Closed-ended mutual fund ranking per NAV discount

CLOSED-ENDED MUTUAL FUND RANKING PER NAV DISCOUNT

Ranking of best closed-ended mutual funds based on discount from net asset value (NAV), annual expense ratio, and plans to reduce or eliminate discount.

All open-ended mutual funds are guaranteed to perform worse than the securities that they hold. The same applies to many closed-ended mutual funds. However, there is a small group of closed-ended funds, listed below, whose performance expectation is much better than that of the securities they hold. They are not just the best buys among closed-ended mutual funds but are some of the best buys among all stocks whose expected performance can be analyzed mathematically.

Unlike other rankings that reflect past performance and are not predictors of future performance, our scientific ranking reflects probability of high future return on investment made today. Our ranking is based on two main factors that are best quantifiable predictors of future returns: NAV discount and Expense Ratio. A third criterion taken into account in our ranking is evaluations of the plans the fund has, if any, to reduce its discount in the near future.

All the funds listed below are recommended. Among them, the reader may wish chose those appearing at the top of the list. Some readers may wish to narrow down the selection further by analyzing other unquantifiable factors: investment policy, sector, dividends, and news about these funds. (We have already factored in the news that some of these funds intend to become open-ended funds or to implement another policy to expedite the reduction or elimination of their discount off NAV. A link to a list of news articles about all the funds we recommend, as well as other information, is given at the bottom of this report.)

We rank funds traded on U.S. markets; however their portfolios may be composed of stocks traded on U.S. or foreign markets. Typically, the best discounts today are obtained for U.S.-traded funds specializing in overseas markets as well as a few U.S. funds specializing in the U.S. market.

Funds with high discount off NAV are likely to reduce their discount in the future, thus offering the investor a good possibility of appreciation of the fund's stock greater than the appreciation of the fund's portfolio. However, funds with high Annual Expense Ratio reduce their investors' profits. Therefore, we balance NAV discount and expense ratio in our rating, as well as funds' intention to actively reduce their discount.

The publically-posted data is a week-old. To access daily-fresh data you may wish to

* rank (9= a steal, 5=excellent, 3=very good, 1=good) 
|  * % discount off NAV 
|  |  * Annual Expense Ratio
|  |  |     * Fund Symbol 
|  |  |     |  * Plans to eliminate discount: grade (1-5) and type (Opening,
|  |  |     |  |                    share Repurchasing, Tender offer, Liquidation, asset Distribution)
|  |  |     |  |  * date: recent price/NAV 
|  |  |     |  |  |                                 * Fund name 
|  |  |     |  |  |                                 |                            * investment policy
|  |  |     |  |  |                                 |                            |
|  |  |     |  |  |                                 |                            |                 * admin fee
|  |  |     |  |  |                                 |                            |                 |

