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THE YIELD SNAPSHOT — MAY 2026 UPDATE
My May 2026 distribution numbers are still coming in as the month wraps up. Full details in Issue #5 next week — my first month-over-month comparison showing exactly how May stacks up against April's $4,137.34.
What I can tell you right now: the portfolio is performing as expected. 37 positions. Weekly and monthly payers hitting my account consistently. The income machine keeps running.
In the meantime this week's issue is dedicated entirely to five brand new ETFs that launched in 2026 — and whether any of them deserve a place in an income portfolio like mine.
The covered call ETF universe is expanding rapidly.
Five new ETFs launched in the first two months of 2026 alone. Some are genuinely exciting. Some are genuinely speculative. One is so complex it makes my head spin. All five are worth understanding — if only so you know what questions to ask before putting a single dollar into any of them.
This week I'm doing something I haven't done before in The Yield Letter — covering ETFs I don't currently hold. These are funds I'm watching, evaluating, and in some cases seriously considering for my portfolio. My honest take on all five is below for Core and Premium subscribers.
But first — a quick note on what makes a new ETF worth watching versus worth avoiding.
WHAT TO LOOK FOR IN A NEW ETF
My four-question evaluation framework
Before I put any new ETF on my watchlist, it has to pass four basic questions. I’m sharing these because they apply to every new income ETF you’ll ever evaluate - not just these five.
Question 1 — Who is the issuer? NEOS, TappAlpha, and JPMorgan have institutional credibility and track records. A fund from an unknown issuer with no history deserves much more scrutiny. Quantify Funds — the issuer behind ISSB and ISBG — is newer and smaller, which matters.
Question 2 — How much AUM does it have? A fund with under $10 million in assets is at real risk of closure. ETF issuers shut down unprofitable funds. I generally want to see at least $50 million before I consider a position meaningful.
Question 3 — How long has it been running? Three months of distribution history tells you almost nothing. I want to see how a fund performs through different market conditions — volatile months, quiet months, rising markets, falling markets. New funds lack this data.
Question 4 — Do I understand exactly how it generates income? If I can't explain in plain English how the fund creates its distributions, I don't invest in it. Some of these five funds pass this test easily. One barely passes. One doesn't pass at all.
My full analysis of all five ETFs — XSPI, XQQI, TSYX, ISSB, and ISBG — including my honest verdict on each one and whether any of them are going into my 37-ETF portfolio, is below for Core and Premium subscribers.
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