Most income investors ignore small companies. Conventional wisdom says that large, mature companies pay dividends and small companies don’t. That’s hardly the case. Nearly 10,000 small caps trade on U.S. exchanges. Of those, 3.3% carry a yield of 6% or more. Believe it… Read More

Longtime readers of my Dividend Opportunities newsletter know I’m a big fan of master limited partnerships (MLPs). There’s not much to dislike. The partnerships don’t have to pay corporate income taxes as long as they earn 90% of… Read More

You could find a boring stock with a solid, dependable dividend. No problem. Or you might want to take your chances with some high-flying, hotshot growth company. Plenty of them have made lots of money, there’s no doubt about it. But the problem is… Read More

The financial crisis felled some banks. Others were left crippled and may never recover. Still others were hardly affected at all. Those institutions are the ones in the best position to profit going forward. Investors should look at these stable… Read More

Looking at the yields on junk bonds today, I’m reminded of a Joanie Mitchell lyric many years ago: “Don’t it always seem to go that you don’t know what you’ve got till its gone.” In October 2008, the dividend yields for speculative-grade (junk) bonds were averaging 2,182 basis points above… Read More

How many companies have seen profits explode +86% in the past three months? I’ve found a company that’s making a killing in today’s economy. It’s also selling dirt cheap, at just seven times earnings. Best of… Read More

If you think “widow and orphan” utility stocks are boring, then you’ve never heard of this one. It’s an electric utility that has increased its dividend each year for the past 20 years. Not only does it offer its shareholders an… Read More

The Chinese Civil War ended Oct. 1, 1949. The (winning) communists controlled Mainland China and the (losing) Chinese Nationalist Party was relegated to Taiwan. The relations between the two governments since have generally been hostile. Each side hated the other and claimed they were the legitimate Chinese government. Now, after… Read More

If anyone ever tells you that you must choose between dividends and capital gains, it’s now safe to laugh. A full 135 companies have increased their dividends AND decreased their shares outstanding through buybacks in each of the past five years. Stock buybacks… Read More

I doubt you’ve ever heard of John Wightkin. He’s the Director of Equity Research Applications of the Schwab Center for Financial Research. Sure that’s a fancy title, but John is doing some very important work in the field of income investing. In fact, John Wightkin just confirmed what I’ve been… Read More