Author Archive: Michael Foster

Stocks are going gangbusters, but some closed-end funds—including three I’m going to tell you about below—have gotten way ahead of the market.

That means it’s time to sell. Yesterday.

But don’t let that turn you off the whole CEF space. Truth is, there’s still a treasure trove of hidden gems here, including some that crush the S&P 500 while paying incredible 7%+ dividends. It’s just that investors sometimes go overboard and bid certain CEFs above their actual value.

How is this possible?

Because unlike ETFs and mutual funds, which always trade at or near their net asset value (NAV, or what a fund’s underlying assets are worth), CEFs often trade at big premiums or discounts to NAV.… Read more

If you feel good because your S&P 500 index fund has taken off like a rocket in 2017, you may not want to read this article.

Because the S&P 500 is, in fact, not doing well this year—at least not compared to its peers.

Don’t believe me?

Take a look at the SPDR S&P 500 ETF’s (SPY) performance relative to a global stock fund like the Vanguard Total World Stock ETF (VT):

The World Races Ahead

Not only is a global stock portfolio crushing the S&P 500, but US equities are actually dragging the world’s returns down.

Notice how, in the chart above, the Vanguard FTSE All-World ex-US ETF (VEU) is up 14.6%, versus VT’s 11.1% return for 2017?… Read more

Index investing is popular among investors for one reason: most people don’t want to put the time and effort into finding investments selling at deep discounts.

The most popular way to get into index investing is through exchange-traded funds, which have replaced mutual funds as the hot investment vehicle of the day.

There’s just one problem: even the highest-yielding ETFs are only paying 4% dividends. This doesn’t mean you can’t get bigger yields from index investing, however; it just means you have to look further afield. Today I’m going to show you a way to jump into index investing and get a 7.4% income stream at the same time.… Read more

Closed-end funds are absolutely crushing the S&P 500.

So far in 2017, the SPDR S&P 500 ETF (SPY) is up 7.8%, including dividends. That’s impressive considering the geopolitical calamities, unpredictable moves from the White House, economic uncertainty and rising interest rates the market is facing.

But what’s even more impressive is that over 200 closed-end funds (CEFs) are up even more than that.

Let’s take a look at our new CEF Insider research service’s proprietary Total CEF Index.

Of the 500 funds it covers, almost half (229) are beating the S&P 500 so far in 2017. And it’s hard to nail down a common thread that ties them all together.… Read more

Energy is one sector where the experts just can’t seem to get it right.

That’s a trend my colleague Brett Owens has been watching for a long time. In a March article, he warned that too many investors were bullish on oil, and the hedge fund “experts” betting on an imminent price breakthrough were wrong.

Since then, oil prices, oil stocks and energy funds have fallen sharply, leading energy to post year-to-date losses while every other asset class is up:

Energy Takes a Dive

It doesn’t matter how you played energy; the Alerian MLP ETF (AMLP) was the best performer, but even that was negative, while the more oil-exposed Energy Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLE) and Vanguard Energy ETF (VDE) were down about 9%, on average.… Read more

Buying real estate investment trusts isn’t like buying other stocks; despite their high yields and big long-term returns, REITs require a bit more attention and a bit faster action than more popular dividend-payers, like blue chips and dividend-growth stocks.

But it’s more than just speed and care. To win with REITs, you need to follow three rules—and I’m going to show you those today.

These REIT rules have never been more important than they are now. Broadly, REITs are getting more valuable, but the market is getting more scared of them. This disconnect makes no sense and is partly the reason why two extremely healthy and valuable REITs—Sabra Health Care REIT (SBRA) and Care Capital Properties (CCP) recently merged.… Read more

Something wonderful happened last week: one of the municipal-bond CEFs I recommended to ContrarianOutlook.com readers more than two months ago raised its dividend.

The Pioneer Municipal High-Income Advantage Trust (MAV) hiked its payout by over 5%, giving the fund a 5.3% yield.

The stock price caught a lift on the news, bringing it to a 4.3% total return in a little more than two months, outperforming the municipal-bond fund benchmark iShares National Municipal Bond Total Return Fund (MUB) and the SPDR S&P 500 ETF (SPY).

Trouncing Munis and Stocks

The hike came after a series of dividend cuts dragged down the fund’s share price over the last few years:

Falling Yields and Prices

The lower yields didn’t do much to attract new investors, so the fund’s price kept slumping along with the weaker income.… Read more

Let’s say you’re looking to retire and want to bring in the average American salary in your golden years.

It’s a good goal—and more than enough cash for many retirees, especially if you live outside places like, say, San Francisco, where the average one-bedroom apartment rents for $3,300 a month (!)

So how much are we talking about here?

As of March 2017, the average US worker took home $896.60, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Assuming 50 working weeks a year, that’s $44,830.

Okay, so we need to get $44,830 in pre-tax passive income. Where are we going to get it?… Read more

Today I’m going to show you why the pundits have this market rally all wrong—and how a group of little-known investments called closed-end funds (CEFs) are the best way to cash in as stocks head higher from here.

Why do I say higher?

Because as I wrote back on March 30, this market is rising for the right reason: soaring earnings.

According to FactSet, first-quarter earnings are up 12.5% for S&P 500 companies that have announced so far, and earnings per share revisions are far more likely to skew upward than downward.

Simply put, American companies are making cash hand over fist.… Read more

Today, I’m going to show you some of my favorite REITs—and a novel way of buying them that lets you do so for 18% off!

But first, there’s one sector you need to avoid: financials.

In fact, you needed to avoid it two months ago, as I warned back on February 28.

What’s happened since then? Nothing good.

Financials Come Up Short

This underperformance you see in the above chart isn’t surprising, considering financials were up over 30% by the end of February—and you can see from this chart that they reached their top just when I called it:

Snapshot of a Correction

What’s going on here?… Read more