Sold: 50 FTE at 21.75, 50 CNBKA 22.92, 100 BSCH at 21.44, 100 AT & T at 28.69, 50 JZH at 24.45; Bought 40 ZBPRC at 25.28, 50 RA at 9.75/ORHPRA

I was busy most of last week. Almost all of the foregoing trades were executed last week pursuant to GTC orders. I have omitted any reference to the day of the transaction. I am still busy on another matter but should have time to resume my weekday daily posts.

1. Sold 50 of 100 FTE at 21.75 (see disclaimer): FTE just went ex dividend. I decided to place a GTC order to sell my higher cost shares, which were bought first at 21.09, and to keep the shares bought thereafter at $20.47. I will then consider buying back the 50 shares sold at less than $19.5. This is a fairly typical trading pattern for an Unstable Vix Pattern in a long term secular bear market. Vix Asset Allocation Model Explained Simply The market has been in an Unstable Vix Pattern since August 2007. VIX Chart from 2007: Alerts and Triggers Major Disruption of Cyclical Stable Bull VIX Pattern.

2. Sold 50 CNBKA at $22.92 (see disclaimer): I have come to the realization that I have too many stocks in my Regional Bank Stocks basket strategy. By too many, I am referring to 54 stocks. So, CNBKA was sold just to start cutting down the size of this basket to more manageable levels. I may use some of the proceeds from sales to add to other existing positions. CNBKA was bought at 20.53.

3. Sold 100 BSCH at $21.44 (see disclaimer): The BSCH shares were bought at 20.13 in June. The yield on this bond ETF is viewed as too low for the taxable account, particularly given its 2017 term date. I am keeping the two other Claymore term bond ETFs in the retirement accounts: Item # 4 Bought 100 BSCE at $20.16; Item # 7 Claymore Introduces Term Corporate Bond ETFs Bought BSCF at$20.18 I am reinvesting the dividends for BSCE and BSCF.

4. Bought 50 RA at $9.75 (see disclaimer): RailAmerica is a new name for me. Given the size of its debt level, and the loss suffered in the last quarter, I decided to limit my exposure to just 50 shares. RA owns and operates short line and regional railroads in the U.S. (40 in all), with 7400 miles of track. For the Q/E 6/30/10, the company lost 8 cents per share from continuing operations, compared to a 12 cent per share on a comparable basis in the second quarter of 2009. I am concerned about the rising costs of the firm's operations and RA's debt level. The key statistics page at YF shows the price to book at .8 and price to sales at 1.2. For this small investment to work out, the economy will have to continue improving, and the firm will have to do a better job limiting increases in expenses. I have low expectations for this stock, and would most likely be a seller in the $12 to $13 range unless substantial improvements are made in cost controls.

The company was brought public by Fortress Investment Group at $15 per share in October 2009.

5. Sold 100 of 201 AT & T at $28.69 (see disclaimer): I bought those 100 shares in two fifty share lots over a year ago. Buy of 50 AT & T at $24.43 (Feb 2009) & Bought More AT & T at $24.52 (May 2009) Compared to my other purchases made in the first six months of 2009, the AT & T stock price had not increased in value until the last two months, and was selling at below my purchase price as late as early July 2010: T Historical Prices | AT&T The dividend is generous, over a 6% yield at my cost, and I have been reinvesting the dividend to purchase additional shares.

I would agree with Kaminsky's view that VZ and AT & T could both be bruised in 2011 as both incur more costs to retain customers which could become more problematic for AT & T in the event VZ secures rights to the IPhone. CNBC.com I also own the common shares of Verizon. BOUGHT 100 VZ at $26.74 And, I still own senior bonds from both Verizon and AT & T in trust certificate form, though I anticipate a redemption of those trust certificates by their respective call warrant owners. Trust Certificates Links in One Post Call Warrant Exercised on JZE and JZJ Call Warrants and Trust Certificates: XFL CALLED More on the Call Warrant in TCs Call Warrants and Trust Certificates

6. Notice of Redemption ORHPRA and ORHPRB (own ORHPRA): OdysseyRe has called for redemption its two preferred stock issues at their $25 par values. I previously sold my shares of the floating rate preferred at 24 and currently own 100 shares of ORHPRA. Bought 50 ORHPRA at $25 (12/09) Added 50 ORHPRA at $25 (5/10) The redemption date is 10/20/2010. ORHPRA is scheduled to go ex dividend on 9/28 for its quarterly distribution.