4	21	1.24	FOFI		05/11:7.21/9.14	Ch Hi Ne Go MS CN CB Bl Ho Se	First Opportunity Fund, Inc	Sector Equity Funds	1..3
4	15	0.88	ZTR	5o	05/11:3.03/3.56	Ch Hi Ne Go MS CN CB Bl Ho Se	Zweig Total Return Fund, Inc	Income & Pref Stock Fds	.676
3	22	2.03	FXBY		05/11:1.57/2.03	Ch Hi Ne Go MS CN CB Bl Ho Se	Foxby Corp	Growth Funds	.500
3	14	0.59	TY	1r	05/11:15.44/18.00	Ch Hi Ne Go MS CN CB Bl Ho Se	Tri-Continental Corporation	Core Funds	.426
3	22	2.31	GIFD		05/11:3.96/5.05	Ch Hi Ne Go MS CN CB Bl Ho Se	Global Income Fund, Inc	Global Funds	.700
3	21	2.12	BTF		05/11:16.72/21.09	Ch Hi Ne Go MS CN CB Bl Ho Se	Boulder Total Return Fund, Inc	fixed rate preferred stocks and adjustable rate preferred stocks; 25% utilities, 25% banks	1.910
3	22	2.40	BIF		05/11:5.95/7.60	Ch Hi Ne Go MS CN CB Bl Ho Se	Boulder Growth & Income Fund, Inc	Core Funds	1.662
3	13	0.58	ADX	1r	05/11:10.7/12.36	Ch Hi Ne Go MS CN CB Bl Ho Se	Adams Express Company	Diversified sound-co sto	.366
2	14	0.71	CET		05/11:21.45/24.98	Ch Hi Ne Go MS CN CB Bl Ho Se	Central Securities Corporation	Stocks; leveraged	.489
2	13	0.56	PEO		05/11:24.23/27.96	Ch Hi Ne Go MS CN CB Bl Ho Se	Petroleum & Resources Corporation	Sector Equity Funds	.333
2	31	5.25	RCG		05/11:1.84/2.66	Ch Hi Ne Go MS CN CB Bl Ho Se	RENN Global Entrepreneurs Fund, Inc	Global Funds	1.689
2	14	1.10	ECF		05/11:7.06/8.24	Ch Hi Ne Go MS CN CB Bl Ho Se	Ellsworth Fund Ltd	Convertible securities	.778
2	14	1.10	BCV		05/11:16.17/18.82	Ch Hi Ne Go MS CN CB Bl Ho Se	Bancroft Fund Ltd	Convertible securities	.790
2	14	1.08	ETW		05/11:10.73/12.48	Ch Hi Ne Go MS CN CB Bl Ho Se	Eaton Vance Tax-Managed Global Buy-Write Opportunities Fund	Opt Arbitrage/Opt Strat	1..0
2	12	1.06	ZF	1d	05/11:3.04/3.48	Ch Hi Ne Go MS CN CB Bl Ho Se	Zweig Fund, Inc	Core Funds	.809
2	19	2.64	DNY		05/11:14.6/18.13	Ch Hi Ne Go MS CN CB Bl Ho Se	Denali Fund Inc	Core Funds	2.177
2	14	1.39	GAM		05/11:27.68/32.25	Ch Hi Ne Go MS CN CB Bl Ho Se	General American Investors Company, Inc	Core Funds	1.112
2	13	1.15	EOI		05/11:10.72/12.40	Ch Hi Ne Go MS CN CB Bl Ho Se	Eaton Vance Enhanced Equity Income Fund	Opt Arbitrage/Opt Strat	1..0
2	12	1.05	USA	1d	05/11:4.69/5.32	Ch Hi Ne Go MS CN CB Bl Ho Se	Liberty All-Star Equity Fund	Multi-mngd; 3 value; 2 g	.922
2	12	0.75	WIW		05/11:12.84/14.57	Ch Hi Ne Go MS CN CB Bl Ho Se	Western Asset/Claymore Inflation Linked Opportunities & Income Fund	Corp Debt BBB Rated Fds	.663
2	12	0.68	WIA		05/11:12.77/14.43	Ch Hi Ne Go MS CN CB Bl Ho Se	Western Asset/Claymore Inflation Linked Securities & Income Fund	Corp Debt BBB Rated Fds	.425
