UNITED STATES
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
Washington, D.C. 20549
FORM N-Q
QUARTERLY SCHEDULE OF PORTFOLIO HOLDINGS OF
REGISTERED MANAGEMENT INVESTMENT COMPANY
Investment Company Act file number 811-04700
The Gabelli Equity Trust Inc.
(Exact name of registrant as specified in charter)
One Corporate Center
Rye, New York 10580-1422
(Address of principal executive offices) (Zip code)
Bruce N. Alpert
Gabelli Funds, LLC
One Corporate Center
Rye, New York 10580-1422
(Name and address of agent for service)
Registrant's telephone number, including area code: 1-800-422-3554
Date of fiscal year end: December 31
Date of reporting period: September 30, 2008
Form N-Q is to be used by management investment companies, other than small
business investment companies registered on Form N-5 (ss.ss. 239.24 and 274.5 of
this chapter), to file reports with the Commission, not later than 60 days after
the close of the first and third fiscal quarters, pursuant to rule 30b1-5 under
the Investment Company Act of 1940 (17 CFR 270.30b1-5). The Commission may use
the information provided on Form N-Q in its regulatory, disclosure review,
inspection, and policymaking roles.
A registrant is required to disclose the information specified by Form N-Q, and
the Commission will make this information public. A registrant is not required
to respond to the collection of information contained in Form N-Q unless the
Form displays a currently valid Office of Management and Budget ("OMB") control
number. Please direct comments concerning the accuracy of the information
collection burden estimate and any suggestions for reducing the burden to the
Secretary, Securities and Exchange Commission, 100 F Street, NE, Washington, DC
20549. The OMB has reviewed this collection of information under the clearance
requirements of 44 U.S.C. ss. 3507.
ITEM 1. SCHEDULE OF INVESTMENTS.
The Schedule(s) of Investments is attached herewith.
(THE GABELLI LOGO)
EQUITY TRUST INC.
THE GABELLI EQUITY TRUST INC.
Third Quarter Report
September 30, 2008
TO OUR SHAREHOLDERS,
During the third quarter of 2008, The Gabelli Equity Trust's (the "Fund")
total return was down 15.37% on a net asset value ("NAV") basis while the
Standard & Poor's ("S&P") 500 Index and the Dow Jones Industrial Average
declined 8.36% and 3.72%, respectively. The Fund's NAV fell 29.22% for the past
twelve months, underperforming the benchmark S&P 500 Index for this period. The
Fund's market price on September 30, 2008 was $6.89, which equates to a 12.40%
premium to its NAV of $6.13 at the end of the quarter. The Fund's market price,
adjusted for distributions, declined 12.98% during the third quarter and was
down 19.25% for the twelve month period ended September 30, 2008.
Enclosed is the investment portfolio as of September 30, 2008.
COMPARATIVE RESULTS
AVERAGE ANNUAL RETURNS THROUGH SEPTEMBER 30, 2008 (a)
Since
Inception
Quarter 1 Year 3 Year 5 Year 10 Year 15 Year 20 Year (08/21/86)
------- ------- ------ ------ ------- ------- ------- ----------
GABELLI EQUITY TRUST
NAV TOTAL RETURN (b) ........... (15.37)% (29.22)% 0.14% 9.10% 7.46% 8.52% 9.86% 10.36%
INVESTMENT TOTAL RETURN (c) .... (12.98) (19.25) 5.29 10.25 8.24 8.75 11.09 10.54
S&P 500 Index ..................... (8.36) (21.96) 0.22 5.17 3.06 8.39 9.93 9.72(d)
Dow Jones Industrial Average ...... (3.72) (19.85) 3.31 5.62 5.48 10.07 11.26 11.06(d)
Nasdaq Composite Index ............ (8.77) (22.57) (0.94) 3.20 2.13 6.96 8.79 8.00
(a) RETURNS REPRESENT PAST PERFORMANCE AND DO NOT GUARANTEE FUTURE RESULTS.
