Articles

Few people pay much attention to the management team of a closed-end fund (CEF). But it’s becoming a much more critical factor driving CEF upside (and downside!), as well as these funds’ 8%+ dividend payouts.

I was reminded of this recently by a story that’s unfolding in the UK, where two asset-management firms are struggling a bit to hire CEOs. One is Scotland-based abrdn plc (SLFPF), whose shares have risen just 2.6% annually in the US on average over the last decade.

Compare that to a roughly 10% average year-to-date return enjoyed by the other major asset managers abrdn is competing with, and you get a good idea of what’s happening here: abrdn isn’t doing well enough to attract the best talent.… Read more

Who is paying a 27% premium for Guggenheim Strategic Opportunity Fund (GOF)?

Don’t get me wrong. GOF is a fine fund, delivering 9.8% yearly returns on its net asset value (NAV) since inception. But we are talking nosebleed valuation territory for GOF. It’s a dangerous purchase at these levels.

Bandwagoners buying today are unlikely to see 9.8% returns. Or anything close. Plus, they are exposing themselves to 27% downside risk because, as we’ll discuss in a minute, GOF eventually finds its way back to par.

How can a premium like this exist? GOF is a closed-end fund (CEF) with a fixed pool of shares.… Read more

There’s a clear pattern natural gas prices repeat time and time again. We’re going to pounce on it now—and grab ourselves a growing 7.4% payout as we do.

I’m talking about the “natty’s” $2 price floor. Every time it drops to that level (or below) it takes off. Check it out:

Natural Gas’s $2 “Trampoline Act”

It just goes to prove that the cure for low prices is low prices! To play this pattern, we want to buy after gas bottoms. Now is that time.

Think about it: We’re moving toward winter in North America (where temps are expected to be below those of last year’s “non-winter”).… Read more

What if I told you I’ve found a way to get $1,000 in dividends every single month—and you only need to invest $146,364 to get it?

There’s more, too, because this $1,000 monthly income stream comes from:

• Regular stocks: What I’m about to show you is based on stocks you likely hold now. I’m talking blue chips like NVIDIA (NVDA), Microsoft (MSFT) and Walmart (WMT). The key is to buy these stocks through a special vehicle called …

• A closed-end fund (CEF). These ridiculously overlooked funds hold the same assets as ultra-popular ETFs but yield a lot more—8.2% on average.

Which dividend is most likely to be hiked?

Usually, the brand-new payout.

Chief Financial Officers are a conservative bunch. A CFO will only agree to pay a dividend if they know they can:

1. Make the payment comfortably.
2. Hike the dividend repeatedly for years to come—with said comfort.

The hike part is important because rising dividends drive stock gains. I’m talking about hundreds or even thousands of percentage points in potential gains.

Let’s consider Apple (AAPL) and its inaugural dividend moment. In March 2012, the tech giant initiated a regular dividend of $2.65 per share. The payout was a catalyst for 12 subsequent years of moonshot performance.… Read more

At my CEF Insider service, we’ve been bullish on corporate bonds (especially corporate bond–focused closed-end funds yielding 8%+) for a long time now.

We remain so, because we’ve got a nice “goldilocks” setup for these funds right now:

1. The US economy, while not booming at a rate that makes everyone happy, has steadily improved since the pandemic, prompting inflation to slow but remain elevated.
2. The Federal Reserve, seeing this, is getting set to lower interest rates in late 2024, or possibly at some point next year.

These are both bullish signs for corporate bonds—and the closed-end funds that hold them. I’m sure I don’t have to tell you they were hit hard in 2022, resulting in an array of bargains.… Read more

Be honest. I won’t be mad, but just admit it.

You’ve got some SPY in your portfolio. So much in fact you’re probably trying to quickly change the subject from the SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (SPY).

I’m not mad. (I’m just disappointed—ha!) We refer to SPY as “America’s ticker for a reason.” It is everywhere.

And it’s OK. Really it is. Holding SPY has worked out this year. But we’re now at an inflection point—which is why we are having this conversation.

Only three stocks account for 21% of the S&P 500. Apple (AAPL), Nvidia (NVDA) and Microsoft (MSFT) determine the entire market’s moves!… Read more

Look, I know pretty well everyone loves ETFs—mainly for the cheap management fees.

But here’s the thing: ETFs—especially dividend-growth ETFs—are almost always a raw deal. You’re better to go with carefully chosen individual stocks instead.

Today I’m going to prove it, with two popular ETFs whose lousy performance is costing investors thousands in lost gains. So we’re going to “swap” these losers for two terrific stocks whose payouts have exploded 379%+ in the last decade.

Their secret? An eye-opening “Dividend Magnet” pattern no one’s talking about (but as you’ll see in a moment, they should be).

Let’s start with the laggards, then move on to the Dividend Magnet—and these two overlooked individual stock buys.… Read more

This levitating stock market has brought back worries about a crash (and a recession). I know, I know. We’ve been hearing that doomsday forecast for what feels like forever—and nothing of the sort has come to pass.

But a recession will eventually show up. We just don’t know when. In the meantime, stocks could keep drifting higher.

We do not want to miss out on that. But we do want to pay special attention to assets beyond stocks now (and minimize the amount we have sitting in cash, by the way, which is getting eaten up by still-hot inflation).

This is where corporate bonds (many of which are oversold) enter the scene, particularly bond-focused closed-end funds (CEFs), many of which yield well over 8%.… Read more

With the market at nosebleed valuations, where can we look for value and yield?

Let’s turn to our favorite three-letter acronym. C-E-Fs.

As usual we have a handful of closed-end funds (CEFs) getting no love from Wall Street. This is perfect for us as we’re talking about dividends up to 14% and discounts between 10% and 15%.

In other words, these fat payers are trading for 85 to 90 cents on the dollar. Let’s discuss.

Gabelli Dividend & Income Trust (GDV)
Distribution Rate: 5.8%
Discount to NAV: 15.0%

We begin with Gabelli Dividend & Income Trust (GDV), a top-rate closed-end fund whose management team includes legendary value investor Mario Gabelli.… Read more