2	13	1.14	EOS		05/11:10.69/12.30	Ch Hi Ne Go MS CN CB Bl Ho Se	Eaton Vance Enhanced Equity Income Fund II	Opt Arbitrage/Opt Strat	1..0
2	13	1.12	RMT		05/11:9.01/10.34	Ch Hi Ne Go MS CN CB Bl Ho Se	Royce Micro-Cap Trust, Inc	Core Funds	.965
2	12	0.98	RVT		05/11:13.1/14.95	Ch Hi Ne Go MS CN CB Bl Ho Se	Royce Value Trust, Inc	Core Funds	.865
2	12	0.98	MSP		05/11:11.36/12.92	Ch Hi Ne Go MS CN CB Bl Ho Se	Madison Strategic Sector Premium Fund	Opt Arbitrage/Opt Strat	.825
2	12	0.96	SOR		05/11:51.07/57.84	Ch Hi Ne Go MS CN CB Bl Ho Se	Source Capital, Inc	Core Funds	.767
2	10	0.64	ACG		05/11:8.2/9.15	Ch Hi Ne Go MS CN CB Bl Ho Se	AllianceBernstein Income Fund, Inc	Corp Debt BBB Rated Fds	.531
1	19	2.78	RIF		05/11:16.31/20.02	Ch Hi Ne Go MS CN CB Bl Ho Se	RMR Real Estate Income Fund	Real Estate Funds	1.176
1	13	1.33	FUND		05/11:6.48/7.44	Ch Hi Ne Go MS CN CB Bl Ho Se	Royce Focus Trust, Inc	Core Funds	1.148
1	12	1.09	ETV		05/11:12.55/14.28	Ch Hi Ne Go MS CN CB Bl Ho Se	Eaton Vance Tax-Managed Buy-Write Opportunities Fund	Opt Arbitrage/Opt Strat	1..0
1	12	1.05	TKF		05/11:12.93/14.67	Ch Hi Ne Go MS CN CB Bl Ho Se	Turkish Investment Fund, Inc	80% Turkish equity	.820
1	11	0.94	JLA		05/11:12.02/13.59	Ch Hi Ne Go MS CN CB Bl Ho Se	Nuveen Equity Premium Advantage Fund	Opt Arbitrage/Opt Strat	.834
1	11	0.84	JPZ		05/11:11.78/13.26	Ch Hi Ne Go MS CN CB Bl Ho Se	Nuveen Equity Premium Income Fund	Opt Arbitrage/Opt Strat	.748
1	13	1.44	JOF		05/11:7.65/8.78	Ch Hi Ne Go MS CN CB Bl Ho Se	Japan Smaller Capitalization Fund, Inc	Japanese OTC stocks	.973
1	13	1.32	SWZ		05/11:10.46/11.97	Ch Hi Ne Go MS CN CB Bl Ho Se	Swiss Helvetia Fund, Inc	Swiss equity	.829
1	12	1.15	ETB		05/11:13.14/14.92	Ch Hi Ne Go MS CN CB Bl Ho Se	Eaton Vance Tax-Managed Buy-Write Income Fund	Opt Arbitrage/Opt Strat	1..0
1	11	0.96	JPG		05/11:12.87/14.39	Ch Hi Ne Go MS CN CB Bl Ho Se	Nuveen Equity Premium & Growth Fund	Opt Arbitrage/Opt Strat	.857
1	10	0.71	MTS		05/11:15.95/17.69	Ch Hi Ne Go MS CN CB Bl Ho Se	Montgomery Street Income Securities, Inc	Corp Debt BBB Rated Fds	.478
1	9	1.37	TDF	3r	05/11:27.06/29.75	Ch Hi Ne Go MS CN CB Bl Ho Se	Templeton Dragon Fund, Inc	Fgn;Asia-Pac stks;45% Ch	1.293
1	12	1.42	GRF		05/11:6.58/7.48	Ch Hi Ne Go MS CN CB Bl Ho Se	Eagle Capital Growth Fund, Inc	P/E ratios <= average for companies in the same industry	.738
1	11	1.40	IFN	1r	05/11:19.9/22.39	Ch Hi Ne Go MS CN CB Bl Ho Se	India Fund, Inc	At least 65% Indian stoc	1.125
1	11	1.14	BDJ		05/11:7.37/8.27	Ch Hi Ne Go MS CN CB Bl Ho Se	BlackRock Enhanced Equity Dividend Trust	Opt Arbitrage/Opt Strat	.997
