grade bonds posted their lowest return since 1980 and first loss since 1999. Last year was the only third year in the past 34 that bonds closed the year with a loss. This bout of weakness was driven by the Federal Reserve, which in May announced its intention to taper its quantitative easing stimulus program. That sent many investors fleeing bonds trying to avoid rising rates.  But that would be a mistake. One group of bonds is… Read More

For as good as 2013 was for stocks, it was equally bad for bonds. #-ad_banner-#Bonds posted their lowest return since 1994. Investment-grade bonds posted their lowest return since 1980 and first loss since 1999. Last year was the only third year in the past 34 that bonds closed the year with a loss. This bout of weakness was driven by the Federal Reserve, which in May announced its intention to taper its quantitative easing stimulus program. That sent many investors fleeing bonds trying to avoid rising rates.  But that would be a mistake. One group of bonds is in position to continue bucking that bearish trend — and deliver more than double the yield of the 10-year Treasury. While most classes of bonds were suffering sharp losses last year, there was one group that was virtually immune from that weakness. In fact, these bonds actually finished the year in the green, making them the top-performing class of bonds in 2013.  While the iShares 20+ Year Treasury Bond (NYSE: TLT) has fallen nearly 10% in the past 12 months and iShares iBoxx Investment Grade Corp Bond (NYSE: LQD) is down almost 1%, the iShares iBoxx High-Yield Corporate Bond (NYSE:… Read More