Investors Alley

My Dividend Hunter service focuses on earning an income stream from a portfolio of high-yield investments. This comes with a lot of benefits, especially when markets are as turbulent as they have been lately.

One downside is that when I read analyst ratings on the stocks I recommend, I often find the analysis has the wrong focus.

Traditional stock analysis looks at a company’s business results and growth prospects to value the share price. From there, the analyst determines whether the stock is under or overvalued and assigns it a buy, sell, or hold rating.

For investors focused on building wealth through capital gains, Wall Street analysts’ buy and sell signals can be helpful.

However, I believe these ratings recommending the purchase or sale of stock shares to earn capital gains are not compatible with investing for a high-yield income stream.

Let me explain…

The main problem with trying to time the market or share purchases is that you cannot earn dividends unless you own shares. If you own and sell dividend-paying stocks, the dividends stop coming.

If you want to build an income stream, you must start buying shares, no matter where you think the broader market is going. This is a tough concept for investors who are used to trying to guess the direction of share prices.

I teach my subscribers that income investing involves two processes. The first is to find high-yield investments with the most secure cash flows to pay dividends. I constantly monitor the investments I recommend to ensure they can continue to pay dividends. Share price changes do not affect the ability to pay dividends. It’s a company’s ability to generate free cash flow that determines dividend-paying potential.

As income investors, we start by buying shares of attractive high-yield stocks or other investments. The plan is to hold those shares to earn a stable income stream. To grow the income stream, more shares are purchased, either through dividend reinvestment or by adding more capital to your high-yield holdings. Every time you buy a dividend-paying share, you grow your income.

This approach has two very positive benefits.

First, if share prices go down, yields go up, and you can grow your income faster by continuing to invest when the market goes through a correction or even a bear market. During market downturns, it’s essential to make sure the dividend payments are secure, which is part of what I do for my Dividend Hunter subscribers.

Second, if you focus on earning an income and track your income as your primary investment results metric, you will suddenly stop worrying about the stock market’s direction. With a properly managed high-yield portfolio, your income will go up every quarter!

Understanding that your investment strategy will produce steadily higher income and that you no longer need to count on uncertain capital gains to meet your investment goals gives tremendous peace of mind.

Finally, a high-yield dividend-focused strategy can earn attractive returns. My Dividend Hunter recommended portfolio has a current average yield of over 10%.

For a long time, corporate bonds were only for the richest of the rich—the top 1%, to be exact. They were often referred to as business-risk investments. No one had quite figured out which bonds would pay as agreed and which ones had the higher risk of defaulting.

That was all changed by W. Braddock Hickman, an economist born in 1911 in my old hometown, Baltimore, Maryland.

Here’s how he – and one of his followers decades later – change the investing game forever…

In ways we can still replicate.

Hickman eventually went to Johns Hopkins University, earned a PhD in economics, and went on to teach at Princeton and Rutgers. He ended up as a research staff member and director of the Corporate Bond Research Project of the National Bureau of Economic Research and published three books on corporate finance. His books outlined, for the first time, the nature of economic activity, corporate performance, and credit risk.

In the 1960s, those books fell into the hands of a young scholar at the University of California at Berkeley. The young man was so taken with his findings that he changed his career emphasis to business and finance instead of his original field of mathematics and science. He wrote an op-ed that he sent to the New York Times, in which he, in the spirit of 1960s Berkeley, was out to change the world by using finance to provide more opportunity to more people.

The New York Times never published the article that young Michael Milken sent to them back then. They should have because Milken really did change the world. We can discuss all the things Milken eventually accomplished that were a driving force behind the economic success of the last fifty years another day.

For now, I want to focus on the early years of Milken’s career. He used the ideas from Hickman’s research to make an enormous amount of money for Drexel Burnham investment bank, the bank’s clients, and himself. In Professor Hickman’s research, Milken uncovered the idea that fallen angel bonds—debt issues that were initially issued with investment-grade ratings but get downgraded to below investment-grade status—give investors a much higher yield than other bonds.