Last week, I also received the proceeds of the second partial redemption of the DFY, a senior bond issue from Delphi Insurance, though I will need to study what Fidelity did in connection with that partial redemption since I currently have 8 separate entries for it.

7. Bought 40 of ZBPRC at $25.28 (see disclaimer): This purchase was made when I noticed the redemption notice for ORHPRA. This purchase of 40 shares brings me to just 100 of ZBPRC. ZBPRC is a non-cumulative, perpetual equity preferred stock issued by Zions Bancorporation. Since I do not hold Zions in high regard, I am keeping my overall exposure to its securities at relatively small levels. ZBPRC has a 9.5% coupon on a $25 par value. Prospectus Supplement My prior two purchases were below par value, with just 30 shares purchased at $18.4 and at 23.75. With prior transaction on ZBPRB and ZBPRC, plus the dividends paid to me on all of the Zions securities, I am moving closer to paying with the house's money on Zions' securities. Bought 50 ZBPRB in Roth at $19.9 Sold 50 ZBPRB at 24.38 Bought 50 ZBPRA at 12.5 in IRA SOLD: ZBPRA in IRA at $16.85

Zions still has government equity preferred stock on its balance sheet. As discussed in a prior post, ZBPRC and ZBPRA are at the same level of priority as the government's preferred stock. To eliminate the dividend on ZBPRC, Zions would have to both eliminate its common stock dividend and defer payments on the government's preferred stock. Item # 7

I also still own 100 shares of ZBPRA bought at $7.8. Zions' preferred stock is rated Caa3 by Moody's and B by S & P according to QuantumOnline, and deservedly rated as junk in my opinion.

I doubt that I will buy anymore Zions' securities without first selling one currently owned. My maximum exposure to all Zions' securities would be around $3000, which is a low limit for me.

8. Sold 50 of the Trust Certificate JZH at $24.45 In Regular IRA (see Disclaimer): JZH is a trust certificate that contains a senior Prudential bond maturing in 2033 as its underlying security. The coupon is 6% on a $25 par value. Those shares were purchased on 9/16/2008 at a total cost of $14.81 per share. Subsequent to that purchase, I was able to buy this security at less than $10 in a taxable account, and I still own 100 shares in that account.

If the Federal Reserve's Jihad against savers continues for longer than I expect, I may have been early in selling JZH. Since it is my belief that problematic inflation will likely be a significant risk over the intermediate and long term, I have been paring some of my long corporate bonds which will go down in value in a rising rate environment compared to shorter maturity issues. Rising Rates and Your Investments The SIFMA web site, Investing In Bonds, has a considerable amount of informational material about bonds and bond investing.

(see also FINRA - Investor Information - Smart Bond Investing)

While I am not concerned at the present time about Prudential making the interest payments and paying par value at maturity, I am worried about potentially losing a significant part of the appreciation in JZH's share price due to a spike in interest rates. I would much prefer taking my profit, and then wait for an opportunity to buy JZH back after a significant correction in bond prices which causes this security to fall below $20 per share. JZH was trading at below $20 in September 2009. JZH Historical Prices In March 2009, JZH closed at $9.11 per share: JZH I made a purchase at $9.75 in November 2008 and I still own those shares: TRUST CERTIFICATE JZH: PRUDENTIAL SENIOR BOND While it would be shocking to me to see those prices again, I would anticipate that JZH will be selling at below $20 per share for extended periods between 2012 to 2028.