INVESTMENT RETURNS AND THE PRINCIPAL VALUE OF AN INVESTMENT WILL FLUCTUATE.
WHEN SHARES ARE SOLD, THEY MAY BE WORTH MORE OR LESS THAN THEIR ORIGINAL
COST. CURRENT PERFORMANCE MAY BE LOWER OR HIGHER THAN THE PERFORMANCE DATA
PRESENTED. VISIT WWW.GABELLI.COM FOR PERFORMANCE INFORMATION AS OF THE MOST
RECENT MONTH END. PERFORMANCE RETURNS FOR PERIODS OF LESS THAN ONE YEAR ARE
NOT ANNUALIZED. INVESTORS SHOULD CAREFULLY CONSIDER THE INVESTMENT
OBJECTIVES, RISKS, CHARGES, AND EXPENSES OF THE FUND BEFORE INVESTING. THE
DOW JONES INDUSTRIAL AVERAGE IS AN UNMANAGED INDEX OF 30 LARGE
CAPITALIZATION STOCKS. THE S&P 500 AND THE NASDAQ COMPOSITE INDICES ARE
UNMANAGED INDICATORS OF STOCK MARKET PERFORMANCE. DIVIDENDS ARE CONSIDERED
REINVESTED EXCEPT FOR THE NASDAQ COMPOSITE INDEX. YOU CANNOT INVEST
DIRECTLY IN AN INDEX.
(b) TOTAL RETURNS AND AVERAGE ANNUAL RETURNS REFLECT CHANGES IN THE NAV PER
SHARE, REINVESTMENT OF DISTRIBUTIONS AT NAV ON THE EX-DIVIDEND DATE,
ADJUSTMENTS FOR RIGHTS OFFERINGS, SPIN-OFFS, AND TAXES PAID ON
UNDISTRIBUTED LONG-TERM CAPITAL GAINS AND ARE NET OF EXPENSES. SINCE
INCEPTION RETURN IS BASED ON AN INITIAL NAV OF $9.34.
(c) TOTAL RETURNS AND AVERAGE ANNUAL RETURNS REFLECT CHANGES IN CLOSING MARKET
VALUES ON THE NEW YORK STOCK EXCHANGE, REINVESTMENT OF DISTRIBUTIONS, AND
ADJUSTMENTS FOR RIGHTS OFFERINGS, SPIN-OFFS, AND TAXES PAID ON
UNDISTRIBUTED LONG-TERM CAPITAL GAINS. SINCE INCEPTION RETURN IS BASED ON
AN INITIAL OFFERING PRICE OF $10.00.
(d) FROM AUGUST 31, 1986, THE DATE CLOSEST TO THE FUND'S INCEPTION FOR WHICH
DATA IS AVAILABLE.
We have separated the portfolio manager's commentary from the financial
statements and investment portfolio due to corporate governance regulations
stipulated by the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002. We have done this to ensure that
the content of the portfolio manager's commentary is unrestricted. The financial
statements and investment portfolio are mailed separately from the commentary.
Both the commentary and the financial statements, including the portfolio of
investments, will be available on our website at www.gabelli.com.
THE GABELLI EQUITY TRUST INC.
