Author Archive: Michael Foster

This stock market selloff has gone way too far—and it’s pumped up the dividend yields on some of our favorite high-yield closed-end funds (CEFs).

That means it’s time to buy. I’ll name three CEFs the panicked masses have mistakenly tossed over the side in a moment. Together, these three snubbed funds throw off an 8.7% average dividend. Plus they’re trading at a nice “double discount”: that is, the CEFs themselves are cheap and their holdings, which consist of top US and international stocks, are way oversold in this latest market fracas, too.

History Is on Our Side

When considering opportunities like this one, it pays to look at history.… Read more

Investors are way too pessimistic about the economy. And their gloom—driven by the mainstream press (as usual)—is setting us up for a rare “double discount” on closed-end funds (CEFs) throwing off 7%+ yields.

I say “double discount” because almost everyone is misreading some of the latest economic signals—and it’s causing them to sell stocks (and CEFs!) at exactly the wrong time.

That mistake—which is behind a large part of the drop we’ve seen in the markets since the start of the year—is discount No. 1.

And we’ll get discount No. 2 by shopping for CEFs that are also trading at undeserved discounts.… Read more

Today we’re going to make a couple crafty moves worthy of the canniest contrarian—and in doing so, we’ll grab reliable income plays other investors are snubbing (with outsized yields up to 8.6%).

These moves fly right in the face of the Federal Reserve’s planned rate hikes, potentially starting as early as March, but that’s the whole point: plenty of folks have let the fear of higher rates scare them off these investments. But as mainstream investors almost always do, they’ve taken things too far, nicely setting us up to grab these high yields and some price upside as 2022 unfolds.

Let’s start with our first move, which is into longer-duration bonds, and specifically closed-end funds (CEFs) that hold them.… Read more

These days, everyone’s in a tizzy about rising interest rates. But what if I told you that this panic is overblown—and it’s setting us up for some very nice windows to buy some top-quality high-yield funds throwing off payouts of 7% and up?

Why do I think it’s overblown? We’ll get into that below. But before we do, we should be careful to acknowledge that the early-2022 “crash” pundits are bleating about isn’t much of a crash at all:

You Call This a Crash?

The S&P 500 is down less than 2%, and while that isn’t great, it isn’t terrifying, either, especially when we zoom out just three months.… Read more

Chinese stocks have cratered, and that might have you wondering if there are bargains to be had.

If you invest in closed-end funds (CEFs), which regularly offer yields north of 7%, you may also be wondering if CEFs that focus on China might be worth a look now, too—especially as these funds’ yields have popped as their prices have faded.

Let’s dive into the current state of play in China and answer these questions. Further on, I’ll give you my verdict on a China-based CEF throwing off an outsized 6.6% yield today.

Chinese Stocks Plunge: Value or Trap?

If you’re wondering where the pull some value investors are feeling toward China is coming from, this chart explains it.… Read more

Here’s my best advice as 2022 dawns: ignore the media’s constant bleating about inflation and supply-chain issues—these two boogeymen are nowhere near the threats everyone thinks they are!

In fact, terror-ridden headlines about either mark an opportunity for us contrarian income-seekers. So let’s go ahead and tap these investor fears for dividends yielding up to 10%, plus market-crushing returns as the crowd (inevitably!) comes around to our view.

Hints of a Supply-Chain Revival

More data will come in over the next few weeks to make things clearer, but so far there is one strong hint that the business press’s doomsday scenario—surging inflation, a stock-market correction and tighter corporate profits—just isn’t on.… Read more

If you invest in closed-end funds (CEFs), you’re already miles ahead of most folks. (And if you don’t, there’s never been a better time to try them—I’ll show you a tech-focused CEF whose payout triples the dividend on “regular” stocks in a moment.)

A Trillion-Dollar Monster

The main reason why most investors miss out on CEFs (which offer tantalizing yields of 7.3%, on average, as I write this), is that the CEF market is small, with only around 500 CEFs out there in total. Compare that to ETFs, which numbered around 7,600 last year.

In fact, last year, ETFs hit a big milestone: they attracted a trillion dollars in a single calendar year.… Read more

Today we’re going to take a look at an unusual closed-end fund (CEF) that hands us a rich 10.5% dividend that comes our way monthly (and grows!). And it sends regular special dividends our way, too.

When you add those “bonus” payouts in, this fund often pays life-changing yields of up to 15%!

The fund in question is the PIMCO Dynamic Income Fund (PDI), a dividend titan that should be on any closed-end fund (CEF) investor’s watch list. (In fact, if you’re a subscriber to Contrarian Income Report, a sister to my CEF Insider service, you already know PDI—it recently landed in the CIR portfolio through a merger we’ll discuss a little later.)… Read more

Imagine a fund that’s beaten the Oracle of Omaha himself, Warren Buffett, for years and, unlike Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.A), pays a whopping 9% dividend!

Little-Known CEF Outruns the Best

As you can see in the chart above, the fund in question here is a closed-end fund (CEF) called Central Securities Corporation (CET). It’s got two things in common with Buffett himself: a focus on value and a long history—even longer than Buffett’s! CET traces its roots all the way back to 1929. In fact, the fund was founded on October 1 of that year, just 28 days before the Black Friday crash that triggered the Great Depression!… Read more

Once folks get a taste of closed-end funds (CEFs), they typically rave about one thing: the dividends! Yields of 7% and up are common with CEFs, and they often come your way monthly.

We also love the fact that even though CEFs are a small corner of the market (with only about 500 or so out there), we can build a diversified portfolio with them: there are CEFs that hold US and international stocks, bonds, real estate—even private equity. You name it.

This broad range gets us around a problem most income-seekers face: being forced to stake significant sums in one, or a handful of, stocks just to get big payouts.… Read more