At a total cost of $9.75, the current yield would be 15.38% per year. Using the Morningstar Bond Calculator, the yield to maturity would be 16.58% at that cost.

I had a few more trades last week which I will discuss in the next post.

I will be tending to other matters for at least a week, and there will be no further posts until 9/27.

Wingnuts/KTN/RB Buys 40 TRC at $21.83 & 50 GY at $4.65 as a LT/Sold 50 of 150 KTN at 28.17/Added to UZV at 25.12

The article by Michael Lewis about the pervasive corruption in Greece needs to be required reading for every voter in the European Union. Vanity Fair The only effective and just remedy is to cut this cancer out of the EU and let the Greeks suffer the inevitable consequences of their own rampant immorality.

Moody's and S & P have rated an upcoming 10 million in a GO bond issuance from the SUV Capital of the World, where HQ is located, AAA. Brentwood, TN Brentwood's fiscal 2009 fiscal year represented its fifth year of budget surpluses. My city property taxes have not been raised in a very long time, probably in over 20 years or so. (see: money.cnn.com/ /bplive/2008) Maybe there is a lesson to be learned by the public servants in other localities.

The wingnuts are starting to receive cover stories in major periodicals. Personally, increasing their exposure to that part of the American population who are not yet crazy may have beneficial long term results. The cover of Forbes magazine, received yesterday, references an article by Dinesh D'Sousa, that reportedly exposes the true nature of Obama's ideology. As Maureen Dowd wrote in her NYT column yesterday, D'Sousa offers a genetic theory of ideology to explain the President's real agenda. I thought that the Sousa article was humorous, but nowhere near as entertaining as Steve Forbes' column in the same edition. Steve argues that the Beanpole can learn a thing or two from Lenin. Forbes, who is an extremely rigid ideologue with a closed mind, says that Obama can learn from Lenin about the need to be flexible when necessary. That was just hilarious coming from Forbes. In case the reader missed his point, Steve helpfully puts Obama and Lenin in the same picture: Forbes.com

1. Trust Certificate KTN (own): During the Dark Period, I was trading four trust certificates that contain the same AON Capital TP as their underlying security based solely on the yield at their respective prices. Until Wednesday, I did not fully comprehend that KTN has an oddity which makes it more attractive to some larger investors than KVW, DKK, or KVF. I have limited my recently trading activity in this TC grouping to DKK.

DKK and KVW have a 8% coupon and both have call warrants attached to the TCs. This means that the owner of the call warrant has the option of redeeming those TCs, paying the $25 par value plus accrued interest, and then taking possession of the Aon Capital TP. If that security which has a 8.205% coupon was selling at over par value, the owner of the call warrant could make a profit by redeeming the TCs and then selling the bond. DKK prospectus under description of "swap agreement www.sec.gov; KVW Prospectus at pages S-4-5 424B5)

The underlying bond is currently selling above par value. FINRA The call warrant provision effectively places a lid on the TCs appreciation above par value. More on the Call Warrant in TCs Call Warrants and Trust Certificates Due to the presence of a call warrant, I do not expect either KVW or DKK to appreciate much above their par values plus accrued interest. Both are now trading near the $25.5 to $25.8 range, with close to 3 months remaining before they go ex interest again for their semi-annual payments. So, even if the underlying bond continues to move up in price, I would anticipate that the price of KVW and DKK will stall due to the existence of the call warrant. Of course, if interest rates go up or something adverse happens to the credit of AON, both TCs can go down. My remaining shares of KVW were bought at $16.98 per share on September 30, 2008, shortly before starting this blog. (see item # 5 in recent May post on ex interest date: Heinz) Some of the earliest posts, which started in October 2008, involved discussions of securities like KTN, JZE, PJL, METPRA and AEB at what anyone would now consider to be extremely ridiculous prices.