PORTFOLIO CHANGES
QUARTER ENDED SEPTEMBER 30, 2008 (UNAUDITED)
OWNERSHIP AT
SEPTEMBER 30,
SHARES 2008
------------ -------------
NET PURCHASES
COMMON STOCKS
Accor SA ............................................... 800 2,000
Advanced Medical Optics Inc. ........................... 15,000 145,000
Alcoa Inc. ............................................. 6,000 28,000
Alpharma Inc., Cl. A ................................... 23,000 30,000
American International Group Inc. ...................... 40,000 100,000
Anheuser-Busch Companies Inc. .......................... 40,000 80,000
Ascent Media Corp., Cl. A (a) .......................... 15,450 15,450
AutoNation Inc. ........................................ 10,000 210,000
Avis Budget Group Inc. ................................. 1,000 15,000
Boeing Co. ............................................. 5,000 110,000
British American Tobacco plc ........................... 5,000 30,000
Cable & Wireless Jamaica Ltd. .......................... 1,727,420 6,168,256
Cadbury plc ............................................ 20,000 90,400
Cephalon Inc. .......................................... 2,000 3,000
Champion Enterprises Inc. .............................. 30,000 100,000
Ciba Holding AG ........................................ 20,000 20,000
Citigroup Inc. ......................................... 10,000 360,000
Compania de Telecomunicaciones de Chile SA, ADR ........ 10,000 120,000
Constellation Energy Group Inc. ........................ 25,000 33,000
Davide Campari-Milano SpA .............................. 10,000 300,000
Dean Foods Co. ......................................... 35,000 150,000
Deutsche Telekom AG, ADR ............................... 22,000 190,000
Diamond Offshore Drilling Inc. ......................... 1,000 3,000
Discovery Communications Inc., Cl. A (a) ............... 134,500 134,500
Discovery Communications Inc., Cl. C (a) ............... 134,500 134,500
Dr. Pepper Snapple Group Inc. .......................... 33,600 133,200
Eastman Kodak Co. ...................................... 100,000 100,000
El Paso Corp. .......................................... 30,000 300,000
Federal National Mortgage Association .................. 10,000 50,000
Fortune Brands Inc. .................................... 2,000 60,000
Frontier Communications Corp. .......................... 80,000 80,000
General Motors Corp. ................................... 120,000 330,000
Great Plains Energy Inc. (b) ........................... 68,480 68,480
Grupo TMM SA, Cl. A, ADR ............................... 1,000 16,000
Heineken NV ............................................ 20,000 45,000
Hellenic Telecommunications Organization SA ............ 33,000 33,000
Hellenic Telecommunications Organization SA, ADR ....... 8,500 8,500
Hertz Global Holdings Inc. ............................. 1,000 1,000
HSN Inc. (c) ........................................... 35,000 35,000
IAC/InterActiveCorp. (c) ............................... 100,000 100,000
OWNERSHIP AT
SEPTEMBER 30,
SHARES 2008
------------ -------------
Impala Platinum Holdings Ltd. .......................... 25,000 25,000
Interactive Brokers Group Inc., Cl. A .................. 5,000 25,000
Interval Leisure Group Inc. (c) ........................ 45,000 45,000
Legg Mason Inc. ........................................ 37,000 95,000
Liberty Global Inc., Cl. A ............................. 20,000 176,770
MGM Mirage ............................................. 15,212 152,000
Midas Inc. ............................................. 5,000 135,000
Monsanto Co. ........................................... 1,000 31,000
Monster Worldwide Inc. ................................. 5,000 55,000
Och-Ziff Capital Management Group LLC, Cl. A ........... 5,000 8,000
O'Reilly Automotive Inc. ............................... 5,000 160,000
Orient-Express Hotels Ltd., Cl. A ...................... 2,000 18,000
Pernod-Ricard SA ....................................... 5,000 56,200
Petroleo Brasileiro SA, ADR ............................ 1,000 55,000
Precision Castparts Corp. .............................. 8,500 105,000
Remy Cointreau SA ...................................... 7,000 33,000
Republic Services Inc. ................................. 1,300 98,800
Rio Tinto plc .......................................... 2,000 25,000
Scripps Networks Interactive Inc., Cl. A (d) ........... 125,000 125,000
Skyline Corp. .......................................... 10,000 30,000
Telephone & Data Systems Inc., Special ................. 5,000 360,000
The DIRECTV Group Inc. ................................. 10,000 460,000
The E.W. Scripps Co., Cl. A (e) ........................ 43,333 43,333
The Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Co. Inc. .............. 55,000 170,000
The Interpublic Group of Companies Inc. ................ 17,800 252,800
Ticketmaster (c) ....................................... 20,000 20,000
Tokyo Broadcasting System Inc. ......................... 10,000 120,000
Tree.com Inc. (c) ...................................... 66 66
Tyson Foods Inc., Cl. A ................................ 99,000 99,000
UnionBanCal Corp. ...................................... 250,000 250,000
Wachovia Corp. ......................................... 100,000 100,000
Walgreen Co. ........................................... 5,000 75,000
Whole Foods Market Inc. ................................ 19,000 44,000
Wm. Wrigley Jr. Co. .................................... 210,000 390,000
CONVERTIBLE CORPORATE BOND
The Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Co. Inc., Cv., 5.125%,
06/15/11 ............................................ 100,000 3,100,000
U.S. GOVERNMENT OBLIGATIONS
U.S. Treasury Note, 4.500%, 04/30/09 ................... 125,000 125,000
See accompanying notes to schedule of investments.
