April 28, 2015

Nuveen CA Dividend Advantage Muni Fund (NAC)

Nuveen CA Dividend Advantage Muni Fund (NAC) is an actively managed closed end fund. This popular fixed income fund utilizes its assets to purchase municipal debts. This fund seeks current income exempt from both regular federal income taxes and California personal income tax; its secondary investment objective is the enhancement of portfolio value.

NAC Fund Profile

    Nuveen CA Dividend Advantage Muni Fund (NAC)
  • Fund Inception Date: 05/26/1999
  • Ticker Symbol: NAC
  • CUSIP: 67066Y105
  • Rank in category (YTD): 37%
  • Category: CA municipal bond
  • Yield: 6.33%
  • Effective Leverage: 35.12%
  • Capital Gains: -
  • Premium/ Discount: -3.74%
  • Base Expense Ratio: 1.30%
  • Net Assets: $ 2.39 billion

April 26, 2015

Big Earnings for Technology Stocks: Amazon & Microsoft

Find why technology stocks are rising? Is it because of big earning or rotation to non-oil stocks? Top performing industries in week 17, 2015 are catalog & mail order houses, business software & services, etc.

Top Tech Stocks

This post will look into the top performing stocks, industry, and sector. The S&P 500 index has a weekly return of 1.77%. NASDAQ Composite has a weekly return of 3.25%. Dow Jones Industrials Average has a weekly return of 1.45%. The small cap (Russell 2000) has a return of 1.26%.

Top performing stock industries in week 17, 2015 (April 20, 2015 to April 26, 2015) are:
    Amazon & Microsoft Stocks
  1. Catalog & Mail Order Houses 14.91%
  2. Toys & Games 10.71%
  3. Industrial Metals & Minerals 10.34%
  4. Business Software & Services 10.17%
  5. Basic Materials Wholesale 8.35%
  6. Specialty Eateries 7.97%
  7. Wireless Communications 7.12%
  8. Foreign Utilities 6.64%
  9. Major Airlines 6.63%
  10. Diagnostic Substances 6.09%
  11. Steel & Iron 5.88%
  12. Semiconductor Equipment & Materials 5.53%
  13. Internet Information Providers 5.34%
  14. Foreign Regional Banks 5.15%

April 25, 2015

Other Air Services Stocks

Other air services stocks are part of services stock sector. These companies provide management and other airport operation services to airports throughout the world. Some may also provide leasing, financing, sale, and management of commercial aircraft and engines.

This stock industry is comprised of only a few companies. They may offer an attractive dividend yield.

Other Air Services Stocks List

Top 3 other air services stocks are AerCap Holdings N.V., Macquarie Infrastructure Company LLC, and Grupo Aeroportuario del Sureste, SAB de CV. These 3 companies may be considered as mid cap companies.

Other air services stocks are:
    Other Air Services Stocks
  • AerCap Holdings N.V. (AER)
  • Macquarie Infrastructure Company LLC (MIC)
  • Grupo Aeroportuario del Sureste, SAB de CV (ASR)
  • Grupo Aeroportuario del Pacifico S.A.B. de CV (PAC)
  • Air Methods Corp. (AIRM)
  • Grupo Aeroportuario del Centro Norte, S.A.B. de C.V. (OMAB)
  • Atlas Air Worldwide Holdings, Inc. (AAWW)
  • PHI Inc. (PHII)

April 24, 2015

Best 15 Municipal Bond Closed End Funds 2015

Find best performing municipal bond closed end funds 2015. Top muni bond funds are PIMCO Municipal Income fund, Eaton Vance Municipal Bond fund, etc.

Top 15 Muni Closed End Funds

Municipal Bond Closed End FundsMunicipal bond funds use its assets to purchase high quality municipal bonds. These bond funds provide tax free high yield income for investors. The yield from the funds is exempted from federal tax rate, and state income tax, etc.

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 1 year total return (up to April 2015).