The high yields more than offset the slightly higher default rate of the lower-graded bonds, and a diversified portfolio of these issues could give investors huge returns. Take that theory, add a little leverage, and Milken’s carefully developed instincts and intelligence, and the firm and its customers have made millions.

Milken was so successful he eventually developed the same problem Buffett had at the end of the 1970s. Buffett used the deep value approach to investing developed by Ben Graham to make millions of dollars for his investors. He and Milken realized that they had made so much money that it no longer made sense to pursue the strategies that had made them wealthy.

Milken began using lower-rated new-issue bonds to finance young companies. His work funded early competitors to AT&T, like McCaw Cellular and MCI. He raised money for Steve Wynn, which he used to basically buy the Mob out of its Las Vegas holdings and turn it into the mega casino megaplex it is today. When Chrysler was struggling to stay afloat, Milken was the only one who could raise the cash it needed to overcome its difficulties and eventually succeed. T. Boone Pickens used cash from Milken’s bond-selling prowess to remake the US oil and gas industry.

Milken raised almost all of the cash used to grow and expand the cable TV industry. One of his earliest clients was Ted Turner, who used the cash to build CNN and make the Atlanta Braves a perennial pennant contender thanks to the cash earned by his flagship station, WTBS, which aired the team’s games all across the country.

Buffett became America’s wise old uncle and the greatest bear market investor of all time. It is the small-cap deep value and undervalued credit approaches that made both men rich. The opportunities still exist today. You will not hear about them from the media. You cannot invest billions of dollars in deep value or underpriced strong credits. You can, however, invest thousands and even millions all day long.

These are exactly the concepts I share with my readers to help them use their own version of the 1970s Billionaire Playbook to prosper in today’s uncertain economic environment.

The last time such a rare situation happened with this “secret map” was in 1984. When one stock skyrocketed for all-time gains, that resulted in $5,000 turning into $108,850… and $25,000 into $544,250! Now it’s even bigger. Click here before it’s too late.

Last week in my 48-Hour Income service, we decided to not make a trade in B. Riley Financial (RILY). In 48-Hour Income, the goal of the service is to generate 1% to 3% returns per week by selling 2-day puts in certain stocks. Financial services company RILY had been a put-selling target of ours in

During my time as a fighter pilot, a one-versus-one dogfight was one of the most challenging types of flights. This type of mission pitted one pilot’s skills against his opponent. This air combat training was not the type of flight in which you wanted to come home second best.

The new category of single stock covered-call ETFs now has two sponsors offering competing funds covering the same underlying stocks. This type of ETF is new in the market, with the oldest funds operating for just over a year. Many have track records that are only a few months in length.

The funds have been trading long enough to compare returns for covered-call ETFs with the same underlying stock.

This week I want to compare the two Alphabet Inc. (GOOGL) covered-call ETF returns since November 1, 2023.

The YieldMax ETFs were the first mover with this type of ETF, launching their first funds in November 2022. Currently, YieldMax offers 19 single-stock ETFs, with more on the way. These funds have caught the attention of investors with eye-popping distribution yields.

The six Kurv single-stock covered-call ETFs launched at the end of October 2023. These funds have lower distribution yields, but the stock price charts for the last four-plus months have very positive slopes.

With at least a few months of track records, I want to compare the returns of the YieldMax and Kurv funds covering the same stocks.

This week I want to compare the two Alphabet Inc. (GOOGL) covered-call ETF returns since November 1, 2023.

The current quoted yield for the YieldMax GOOGL Option Income Strategy ETF (GOOY) is 21.53%. Since November 1, the GOOY share price has declined by 7.76%. GOOGL gained 24.4% over the same period. GOOY paid $1.98 in dividends to add 10.61% to the starting share price. A little math gives a total return of 2.85% since November 1. GOOGL shares significantly outperformed the YieldMax GOOGL covered-call ETF.

The Kurv Yield Premium Strategy Google (GOOGL) ETF (GOOP) shows a current distribution rate of 12.20%. That’s almost 43% less than the current yield quote for GOOY. From November 1 through April 16, the GOOP share price gained 13.02%. Over that period, GOOP paid $1.38 in dividends. The dividends earned add 5.53% to the initial share value, giving a total return of 18.55%.