On Tuesday, I noticed heavy volume in KTN and a spike in its price to over $28. Like the other TCs containing the same 2028 Aon Capital Trust Preferred, KTN has a $25 par value. I did not realize until then that KTN had been experiencing heavy volume for it since 9/3: KTN Historical Prices The rise in KTN price decreased its yield compared to KVW and DKK, even though KTN has a slightly higher coupon. I was tempted to pare KTN in an IRA where my cost basis is below $14 and use the proceeds to buy KVW or DKK at a later time. (total cost of those 100 shares purchased on 11/24/2008 is $14.06: KTN add TRUST CERTIFICATE AON BOND KTN ORDER FILLED at $13.1. I first wanted to make an effort to determine why there was institutional interest in KTN.

I quickly learned the probable source of interest in KTN by examining its prospectus. Unlike the other TCs containing the 2027 TP, KTN has no call warrant attached. www.sec.gov And, the underlying bond can be called by Aon only in limited circumstances, described at p. S-4 of the prospectus. Still, it would be cheaper to buy the bond directly in the bond market based on its current price. The underlying bond is not that actively traded, however, and had some trades over 109 as recently as 9/8. Since the underlying bond and the TC KTN have the same coupon, KTN would be trading at $27.25 at a 9% premium but only at $25.75 with a 3% premium to par value which is about the premium for the underlying bond at yesterday's closing price.

The current yield for the 100 shares bought in the regular IRA is about 14.12%, annually until both the TC and the underlying bond mature on 1/1/2027.

I am not interested in buying any of these securities at current prices. My only issue now is whether or not to pare KTN by 50 shares at over $28.

2. RB Buys 40 Tejon Ranch (TRC) at $21.83 on Wednesday (see Disclaimer): Tejon is a real estate asset play. Marty Whitman's Third Avenue Value fund owned 17.34% of the outstanding shares based on the last available information according to Y F . The last filed SEC Form N-Q shows Third Avenue owning 3,420,106 shares as of 7/31/2010: www.sec.gov I have not discussed Tejon much in this blog and there are only a few brief references: Forbes Article on Land Rich Companies:FCE/A JOE and TRC I previously bought and sold a small TRC position at higher levels than prevailing now. TRC is currently trading near its 52 week low and well off of its 5 year high near $56 reached in 2006: Tejon Ranch Company Common Stoc Stock Chart The five year chart shows a five year low over $19 in early March 2009.

The company recently did a rights offering at $23 in June: Press Release TRC reported a 6 cent loss for the Q/E 6/2010: Form 10-Q

My small attraction to TRC is summarized in this sentence from page 19 of its last filed 10-Q: "Our prime asset is approximately 270,000 acres of contiguous, largely undeveloped land that, at its most southerly border, is 60 miles north of the city of Los Angeles and, at its most northerly border, is 15 miles east of Bakersfield."

TRC closed at $21.64 on Thursday.

There is a malicious rumor circulating that LB has lost control of the trading desk to the No Wit RB who is responsible for many of the recent purchases including TRC and GY discussed below. The simple truth is that LB is distracted now pursuing other ventures for HK unrelated to stocks. As one would expect, when the LB is busy performing a variety of tasks, the infamous and nefarious RB can sometimes take advantage of LB's preoccupation and run amok for a brief period. LB expects to squash the RB by early next week, and has set a plan in motion that may include the skewering of the RB. Maybe that is the answer to the noise problem.

