"Merci beaucoup," the dividend expert remarked while passing three suitcases to his Uber driver bound for Paris airport. (Eight days in, and I felt almost Parisian...)

"Francais?" the driver tested my facade.

"Ah, no," I confessed, raising my hands and redirecting. "She does!" I pointed to my wife, who handles French decently. Yet the driver pressed on insistently.

Luckily, smartphones intervened. She was puzzled too, but his device translated live into English:

There's a glitch in my app. Can we cancel the trip?

Next, he tapped a figure into his calculator: 90.

I figured two points:

He sought 90 euros - a stronger bargain than Uber's $118 USD quote, per my quick mental conversion.
The 'glitch' dodged Uber's slice of a prime airport fare. Fair play for the driver, monsieur!

"Oui. No problem," I answered with a mock French flair on problem. (No clue why.)

Jacques voided the ride from his side; I did mine. Smooth sailing - until 56 minutes in, arriving at CDG, when I glanced at my Uber app:

Charge of $118 applied. Rate Jacques 1-5 stars.

Trouble brewing. I flashed the screen to Jacques, who seemed baffled, so we consulted his translator again.

"No, impossible," he insisted firmly, brandishing his card reader. "Im-po-see-bleh."

Fine - I calculated mentally. Worst scenario: another 90 euros to exit smoothly with family intact. Costly schooling, unexpected in a tourist haven like France.

Thankfully, Jacques prevailed. Uber history showed no charge; the 'completed' notice was glitchy too. (Double glitch - wild!) I swiped my card and sealed it:

"Merci beaucoup."

Two glitches: one perceived (admit it) and one actual, resolved by digging deeper.

This flowed into my 9.5-hour flight grind. (No films for me returning!)

Leading off: 'Bond King' Jeffrey Gundlach stirred debate at a major conference, slamming semi-liquid private credit funds - Wall Street's $1.5 trillion niche advisors have pushed on retirees lately.

He slammed their liquidity as illusory - fine when unneeded, akin to dot-com mania or pre-crisis mortgages.

True market flaw? Or hype? We unpack 'semi-liquid' realities. (Spoiler: Shaky ground.)

Apollo Debt Solutions (ADS) exemplifies it. At $14.7 billion, you'd expect ample liquidity - incorrect. Q1 redemptions hit 11% of shares; Apollo limited to 5%, paying 45 cents per dollar sought. Balance trapped. Im-po-see-bleh, execs claimed.

Gundlach's precise gripe: Funds pay out in booms, but in busts, just partial returns on owned assets. Oof.

Blue Owl Tech Income Corp (OTIC), $6 billion strong, targeted high-margin software lenders. AI disrupted moats - vibe-coding lets novices build apps via prompts, eroding pricing power.

Software stocks plunged on AI fears; redemptions surged to 41% of shares. No buyers met demand - until the 5% cap kicked in. (Managers: 'Tough luck!')

Cliffwater Corporate Lending Fund (CCLFX), the $32 billion giant, faced worst fallout. 14% redemption requests; 7% fulfilled, then 11.3% dividend slash. S&P promptly shifted to Negative outlook. (Ratings love the dogpile.)

Headlines scream trouble. Gundlach's alarm fits these cases, yet gems lurk amid the sludge.

Ares Capital (ARCC) leads public BDCs - private business lenders. Its edge: Rigorous underwriting surviving downturns since 2004. Post-GFC non-accruals average 2.8%.

BDC peers hit 3.8%, so ARCC's 1% edge has built over 22 years. One dividend cut - 2009 amid chaos - from $0.42 to $0.35, then growth resumed. Now $0.48 quarterly, record high, yielding 10.6%.

GFC Hardly Registers

(ARCC adds special dividends atop regulars, causing spikes.)

Main Street Capital (MAIN), monthly payer, joined Contrarian Income Report in May 2025. Twelve-month dividends: $4.27/share. With gains, 13% total return from this 8.2% yielder (specials included).

While semi-liquid peers slash and gate, MAIN hikes monthly payouts unbroken since 2007 IPO. Secret? Equity co-investments.

MAIN pairs debt with equity in deals - rare for public BDCs. ARCC sticks to senior loans for interest; MAIN gets interest plus growth shares.

2025: $77 million realized equity gains + $150 million appreciation fueled hikes and specials.

Insiders hold 4.11% (3.7 million shares), aligning incentives rare in BDCs.

MAIN's Yearly Monthly Payouts

ARCC and MAIN: No glitches, full liquidity anytime. Why exit dividend engines compounding wealth?

This splits secure from risky yields. Contrarian Income Report covers ARCC/MAIN with deep analysis, buy limits, and private credit dodges.

Next semi-liquid cut/gate inevitable - CIR holders collect steadily!

Many pay monthly - explore top Monthly Dividends to 11%.

Also see:

Warren Buffett Dividend Stocks
Dividend Growth Stocks: 25 Aristocrats
Future Dividend Aristocrats: Close Contenders

The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.