My two previous reports on the Amazon and Apple covered-call ETFs showed total returns that were very close, with the YieldMax funds getting the win both times. For Google, the Kurv covered-call fund performed significantly better, catching a large portion of gains in GOOGL.

I will do the same calculations for the other four Kurv funds against their YieldMax counterparts over the next couple of months and publish my findings here.

I will also track comparisons over the longer term. I will share that information with ETF Income Edge subscribers.

This is as easy as investing in any stock…No special privileges or account access is required!And you’re instantly signed up to receive an up to 26.2% dividend yield. PAID MONTHLY!With a $25,000 stake, your life would change seriously instantly. We’re talking over $5,000 per year in your pocket the first year you’re invested.Click here now before you miss out

The 1970s playbook. We hear a lot of talk about that without much discussion about what it is and why we should use it. Today, I will show you the roadmap that worked in the 1970s as well as every other time period in markets volatility, political turmoil, higher interest rates, and falling stock prices

During my time as a fighter pilot, a one-versus-one dogfight was one of the most challenging types of flights. This type of mission pitted one pilot’s skills against his opponent. This air combat training was not the type of flight in which you wanted to come home second best.

The new category of single-stock covered call ETFs now has two sponsors offering competing funds covering the same underlying stocks. This type of ETF is new, with the oldest funds operating for just over a year. Many have track records that are only a few months in length.

The funds have been in the market long enough to compare returns for covered call ETFs with the same underlying stock.

So let’s pit two head-to-head in a virtual dogfight of Amazon-trading ETFs.

The YieldMax ETFs were the first with this type of ETF, launching their initial funds in November 2022. Currently, YIeldMax offers 19 single-stock ETFs, with more on the way. These funds have caught the attention of investors with eye-popping distribution yields.

The six Kurv single-stock covered call ETFs launched at the end of October 2023. These funds have lower distribution yields, but the stock price charts for the last four-plus months have very positive slopes.

With at least a few months of track records, I want to compare the returns of the YieldMax and Kurv funds covering the same stocks.

Let’s start at the top of the alphabet and compare the two Amazon.com (AMZN) covered call ETF returns since November 1, 2023.

The current quoted yield for the YieldMax AMZN Option Income Strategy ETF (AMZY) is 34.14%. Since November 1, the AMZY share price has appreciated by 10.35%. The $2.70 in dividends paid add 13.12% to the share price gains. A little math gives a total return of 23.47% since November 1.

The Kurv Yield Premium Strategy Amazon (AMZN) ETF (AMZP) shows a current distribution rate of 15.85%. That’s almost 20% less than the current yield quote for AMZY. From November 1 through March 18, AMZP share price appreciation came in at 17.04%. Over the selected period, AMZP paid $1.40 in dividends. Due to the funds’ ex-dividend schedule, over my selected time frame, AMZP paid one fewer dividend than AMZY. The dividends earned add 5.46% to the share appreciation return, giving a total return of 21.68%.

Those returns are surprisingly close. Or maybe not surprisingly, since the two ETF sponsors use a covered call strategy on the same stock. AMZN has been in a strong uptrend over the past months, and both funds captured a solid portion of the share price appreciation.

I will do the same calculations for the other five Kurv funds against their YieldMax counterparts over the next five weeks and publish my findings here.

I will also track comparisons over the longer term. That information will be shared with subscribers of my ETF Income Edge service – to join, click below.

This is as easy as investing in any stock…No special privileges or account access is required!And you’re instantly signed up to receive an up to 26.2% dividend yield. PAID MONTHLY!With a $25,000 stake, your life would change seriously instantly. We’re talking over $5,000 per year in your pocket the first year you’re invested.Click here now before you miss out

Can you really get rich in the stock market?

We all see ads and pitches about secret systems that can make us rich in no time.

According to some ads, these systems have produced hundreds of triple-digit short-term winners in a row. Using these magical systems, you can make the money you need to avoid the evils of government agencies and elected officials.

I am a huge fan of avoiding government agencies and officials. I will not even live in a neighborhood with an HOA due to my “issues” with authority.

However, I am still waiting to meet the first millionaire from one of these services. To be fair, I have met a bunch of millionaires who have sold these services.

