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    • Sun Nov 23rd 16:01 PM
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      Rating: +2 -1
      Commented on:
      Three Companies Perfectly Positioned to Bridge the Energy Gap
      Maybe Mr. Fessler should meet Mr Quinn, also of seekingalpha

      General Electric: Genuine Risk of Collapse?
      by: James Quinn November 17, 2008 | about stocks: GE

      General Electric (GE), the legendary American institution, founded in 1878 by Thomas Edison, is in deep trouble. Its PR machine has been in constant spin mode as the company sinks deeper into despair. It is one of the few companies in the U.S. that still retains a AAA rating. Considering Moody’s and S&P’s track record, rating companies and financial instruments, that AAA rating is not worth the paper it is written on. One look at GE’s balance sheet will convince you they do not deserve a AAA rating. AAA companies do not need to take the desperate actions that GE has taken in the last few months.? etc etc in a very long screed.
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    • Sun Oct 12th 08:54 AM
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      Rating: 0 0
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      Midstream MLPs Crashing, Present Opportunity
      For now, I would avoid MLP CEF such as KYE mentioned above. Most are leveraged and are having to sell portfolio holdings at fire sale prices to rebalance leverage and asset collateral to the SEC limits. They are significant contributors to the excessive and continuing fall in MLP pricces, for this reason
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    • Sat Sep 13th 17:42 PM
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      Six Reasons to Like the Morgan Stanley Emerging Market Domestic Debt Fund
      There are other CEF holding EM debt in local currencies (eg AWF), so EDD is not the only choice. EDD suffered from the downgrade by its own parent (Morgan Stanley), who may be right about the strength, or lack thereof, of EM currencies.

      Nevertheless, in a well diversified portfolio, these CEF may have a place. EDD is probably as good as most and is particularly attractive at current discount and distribution rate. JMO
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    • Wed Jun 11th 13:17 PM
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      GE, Microsoft on New Low List
      I think we may be underestimating GE's infrastructure position, which transcends the "green" idea. They have fielded 9000 1.5MW windturbines at $3.3M per to date, and the order backlog is growing, but they also build world class gas turbines (series 7 and 9) for utilities, have arguably the best new reactor technology in the ESBWR and dominate the transportation market with aircraft engins, pipeline flow compressors, shipboard propulsion turbines and locomotives. The financing unit is synergistic in enabling the sales of the big ticket items, some of which exceed $100MM each. I think the household appliance business is on the way out and maybe aircraft leasing. I am starting a position here at $30-31, despite six sigma and the past mistakes.
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    • Sun May 11th 08:35 AM
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      Rating: 0 0
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      Currency, Precious Metal and Futures ETFs: Don't Get Caught in the Tax Trap
      Purely a nitpick, but ETF are not mutual funds. From the SEC:

      "There are some investment companies, known as exchange-traded funds or ETFs, which are legally classified as open-end companies or UITs. ETFs differ from traditional open-end companies and UITs, because, pursuant to SEC exemptive orders, shares issued by ETFs trade on a secondary market and are only redeemable in very large blocks (blocks of 50,000 shares for example). ETFs are not considered to be, and are not permitted to call themselves, mutual funds."
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    • Sat May 3rd 16:45 PM
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      Rating: 0 0
      Commented on:
      Can Eaton Vance's Tax-Advantaged Dividend Fund Sustain Its Yield?
      Correction to the above. The distributions are from investment income, not ROC or capital gains.
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    • Sat May 3rd 16:42 PM
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      Rating: 0 0
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      Can Eaton Vance's Tax-Advantaged Dividend Fund Sustain Its Yield?
      Lots of bad info here. EVT is a dividend capture fund, the additional dividends providing the extra yield. It doesn't do options. It is a levered fund along with its cohorts ETG and ETO which just switched to bankd debt from APS. There is no reason tp believe that this will cost significantly more than default APS rates resulting from failed auctions. Many CEF use debt rather than preferred shares, even before the APS problem. EVT distributions to date are entirely from earned invested income and are 15% qdi

      The original poster apparently missed the capture strategy and subsequent posters have confused EVT with other funds
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    • Thu Nov 22nd 10:16 AM
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      Rating: 0 0
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      Understanding Closed-End Funds
      Sorry for the PS, but my response was truncated. The point was that if one is going to give a tutorial on "understanding closed-end funds," why not accurately make the distinction? With the explosion of "managed index" ETF, financial advisors who fail to make the important distinctions among investment vehicles and the difficulty in understanding why CEF prices, unlike those of mutual funds, stray significantly, and for good reason, from NAVs, investors have enough problem reconciling the conflicting statements by experts in the field. JMO as always
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    • Thu Nov 22nd 10:02 AM
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      Rating: 0 0
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      Understanding Closed-End Funds
      Closed end funds,,as you say, are like mutual funds in many ways, but they are not mutual funds. Here's one clip from sec.gov

      Mutual Funds

      A mutual fund is a company that pools money from many investors and invests the money in stocks, bonds, short-term money-market instruments, or other securities. Legally known as an "open-end company," a mutual fund is one of three basic types of investment company. The two other basic types are closed-end funds and Unit Investment Trusts (UITs).