2
THE GABELLI EQUITY TRUST INC.
PORTFOLIO CHANGES (CONTINUED)
QUARTER ENDED SEPTEMBER 30, 2008 (UNAUDITED)
OWNERSHIP AT
SEPTEMBER 30,
SHARES 2008
------------ -------------
NET SALES
COMMON STOCKS
Ameriprise Financial Inc. .............................. (2,000) 6,000
Ampco-Pittsburgh Corp. ................................. (1,000) 161,000
Aquila Inc. (b) ........................................ (800,000) --
ARIAKE JAPAN Co. Ltd. .................................. (36,000) --
Ashland Inc. ........................................... (11,000) 30,000
Avon Products Inc. ..................................... (4,000) 80,000
BCE Inc. ............................................... (10,000) 60,000
Bouygues SA ............................................ (5,000) 20,000
CBS Corp., Cl. A ....................................... (8,000) 425,000
Cermaq ASA ............................................. (32,000) --
ChoicePoint Inc. (f) ................................... (235,000) --
Church & Dwight Co. Inc. ............................... (1,000) 14,000
Citizens Communications Co. ............................ (90,000) --
Clear Channel Communications Inc., Cl. A (g) ........... (174,000) --
Constellation Brands Inc., Cl. A ....................... (14,000) 90,000
Discovery Holding Co., Cl. A (a) ....................... (269,000) --
Energy East Corp. (h) .................................. (50,000) --
General Mills Inc. ..................................... (3,000) 177,000
Gray Television Inc., Cl. A ............................ (1,000) 26,000
Greif Inc., Cl. A ...................................... (10,000) 190,000
Groupe Danone .......................................... (5,000) 355,000
Home Inns & Hotels Management Inc., ADR ................ (2,000) 20,000
IAC/InterActiveCorp (c) ................................ (200,000) --
Il Sole 24 Ore ......................................... (20,000) 1,960,000
Kellogg Co. ............................................ (38,000) 48,000
Kraft Foods Inc., Cl. A ................................ (65,000) 135,000
Ladbrokes plc .......................................... (97,058) 1,150,058
MasterCard Inc., Cl. A ................................. (500) 39,500
McClatchy Co., Cl. A ................................... (9,000) --
Modern Times Group MTG AB, Cl. B ....................... (29,000) --
Nortel Networks Corp. .................................. (20,000) 160,000
Pactiv Corp. ........................................... (12,000) 100,000
PepsiCo Inc. ........................................... (62,000) 238,000
OWNERSHIP AT
SEPTEMBER 30,
SHARES 2008
------------ -------------
PRIMEDIA Inc. .......................................... (60,000) --
Procter & Gamble Co. ................................... (5,000) 295,000
Prosperity REIT ........................................ (2,187) --
Rank Group plc ......................................... (330,000) 150,000
Rollins Inc. ........................................... (10,000) 1,100,000
Rolls-Royce Group plc, Cl. B ........................... (107,520,000) --
Six Flags Inc. ......................................... (30,000) 45,000
Standard Chartered plc ................................. (5,000) 40,000
The E.W. Scripps Co., Cl. A (e) ........................ (130,000) --
The Mosaic Co. ......................................... (500) 10,000
The New York Times Co., Cl. A .......................... (5,000) 50,000
The Walt Disney Co. .................................... (18,000) 32,000
Tronox Inc., Cl. B ..................................... (4,032) --
UnitedHealth Group Inc. ................................ (5,000) 125,000
Viacom Inc., Cl. A ..................................... (15,000) 355,000
Young Broadcasting Inc., Cl. A ......................... (20,000) 80,000
----------
(a) Merger - 0.05 share of Ascent Media Corp., Cl. A, 0.5 share of Discovery
Communications Inc., Cl. A, and 0.5 share of Discovery Communications Inc.,
Cl. B for every 1 share of Discovery Holding Co., Cl. A held.
