Of all the things investors ask me about closed-end funds, the main one is leverage. (A close No. 2 is CEF return of capital, which I discussed in a recent article here.)

Yes, CEFs often borrow money and invest it in stocks or bonds. That scares some people, who then ask me if a leveraged CEF is safe.

The answer is: sometimes. (Below I’ll show you 2 CEFs with 6.5%+ dividend yields that are using leverage perfectly to slingshot their shareholders to double-digit gains.)

You see, leverage can boost your return in a bull market and magnify your loss in a bear market.… Read more

This is an example of a bad almost-10% yield:

When a Bullish Chart is Bad

Mattel’s (MAT) yield was rising for the wrong reason – because its stock price was dropping faster than its payout. Going forward, that shouldn’t be a problem. The firm officially suspended its dividend on Friday.

I warned you that the toy maker was a dividend disaster waiting to happen. In June’s edition of our Dirty Dozen: 12 Dividend Stocks to Sell Now report, we discussed how falling profits were going to be a serious problem for the stock’s payout:

When Mattel last raised its dividend, from 36 cents to 38 cents quarterly at the beginning of 2014, few people batted an eye.

If you’re like most folks, you probably think it’s tough for any fund to beat the S&P 500, especially in a year when the index jumped some 15%.

But you’d be wrong.

Truth is a lot of funds are doing better, with over 660 beating the S&P 500. And the top-performers share 3 common themes that could tell us a lot about which sectors are poised to take off next year.

Let’s dig in. Along the way, we’ll hone in on the 33 funds that are cashing in as these breakthrough trends head higher.

Trend No. 1: Skyrocketing Faith in Technology (11 Funds)

Markets have always believed that technology will improve the global economy.… Read more

You’ve probably noticed that we’ve been spending a lot of time digging into closed-end funds lately.

The reason is simple: These ignored investments can set you up for 7%+ dividends and quick double-digit upside in one buy!

But that doesn’t mean all of the 500+ CEFs out there are great. In fact, many boast dividend payouts they just can’t cover with earnings (see dangerous CEF No. 3 below), while others trade at silly premiums to their true value that practically lock in nasty surprises for shareholders.

It’s not easy to spot either of these snags by looking at fund fact sheets.… Read more

Exchange-traded funds (ETFs) tend to have low fee structures. And when investors try to combine ETFs with their high yield needs, they usually get what they pay for.

ETFs, simply put, are often “dumb money.” Their current yields may look good, but their long-term strategies are usually flawed.

Here are five funds paying up to 8.4% that are too dumb to trust with your retirement money.

iShares International Preferred Stock ETF (IPFF)
Yield: 4.1%
Expenses: 0.55%

International dividend stock funds typically sport similar if not higher yields than their domestic brethren, so you would imagine there would be a similar advantage in foreign preferred stocks.… Read more

Real estate investment trusts (REITs) are a must-have holding for any and all retirement accounts. The five REITs I’m about to show you are pivotal to both growing your nest egg, then delivering consistent cash to pay the bills once you’ve called it a career.

Slowly but surely, market research is starting to agree with me.

Wilshire Research delivered a report around this time last year summing up its research into REITs’ effect in retirement portfolios. The results were “dramatic.”

“One of the key findings was that the addition of stock exchange-listed REITs to retirement portfolios would have allowed a higher level of stable income for any given level of risk tolerance.”… Read more

With over 500 closed-end funds (CEFs) on the market, how do you choose the best one?

It’s not an easy question to answer, because there are literally dozens of metrics any CEF investor should look at before buying.

Luckily, I’ve found a way to boil those down for you. In a moment, I’ll reveal the 5-point system I’ve carefully designed to pick winning CEFs for our CEF Insider service.

(If you joined me for my exclusive CEF Insider live webcast on October 25, you know about this proven system and you got 2 of my latest CEF investment ideas for 7.1% dividends and double-digit upside in 2018.… Read more

Today, the 10-year Treasury pays just 2.3%. Put a million bucks in T-Bills, and you’re banking $23,000 per year. Barely above poverty levels!

Hence the appeal of closed-end funds (CEFs), which often pay 8% or better. That’s the difference between a paltry minimum-wage income of $23,000 on a million saved, or a respectable $80,000 annually.

And if you’re smart about your CEF purchases, you can even buy them at discounts and snare some price upside to boot!

Unfortunately this rising rate environment has income seekers scared of CEFs. Many of my readers have asked me if they should bail on our high paying vehicles.… Read more

At CEF Insider, we regularly pound the table on top-notch US closed-end funds (CEFs).

And we still see America as our “go to” for huge yields, income and big gains. But if you take a pass on other parts of the world, you’ll miss a proven way to cut your risk (thanks to the tremendous variety in the global economy) and big upside too.

That’s why we constantly keep our eyes trained on the horizon. And today, one particular place has caught our attention: Asia.

For a long time, Asian stocks were a sucker’s bet, for a couple reasons.

The biggest?… Read more

If I’ve heard it once I’ve heard it a thousand times: if you want big dividends, you can forget about getting big price upside, too.

Clearly, whoever came up with this “wisdom” is clueless about closed-end funds, where hefty 7%+ yields are common. Fast double-digit gains, too—especially if you follow the one true CEF profit indicator I’ll show you now.

It’s called the discount to net asset value (NAV), and you can find it on any online fund screener. In plain English, it’s the difference between a CEF’s market price and its “true” value—or what its underlying assets are worth.

Sounds simple, right?… Read more