You can laugh at water utility stocks (and their presumed lack of potency) all you want. Just know that the people who have owned them since late April have been laughing too — all the way to the bank.  #-ad_banner-#See, while the rest of the… Read More

On Tuesday, my colleague David Sterman proclaimed the end of the bond rally. In effect, his main point is that while bonds have been a source of safety recently (while also performing very well), there’s just not that much upside left… Read More

Your portfolio isn’t the only one that’s taking a beating right now… U.S. equities across the board have sold-off in the past month. The S&P 500 fell 9% in May alone. This kind of volatility makes it hard for income investors to navigate the… Read More

If I told you about a stock that’s delivered gains of nearly 20% to investors for the past five years, then I imagine you’d be a little skeptical. After all, the past five years have been some of the most tumultuous years in recent memory. And even if it weren’t,… Read More

My, how quickly the market‘s tide can turn. By the end of March, we were sitting on a 17% rally. Since then, the S&P 500 has fallen more than 8%, and the future looks troubled at best.  The 180-degree… Read More

The stock market is a temperamental beast. Every year, month, week, day and even hour is different than the one preceding it. Long-term 100-year charts clearly show a substantial upward drift in stock prices, however, there are multi-year periods of very little change and even times of bearish, downward movement. If you begin investing in stocks during the start of one of these down cycles, it can take years just to get back to even, and that’s if you had the luck to buy the right stocks. … Read More

The stock market is a temperamental beast. Every year, month, week, day and even hour is different than the one preceding it. Long-term 100-year charts clearly show a substantial upward drift in stock prices, however, there are multi-year periods of very little change and even times of bearish, downward movement. If you begin investing in stocks during the start of one of these down cycles, it can take years just to get back to even, and that’s if you had the luck to buy the right stocks.  The market is littered with the financial corpses of those who went “all-in” during a bearish cycle or bubble burst of a particular sector. One only has to look back as far as the banking crisis of 2007-2008 or the Internet bubble burst at the turn of the century to find stocks of companies that never recovered. Even the broad indexes are well off their all time highs. Plenty of long term investors bought near the top and are still negative overall in their stock portfolios.  One way to prevent being caught at the wrong time and in the wrong… Read More

It’s one of the most overlooked investments I’ve found. Ask 10 people on the street, and I’d guess that none of them would have heard of this business. It only trades 165,000 units a day. That’s what market darling Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL) trades in about three minutes. That’s because this business rarely gets any press. If most investors knew what I’m about to tell you, I think interest would soar. #-ad_banner-#You see, this company doesn’t have a flashy business. It doesn’t sell its product with glossy magazine ads. Read More

It’s one of the most overlooked investments I’ve found. Ask 10 people on the street, and I’d guess that none of them would have heard of this business. It only trades 165,000 units a day. That’s what market darling Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL) trades in about three minutes. That’s because this business rarely gets any press. If most investors knew what I’m about to tell you, I think interest would soar. #-ad_banner-#You see, this company doesn’t have a flashy business. It doesn’t sell its product with glossy magazine ads. And it doesn’t have a breakthrough new product that gets a lot of attention. But it does make investors money. In fact, the units just hit a 5-year high. Meanwhile, it’s paid a steady monthly dividend that hasn’t faltered going all the way back to 2005. And one more thing: This business sells a staggering 99% of its product. Earlier this month, I told you that you can find REITs in Canada that are yielding up to 13.5%. As I said, Canadian REITs (CanREITs) are similar in many… Read More

If everybody deserves a second chance, then shouldn’t the same apply to stocks? Most every company faces a major challenge at some point in its history that sends share prices tumbling and yields climbing. A few never recover, but the best ones regain their former luster with… Read More

I’ve discovered a way to earn the equivalent of a second Social Security check every month. Now, I don’t want to mislead you. This check isn’t from Uncle Sam. In fact, the government doesn’t have anything to do with it. (I think that’s good news considering all… Read More

To many people, it’s hard to justify investing in companies that make such unloved products as tobacco, weapons or even alcohol. But income investors can find lots of reasons to like tobacco and alcohol stocks, namely their defensive nature and the fact that they typically perform quite well. Read More