Nuveen Municipal Value Fund (NUV)

Nuveen Municipal Value Fund (NUV) is one of the popular municipal closed end funds. This bond fund seeks to provide current income exempt from federal income taxes and its secondary objective is the enhancement of portfolio value. It uses its assets to purchase selection of tax-exempt bonds and municipal market sectors.

NUV Fund Profile

• Fund Inception Date: 06/17/1987
• Ticker Symbol: NUV
• CUSIP: 670928100
• Rank in category (YTD): 96%
• Category: Municipal Bond
• Distribution Rate: 4.34%
• Effective Leverage: 0%
• Capital Gains: -
• Base Expense Ratio: 0.53%
• Net Assets: $ 2.09 billion
• Annual Turnover Rate: 51%

Nuveen Municipal Value Fund Info

The fund manager is Thomas C. Spalding Jr since 1987. With assets of $2.09 billion, it has total expense fee of 0.54%. The fund sponsor is Nuveen Fund Advisors. This tax free fund has a high yield of 4.34%.

Top Vanguard Mutual Funds 2015

Vanguard is one of the largest mutual fund companies. Vanguard is known as the leader in low cost index fund including mutual funds, and exchange traded funds (ETFs). Vanguard provides variety of selection for investor in 401k account.

We review rankings from Morningstar, Lipper, Zacks, TheStreet.com, U.S. News, and Standard & Poor’s. You can learn from our methodology from variety of our previous articles.

Best Vanguard Funds

You can find these best Vanguard funds for different sectors such as U.S. stock fund, international stock fund, municipal bond fund, balanced fund, target date fund, taxable bond fund. Depend on your risk tolerance, you may pick and choose from this top funds list.

Top Vanguard Mutual Funds for 2015 are:

1. Vanguard 500 Index Fund (VFINX)
2. Vanguard Balanced Index Fund (VBINX)
3. Vanguard CA Intermediate-Term Tax-Exempt Fund (VCAIX)
4. Vanguard Capital Opportunity Fund (VHCOX)
5. Vanguard Convertible Securities Fund (VCVSX)
6. Vanguard Energy Fund (VGENX)
7. Vanguard Equity-Income Fund (VEIPX)
8. Vanguard Explorer Fund (VEXPX)
9. Vanguard Explorer Value Fund (VEVFX)
10. Vanguard Global Equity Fund (VHGEX)

iShares MSCI Emerging Markets ETF (EEM)

iShares MSCI Emerging Markets ETF (EEM) is a popular exchange traded fund. This equity fund invests most of its assets in emerging markets, especially in stocks of large and mid-sized companies.

The iShares MSCI Emerging Markets ETF objective is to provide long term growth. Emerging markets countries may include China, Korea, Taiwan, Brazil, India, South Africa, Indonesia, Russia, etc.

EEM Fund Details

• Fund Inception Date: 04/07/2003
• Ticker Symbol: EEM
• CUSIP: 464287234
• Rank in category (YTD): 57%
• Category: Diversified Emerging Markets
• Yield: 1.66%
• Capital Gains: -
• Expense Ratio: 0.72%
• Total Assets: $ 31.41 billion
• Annual Turnover Rate: 22%

Updated May 2017

This equity ETF provide convenient access to 800+ emerging market stocks. The expense fee is 0.67%. The current share value is $41.76. The dividend yield is 1.67%.

Higher Oil Stocks for Christmas Party?

Most stocks are going up for this past week. Is this a holiday lift up especially for Christmas? Top stocks are oil & gas, materials, shipping, etc.

Best Weekly Stocks

This post will look into the top performing stocks, industry, and sector. The S&P 500 index has a weekly return of 3.44%. NASDAQ Composite has a weekly return of 2.40%. Dow Jones Industrials Average has a weekly return of 3.04%. The small cap (Russell 2000) has a return of 3.80%.