1	11	1.09	GF		05/11:14.31/16.00	Ch Hi Ne Go MS CN CB Bl Ho Se	New Germany Fund, Inc	Germany equity	.871
1	10	0.87	IMF		05/11:17.89/19.86	Ch Hi Ne Go MS CN CB Bl Ho Se	Western Asset Inflation Management Fund Inc	Corp Debt BBB Rated Fds	.618
1	9	0.81	JSN		05/11:11.99/13.22	Ch Hi Ne Go MS CN CB Bl Ho Se	Nuveen Equity Premium Opportunity Fund	Opt Arbitrage/Opt Strat	.719
1	9	0.59	JFP		05/11:2.46/2.69	Ch Hi Ne Go MS CN CB Bl Ho Se	Nuveen Tax-Advantaged Floating Rate Fund	Income & Pref Stock Fds
1	13	1.60	ISL		05/11:12.98/14.84	Ch Hi Ne Go MS CN CB Bl Ho Se	Aberdeen Israel Fund, Inc	Emerging Markets Funds	.941
1	12	1.57	ETO		05/11:18.53/21.17	Ch Hi Ne Go MS CN CB Bl Ho Se	Eaton Vance Tax-Advantaged Global Dividend Opportunities Fund	Global Funds	1..4
1	11	1.38	IIF		05/11:14.86/16.78	Ch Hi Ne Go MS CN CB Bl Ho Se	Morgan Stanley India Investment Fund, Inc	At least 65% Indian stoc	1.138
1	12	1.89	JFC	1r	02/22:13.08/14.88	Ch Hi Ne Go MS CN CB Bl Ho Se	JF China Region Fund, Inc	China region stocks	1..0
1	12	1.54	LGI		05/11:14.06/15.96	Ch Hi Ne Go MS CN CB Bl Ho Se	Lazard Global Total Return & Income Fund, Inc	Global Funds	1.120
1	10	1.11	CEE		05/11:30.6/33.98	Ch Hi Ne Go MS CN CB Bl Ho Se	Central Europe & Russia Fund, Inc	Central Europe stks;Germ	.830
1	10	1.07	CMK		05/11:8.42/9.35	Ch Hi Ne Go MS CN CB Bl Ho Se	MFS InterMarket Income Trust I	33% each: fixed US Government bonds, foreign governments, high yield	.774
1	10	1.03	IGR		05/11:8.06/8.93	Ch Hi Ne Go MS CN CB Bl Ho Se	CBRE Clarion Global Real Estate Income Fund	Real Estate Funds	.813
1	10	1.01	CHN		05/11:21.96/24.34	Ch Hi Ne Go MS CN CB Bl Ho Se	China Fund, Inc	Chinese secs; non divers	.654
1	16	2.68	BSP		05/11:8.41/10.01	Ch Hi Ne Go MS CN CB Bl Ho Se	American Strategic Income Portfolio Inc II	US Mortgage Funds	.748
1	14	2.21	NRO		05/11:4.31/5.03	Ch Hi Ne Go MS CN CB Bl Ho Se	Neuberger Berman Real Estate Securities Income Fund, Inc	Real Estate Funds	1..1
1	13	1.99	TTF		05/11:16.05/18.47	Ch Hi Ne Go MS CN CB Bl Ho Se	Thai Fund, Inc	Pacific Ex Japan Funds	.842
1	11	1.50	ETF		05/11:19.04/21.45	Ch Hi Ne Go MS CN CB Bl Ho Se	Aberdeen Emerging Markets Telecommunications & Infrastructure Fund, Inc	65% equity of telecommunications in emerging countries	1..2
1	11	1.38	DCA		05/11:3.71/4.16	Ch Hi Ne Go MS CN CB Bl Ho Se	Virtus Total Return Fund	Global Funds	1..8
1	11	1.36	MCN		05/10:7.93/8.88	Ch Hi Ne Go MS CN CB Bl Ho Se	Madison/Claymore Covered Call & Equity Strategy Fund	Opt Arbitrage/Opt Strat	1..8
1	10	1.22	FFA		05/11:11.85/13.21	Ch Hi Ne Go MS CN CB Bl Ho Se	First Trust Enhanced Equity Income Fund	Opt Arbitrage/Opt Strat	1..7