3. RB Buys 50 of GenCorp (GY) at $4.65 (LOTTERY TICKET strategy)(see Disclaimer): I have previously bought and sold GY as a LT. The prior purchase was at $3.7, and I sold those shares on a pop at $6.4 last May. Again, the prime attraction is the potential revenue source from GY's ownership of 12,200 acres of land near Sacramento. realestate

This is a statement relating to firm's real estate made in the last filed 10-Q: "Real Estate — includes activities related to the entitlement, sale, and leasing of the Company’s excess real estate assets. The Company owns approximately 12,200 acres of land adjacent to U.S. Highway 50 between Rancho Cordova and Folsom, California east of Sacramento (“Sacramento Land”). The Company is currently in the process of seeking zoning changes and other governmental approvals on a portion of the Sacramento Land to optimize its value. The Company has filed applications with, and submitted information to, governmental and regulatory authorities for approvals necessary to re-zone approximately 6,000 acres of the Sacramento Land. The Company also owns approximately 580 acres in Chino Hills, California. The Company is currently seeking removal of environmental restrictions on the Chino Hills property to optimize the value of such land." Page 7 e10vq

Gencorp's main businesses are aerospace and defense. The company describes this business in the following manner: "Aerospace and Defense — includes the operations of Aerojet which develops and manufactures propulsion systems for defense and space applications, armament systems for precision tactical weapon systems and munitions applications. Aerojet is one of the largest providers of such propulsion systems in the United States (“U.S.”). Primary customers served include major prime contractors to the U.S. government, the Department of Defense (“DoD”), and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration." A more detailed description can be found at the Reuters profile page.

Gencorp did manage to earn 18 cents in the June quarter on sales of 234 million. Price to sales is around .32: GY Key Statistics Apparently, the one analyst that follows the company and provides earnings estimates has GY earning just 25 cents in the F/Y ending in November 2011. Reuters This is a link to the GenCorp web site which has more information about the company.

A review of the last filed 10-Q does show a significant amount of costs and remediation expenses connected with environmental issues. That issue, along with the poor near term earning's visibility, causes the placement of GY in the Lottery Ticket category which limits my exposure to less than $300 with certain exceptions.

4. Sold 50 of the 150 KTN at $28.17 on Wednesday (see Disclaimer): After writing about KTN, I decided to pare my shares late in the day on Wednesday. The shares sold were bought in the regular IRA so there is no current tax consequences connected by selling those shares bought around $14. (see item # 1 above). Ultimately, the decision was based on the TC price compared to where the underlying bond was trading. In addition, I am now playing with the house's money on TCs containing this junior bond from AON. The primary reason that my retirement accounts recovered so quickly to their October 2007 level, adjusted for subsequent yearly contributions, is the purchases of TCs and REIT preferred stocks during the Near Depression period. The buy of KTN is just one example. I now have realized gains in the regular IRA in 2010 at over 30% of its current value.

5. Bought 50 UZV at 25.12 on Wednesday (see Disclaimer): Basically, I do not have any good ideas about bond purchases after the two year Jihad by the Fed against responsible Americans, coercing the transfer of their wealth to those who were irresponsible and/or reckless. UZV is certainly not a bargain at 16 cents over its $25 par value unless I am proven wrong about the longevity of abnormally low long term rates. The purchase of 50 shares brings my total to 150 shares and this last purchase was in a satellite account where I am attempting to beat money market rates near zero.

UZV is an exchange traded senior bond issued by United States Cellular Corp (USM) and is currently rated investment grade-barely. The coupon is 7.5% on that $25 par value with a maturity in 2035. Interest payments are made quarterly. This security just went ex interest. I previously bought 100 shares of UZV at $24.42

This is a link to the prospectus: www.sec.gov This purchase was made in a satellite taxable account. 

Bought 100 of the CEF EOI at $12.78/Sold 150 PIE at 16.76 & Bought 100 PHB at 18.15/RB Bought 300 of the CEF FUND at 6.22/Sold 50 DUK at 17.70/GE

The preceding table is my current mini-portfolio of closed end funds, a portfolio within a portfolio. In this portfolio, I have made a slight shift toward stocks by buying more CEFs with stock exposure and selling some of the bond CEFs. I published the last table for the CEFs in August: Bought 100 IGD at 10.94 Several of this CEFs, including all of those from Blackrock and Nuveen, have just gone ex dividend for their monthly or quarterly distributions. An article about closed-end fund in Wikipedia highlights some of the important distinctions between CEFs and ETFs. Other ones explaining the differences can be found at TradingMarkets.com and TheStreet.

