Author Archive: Michael Foster

It happened so quietly, you may not have even noticed. But the script has flipped on interest rates—and today I’m going to give you my favorite way to profit. (hint: this buy pays an 8.8% dividend—enough to hand you $8,800 a year in cash on every $100k invested—and is poised for quick 10% price upside, too!).

Let’s start at the beginning.

A Low-Key 180

I’m sure I don’t have to tell you that the big story of the last three years has been the Fed’s aggressive rate hikes. But the big story of the next three years will likely be a lack of aggressive rate hikes.… Read more

As investment strategist at CEF Insider, it’s my job to tip you off to the best closed-end funds (CEFs) out there. But it’s also my job to steer you away from those that are, well, terrible.

So today we’re going to zero in on four CEFs whose massive dividends (up to 12.7%!) might tempt you to buy. But doing so will lock you into an ever-shrinking income stream while the share price crumbles beneath your feet.

The first red flag? All four of these funds are from Wells Fargo (WFC), a bank that’s been at the center of various scandals for years now, starting with the 2016 fake-account fraud that took down Wells’ CEO at the time.… Read more

Wondering if it’s too late to cash in on the late-2018 market mayhem?

If so, great news! There are still plenty of bargains to be had. And today I’m going to show you three great funds that are still cheap (though they won’t be for long).

The best part? Each throws off hefty dividends upwards of 7%!

Of course, when discounts like the ones on these three exist, you’re right to ask why. The answer is simple: because these three funds are closed-end funds (CEFs), they’re off most people’s radar. That means they’re slower to snap back from a market decline than, say, a fan favorite like Apple (AAPL).… Read more

With the market on the rise from its Christmastime lows, it’s natural to wonder if you’ve missed out on the rebound.

Good news: you haven’t—and today I’m going to tell you why we’re still looking at a terrific buying opportunity, even though stocks have gained more than 5% since bottoming in late December:

The Recovery Is Here

The 5.3% jump since the start of 2019 isn’t the result of fundamentals (those haven’t changed), new news (there haven’t been any significant developments) or an end to political gridlock (the shutdown has remained in effect). Instead, it’s been a clearly psychological change: with the new year, the market has a new attitude.… Read more

Many investors hear the word “leverage” and immediately get nervous—but the truth is, borrowed cash is actually vital to big closed-end fund (CEF) returns.

I’ll show you why—and how a huge misunderstanding about leverage will lead to big gains for CEFs this year—in a moment.

Before we get to that, though, we need to understand why this one simple word sends investors into a cold sweat in the first place.

A 90-Year Old Tale

The cloud hanging over leverage stretches back to the crash of 1929, and tales of stockbrokers who borrowed too much cash before the collapse and then leaped out their office windows.… Read more

It’s a retirement-killing mistake far too many fund investors make—and it’s so easy to spot that you’ll be kicking yourself if you fall into this trap!

So let’s expose this classic blunder right off the top: I’m talking about buying two deadly types of funds: leveraged and inverse exchange-traded funds (ETFs).

Blacklisted by the Big Fund Companies

In a nutshell, these funds promise outsized returns by borrowing money and investing that cash in a so-called winning strategy (leveraged ETFs) or by short selling a losing strategy and delivering the returns to shareholders (inverse ETFs).

Sounds logical, right?

Trouble is, both approaches fail miserably in the real world.… Read more

One of the silliest doom-and-gloom stories you’ll hear these days is how we’re all going to be destroyed by debt. It’s just plain wrong—and letting this fear win could mean a crippling blow to your nest egg this year and beyond.

In fact, it’s already caused one group of investors to miss out on a massive 265% return, as I’ll explain below.

Getting Half the Story

The easiest way to understand how the debt terror works is to bring it down to a single example. I like to use Mark Zuckerberg.

Back in 2012, Zuckerberg got a mortgage for about $6 million.… Read more

It’s a proven way to get in on a closed-end fund (CEF) before its next huge surge: watch for the managers to buy shares of the fund with their own cash—then dive in right alongside them.

I’m telling you this now because one of the smartest minds on Wall Street just dumped a pile of his own money—$2.6 million, to be precise—into one of the funds he personally manages.

Such a brazen move by an insider is one of my favorite buy signals. Today I’m going to reveal both the investor and the 7.1%-yielding fund he just snapped up. Of course, we’ll also cover the many reasons why you should seriously consider copying his canny move now.… Read more

It sounds hard to believe, but sometimes a dividend hike can be dangerous. In fact, when it comes to closed-end funds (CEFs), sometimes the worst thing you can see is a fund with a generous payout, a very high yield and a history of dividend increases.

It’s true!

And today I’m going to show you how this tough-to-spot CEF trap can slash your payouts (and your nest egg). Then we’ll dive into one fund that looks like a healthy dividend grower—but is, in fact, anything but.

A Hidden Danger

Make no mistake: the hazard I’m going to show you now is real.… Read more

Forget the 2018 market drop—because it’s handed us a golden opportunity to grab some double-digit “bounce-back” gains as 2019 rolls out.

I’ll tell you why I’m so excited about the year ahead in a moment. Then I’ll give you eight cheap funds set to arc higher as we move through 2019.

The kicker? Not only are these eight funds poised for big gains in the next 12 months, they throw off incredible dividend yields up to 12.6%, too!

Putting 2018 in Context

First, back to last year’s return, which came in at negative 6.1%, including dividends.

The first bit of good news here is that despite their decline, US stocks still led the rest of the world.… Read more