(b) Merger - $1.80 in cash and 0.856 share of Great Plains Energy Inc. for
every 1 share of Aquila Inc. held.
(c) Exchange 1 share of IAC/InterActiveCorp held for 0.2 share of HSN Inc., 0.5
share of IAC/InteractiveCorp, 0.2 share of Interval Leisure Group Inc., 0.2
share of Ticketmaster, and 0.03333 share of Tree.com Inc.
(d) Spin-off - 1 share of Scripps Networks Interactive Inc., Cl. A for every 1
share of The E.W. Scripps Co., Cl. A.
(e) Split - 1 new share of The E.W. Scripps Co., Cl. A (811054402) for every 3
shares of The E.W. Scripps Co., Cl. A (811054204) held.
(f) Cash merger - $50.00 for every 1 share held.
(g) Cash merger - $36.00 for every 1 share held.
(h) Cash merger - $28.50 for every 1 share held.
See accompanying notes to schedule of investments.
3
THE GABELLI EQUITY TRUST INC.
SCHEDULE OF INVESTMENTS
SEPTEMBER 30, 2008 (UNAUDITED)
MARKET
SHARES VALUE
---------- --------------
COMMON STOCKS -- 99.4%
FOOD AND BEVERAGE -- 16.1%
85,000 Ajinomoto Co. Inc. ..................................... $ 798,411
80,000 Anheuser-Busch Companies Inc. .......................... 5,190,400
24,000 Brown-Forman Corp., Cl. A .............................. 1,704,000
90,400 Cadbury plc ............................................ 908,854
115,200 Cadbury plc, ADR ....................................... 4,716,288
80,000 Campbell Soup Co. ...................................... 3,088,000
40,000 China Mengniu Dairy Co. Ltd. ........................... 40,799
20,000 Coca-Cola Enterprises Inc. ............................. 335,400
57,000 Coca-Cola Hellenic Bottling Co. SA ..................... 1,222,925
90,000 Constellation Brands Inc., Cl. A+ ...................... 1,931,400
50,000 Corn Products International Inc. ....................... 1,614,000
300,000 Davide Campari-Milano SpA .............................. 2,409,443
150,000 Dean Foods Co.+ ........................................ 3,504,000
60,000 Del Monte Foods Co. .................................... 468,000
80,000 Diageo plc ............................................. 1,344,048
224,000 Diageo plc, ADR ........................................ 15,424,640
133,200 Dr. Pepper Snapple Group Inc.+ ......................... 3,527,136
90,000 Flowers Foods Inc. ..................................... 2,642,400
97,000 Fomento Economico Mexicano SAB de CV, ADR .............. 3,699,580
177,000 General Mills Inc. ..................................... 12,163,440
355,000 Groupe Danone .......................................... 24,988,386
980,000 Grupo Bimbo SAB de CV, Cl. A ........................... 6,165,044
100,000 H.J. Heinz Co. ......................................... 4,997,000
20,000 Hain Celestial Group Inc.+ ............................. 550,600
45,000 Heineken NV ............................................ 1,795,680
200,000 ITO EN Ltd. ............................................ 2,555,592
60,000 ITO EN Ltd., Preference ................................ 618,307
48,000 Kellogg Co. ............................................ 2,692,800
75,000 Kerry Group plc, Cl. A ................................. 2,196,158
135,000 Kraft Foods Inc., Cl. A ................................ 4,421,250
12,100 LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton SA .................... 1,051,870
10,000 Meiji Seika Kaisha Ltd. ................................ 44,944
70,000 Morinaga Milk Industry Co. Ltd. ........................ 197,452
55,000 Nestle SA .............................................. 2,358,121
300,000 Nissin Food Products Co. Ltd. .......................... 10,605,989
600,000 PepsiAmericas Inc. ..................................... 12,432,000
238,000 PepsiCo Inc. ........................................... 16,962,260
56,200 Pernod-Ricard SA ....................................... 4,887,919
68,200 Ralcorp Holdings Inc.+ ................................. 4,597,362
33,000 Remy Cointreau SA ...................................... 1,541,453