I do not display the table of my ETFs. I recently added several stock ETFs including DTN, DEW, OEF, DTD, PPH, XLP, DHS, YCS, CDZ.TO, & DBU as well as the bond ETFs PLW BSCE, BSCF, BSCH, CBO.TO, CLF.TO, and PGX, all of which I have previously discussed over the past few weeks. I also own currently the ETFs ADRU, PHB, BAB, FVL, XLK and the ETN MLPI.

My new Kindle was received yesterday, and LB has already downloaded a book into it over the howls of protest made by RB. The book is called The Strategic Bond Investor: Strategies and Tools to Unlock the Power of the Bond Market by Anthony Crescenzi, Mohamed El-Erian.

The NY Fed manufacturing survey for September fell 3 points to 4.1, below the 8 consensus. Empire State Manufacturing Survey (full report in pdf)

In a recent poll, one in four Americans believed that the U.S. government will do the right thing most of the time. /cnn .pdf

A CNN/Time poll shows that the pistol packing Grandma, Sharron Angle, is now leading the forever somnolent Harry Reid in the Nevada Senate race. One of Sharron's famous sayings is that the population needs to resort to our "Second Amendment remedies" in case the nation continues on its current path. Her statement can be heard by following the link contained in this article at the WP. Besides being in favor of giving prisoners massages as part of a scientology ritual, Sharron was not exactly enthusiastic about continuing social security and medicare prior to receiving the GOP nomination, clearly stating that she wanted to phase out both social security and medicare: YouTube Some of Sharron's other positions, including abolishing the tax code and opposing mothers working, are summarized in article from the Examiner.com.

The best thing that could happen to the Democrats long term, meaning 2012, is to have as many of these tea party candidates elected now as possible, and then to have Sarah run for President.

1. Added 100 of the CEF EOI at $12.78 on Tuesday (see Disclaimer): Although I prefer buying stock ETFs at a large discount to net asset value, I made an exception to that rule for EOI since I am trying to dig myself out of a small hole for that security. EOI was one of the CEFs bought in 2007 after I sold a number of mutual funds and pared my stock portfolio in response to the signal given by my Vix Asset Allocation Model. VIX Chart from 2007: Alerts and Triggers Major Disruption of Cyclical Stable Bull VIX Pattern EOI and a few other CEFs with similar strategies and large dividends were bought as a counter-weight in case my new model was giving a false signal. It was believed, erroneously as it turned out, that those CEFs would provide some decent protection on the downside due to the call writing strategy as well as the steady stream of dividends. (see generally Buy High & Sell Low /Retrospective on the Good & Bad- 10/2008 and CLOSED END INVESTMENT COMPANIES: Hopefully Lessons Learned and To be Applied-5/09)

The strategy seemed to be working okay until September 2008 when it started to fail as the market cascaded downward. The strategy may have been a modest success with a shorter and shallower bear market, as the reinvestment of dividends at lower prices could have produced better returns upon the return of the next cyclical bull market. I quit reinvesting the dividends in 2008 and started to take the monthly distributions in cash.

This is a link to a list of EOI's holdings as of 6/30/2010: Eaton Vance Investment Managers - Portfolio Holdings This is a link to the sponsor's main web page for EOI: Eaton Vance Investment Managers - Enhanced Equity Income Fund. Dividends are paid monthly and the current rate is $.1164 which was reduced from $.137 in January (see "distribution history" near the bottom of the preceding link). Assuming the $.1164 rate remains in effect for an entire year, the yield at a total cost of $12.78 would be around 10.93%.

I only bought 100 shares since I do not have to dig myself out of a big hole since I only own 114.411 shares (100 shares purchased in open market) prior to Tuesday addition of a 100. Also, as I just mentioned, this CEF is selling near its net asset value and has supported its dividend in the past with returns of capital which is viewed as a negative by me.

