Author Archive: Michael Foster

This private-credit mess we’ve been talking about lately has raised a question no one wants to ask: Is 2026 shaping up to be another 2008?

It’s easy to see why some investors may be thinking along those lines. And it’s something I’ve been giving a lot of thought to lately. But here’s the twist: There’s another year I think 2026 resembles a lot more than 2008.

That would be 2023.

If you remember, that year was a buying opportunity in stocks—and to pick up the closed-end fund (CEF) we’re going to discuss today. In fact, both 2008 and 2023 ultimately turned into strong setups for this 7.7%-paying fund.… Read more

Boaz Weinstein is a name many CEF investors know. He’s an activist investor who’s targeted CEFs in the past, particularly those he sees as underperforming.

Now, another closed-end fund (CEF) investor is adopting Weinstein’s tactics—and turning them on two of the activist’s own funds. This investor’s goal? Wipe out the discounts to net asset value (NAV, or the value of their underlying portfolios) on these two funds, and in doing so drive their prices higher.

It’s a fascinating story, and one that shows how, in the small world of CEFs, skilled activists sometimes turn their attention to each other.

Let’s back up for a moment.… Read more

The Iran conflict has, of course, sent oil prices spiking. And the tensions in the region are unlikely to end soon.

Wherever you stand on the conflict, let’s set that aside for a moment and look at the situation through an investment lens—specifically what it means for those invested in oil, either directly or through shares of producers.

It’s clear that anyone holding oil and oil-related stocks saw a bump in their share prices after hostilities broke out, and prices have bounced higher and lower since.

Let’s look at exactly what’s played out so far this year (as of this writing) from the oil-price side—through the crude-tracking United States Oil Fund (USO)—and the producer side, through the Energy Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLE).… Read more

These worries around private credit are giving us CEF investors a nice “bonus”: They’re throwing a very positive light on our favorite 8%+ income plays.

After all, the CEFs we hold in the portfolio of our CEF Insider service offer transparency, high (and often monthly paid) dividends and attractive discounts, too, in part due to geopolitical worries.

We’ll get to a specific bond fund that’s giving us a generous discount and an 11.6% dividend in a moment. First, let’s take a closer look at what’s really happening with private credit, and the opportunity that concerns around it are setting up for us now.… Read more

Can income investors get in on the coming SpaceX IPO before the stock goes public (and ideally without overpaying?) Let’s find out.

No announcement of an IPO has been made, but SpaceX’s recent acquisition of Starlink and Musk’s xAI firm signal that an offering is in the pipeline.

Even though the company still feels relatively new, SpaceX successfully launched its first rocket 18 years ago. Since then, it has reportedly earned roughly $20 billion in government contracts, with Morningstar recently reporting that it posted about $8 billion of profits on $15 billion of revenue in 2025.

If those numbers stand up—and there’s no way for us to confirm them—that’s a profit margin above 50%.… Read more

AI has investors in a roil again—this time over … a blog post?

The article in question—written by Citrini Research and posted on Substack—was fear-based (to say the least!). It essentially argued that AI was going to cause a “jobs apocalypse,” wiping out demand and taking the economy down with it.

It was pure science fiction. But it was enough to wipe $2 trillion from stocks in one day on February 22. And it comes after the same sorts of fears have hit software stocks, IT-security stocks and even logistics stocks over the last few weeks.

It’s one of the most absurd panics I’ve ever seen, frankly.… Read more

Today I want to get into a question that comes up on the regular in 8%+ yielding CEFs:

What if you run across two of these income generators that seem to be equal in pretty well every way. Can you just buy one or the other?

Truth is, sometimes you can and sometimes you can’t, but it’s not always clear when simply closing your eyes and picking one fund is the right move. That’s because with CEFs, there are a lot of moving parts one needs to pick apart and look at carefully.

Let me show you what I mean with two CEFs holding real estate investment trusts (REITs)—publicly traded “landlords” holding properties ranging from senior-care facilities to malls and warehouses.… Read more

There’s one critical takeaway for us as AI flits through the market, whacking sector after sector as it does:

Actively managed funds—closed-end funds (CEFs), in particular—are the best way to play it. 

Funds with human managers are often viewed as dinosaurs by the AI crowd and those obsessed with low-fee ETFs, but they shouldn’t be. Because when it comes to investing in a sector as complex, and fast-changing, as tech, we need an insider in our corner, spotting, and moving ahead of, the next shift before it hits.

I’m talking about a real person who talks to other pros in the business and uses their own personal tech background to get at the insights others miss.… Read more

One of the most expensive mistakes CEF investors make? Chasing a fund’s discount.

That would be the discount to net asset value (NAV).

A big discount has a lot of appeal because it essentially means we can buy a CEF’s assets—stocks, bonds, REITs, utility stocks, you name it—for less than we could if we bought them ourselves on the open market.

So it makes sense that we should always go for the CEF with the biggest discount, right? After all, CEFs pay dividends north of 8%, on average—with the portfolio of my CEF Insider service paying even more: 9.3% as I write this.… Read more

Suddenly, investors think AI is bad for software companies.

The truth? This whole story is a red herring. The real tale here is one of gains—and dividends—not losses. And we can nicely tap in with a fund sporting unique “downside insulation” and an 8% dividend, too.

Why the Software Selloff Is Overdone

Truth is, the premise of this whole argument is wrong, especially from an investment standpoint, and the reason why has a lot to do with timing: This bear market in software that’s shown up in less than a month and on news that’s, frankly, flimsy.

To wit, the selloff began because of a new product by Anthropic.… Read more