330,000 Sara Lee Corp. ......................................... 4,167,900
200,000 The Coca-Cola Co. ...................................... 10,576,000
70,000 The Hershey Co. ........................................ 2,767,800
2,000 The J.M. Smucker Co. ................................... 101,380
122,384 Tootsie Roll Industries Inc. ........................... 3,538,121
99,000 Tyson Foods Inc., Cl. A ................................ 1,182,060
390,000 Wm. Wrigley Jr. Co. .................................... 30,966,000
MARKET
SHARES VALUE
---------- --------------
42,500 Wm. Wrigley Jr. Co., Cl. B ............................. $ 3,357,500
550,000 YAKULT HONSHA Co. Ltd. ................................. 16,910,347
--------------
245,960,459
--------------
FINANCIAL SERVICES -- 9.7%
2,800 Allianz SE ............................................. 379,519
575,000 American Express Co. ................................... 20,372,250
100,000 American International Group Inc. ...................... 333,000
6,000 Ameriprise Financial Inc. .............................. 229,200
19,452 Argo Group International Holdings Ltd.+ ................ 716,806
158,600 AXA Asia Pacific Holdings Ltd. ......................... 630,429
90,000 Banco Santander SA, ADR ................................ 1,351,800
142 Berkshire Hathaway Inc., Cl. A+ ........................ 18,545,200
7,500 Calamos Asset Management Inc., Cl. A ................... 134,400
360,000 Citigroup Inc. ......................................... 7,383,600
155,000 Commerzbank AG, ADR .................................... 2,353,566
148,000 Deutsche Bank AG ....................................... 10,772,920
50,000 Federal National Mortgage Association .................. 76,500
20,000 Fortress Investment Group LLC, Cl. A ................... 210,000
20,000 H&R Block Inc. ......................................... 455,000
25,000 Interactive Brokers Group Inc., Cl. A+ ................. 554,250
180,000 Janus Capital Group Inc. ............................... 4,370,400
61,788 JPMorgan Chase & Co. ................................... 2,885,500
95,000 Legg Mason Inc. ........................................ 3,615,700
133,000 Leucadia National Corp. ................................ 6,043,520
5,000 Loews Corp. ............................................ 197,450
265,000 Marsh & McLennan Companies Inc. ........................ 8,416,400
65,000 Moody's Corp. .......................................... 2,210,000
8,000 Och-Ziff Capital Management Group LLC, Cl. A ........... 93,520
2,500 Prudential Financial Inc. .............................. 180,000
45,000 Schroders plc .......................................... 810,429
40,000 Standard Chartered plc ................................. 956,478
80,000 State Street Corp. ..................................... 4,550,400
20,000 SunTrust Banks Inc. .................................... 899,800
150,000 T. Rowe Price Group Inc. ............................... 8,056,500
5,000 The Allstate Corp. ..................................... 230,600
146,038 The Bank of New York Mellon Corp. ...................... 4,757,918
5,000 The Blackstone Group LP ................................ 76,700
44,500 The Charles Schwab Corp. ............................... 1,157,000
18,000 The Dun & Bradstreet Corp. ............................. 1,698,480
135,000 The Phoenix Companies Inc. ............................. 1,247,400
3,000 The Travelers Companies Inc. ........................... 135,600
66 Tree.com Inc.+ ......................................... 318
250,000 UnionBanCal Corp. ...................................... 18,322,500
100,000 Wachovia Corp. ......................................... 350,000
100,000 Waddell & Reed Financial Inc., Cl. A ................... 2,475,000
280,000 Wells Fargo & Co. ...................................... 10,508,400
--------------
148,744,453
--------------
See accompanying notes to schedule of investments.