I have met a few people who have made tens of millions of dollars trading the markets.

Most of them use complex, ever-changing math formulas powered by arrays of supercomputers or some form of longer-term trend following enormous amounts of leverage. None of them would sell their strategies to the public for a few thousand bucks a year.

However, you can get rich in the stock market. It takes time, common sense, and some discipline, but people do it all the time…

If you ever find yourself in Miami and see a couple skipping along the ocean front and the older gentleman is wearing a bright red hat, chances are you are about to meet Herb Wertheim.

Herb was born in Philadelphia in 1939 to a working-class Jewish family that had escaped Nazi Germany. In 1945, the Wertheim clan moved to Hollywood, Florida, and lived over the bakery they opened after arriving in the Sunshine State.

Herb and I have a lot in common. We both found many things we would rather do than drop into high school for bothersome stuff like classes and tests.

This little quirk eventually led to Herb being arrested for truancy. The judge gave him the then-popular choice of jail or the Navy, and Herb wisely chose the Navy.

The Navy placement exams revealed that Herb was quite intelligent, but dyslexic. He studied physics and chemistry and ended up working in naval avionics.

While in the Navy, he began investing his excess cash. His first purchase was shares of Lear Jet, since, given his career field, he was very familiar with the company.

After the Navy, he attended Brevard Community College before attending the University of Florida to earn a degree in electrical engineering. He eventually earned an optical engineering degree and a Doctor of Optometry from the Southern College of Optometry.

Herb had a successful career as an eye doctor and inventor. At every step along the way, he lived within his means and invested his excess cash.

Herb is a big believer in innovation and technology, so he bought Apple and Microsoft early on and increased his stake every time they sold. He bought stocks like British Petroleum (BP) and General Electric Co. (GE) when everyone hated them.

He preferred stocks that paid dividends that could be reinvested. Herb only sold shares if the business took a prolonged turn for the worse.

He has an oceanfront home in Coral Gable, a ranch in Vail, Colorado, a place on the Thames in London, and two wine country estates in California.

He and his wife live part of the year on the World Residences at Sea.

He is a big believer in education, so the family name is all over the campus of Florida International University.

Herb had a decent business career. He got “Name on the Medical School Building, hanging out with Martha Stewart, skiing with Buzz Aldrin rich,” buying great companies at reasonable prices and never selling.

Then there is Anne Scheiber; She worked for 23 years for the Internal Revenue Service. Anne Scheiber never made more than $4,000 a year.

She lived simply, even frugally, even her entire life. She invested regularly in the stock market. When she retired in 1944, she had a whopping $5,000 to her name.

When she died in 1995, she left a fortune of $22 million to Yeshiva University in New York City. She bought dividend-paying stocks and never sold them.

I realized this is less exciting than a secret system that can give never-ending lightning-fast triple-digit winners and create seven-digit wealth in very short order.

I also know that some folks do not have another thirty or forty years to compound and must catch up quickly. You can use a variation of the theme involving smaller companies to grow wealth rapidly and help you achieve your goals before it is too late.

It is not a secret system. It is paying great prices for good companies with solid credit and holding them for a long time. It is adding as much cash as possible to the positions when markets are scary. It is not obsessing over every little tick in the market and trying to trade magic patterns.

Go look for all the patient, aggressive investors on the Forbes 400 list or wealthiest people. It will not take you long. Buffet, Icahn, Kravis, David Tepper, Beal, Singer -dozens of billionaires got rich by buying stocks and real estate when they were undervalued and holding for a long time.

Now find me the magic pattern billionaires.

I will wait right here and reread Don Quixote and In Search of Lost Time.

You must get in by November 8th for the best chance at growing a $91,761 yearly income stream from just ONE stock as it happens! Click here for the full details.

In my 48-Hour Income service last week, we sold a cash-secured put on solar energy company, Canadian Solar (CSIQ). In 48-Hour Income, the goal of the service is to generate 1% to 3% returns per week by selling 2-day puts in certain stocks. CSIQ put premiums were elevated at the time due to upcoming earnings.

