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This is the forum for daily political discussion on Seeking Alpha. A new version is published every market day. Please don't leave political comments on other articles or posts on the site. The comments below are not regulated with the same rigor as the rest of the site, and this is an 'enter at your own risk' area as discussion can get very heated. If you can't stand the heat... you know what they say... More on Today's Markets: Moderation Guidelines: We remove comments under the following categories: Personal attacks on another user account Anti-Vaxxer or covid related misinformation Stereotyping, prejudiced or racist language about individuals or the topic under discussion. Inciting violence messages, encouraging hate groups and political violence. Regardless of which side of the political divide you find yourself, please be courteous and don't direct abuse at other users. For any issue with regards to comments please email us at : moderation@seekingalpha.com. Seeking Alpha's Disclosure: Past performance is no guarantee of future results. No recommendation or advice is being given as to whether any investment is suitable for a particular investor. Any views or opinions expressed above may not reflect those of Seeking Alpha as a whole. Seeking Alpha is not a licensed securities dealer, broker or US investment adviser or investment bank. Our analysts are third party authors that include both professional investors and individual investors who may not be licensed or certified by any institute or regulatory body.
zimmytws/iStock via Getty Images Written by Nick Ackerman, co-produced by Stanford Chemist The Nuveen AMT-Free Municipal Credit Income Fund ( NVG ) had been a fund that traded at a sizeable discount. However, with a sizeable distribution increase, we've been seeing that the discount narrows materially, as we highlighted previously . In fact, the fund has now begun to trade at a premium most recent...
zimmytws/iStock via Getty Images Written by Nick Ackerman, co-produced by Stanford Chemist The Nuveen AMT-Free Municipal Credit Income Fund ( NVG ) had been a fund that traded at a sizeable discount. However, with a sizeable distribution increase, we've been seeing that the discount narrows materially, as we highlighted previously . In fact, the fund has now begun to trade at a premium most recently. Going from a discount to a premium since our late 2024 update helped to drive a good portion of the total returns seen during this period. NVG Performance Since Prior Update (Seeking Alpha) Of course, that doesn't mean that the fund is earning its payout, and a muni fund paying over 7% is a pretty sure sign alone that it isn't. This is then confirmed by a lack of coverage through income alone, which is something to be aware of before diving into the fund. It changes the tax nature that one may expect with a muni fund and becomes more of a bet on interest rates falling. NVG Basics 1-Year Z-score: 0.94 Discount/Premium: 0.16% Distribution Yield: 7.48% Expense Ratio: 1.09% Leverage: 41.71% Managed Assets: $4.66 billion Structure: Perpetual NVG's investment objective is "to provide current income exempt from regular federal income tax and to enhance portfolio value relative to the municipal bond market." They will do this by "investing in tax-exempt municipal bonds that the Fund's investment adviser believes are underrated or undervalued or that represent municipal market sectors that are undervalued. In addition, they leave the fund open to invest a bit more in lower-rate credit quality muni securities: The Fund invests in municipal securities that are exempt from federal income taxes. The Fund uses leverage. By investment policy, the Fund may invest up to 55% of its managed assets in municipal securities rated at the time of investment Baa/BBB and below or judged by the manager to be of comparable quality. This fund is a fairly standard leveraged muni-focused CEF, which c...
Getty Images I Still Like Celestica (Even At Its All-Time Highs) Celestica Inc. ( CLS ) has been transforming from a low-margin electronics assembly business into a connectivity and cloud solutions giant that has enjoyed the hyperscalers' CAPEX for the past few years, and as a result, the quotes have gone up from $8-10/share in 2021 to over $426/share now. Unfortunately, CLS caught my eye only whe...
Getty Images I Still Like Celestica (Even At Its All-Time Highs) Celestica Inc. ( CLS ) has been transforming from a low-margin electronics assembly business into a connectivity and cloud solutions giant that has enjoyed the hyperscalers' CAPEX for the past few years, and as a result, the quotes have gone up from $8-10/share in 2021 to over $426/share now. Unfortunately, CLS caught my eye only when it was at less than $44/share ( in March 2024 ). My most recent bullish article on it came out in March 2026, when CLS was trading at ~$280/share. Seeking Alpha, Oakoff's latest take on CLS Right now, when the S&P 500 ( SPY ) is breaking new highs, and the tech sector's valuation keeps recovering from oversold levels seen in April 2026 , Celestica looks quite expensive versus its historical norms. I totally agree with skeptics on this finding. However, I do not agree that Celestica's valuation should come back to its past five-year median P/E or EV/EBITDA levels because its business has structurally changed, and its operating leverage has allowed Celestica to drive up earnings massively. What comes over the next 2-3 years should allow CLS to trade at relatively high valuation levels, and there might be continued repricing as Celestica's EPS consensus gets beaten by stronger-than-expected reports or revised up by analysts who assess the surrounding catalysts and market opportunities. This is my updated thesis on the stock in a nutshell, and I'm reiterating my previous Buy rating on it today. My Updated Reasoning On CLS Stock Yet again, in the most recent quarter at CLS, we saw a massive surge in the CCS segment sales (+76% YoY), which helped the firm secure $4.05 billion in consolidated revenues (+53% YoY). The market seems to have expected a gradual recovery in terms of the non-CCS business, which is lagging, so there was a top-line miss of ~2 bps (less than $1 million). It looks like a rounding error to me, so I'm not worrying about it much. What still looks awesome is t...
matejmo/iStock via Getty Images Executive Summary • During the quarter, the US Equity Focus Portfolio returned -5.0% (net of fees), underperforming its benchmark, the S&P 500 Index, which returned -4.3%. Sector positioning was favorable, while stock selection lagged. • Stock selection was strongest in the consumer discretionary and materials sectors. Healthcare and real estate holdings lagged. • W...
matejmo/iStock via Getty Images Executive Summary • During the quarter, the US Equity Focus Portfolio returned -5.0% (net of fees), underperforming its benchmark, the S&P 500 Index, which returned -4.3%. Sector positioning was favorable, while stock selection lagged. • Stock selection was strongest in the consumer discretionary and materials sectors. Healthcare and real estate holdings lagged. • Within sector positioning, the underweight exposure to information technology and overweight exposure in industrials names proved beneficial, although the underweight exposure to energy stocks detracted value. Market Review The US equity market fell in the first quarter amid heightened geopolitical risks, a changing outlook for interest rates, and evolving sentiment about artificial intelligence (AI). At the forefront of these developments were the escalating hostilities in the Middle East, where the US and Israel launched a joint military campaign against Iran on the last day of February. News that Iran had imposed a near-total blockade of the Strait of Hormuz in response to airstrikes rattled investors, given that one-fifth of the oil and natural gas supply and roughly one-third of crop fertilizers globally pass through the narrow waterway. Fears that supply disruptions could fuel inflation led to market volatility throughout March, as investors searched for signs that a de-escalation of hostilities was on the horizon. The conflict in Iran also influenced central bank policy expectations, as the Federal Reserve held interest rates stable and adopted a more cautious tone in March, warning that persistent inflation—partly driven by higher energy costs—limits its ability to ease policy. However, it left open the possibility of one rate cut by late 2026. Technology shares also weighed on markets. Several technology giants saw pullbacks as investors questioned the ultimate profitability of the massive investments being deployed into AI technology and infrastructure. Sentiment w...