4
THE GABELLI EQUITY TRUST INC.
SCHEDULE OF INVESTMENTS (CONTINUED)
SEPTEMBER 30, 2008 (UNAUDITED)
MARKET
SHARES VALUE
---------- --------------
COMMON STOCKS (CONTINUED)
ENERGY AND UTILITIES -- 7.7%
5,000 AGL Resources Inc. ..................................... $ 156,900
68,000 Allegheny Energy Inc. .................................. 2,500,360
70,000 Apache Corp. ........................................... 7,299,600
100,000 BP plc ................................................. 824,918
247,000 BP plc, ADR ............................................ 12,391,990
105,000 CH Energy Group Inc. ................................... 4,574,850
65,000 CMS Energy Corp. ....................................... 810,550
315,000 ConocoPhillips ......................................... 23,073,750
33,000 Constellation Energy Group Inc. ........................ 801,900
3,000 Diamond Offshore Drilling Inc. ......................... 309,180
60,000 DPL Inc. ............................................... 1,488,000
14,000 DTE Energy Co. ......................................... 561,680
220,000 Duke Energy Corp. ...................................... 3,834,600
300,000 El Paso Corp. .......................................... 3,828,000
280,000 El Paso Electric Co.+ .................................. 5,880,000
80,000 Exxon Mobil Corp. ...................................... 6,212,800
25,000 FPL Group Inc. ......................................... 1,257,500
45,000 Galp Energia SGPS SA, Cl. B ............................ 737,404
68,480 Great Plains Energy Inc. ............................... 1,521,626
210,000 Halliburton Co. ........................................ 6,801,900
32,000 Imperial Oil Ltd. ...................................... 1,370,505
20,000 Marathon Oil Corp. ..................................... 797,400
10,000 Mirant Corp.+ .......................................... 182,900
140,000 Mirant Corp., Escrow+ (a) .............................. 0
2,000 Niko Resources Ltd., New York .......................... 107,512
1,000 Niko Resources Ltd., Toronto ........................... 53,756
10,000 NiSource Inc. .......................................... 147,600
240,000 Northeast Utilities .................................... 6,156,000
19,000 Oceaneering International Inc.+ ........................ 1,013,080
1,300 PetroChina Co. Ltd., ADR ............................... 133,549
55,000 Petroleo Brasileiro SA, ADR ............................ 2,417,250
100,000 Progress Energy Inc., CVO+ (a) ......................... 33,000
200,000 Rowan Companies Inc. ................................... 6,110,000
65,000 Saipem SpA ............................................. 1,913,406
5,000 SJW Corp. .............................................. 149,850
20,000 Southwest Gas Corp. .................................... 605,200
120,000 Spectra Energy Corp. ................................... 2,856,000
60,000 The AES Corp.+ ......................................... 701,400
24,128 Total SA ............................................... 1,446,328
3,000 Transocean Inc.+ ....................................... 329,520
270,000 Westar Energy Inc. ..................................... 6,220,800
--------------
117,612,564
--------------
DIVERSIFIED INDUSTRIAL -- 6.4%
9,000 Acuity Brands Inc. ..................................... 375,840
161,000 Ampco-Pittsburgh Corp. ................................. 4,169,900
155,000 Baldor Electric Co. .................................... 4,465,550
24,000 Bayer AG ............................................... 1,750,172
20,000 Bouygues SA ............................................ 893,951
MARKET
SHARES VALUE
---------- --------------
245,000 Cooper Industries Ltd., Cl. A .......................... $ 9,787,750
260,000 Crane Co. .............................................. 7,724,600
77,500 CRH plc ................................................ 1,636,563
