The Best Buy-Write Closed-End Funds

By Douglas Albo: I'm seeing some of the best valuations for some equity based high-income closed-end funds (CEFs) since the spring of 2009 and yet investors seem to be oblivious to this and are selling funds at 10%-12% discount levels with Net Asset Values (NAVs) that are holding up better than the broader market.

By John Dowdee:Covered Call Closed End Funds (CEFs) have mouth-watering distributions ranging from 7% to 10%. This article will analyze the total return associated with covered call CEFs to assess if these yields are "too good to be true". But first, I will provide a quick tutorial on covered calls for the investor that may not be familiar with this class of assets.

By Elliot Glass:Many closed end funds sell options against their holdings. They're called buy-write funds. Many investors do the same thing with their individual holdings. If you own Company A, you can sell options on Company A. This is a well-known conservative strategy that increases your income. It will also limit your gains if the stock increases rapidly.

By Value Research:Not all funds are the same. Choosing the best funds can save investors money as they construct their portfolios. Closed-End funds (CEFs) trading at a discount to net asset value are a source of potentially attractive ways to invest in many strategies. In a sense, they are on sale.

By Alan Ellman:Wait a minute! What if I buy a call option instead of the stock and then sell a call option on that option? I’ll be spending less money than outright purchase of the equity and still generate cash from the sale of the call option! Although not a true covered call write, purchasing a long-term option (more than one year out), called LEAPS, and then selling call options against that position, is an alternate strategy similar to covered call writing.

By greg group: This article discusses 5 covered call investments for monthly income. The covered call trade is simply buying 100 or more shares of an underlying stock and simultaneously selling 1 or more call option for premium income. These covered call setups all have an expiration in January 2012 so they have 30 days of trade time until expiration. The table below shows the trade setups with cost and return information for each trade suggestion. Here is a trade description on each covered call trade.

Street One Financial submits: by Paul Weisbruch No, the title of this article is not the contents of an errant text message from a cell phone of a thirteen year old, but instead it’s actually a headline from last Friday’s market action. Invesco PowerShares debuted PCEF, the CEF Income Composite Portfolio, which based on our experiences and conversations with investment advisors, we believe will gain traction quickly as unique in its class.

Options strike most as exotic investment transactions. And some option strategies can be risky. But stock options can also be used in ways that are not risky. Call options give you the right to buy a stock at a certain price (the strike price) on, or before, a certain date (the expiration date). So if you want to speculate that a stock will go up in a short period of time you can buy call options.