Real estate investment trust (REIT) values are inversely sensitive to rising interest rates. With the Federal Reserve starting the most rapid rate increase trajectory in history two years ago, REIT values have fallen by about 35% over the same two years.

With interest rates likely to stay higher for longer, what are the prospects for REIT investing?

From April 2022 until July 2023, the Fed increased its Fed Funds Target rate from 0.25% to 5.25%. The rate has not changed since July of last year.

How do the recent changes (or lack of changes) in interest rates affect commercial real estate and REITs?

A central point to remember is that changes in commercial real estate happen very slowly. Mortgages go on for five to ten years. Leases are multi-year contracts. Property values are not always apparent until there is a sale.

Higher interest rates hurt REITs when they must refinance debt or mortgages. A REIT will have laddered maturities, so the adverse effects of higher rates will show up over time, meaning several years.

The remote work trend has led to fewer and fewer workers going to the office. The effects of this will happen slowly as long-term leases expire and companies look for smaller spaces to fit a smaller office workforce. Office sector REITs face some serious challenges over the next few years.

As I noted, the Fed stopped increasing interest rates in July. Those rates are much higher now than two years ago, and, as I hope I have conveyed, it will take REITs several years to adjust to the new interest rate environment.

The Fed is expected to start lowering rates later this year, but the cuts will be minor compared to the magnitude of the recent increases. The Fed Funds rate will likely be around 4% by the end of the year. That’s still much higher than the near-zero percent in effect a few years ago.

REITs will adjust. Borrowing costs will change. Lease rates will increase as leases (outside of office buildings) will increase. Property values (less office buildings) will increase. As we go through the rest of this year and next, REIT management teams will adjust their business operations to return to historic profit levels and growth profiles.

REIT share prices will lead a recovery in business results. Stock markets are forward-looking, and the prospect of lower interest rates will renew investor interest in real estate stocks. I expect REIT values to start the next upward move in the second half of this year. It may happen sooner, but it may take a little longer.

I don’t recommend trying to time the upcoming REIT bull market. Instead, you can accumulate shares of the Hoya Capital High Dividend Yield ETF (RIET) and earn a 10% yield with monthly dividends while you wait.

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The timing of the launch of our new ETF Income Edge service was very fortunate—I see newly announced ETFs in this category hit my inbox almost daily, usually two or three at a time. We research, review, and recommend ETFs that use options strategies to boost yields or returns.

Many of these funds, especially some of the single stock covered call ETFs, sport eye-popping yields. While distribution yields are not the whole story, they do give us a lot to talk about.

As it happens, the prospectus of a new fund hit my desk last week, and I can’t wait to see the distribution payouts from this one – I think you’ll be interested…

The YieldMax ETFs have become popular with their single stock funds covering the most popular large-cap stocks. These funds have distribution yields ranging from 20% to over 100%. Yes, the YieldMax NVDA Option Income Strategy ETF (NVDY) has a current quoted yield of 108.46%. Yields change monthly depending on the declared dividends.

Recently, YieldMax issued a couple of fund of funds using the individual stock funds:

These two funds have paid just one monthly dividend, so the track record is nonexistent.

The latest fund from YieldMax, the YieldMax Ultra Option Income Strategy ETF (ULTY), truly intrigues me. However, this fund has only been trading for a handful of days, so it’s far too early to get a good handle on whether the strategy will perform as expected.

The fund has a subadvisor that will screen stocks for implied volatility, trading volume, and liquidity. The subadvisor will select 15 to 30 stocks for a covered call option trading strategy.

The underlying stocks can be purchased directly, or indirectly with a synthetic long position with short at-the-money puts and long at-the-money calls.

Portfolio income will be earned from selling calls against the underlying stock positions.

High implied volatility means that call options will be more expensive. For a fund that sells calls, the greater premium levels should produce a higher dividend yield than the more traditional covered call ETFs. The yield could potentially be a lot higher.

Actual performance from ULTY will not be apparent for several months. The fund is using a unique stock screening strategy to potentially generate higher returns and yields. I will closely watch this one and provide the ETF Income Edge subscribers with regular updates. To see how to join and get my updates as soon as I get them, click below.