“Sell America” Is Dead, but Nobody Told These 3 Popular Funds

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“Sell America” Is Dead, but Nobody Told These 3 Popular Funds

Remember a few months ago, when the “buy Europe” trade was red hot?

Well, if you’re like me, you’re wondering where all the hype went! Now “buy America” is back on, but European markets are still sky-high—well ahead of their American cousins.

That spells trouble for anyone with a portfolio that’s still tilted too much toward Europe.

So today we’re going to look into where things are headed (hint: back to the US in a big way!). We’ll also delve into three funds with European exposure (two of which are closed-end funds sporting double-digit dividends) that I urge you to hold off on now.… Read more

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My Advice? Buy These 11.8% Dividends. Retire Early

Do you know how much money you need to retire?

If you’re like most folks, you might think the answer is “too much,” and for good reason. It seems like every day we hear another study or pundit saying we need millions to do so comfortably.

That’s why I was surprised to see a new study out from NetCredit, an online money lender, saying most people would need less than a million dollars to retire. In fact, the company said it’s possible to clock out on just $702,330 in the US as a whole, and in some states even less—like about $470,000 in Mississippi.… Read more

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Get 10.6% Dividends (Paid Monthly!) From These 4 High-Yield Closed-End Funds

There are four funds sitting right under investors’ noses throwing off rich 10.6% dividends today. What’s more, these high-yield closed-end funds (CEFs) deliver these rich payouts monthly.

We can thank the recent selloff for this opportunity. It’s weighed on these CEFs’ prices, tweaking their yields higher.

With a 10.6% payout, you can get a yearly dividend stream of $40,000 on just a $378,000 investment. If you went with an index fund like the SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (SPY) or Vanguard S&P 500 ETF (VOO), which both yield 1.7% as I write this, you’d have to invest $2.4 million to get the same payout!… Read more

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These “ETF Cousins” Plunged 80%+ (it won’t get better)

If there’s one trap I’ve seen investors fall into time and time again, it’s “chasing yield”: getting pulled in by a high dividend yield and not digging deeper to see if that payout is really sustainable.

An asset class that’s collapsed in 2020—and is now on the verge of vanishing completely—is a classic example of the dangers of getting distracted by a high current yield.

The investments in question are called exchange-traded notes (ETNs), some of which held out the promise of mid-double-digit yields. Unfortunately, these funds—which some folks disastrously confuse with their bigger brothers, exchange traded funds (ETFs)—came with a  catch that’s now sending their values to zero.… Read more

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How These 7%-Yielding Funds Charge $0 in Fees.

Members of my CEF Insider service often tell me they’d love to know a lot more about the people at the helm of closed-end funds—the good, the bad and the ugly.

It makes sense: after all, when you buy a CEF, these folks play a huge role in whether you notch a big gain (and income stream) or, well, not so much.

An Insider’s View

As one of the few analysts who focuses solely on CEFs—especially smaller CEFs, with market caps of $1 billion or less—I’ve had several conversations with managers at CEF companies from across the market.

A common theme?… Read more

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