Best performing municipal bond closed end funds 2015 are:
  1. PIMCO Municipal Income Fund (PMF)
  2. EV Municipal Income Fund (EVN)
  3. BlackRock MuniAssets Fund (MUA)
  4. Nuveen Enhanced Muni Value Fund (NEV)
  5. MainStay DefinedTerm Municipal Opportunities Fund (MMD)
  6. BlackRock Municipal Bond Fund (BBK)
  7. Dreyfus Municipal Bond Infrastructure Fund (DMB)
  8. Western Asset Managed Muni Fund (MMU)

April 23, 2015

American Funds Global Balanced Fund (GBLAX)

American Funds Global Balanced Fund (GBLAX) is an actively managed balanced mutual fund. As a balanced fund with global scope, the fund seeks to invest in equity and debt securities around the world that offer the opportunity for growth and/or provide dividend income, while also constructing the portfolio to protect principal and limit volatility.

This mutual fund objective is to seek the balanced accomplishment of three objectives: long-term growth of capital, conservation of principal and current income.

GBLAX Fund Profile

    American Funds Global Balanced Fund (GBLAX)
  • Fund Inception Date: 02/01/2011
  • Ticker Symbol: GBLAX
  • CUSIP: 02629W106
  • Beta (3yr): 1.05
  • Rank in category (YTD): 68%
  • Category: World Allocation
  • Distribution Yield: 1.78%
  • Capital Gains: -
  • Expense Ratio: 0.89%
  • Net Assets: $ 8.2 billion
  • Number of Years Up: 3 years
  • Number of Years Down: 0 year

April 22, 2015

Best Ranked Conservative Allocation Mutual Funds 2015

Find best ranked conservative allocation mutual funds 2015 for the past decade. These top balance funds are Berwyn Income Fund, Vanguard Wellesley Income fund, etc.

Top Balanced Funds

Conservative allocation mutual funds are part of balanced mutual funds. These investment funds invest in bonds and stocks. Typically the bond portion (50%-80%) is larger than the stock portion (20%-50%). These means the conservative allocation portfolios will hold smaller positions in stocks than moderate allocation portfolios. These portfolios seek to provide both capital growth and income.

You can buy these top mutual funds for your brokerage account, retirement account (IRA), and 401k account. The minimum initial funding may be as little as $100 for retirement account. These top conservative allocation mutual funds 2015 are sorted based on its 10 years performance up to April 2015. You can find the fund review below as well.

Best ranked conservative allocation mutual funds 2015 are:
    Best Conservative Allocation Funds
  1. Berwyn Income Fund (BERIX)
  2. James Balanced Golden Rainbow Fund Retail Class (GLRBX)
  3. Vanguard Wellesley Income Fund Investor Shares (VWINX)
  4. Franklin Income Fund Class A (FKINX)
  5. Permanent Portfolio Fund (PRPFX)
  6. Federated Capital Income Fund Class A Shares (CAPAX)
  7. Goldman Sachs Income Builder Fund Class A (GSBFX)
  8. T. Rowe Price Personal Strategy Income Fund (PRSIX)
  9. API Efficient Frontier Income Fund Class A (APIUX)
  10. Columbia Thermostat Fund Class A (CTFAX)

April 21, 2015

Independent Oil & Gas Stocks

Independent oil & gas stocks are part of basic materials stock sector. An independent oil and gas company is principally a unit that only explores for and produces oil and gas. These companies typically don’t own refining, processing, or marketing assets. They only prepare that oil and gas and then sell the product directly to end users.

These companies are also known as non-integrated oil and gas companies. These companies receive the majority of their revenue from production at the wellhead.

Independent Oil & Gas Companies List

Top 3 independent oil & gas companies include ConocoPhillips, Enterprise Products Partners L.P., and Occidental Petroleum Corporation.

Independent oil & gas companies are:
    Independent Oil & Gas Stocks
  • ConocoPhillips (COP)
  • Enterprise Products Partners L.P. (EPD)
  • Occidental Petroleum Corporation (OXY)
  • EOG Resources, Inc. (EOG)
  • Anadarko Petroleum Corporation (APC)
  • Suncor Energy Inc. (SU)
  • Canadian Natural Resources Limited (CNQ)
  • Devon Energy Corporation (DVN)
  • Pioneer Natural Resources Co. (PXD)
  • Apache Corp. (APA)
  • Hess Corporation (HES)
  • Marathon Oil Corporation (MRO)
  • Noble Energy, Inc. (NBL)
  • Continental Resources, Inc. (CLR)
  • Cabot Oil & Gas Corporation (COG)

The Importance of Diversification in Investing

Diversification is a key principle in investing, and it's especially important in today's uncertain economic climate. By spreading y...