“If winning isn’t supposed to matter, then why are they introducing a playoff system?”

I shook my head in disbelief as I whispered this unfolding “riddle” to my coaching buddy in the chair next to me. We were at the YMCA fall basketball meeting, sweating it out in the preschool room. (Where was the air conditioning on this sultry September evening?)

The YMCA regional manager, notorious for talking for an hour about the exact same thing to kick off every season, had something new. And to be honest, the “ruling” made no sense to me.

Playoffs? We’re talkin’ about…playoffs?… Read more

In one corner of the income market, a “rubber band” is stretched about as far as it can go.

When it snaps back, I expect it to catapult the prices of a select group of 10%+ payers much higher from here.

Those 10%+ payers are bond-focused closed-end funds (CEFs). This latest bond panic has blown out their discounts to levels not seen in four years. That’s dropped their prices. And because yields and prices move in opposite directions, a buy today gets us “starter yields” up to 13% here.

That’s our window—it’s exactly where our corporate-bond CEFs are now.

Here’s the thing, though.… Read more

One thing we love to find as income investors? A situation where a double-digit dividend is coming our way—at an undeserved double-digit discount.

Every now and then, a situation like that can get truly extreme. These are the times when we really want to take a closer look.

This is the kind of setup we have with a closed-end fund (CEF) called FS Credit Opportunities Corp. (FSCO) right now.

I’ll cut right to the vitals. As I write this, FSCO yields 13.7%.

The discount? It sits at 27%.

In other words, this fund is now on the table for just 73 cents on the dollar.… Read more

Don’t look now, but crude oil is back over $100 a barrel. Prices are on fire, rising 20% since July, and the Strait of Hormuz is still shut. Diesel fuel, the transportation fossil fuel of record, sits at a record $6.23 per gallon.

WTI: Up, Up and Away

Now, betting on geopolitical outcomes is a dicey game, so placing a bet on the crisis extending or world peace breaking out is tricky. The sure bet is looking at five closed-end funds (CEFs) paying 8.5% on average. Four of these five funds have had an impressive run, and they now trade at narrower discounts than their five-year norms, so we’re watching.… Read more

Covered-call funds give us something we demand at a time like this: outsized 8%+ payouts!

And the last few months have shown us something else: These funds work—especially when you use them in a specific kind of market (hint: conditions just like those we’re facing now).

Covered-Call Funds “Translate” Option Gains Into 8%+ Dividends

Even though the name sounds complicated, covered-call funds have a relatively straightforward setup behind them. They start by letting you hold a bundle of stocks, just like, say, an ETF would. In the case of the covered-call fund we’ll talk about today, the Nuveen S&P 500 Dynamic Overwrite Fund (SPXX), these are the companies in the S&P 500.… Read more

“How’s your hip?” my wife asked. The emphasis on hip was bearish for me as I limped from, well, you’ll see.

My gait had been good (dare I say normal?) for the last 10 days. She justifiably wondered what was up.

“The jog,” I mumbled. And shrugged.

“He cleared you to jog?”

Really, he did! Sort of. “Yes,” I replied confidently. “He said yesterday it was probably OK.”

I had just completed a three-week round of shots to calm down my hip osteoarthritis, but these treatments tend to rile up the joint before helping. So, my jog was… premature.

I had to admit: “I went a little fast.… Read more

One of our favorite pipeline plays—Enbridge (ENB)—has taken a tumble. It’s set up a sweet buying opportunity.

We can thank rising rates (with an “assist” from overdone trade war fears!) for this opening.

Here’s the state of play with this one, which I’ve nicknamed the “natty” king because, despite its Canadian domicile, it ships 20% of the natural gas consumed in the US.

• The stock yields a gaudy 5.6%.
• Enbridge is a “toll booth” on North American energy consumption, collecting fixed rates for the use of its pipelines and storage facilities, no matter what oil and gas prices do.

Usually in this space, we dig into 8%+ paying closed-end funds (CEFs) set to hand us strong returns and large income streams.

Today, we’re going to do something different and discuss a once-great fund that, sadly, is far past its glory days.

Why?

Because this fund highlights one of the dangers of high-yield investing. That would be the risk of getting too comfortable with a large payout—and ignoring the signs telling us it’s time to take our profits and walk away.

That’s not easy for those of us who invest for dividends! Especially when you have an income stream as big as the one this fund offers (a 12.7% annualized yield) rolling in.… Read more

Rate hikes are back on the table. For most investors, that’s bad news. But for shareholders in one high-yielding corner of the market, it could be the best thing that’s happened all year.

Own bonds? New issues get more attractive, so your existing ones lose value. Own stocks? Higher rates raise borrowing costs and make bonds more competitive with dividends. Neither is a great setup.

But business development companies (BDCs) have a more complicated relationship with interest rates. In fact, these high-single- and double-digit yielders could get a much-needed spark if Warsh & Co. green-light the first rate hike since 2023.… Read more

The numbers are starting to support something I’ve long argued about AI: Yes, this technology is shifting the job picture—but it’s not throwing millions out of work.

Instead, the economy is shifting.

The new story? While tech-sector jobs are being cut (temporarily, I believe), growth in other areas—including those that are employing AI to drive growth (and hiring along with it)—is flourishing.

Investors, however, still haven’t caught on. And an ongoing stream of dour headlines—from a “hot” war in Iran to a trade war with Canada—has distracted them further.

That’s set up an opportunity in high-yielding, equity-focused closed-end funds (CEFs) like the Liberty All-Star Equity Fund (USA), payer of a blockbuster 11.4% dividend.… Read more