With the market on pace to wrap up its best August in 30 years, now presents an interesting opportunity to generate attractive upfront income with a dividend capture covered call option strategy on Federal Realty Investment Trust (FRT). This trade may sound daunting because FRT is in the highly challenged “retail REIT” industry, and because this option trading strategy is less common. However, we believe the trade is an attractive one to place today, and potentially over the next few days, as long as the underlying stock price doesn’t move too dramatically and you can get comfortable with the moving parts of this simple yet attractive opportunity. On an annualized basis, the trade will net us up to 17% extra income over the next 47 days.
Microsoft: Growth, Cash Flow and Perhaps TikTok
Microsoft (MSFT) has experienced an impressive turnaround over the last few years. The company’s top-line growth has been fueled by its cloud computing solutions. Demand for cloud computing has been on the rise and has seen acceleration post COVID-19 due to a global push for business digitalization. More recently, Microsoft has been in the news after announcing that it (along with Walmart (WMT)) is in talks with ByteDance to acquire social media app TikTok’s business in certain countries including the US. In this report, we analyze Microsoft’s business model, its market opportunities including the potential TikTok transaction, competitive positioning, valuations, risks, and finally conclude with whether an investment in the company’s stock offers an attractive balance between risks and rewards.
New Options Trade: Very High Upfront Income, Bullish Vertical Put Spread
A lot has changed since the onset of the pandemic, obviously. And healthcare is one sector that has felt the impacts. This article not only reviews an innovative healthcare leader, but we also share an attractive option trade that utilizes a lessor known (but not complicated) strategy, sometimes referred to as a bullish vertical put spread (not as scary as it sounds). The trade lets you generate attractive upfront income, while limiting your downside risk, limiting the amount of cash you need to set aside to secure the trade, and it also gives you the chance of owning a very attractive stock at a lower price. Given the stock’s recent price move, we believe this is an attractive trade to place today, and potentially over the next few trading sessions.
Simon Property Group: 8% Yield, Discounted Price, Real Risks
Retail REITs have been among the hardest hit stocks during COVID19 lockdowns, and blue-chip Simon Property Group (SPG) has not been spared. Its dividend has been reduced significantly and its share price has fallen dramatically. Furthermore, its former Taubman Centers (TCO) deal, recent retailer buying spree and rumors of a deal with Amazon (AMZN), complicate matters further. In this article, we review the health of the business, valuation, risks, dividend safety, and conclude with our opinion about whether SPG is worth considering if you are a long-term income-focused investor.
Portfolio and Tracker Tool Updates
We do not trade often at Blue Harbinger, but we have just made significant updates to both our Income Equity and Disciplined Growth portfolios. This report provides an overview of the changes, as well as details on why we made the changes. We also highlight some updates to the website, such as the new home page and the new portfolio tracker tool (both are designed to be more useful to readers).
Verizon: 4.2% Dividend Yield, Oasis or Mirage?
Compared to high-flying tech stocks, dividend stocks have fared poorly since the onset of the pandemic, and some investors are left wondering if this trend is permanent. Verizon (VZ) is one such stock that investors have grown to trust (14 consecutive years of dividend increases), but just how safe is its business model? In particular, will its recurring subscription revenue stream (mainly from its wireless business) keep cash flowing? This article reviews the health of the business, valuation, risks, dividend safety, and concludes with our opinion on whether Verizon is worth considering if you are a long-term income-focused investor.
Income via Growth Stock: Time to Sell Put Options?
This powerful consumer internet company operates a leading digital entertainment business as well as an e-commerce platform and a digital financial services operation in Southeast Asia. The company operates in some of the fastest growing economies in the world. And it is benefiting from the tailwinds of global “Stay-at-home” orders. Not surprisingly, the stock has rallied over 200% since the start of the year. In this report, we analyze the business model, competitive strengths, financial position and finally conclude with our opinion on the stock’s risk-reward (as well as an interesting options trade idea that generates attractive upfront premium income).
Federal Realty: A Dividend Aristocrat Among REITs
Despite having just increased its dividend for the 53rd consecutive year, retail REIT Federal Realty Investment Trust (FRT) has been hit hard by the current pandemic. Conditions have started to improve (e.g. more tenants are re-opening and cash collections are increasing), but in order to succeed FRT will need to make smart capital allocation decisions and manage its liquidity carefully (its dividend payout ratio is near the high end of its historical range). This article reviews the health of the business, valuation, risks, dividend safety, and concludes with our opinion on whether FRT is worth considering if you are a long-term income-focused investor.
Income Via Growth: A Post-Pandemic Cybersecurity Winner
From time to time, we like to share highly attractive “income-via-growth” opportunities, and this is one of those times. This article is about a stock that pays zero dividend, but can provide a lot of spending cash to investors through long-term price appreciation. We believe it’s a good idea to sprinkle a few of these types of stocks into your portfolio, but if you are looking strictly for high dividend stocks, this article is not for you.