NAV information can be found at the Eaton Vance site for all of its CEFs and at the Closed-End Fund Association.

EOI closed at $13 on Wednesday.

2. Sold 150 of the CEF PIE at $16.76 AND Bought 100 of the ETF PHB at $18.15 on Tuesday (see Disclaimer): Powershares is the sponsor for both of these ETFs. I discussed prior purchases of the ETF PIE in Bought 50 PIE at 10.01 & Bought 50 PIE at 14.04 in 2/2010. PIE is an ETF that invests in Emerging Market stocks based on technical considerations. I intend to use the proceeds later on to buy another emerging market ETF. PIE's expense ratio is regarded by me as too high at .9% .

The ETF PHB is a new purchase for me. It went ex dividend yesterday. It is called PowerShares Fundamental High Yield Corporate Bond Portfolio (PHB), and the expense ratio is high for a bond ETF at .5%. Nonetheless, it does offer something different in attempting to pick higher quality junk bonds, and then rebalancing monthly. This is a quote from the prospectus:

"The Underlying Index is comprised of U.S. dollar-denominated bonds registered for sale in the United States whose issuers are public companies listed on major U.S. stock exchanges. The Underlying Index is rebalanced at the end of every month and weighted according to a composite RAFI weight that is calculated for each eligible company. Composite RAFI weights are comprised of individual RAFI weights calculated for each company for each of the following four factors: book value of assets, gross sales, gross dividends and cash flow. Each company thereby receives a composite RAFI weight equal to the ratio of its sales (or cash flow, dividends or book value) to the aggregate sales (or cash flow, dividends or book value) across all companies in the sample. If a company does not pay any dividends, the composite calculation does not give it a zero weight on that metric, but rather computes its weight as an equally weighted average of the remaining three metrics. Companies that receive a negative composite weight are removed. All issues in each index must have a minimum of one year call protection. Poison puts and make-whole provisions are allowed. The Underlying Index is divided into two distinct maturity cells: 1—5 years and 5—10 years. The largest issue per maturity cell per issuer is selected. If there is more than one issue with the same amount outstanding, then the most recent issue is selected. As a result, this Underlying Index will have up to two bonds per issuer selected." Page 8:

http://www.invescopowershares.com/pdf/P-PHB-PRO-1.pdf

This is a link to PHB's holdings. Dividends are paid monthly which is always viewed positively. It does not look to me based on the dividend history that there is a fixed amount per month.

The Claymore fund has filed with the SEC some target date junk bond ETFs. www.sec.gov The target years range from 2012 through 2020. If and when these are offered, I will probably buy at least one. I bought three similar Claymore offerings for investment grade corporate bonds. Items 1 and 7 Claymore Introduces Term Corporate Bond ETFs/Bought 100 of BSCF at $20.18 (2015 term date); Bought 100 BSCH at 20.13; Item # 4 Bought 100 BSCE at $20.16; and see generally Coping with the Federal Reserve's Jihad Against Savers & Responsible Americans & the Potential Major Correction in Bonds Down the Road

3. RB Buys 300 of the CEF Royce Focus Trust (FUND) at $6.22 on Tuesday (see Disclaimer): LB did not have anything to do with the purchase. Instead, LB was working on a modification to trading rule 1,343,239,018 (X)(1)(b)(iii) when the lame brain took control over the trading desk, saying it wanted "to buy some fun." The RB did not know exactly how to buy FUN on the stock exchange. And, not being a whiz at spelling anyway, RB thought that FUN must be spelled "FUND", since that was the only symbol close to what the RB was trying to capture last Tuesday and surely the stock exchange had to be selling the fun RB was after. In closing, LB did not want to say this, better to keep some of the skeletons in the closet here at HG, but it is already widely known that the RB can neither spell nor count and in fact wanted to quit school five minutes into the First Grade complaining about the stress of it all.

