Calamos Strategic Total Return Fund (CSQ)

Calamos Strategic Total Return (CSQ) is a popular growth & income U.S. equity closed end fund. This fund objective is to provide current income and capital appreciation. It utilizes its assets to purchase common and preferred equity securities.

CSQ Fund Profile

• Fund Inception Date: 03/26/2004
• Ticker Symbol: CSQ
• CUSIP: 128125101
• Rank in category (YTD): 25%
• Category: U.S Stock - Growth & Income
• Distribution Rate: 8.56%
• Effective Leverage: 26.84%
• Capital Gains: -
• Base Expense Ratio: 1.44%
• Net Assets: $ 2.62 billion
• Annual Turnover Rate: 279%

More: Calamos Growth & Income Fund

This closed end fund is incepted since 2004. It has a high dividend yield of 8.56%. This yield is paid monthly. The fund managers are Nick P Calamos and John P Calamos. This top closed end fund is sponsored by Calamos Advisors LLC. The current share price is $11.55.

Top Stocks in Week 2 of 2015: Gold & Silver

The gold & silver stocks are out performing in week 2 of 2015. Other top performing sector stocks of weeks 2, 2015 are drug delivery, sporting good stores, etc.

This post will look into the top performing stocks, industry, and sector. The S&P 500 index has a weekly return of -0.61%. NASDAQ Composite has a weekly return of -0.48%. Dow Jones Industrials Average has a weekly return of -0.49%. The small cap (Russell 2000) has a return of -1.09%.

Best weekly performance of industry stocks of week 2, 2015 (January 5, 2015 – January 11, 2015) are:

1. Basic Materials Wholesale 17.24%
2. Gold 9.02%
3. Drug Delivery 6.99%
4. Sporting Goods Stores 6.15%
5. Silver 6.07%
6. Aluminum 5.06%
7. Residential Construction 4.38%
8. REIT - Retail 4.33%
9. REIT - Industrial 4.33%
10. Drugs Wholesale 4.08%

Best Fidelity Mutual Funds 2015

Fidelity is one of the largest financial and brokerage companies in the world. It offers online trading brokerage, IRAs, retirement planning or 401k, mutual funds, exchange traded funds, credit cards, cash management, etc.

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.

Popular Fidelity Funds

You can find these popular Fidelity 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 best Fidelity funds list.

Best Fidelity Mutual Funds for 2015 are:

• Fidelity Advisor New Insights A Fund (FNIAX)
• Fidelity Asset Manager 40% Fund (FFANX)
• Fidelity Asset Manager 85% Fund (FAMRX)
• Fidelity Blue Chip Growth Fund (FBGRX)
• Fidelity Capital & Income Fund (FAGIX)
• Fidelity Capital Appreciation Fund (FDCAX)
• Fidelity Connecticut Municipal Income Fund (FICNX)
• Fidelity Contrafund (FCNTX)
• Fidelity EMEA Fund (FEMEX)
• Fidelity Four-in-One Index Fund (FFNOX)
• Fidelity Freedom 2030 Fund (FFFEX)
• Fidelity GNMA Fund (FGMNX)

SPDR Gold Shares ETF (GLD)

SPDR Gold Shares ETF (GLD) is an exchange traded fund investing in gold. SPDR Gold Shares (GLD) offer investors an innovative, relatively cost efficient and secure way to access the gold market.

This commodity ETF is originally listed on the New York Stock Exchange in November of 2004. It is traded on NYSE Arca since December 13, 2007. SPDR Gold Shares is the largest physically backed gold exchange traded fund (ETF) in the world.

GLD Fund Profile

• Fund Inception Date: 11/18/2004
• Ticker Symbol: GLD
• CUSIP: 78463V107
• Rank in category (YTD): 23%
• Category: Commodities Precious Metals
• Yield: 0.00%
• Capital Gains: -
• Expense Ratio: 0.40%
• Total Assets: $ 34.49 billion
• Annual Turnover Rate: 0%

updated May 2017

SPDR Gold Shares Information

This precious metals ETF has no yield. The current expense ratio fee is 0.40% per year. The trust holds gold, and is expected to issue baskets in exchange for deposits of gold, and to distribute gold in connection with redemption of baskets.

Best Performing Short Term Bond Mutual Funds 2014

Find best performing short term bond mutual funds 2014. Short term bond fund invests mainly in investment grade U.S. government and U.S. corporate bonds with shorter duration, 1-3 years.
This short term bond mutual funds may provide a small yield for investors. While the yield is small, the risk associated with these funds is low as well. Most of the investment is invested in U.S. Treasuries or agency debts, and possibly in corporate debts.

Top Short Term Bond Funds

From this best performing funds list, you may find each individual fund review. You can find the fund performance, expense ratio, and yield or dividend from the table below. The list is sorted based on its year to date return in 2014 (up to December 29, 2014).

Best performing short term bond mutual funds 2014 are:

1. BlackRock US Mortgage Portfolio Fund (BMPAX)
2. Eaton Vance Short Duration Strategic Income Fund (ETSIX)
3. Frost Total Return Bond Fund (FATRX)
4. Thornburg Limited Term Income Fund (THIFX)
5. New Covenant Income Fund (NCICX)
6. Azzad Wise Capital Fund (WISEX)
7. William Blair Income N Fund (WBRRX)
8. Semper Short Duration Fund (SEMRX)

Vanguard Target Retirement 2025 Fund (VTTVX)

Vanguard Target Retirement 2025 fund (VTTVX) is a popular target date mutual fund. This Vanguard fund invests in stocks and bonds. It will adjust its assets over time. This balanced fund provides broad diversification while incrementally decreasing exposure to equities and increasing exposure to bonds as each fund’s target retirement date approaches.

This Vanguard Target Retirement 2025 fund continues to adjust for approximately seven years after that date until their allocations match that of the Target Retirement Income Fund.

VTTVX Fund Profile

• Fund Inception Date: 10/27/2003
• Ticker Symbol: VTTVX
• CUSIP: 92202E409
• Beta (3yr): 1.10
• Rank in category (YTD): 4%
• Category: Target Date 2021-2025
• Distribution Yield: 1.71%
• Capital Gains: -
• Expense Ratio: 0.17%
• Net Assets: $ 32.1 billion
• Number of Years Up: 8 year
• Number of Years Down: 2 year

Best Airlines, Semiconductor Stocks in 2014

Find top performing industry stocks in 2014. Top sectors are airlines, semiconductor, aluminum, hospitals, drugs, REIT, etc.

This post will look into the top performing stocks, industry, and sector in 2014. In 2014, the S&P 500 index has YTD return of 15.74%. NASDAQ Composite has a year-to-date return of 15.09%. Dow Jones Industrials Average has a YTD return of 11.47%. The small cap (Russell 2000) has a YTD return of 5.75%.

YTD top performing industry stocks in 2014 are:

1. Photographic Equipment & Supplies 95.89% (YTD Return %)
2. Major Airlines 73.47%
3. Semiconductor- Memory Chips 61.58%
4. Diversified Computer Systems 45.60%
5. Aluminum 45.39%
6. Regional Airlines 44.69%
7. Hospitals 44.63%
8. Semiconductor - Broad Line 43.89%
9. Internet Service Providers 43.67%
10. Electronic Equipment 39.91%
11. Auto Parts Stores 39.32%
12. Drug Manufacturers - Other 38.60%
13. Drugs - Generic 38.45%
14. REIT – Residential 36.99%
15. Home Health Care 35.64%