Best weekly performance of industry stocks of week 51, 2014 (December 15, 2014 – December 21, 2014) are:

1. Independent Oil & Gas 12.69%
2. Major Integrated Oil & Gas 9.17%
3. Oil & Gas Equipment & Services 9.07%
4. Drug Related Products 8.93%
5. Oil & Gas Drilling & Exploration 8.13%
6. Application Software 7.86%
7. Aluminum 7.51%
8. Marketing Services 7.10%
9. Cement 7.06%
10. Industrial Metals & Minerals 6.78%

Best ETFs Families 2015

Finding best ETFs for 2015 is essential. The following will look into variety of best exchange traded funds by fund family such as Vanguard, SPDR, BlackRock iShares, Invesco Powershares, Fidelity, and more.

Popular Mutual Funds Family

We review rankings from Morningstar, Lipper, Zacks, TheStreet.com, U.S. News, and Standard & Poor’s. You can learn from our methodology from variety of our previous articles. You can also find the 1 year average returns of these best mutual funds from this list.

Vanguard ETFs

Vanguard is one of the world largest mutual fund and exchange traded fund companies. Known as the leader in low cost index fund including mutual funds, and exchange traded funds; Vanguard provides variety of selection for investor in 401k account.

Best Vanguard ETFs for 2015 are:

• Vanguard Consumer Discretionary ETF (VCR) 10.55%
• Vanguard Consumer Staples ETF (VDC) 15.94%
• Vanguard Energy ETF (VDE) -0.97%
• Vanguard Extended Market ETF (VXF) 11.15%
• Vanguard Growth ETF (VUG) 19.26%
• Vanguard High Dividend Yield ETF (VYM) 17.37%
• Vanguard Intermediate-Term Bond ETF (BIV) 5.67%
• Vanguard Large-Cap ETF (VV) 17.23%
• Vanguard Long-Term Government Bond ETF (VGLT) 17.69%
• Vanguard Materials ETF (VAW) 13.82%
• Vanguard Mega Cap ETF (MGC) 17.23%
• Vanguard Mega Cap Growth ETF (MGK) 19.45%
• Vanguard Mega Cap Value ETF (MGV) 15.46%

PIMCO All Asset All Authority Fund (PAUAX)

PIMCO All Asset All Authority Fund (PAUAX) is a popular fund of funds. This mutual fund utilizes its assets to purchase Institutional Class or Class M shares of any funds of the Trust or PIMCO Equity Series or PIMCO ETF Trust. This mutual fund also has a high yield.

PAUAX Fund Profile

• Fund Inception Date: 07/29/2005
• Ticker Symbol: PAUAX
• CUSIP: 72200Q232
• Beta (3yr): 0.93
• Rank in category (YTD): 82%
• Category: Tactical Allocation
• Distribution Yield: 5.05%
• Capital Gains: -
• Expense Ratio: 1.68%
• Net Assets: $ 24.7 billion
• Number of Years Up: 6 years
• Number of Years Down: 2 years
• Annual Turnover Rate: 65%

PIMCO All Asset All Authority Fund Info

The current fund manager is Robert D. Arnott since 2003. This popular tactical allocation fund has large total net assets of $24.7 billion. It also has annual expense ratio of 1.68. It has a high dividend yield of 5.05%.

Defensive Stocks Now! REIT and Healthcare

Defensive stocks are still holding for now. Will they be the leader stocks now? Top stocks are drug stores, dairy products, REIT, etc.

Best Stocks

This post will look into the top performing stocks, industry, and sector. The S&P 500 index has a weekly return of -3.47%. NASDAQ Composite has a weekly return of -4.28%. Dow Jones Industrials Average has a weekly return of -3.69%. The small cap (Russell 2000) has a return of -2.50%.

Best weekly performance of industry stocks of week 50, 2014 (December 8, 2014 – December 14, 2014) are:

1. Drug Stores 7.43%
2. Dairy Products 3.48%
3. REIT - Healthcare Facilities 2.70%
4. Auto Parts Stores 2.69%
5. Building Materials Wholesale 2.30%
6. Home Furnishing Stores 1.26%
7. Marketing Services 0.92%
8. REIT – Residential 0.34%
9. Home Health Care 0.29%
10. Tobacco Products, Other 0.27%