Vanguard Value Index Fund (VIVAX)

Vanguard Value Index Fund (VIVAX) is an index mutual fund with low cost expense fee. This Vanguard fund objective is to track the performance of a benchmark index that measures the investment return of large-capitalization value stocks.

This mutual fund invests mainly in value stocks of large U.S. companies. These stocks may be temporarily undervalued by investors. This stock fund may provide higher dividend yield of income for investors.

VIVAX Fund Profile

• Fund Inception Date: 11/02/1992
• Ticker Symbol: VIVAX
• CUSIP: 922908405
• Beta (3yr): 0.96
• Rank in category (YTD): 16%
• Category: Large Value
• Distribution Yield: 2.14%
• Capital Gains: -
• Expense Ratio: 0.24%
• Net Assets: $ 33.49 billion
• Number of Years Up: 17 years
• Number of Years Down: 4 years

Sector Rotation to Technology Stocks

Winter is almost here. Should you rotate your portfolio to technology stocks? Let check the top performing stocks for week 46, 2014.

Best Performing Stocks

This post will look into the top performing stocks, industry, and sector. The S&P 500 index has a weekly return of 0.44%. NASDAQ Composite has a weekly return of 1.21%. Dow Jones Industrials Average has a weekly return of 0.44%. The small cap (Russell 2000) has a return of 0.08%.

Best weekly performance of industry stocks of week 46, 2014 (November 10, 2014 – November 16, 2014) are:

1. Dairy Products 10.35%
2. Basic Materials Wholesale 8.81%
3. Catalog & Mail Order Houses 7.65%
4. Internet Service Providers 7.30%
5. Gaming Activities 7.22%
6. Silver 5.67%
7. Newspapers Publishing 5.66%
8. Drug Delivery 5.55%
9. Resorts & Casinos 4.90%
10. Toy & Hobby Stores 4.67%
11. Electronic Equipment 4.59%
12. Movie Production, Theaters 4.47%
13. Nonmetallic Mineral Mining 4.40%
14. Sporting Goods Stores 4.19%

Top Performing Large Blend ETFs 2014

Large blend ETFs invests mainly in companies with market values greater than $10 billion. These exchange traded funds invest in a combination of growth and value-oriented stocks. They may provide some yield for income.

Best Large Cap Funds

These top performers are sorted based on its 1 year total return performance (up to November 3, 2014). You can find this best ETF funds review from this article. Other fund information can be found below such as expense ratio, Morningstar rating, fund’s NAV, holdings, yield, etc.

Top performing large blend ETFs 2014 are:

1. ProShares Large Cap Core Plus ETF
2. iShares Morningstar Large-Cap ETF
3. iShares MSCI USA Minimum Volatility ETF
4. iShares MSCI USA Size Factor ETF
5. PowerShares S&P 500 High Quality ETF
6. ProShares S&P 500 Dividend Aristocrats ETF
7. iShares Core S&P 500 ETF
8. Vanguard S&P 500 ETF

Tortoise Energy Infrastructure Fund (TYG)

Tortoise Energy Infrastructure Fund (TYG) is an actively managed closed end fund. This CEF utilizes its assets to purchase equity securities of publicly-traded Master Limited Partnerships (MLPs) and their affiliates in the energy infrastructure sector.

As of June 2014, Tortoise Energy Capital Corp. (TYY) and Tortoise North American Energy Corp. (TYN) were merged into TYG. TYY and TYN stockholders became stockholders of TYG, and TYY and TYN ceased their separate existence.

TYG Fund Details

• Fund Inception Date: 02/27/2004
• Ticker Symbol: TYG
• CUSIP: 89147L100
• Rank in category (YTD): 100%
• Category: US Equity-MLP
• Yield: 5.12%
• Effective Leverage: 29.29%
• Capital Gains: -
• Base Expense Ratio: 1.74%
• Net Assets: $ 4.50 billion
• Annual Turnover Rate: 13%

This MLP fund is managed by Kevin H. Birzer, Zachary A. Hamel, Kenneth P. Malvey, Terry Matlack, and David J. Schulte. It has a high dividend yield of 5.12%.

Another Leg Higher for Gold Stocks?

Is this another leg higher for gold stocks? Let check the top performing stocks for week 45, 2014.

Potential Runner Stocks

This post will look into the top performing stocks, industry, and sector. The S&P 500 index has a weekly return of 0.77%. NASDAQ Composite has a weekly return of 0.04%. Dow Jones Industrials Average has a weekly return of 1.17%. The small cap (Russell 2000) has a return of 0.01%.

Best weekly performance of industry stocks of week 45, 2014 (November 3, 2014 – November 9, 2014) are:

1. Specialty Retail, Other 10.29%
2. Silver 8.36%
3. Gold 6.44%
4. Regional Airlines 6.24%
5. Major Airlines 5.28%
6. Confectioners 5.21%
7. Toy & Hobby Stores 4.90%
8. Grocery Stores 4.76%
9. Auto Parts Wholesale 4.76%
10. Gaming Activities 4.62%
11. General Building Materials 4.55%
12. Drug Stores 3.89%
13. Business Software & Services 3.87%
14. Synthetics 3.72%
15. Department Stores 3.63%

Vanguard Total Stock Market ETF (VTI)

Vanguard Total Stock Market ETF (VTI) is another popular index exchange traded fund. It invests mainly in stocks of U.S. companies. It also has a low cost.

This VTI fund objective is to track the performance of a benchmark index that measures the investment return of the overall stock market. The index benchmark is the CRSP U.S. Total Market Index, which represents approximately 100% of the investable U.S. stock market and includes large-, mid-, small-, and micro-cap stocks regularly traded on the New York Stock Exchange and Nasdaq.

VTI Fund Profile

• Fund Inception Date: 05/24/2001
• Ticker Symbol: VTI
• CUSIP: 922908769
• Rank in category (YTD): 67%
• Category: Large Blend
• Yield: 1.87%
• Capital Gains: -
• Expense Ratio: 0.04%
• Total Assets: $ 78.49 billion
• Annual Turnover Rate: 4%

Updated May 2017

This U.S. stock fund has a decent yield of 1.78%. The expense fee is very low, only 0.05%. The current share price is $97.12.

Best Performing Convertible Closed End Funds 2014

Convertible closed end funds invest mainly in convertible bonds and convertible preferred stocks. Convertible bond portfolios are designed to offer some of the capital-appreciation potential of stock portfolios while also supplying some of the safety and yield of bond portfolios. These securities thus act a bit like stocks and a bit like bonds.

Top Convertibles Funds

These top performing closed end funds are selected based on its year-to-date performance in 2014. Most of these convertible bond mutual funds are also rated among the best in their category. I have also provided some details about its management, performance, expense ratio, initial investment requirement, risk, top holdings, etc.

Best performing convertible closed end funds 2014 are:

1. Calamos Convertible & High Income Fund (CHY)
2. AllianzGI Convertible & Income Fund II (NCZ)
3. Calamos Convertible Opportunities and Income Fund (CHI)
4. AllianzGI Equity & Convertible Income Fund (NIE)
5. AllianzGI Conv & Income (NCV)
6. Bancroft Fund Ltd (BCV)
7. Ellsworth Fund Ltd (ECF)
8. Putnam High Income Securities Fund (PCF)
9. Gabelli Convertible and Income Securities Fund (GCV)
10. Advent Claymore Convertible Securities and Income Fund (AVK)