The LB just wants everyone to know what it has to put up with here at HQ, which is the only reason for summarizing how 300 shares of FUND ended up in Headknocker's portfolio. What a load the LB has to carry, nothing but a lot of dead weight, worse than dead weight actually, since the RB and the Old Geezer are constantly interfering with the LB's formulation of plans, rules strategies and millions of other sundry details that must be carefully considered to advance the HK's capital position.

FUND is a CEF selling at close to a 14% discount to its NAV. As with the other Royce CEFs FUND quit paying a managed distribution in 2009. I do not expect that this CEF will start to pay dividends again until it exhausts its tax loss carry forward and then earns money which has to be distributed net of expenses.

FUND is a leveraged CEF. The NAV can be found at the Closed-End Fund Association web site, at the WSJ.com and at the Royce Focus Trust (FUND). Of the 3 Royce CEFs this one owns a relatively small number of stocks, 60 as of the last shareholder report. It had a fairly significant weighting in gold and silver mining stocks as of 6/30/2010, at close to 16% of assets. Berkshire was its largest individual holding as of 8/31/2010, followed by Mosaic and Seabridge Gold: Royce Focus Trust (FUND)

This is a link to the last SEC filed shareholder report for the 6 month period ending in June 2010: www.sec.gov (FUND holdings start at page 47)

On Tuesday, FUND closed at $6.17 and had a NAV of $7.14, creating a discount of -13.59%. The close on Wednesday was at $6.21 and the NAV rose 1 cent to $7.15.

4. Sold 50 of DUK at $17.70 on Tuesday (see Disclaimer): While Duke Energy is a core electric utility holding in my main taxable account, I bought 50 shares in a satellite account as a trade. This particular satellite account is attached to a savings account and I view all of the stock holdings in that account as temporary placeholder for funds normally devoted solely to earning interest in an online savings account. Since that savings account is currently paying just over 1%, I have elected to use some of those funds to buy stocks that have dividend yields, mostly in the 4% to 6% range. Duke (DUK) was just one of those holdings.

DUK closed on Tuesday at $17.62 and at $17.58 yesterday.

5. General Electric (owned): GE received a boost yesterday after the Citigroup analyst Deane Dray started coverage with a buy rating and a $19 target price, estimating the GE Capital may generate 50% earnings growth next year.

The Old Geezer, over the objection of other staff members, has been buying GE over the past two years mostly in the $12 to $16 range. I currently own close to 500 shares. The following quote is from a discussion in Item # 9: Bought GE at 15.48 from a post last December:

" The OG is feeling sorry for GE. Slashed its dividend by almost 70% when other American industrials have been raising their dividends. Having even an old guy in the SUV Capital questioning the vaunted management expertise at the company, and with good reason. GE Capital appears to have been caught with its pants down as the world entered a recession. But, the OG is a creature of ritual. One ritual is to buy a few shares of GE whenever the spirt moves him. So far, including the brokerage commission (total cost figures shown), the following shares were bought in 2009: 50 shares at 12.54 on 1/23; 30 shares at 11.16 on 2/18; 30 shares at 12.02 on 6/24; and 40 shares today at 15.48 (excluding commission on that one). Dividends are being reinvested to buy additional shares."

The most recent purchases were in June at 15.64 and in July at 13.88. It is interesting to me that I made a note in early March that the stock was trading at below $7 but could not pull the trigger to buy more. Sold GE Capital Bond /Buy of 50 JWF in IRA Most of my buying in early March 2009 was concentrated in consumer staple stocks and bonds, with some purchases of other industrial companies that did not have the GE Capital baggage. I did add some shares of NYX, JOE, MDT, WIN, some LTs and European hybrids during that period, but I shunned GE at less than $10. Stocks & Politics: March 2009

Due to working on other matters, the remaining trades for Wednesday will be discussed in the next post.