      There are enough differences within the ICA 1940, to mse the distinction worthwhile.
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    • Mon Oct 22nd 21:21 PM
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      Understanding Closed-End Funds
      It seems like someone who has worked in the field would know that closed-end funds are not mutual funds. The misuse of the term destroys the validity of whatever point is being made.

      "Closed-End Funds

      "A "closed-end fund," legally known as a "closed-end company," is one of three basic types of investment company. The two other basic types of investment companies are mutual funds and unit investments trusts (UITs)." -sec.gov
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    • Mon May 21st 12:52 PM
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      Rating: 0 0
      Commented on:
      Is China Headed for a 1929-Style Market Crash?
      I have to agree that an article which suggests a world class market crash may be imminent and instead of saying why, focuses on the 19bp number v. some other, seems a waste of space. Why not at a miimum acknowledge that the deposit rate was rased more than the lending rate which, even though slight, is a small incentive to savings and a small squeeze on margins.

      Why not discuss the heavy investments into infrastructure, such as nuclear power and railroad tracks, that will promote the conversion of an export economy to local consumption. The Shanghai and Shenzhen markets may be overbought, but not on the scale of 1929 and the earmarks of equivalent recession are missing.
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    • Sat May 19th 18:30 PM
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      Rating: 0 0
      Commented on:
      What Readers Say About Seeking Alpha
      I submit that your site is losing investor interest because too many of your most frequent posters have little of substance to say. They post simplistic opinions with few rationale on the issues de jour, apparently just to be heard. If this site is an adverising medium for advisors, fine.
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    • Sat May 19th 10:58 AM
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      Rating: 0 0
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      Implications of a China Crash
      This thread seems mistitled. There is no rationale presented for a China crash and no argument made for any particular consequence, should one occur . I can find no "implications.&qu... The U or V issue seems trivial in the absence of magnitude, for reasons cited in earlier comments

      The PRC mainland markets may well be seriously overbought, and that may bring pain to local speculators, but the economy, in absence of persuasive rationale, seems sustainable through the Olympics and beyond. The Government has established infrastructure, such as state owned funds and QDII destination expansion, to support where and when needed.

      The PRC challenge is to shift to a domestic consumption-based economy before there are more serious problems among the importing nations.
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    • Fri May 18th 09:21 AM
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      Converting Closed-End Funds to ETFs: Has the Trend Begun?
      There seems to be a prevailing view here that discounts for closed-end funds are somehow undesirable. The discount is te natural investor offset to the fund's fees, adjusted for the liquidity of the CEF portfolio. Iow, plain vanilla equity CEF deserve a higher discount than bond or more sphisticated portfolio holdings such as syndicated loans and derivatives. The issue ought not be the discount, but the extent of excursions from it which imply CEF investor sentiment different from that of the broader market.

      The prinicpal disadvantage of CEF is their low daily trading volumes, which limit their utility for larger investors. Otoh, there are many offsetting advantages, such as leverage, hugher yields and freedom from cash drag, which make CEF attractive to average retail investors.

      The reasons why CEF managers would want to convert to ETF on a large scale are certainly not clear, nor is the rationale which might be persuasive to CEF investors.
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    • Wed May 9th 12:08 PM
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      Rating: 0 0
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      US Investors Not Feeling the Chinese Stock Market Sizzle
      Using YTD data for closed end funds can be quite misleading if CEF dynamics are not understood. These CEF paid out large cap gains distribution at yearend, causing the NAV to drop precipitously and putting the market prices ata momentary high premium. These conditions qickly corrected in the new yearand and market prices in January, reflecting the distribution went to more noraml discounts, Since that time, the performance ofmarket prices and NAV have more closely followed the indexes they represent.

      More fundamentally, there is a major performance distinction between A&B share mainland markets and HK. CAF, as the example, marches to a different drummer than the other China CEF, even if that drummer may potentially be out of control.

      As long as these PRC markets are growing rapidly, I think it is wrong to discount the utility of ETF and CEF as vehicles, CEF, for example, must recognize harvested capital gains through distribution, reducing future market risk associated with ownership.
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