1	9	1.05	BPP		05/11:11.39/12.51	Ch Hi Ne Go MS CN CB Bl Ho Se	BlackRock Credit Allocation Income Trust III	Corp Debt BBB Rated Fds	.815
1	13	2.22	IRL	1d	05/11:7.77/8.91	Ch Hi Ne Go MS CN CB Bl Ho Se	New Ireland Fund, Inc	Irish stocks	.828
1	10	1.40	GDV		05/11:15.92/17.76	Ch Hi Ne Go MS CN CB Bl Ho Se	Gabelli Dividend & Income Trust	Value Funds	1.216
1	10	1.39	LDF		05/11:14.26/15.92	Ch Hi Ne Go MS CN CB Bl Ho Se	Latin American Discovery Fund, Inc	80% Latin American eqtys	1.189
1	10	1.24	APF		05/11:13.88/15.38	Ch Hi Ne Go MS CN CB Bl Ho Se	Morgan Stanley Asia-Pacific Fund, Inc	Asia-Pac eqty;0-50% Japa	1..7
1	10	1.18	LAQ		05/11:32.15/35.55	Ch Hi Ne Go MS CN CB Bl Ho Se	Aberdeen Latin America Equity Fund, Inc	Argentina, Brazil, Chile and Mexico	.873
1	9	2.01	APB	3t	05/11:10/11.03	Ch Hi Ne Go MS CN CB Bl Ho Se	Asia Pacific Fund, Inc	80% Asian markets	1.199
1	9	1.21	GCF		05/11:13.31/14.69	Ch Hi Ne Go MS CN CB Bl Ho Se	Global Income & Currency Fund Inc	Global Income Funds	.877
1	8	0.93	CII		05/11:13/14.14	Ch Hi Ne Go MS CN CB Bl Ho Se	BlackRock Enhanced Capital & Income Fund, Inc	Opt Arbitrage/Opt Strat	.847
1	13	2.00	DNI		05/11:3.48/3.98	Ch Hi Ne Go MS CN CB Bl Ho Se	Dividend & Income Fund, Inc	Income & Pref Stock Fds	1.229
1	10	1.52	MSF		05/11:13.86/15.49	Ch Hi Ne Go MS CN CB Bl Ho Se	Morgan Stanley Emerging Markets Fund, Inc	Emerging market stks & c	1.270
1	10	1.51	MXE		05/11:11.4/12.72	Ch Hi Ne Go MS CN CB Bl Ho Se	Mexico Equity & Income Fund, Inc	Mex: 50% cnv; 50% stks&b	.921
1	10	1.38	JEQ		05/11:5.24/5.83	Ch Hi Ne Go MS CN CB Bl Ho Se	Japan Equity Fund, Inc	Developed Market Funds	.610
1	9	1.14	MSD		05/11:11.12/12.18	Ch Hi Ne Go MS CN CB Bl Ho Se	Morgan Stanley Emerging Markets Debt Fund, Inc	Emerging Mkts Debt Funds	1..9
1	10	1.60	EEA		05/11:6.43/7.17	Ch Hi Ne Go MS CN CB Bl Ho Se	European Equity Fund Inc	Developed Market Funds	.963
1	10	1.43	IF		05/11:13.37/14.80	Ch Hi Ne Go MS CN CB Bl Ho Se	Aberdeen Indonesia Fund, Inc	Pacific Ex Japan Funds	.991
1	10	1.37	BTO		05/11:16.68/18.46	Ch Hi Ne Go MS CN CB Bl Ho Se	John Hancock Bank & Thrift Opportunity Fund	Regl bank & finl svcs st	1.250

Charts and news about the above funds: Yahoo MSN MarketWatch

Updated: 2012/05/12 07:57

Disclaimer: we do not recommend purchase or sale of any particular funds, merely present a compilation and mathematical manipulation of publicly available data; while we try to compile correct data, we cannot guarantee data correctness and are not responsible for its use.

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