From Bank Bloodbath to Pipeline Boom: An 8.1% Yield Escape Plan

The Contrary Investing Report

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From Bank Bloodbath to Pipeline Boom: An 8.1% Yield Escape Plan

“And what can we do to get better shots?”

Your fulltime income strategist and part-time basketball coach asked his team of fifth and sixth graders for their ideas. Or, at least, tried to.

Then a ball bounced. After coach specifically said hold balls for a second time. This third infraction ended the conversation.

“That’s it—on the line. Start running.”

When coach says run, the players don’t really have a choice. Get moving in practice or lose playing time in the games they all love.

Likewise, when the government tells an industry that there is a cap on their profits, well, they’d better get moving too.… Read more

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AI? Venezuela? This 5.9% Divvie Is in the Thick of It All (and Thriving)

Natural gas prices are ripping. And we’re going to play it through a “contrarians-choice” 5.9%-payer whose stock is headed in the other direction.

This is a perfect contrarian setup, and I don’t expect it to last.

I’m talking about Enbridge (ENB), whose share price has lagged in the first few weeks of 2026, even as gas prices went to the moon:

Gas Soars—and Enbridge Gives Us an Opening

To be sure, this gas-price spike is driven by the arrival of a “generational” winter storm here in the US. But it’s a sign of things to come, as gas demand is not going anywhere.… Read more

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This 11% Dividend Aces Our 3-Step “Buy Test”

There are plenty of reasons to buy closed-end funds (CEFs), but the one that most investors love most is pretty obvious.

The income!

The average CEF yields 8.6% as I write this. And while most investors have been conditioned to believe that this level of payout is unsustainable, this is not the case with CEFs. Many of these funds sport yields of 8% or more and haven’t cut payouts in years, even decades.

In fact, several have grown their dividends in that time.

The reason why is simple: The stock market gains around 10.6% per year on average. So a CEF that invests in stocks and pays 10.6% per year can maintain payouts, theoretically, since the fund is just handing that profit to shareholders as a dividend.… Read more

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7 Brand-New Payouts That Dividend-Growth Investors Should Watch

New year, new dividends. And today we’ll review seven brand new payouts.

Why are new divvies potential money makers? Because companies love to deliver big raises out of the gates to reward shareholders.

And to be honest, it doesn’t cost them much. These current yields are often modest, so they have room to grow.

But in percentage terms, these payout pops look impressive. And with gaudy growth numbers comes the “momentum” buyers, who often bid these stocks up, up and away.

Which sophomore dividends are likely to impress soon? Let’s discuss.

Tutor Perini (TPC)
Dividend Initiation Announcement: Nov. 18, 2025
First Dividend Payment: Dec.… Read more

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My Market Forecast for 2026 (and a “17%-Off” Dividend to Play It)

I’m a contrarian at heart—but sometimes even contrarians have to go along with the mainstream opinion.

This (as much as it pains me!) is one of those times. You see, like most of the pundits out there, I expect another strong year for stocks in 2026. I see a roughly 12% gain for the S&P 500 this year, to be exact.

That bothers me. A lot.

I know that four strong years in a row is rare, indeed. But that’s what the data is telling me, and I’m not going to argue with it.

Still Plenty of Cheap CEF Dividends Out There—Even in This “Pricey” Market

Now this doesn’t mean there’s a lack of bargains waiting for us in our favorite income plays: 8%+ closed-end funds (CEFs).… Read more

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From 12% Yields, 14% Gains to the Next Dividend Train Leaving the Station

When we buy dividend stocks, we’re looking for more than just the dividend. Price gains are preferred as well.

Greedy? Nah. Not if we time our buys right. It is possible to have our payouts and watch our stocks go up, too.

Two months ago, we recommended Annaly Capital (NLY) in these pages. Annaly dished a safe 12.9% dividend, well-funded by income. And the mortgage REIT (mREIT) had upside potential to boot.

Vanilla investors were worried about a recession, missing a time-tested maxim of income investing: As rates fall, REITs rise. This “rate-REIT seesaw” was about to tip and catapult Annaly’s price higher.… Read more

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This Cheap Dividend Just Jumped 13.6% (and We’re Buying)

As contrarians, we love it when a solid dividend grower drops on headline-driven fear.

And I see the recent decline in shares of Visa (V)—a Hidden Yields holding that hikes its payout double-digits yearly—as our next opportunity to cash in as the mainstream crowd frets.

You probably know that the stock fell on President Trump’s talk of limiting credit-card interest rates to 10% for one year. Investors, in typical “knee jerk” fashion, swiftly sold off this reliable payment toll booth.

That’s too bad for them—but it’s great for us. We now have a chance to buy a stout dividend grower at a bargain.… Read more

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The 1 Red-Hot Sector That Isn’t Crowded (Tap It With a 7.2% Dividend)

While tech is all over the news these days, there’s another corner of the market throwing investors cheap, and surging, dividends. These stocks quietly soared in 2025, but they’re still cheap enough for us to get in on now.

And we have plenty of ways to do so at a bargain.

Chief among them? A growing 7.2% dividend that’s suddenly on sale.

Let’s set the table on that strong fund with the 50,000-foot view: I’m talking about the financial sector, which returned 15% in 2025, going by the performance of the Financial Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLF).

That makes it the fourth-best performer of all sectors, behind tech, industrials and communication-services stocks—the latter of which actually includes tech names like Meta Platforms (META) and Alphabet (GOOGL).… Read more

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Will These 5 Stocks Repeat Their 39%-100% Dividend Raises This Year?

Dozens of companies are poised to raise their dividends over the next few months once the quarterly earnings season gets underway. Most of those are going to be token upgrades—just enough to pacify shareholders.

We’ll let Wall Street keep the tokens. We are “elephant hunting” big dividend raises.

I’m talking about companies with both the potential and the track record to hike their cash distributions by a minimum of 39%—though a lot more could be in store.

Why are hikes like these retirement makers? Simple—the “dividend magnet” effect.

Lockheed Martin (LMT) is an example of this magnet in action.… Read more

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The AI Bubble Is Overblown (But This 10.6% Dividend Wins Either Way)

Is 2026 going to be the year the AI “bubble” finally bursts?

Maybe my use of quotes there tipped you off to my true opinion: Worries about an AI bubble are vastly overdone.

And today we’re going to grab a 10.6%-paying closed-end fund (CEF) that wins either way: If I’m wrong and there is an AI bubble (that pops), cash will flow into it. If not, that’s fine: We’ll happily collect its growing 10.6% payout.

From Silicon Valley to Wall Street

Of course, the AI CEOs agree with me that there is no AI bubble: Sam Altman, Elon Musk and the heads of Microsoft (MSFT), Meta Platforms (META), Alphabet (GOOGL) and Oracle (ORCL) are all bullish and willing to spend trillions on the tech.… Read more

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