300,000 Enodis plc ............................................. 1,677,393
150,000 General Electric Co. ................................... 3,825,000
190,000 Greif Inc., Cl. A ...................................... 12,467,800
18,000 Greif Inc., Cl. B ...................................... 939,240
450,000 Honeywell International Inc. ........................... 18,697,500
253,000 ITT Corp. .............................................. 14,069,330
40,000 Mitsui & Co. Ltd. ...................................... 480,654
100,000 Park-Ohio Holdings Corp.+ .............................. 1,789,000
1,000 Pentair Inc. ........................................... 34,570
19,000 Sulzer AG .............................................. 1,994,307
69,000 Swire Pacific Ltd., Cl. A .............................. 598,930
30,000 Technip SA ............................................. 1,662,748
70,000 Trinity Industries Inc. ................................ 1,801,100
200,000 Tyco International Ltd. ................................ 7,004,000
--------------
97,845,898
--------------
CABLE AND SATELLITE -- 6.1%
1,550,000 Cablevision Systems Corp., Cl. A ....................... 38,998,000
52,000 Comcast Corp., Cl. A ................................... 1,020,760
120,000 Comcast Corp., Cl. A, Special .......................... 2,366,400
133,700 DISH Network Corp., Cl. A+ ............................. 2,807,700
26,740 EchoStar Corp., Cl. A+ ................................. 644,434
176,770 Liberty Global Inc., Cl. A+ ............................ 5,356,131
139,001 Liberty Global Inc., Cl. C+ ............................ 3,904,538
500,690 Rogers Communications Inc., Cl. B, New York ............ 16,642,936
19,310 Rogers Communications Inc., Cl. B, Toronto ............. 626,339
125,000 Scripps Networks Interactive Inc., Cl. A ............... 4,538,750
160,000 Shaw Communications Inc., Cl. B, New York .............. 3,252,800
40,000 Shaw Communications Inc., Cl. B, Toronto ............... 809,584
460,000 The DIRECTV Group Inc.+ ................................ 12,038,200
--------------
93,006,572
--------------
CONSUMER PRODUCTS -- 5.2%
80,000 Avon Products Inc. ..................................... 3,325,600
30,000 British American Tobacco plc ........................... 978,701
42,000 Christian Dior SA ...................................... 3,137,894
14,000 Church & Dwight Co. Inc. ............................... 869,260
30,000 Clorox Co. ............................................. 1,880,700
69,000 Compagnie Financiere Richemont SA, Cl. A ............... 3,001,334
100,000 Eastman Kodak Co. ...................................... 1,538,000
112,000 Energizer Holdings Inc.+ ............................... 9,021,600
60,000 Fortune Brands Inc. .................................... 3,441,600
See accompanying notes to schedule of investments.
5
THE GABELLI EQUITY TRUST INC.
SCHEDULE OF INVESTMENTS (CONTINUED)
SEPTEMBER 30, 2008 (UNAUDITED)
SHARES/ MARKET
UNITS VALUE
---------- --------------
COMMON STOCKS (CONTINUED)
CONSUMER PRODUCTS (CONTINUED)
2,000 Givaudan SA ............................................ $ 1,655,399
60,000 Hanesbrands Inc.+ ...................................... 1,305,000
32,000 Harley-Davidson Inc. ................................... 1,193,600
200 Japan Tobacco Inc. ..................................... 740,915
2,000 Jarden Corp.+ .......................................... 46,900
15,000 Matsushita Electric Industrial Co. Ltd., ADR ........... 259,950
15,000 Mattel Inc. ............................................ 270,600
21,000 National Presto Industries Inc. ........................ 1,564,500
2,000 Nintendo Co. Ltd. ...................................... 816,135
10,000 Oil-Dri Corp. of America ............................... 169,200
100,000 Pactiv Corp.+ .......................................... 2,483,000
295,000 Procter & Gamble Co. ................................... 20,558,550
60,000 Reckitt Benckiser Group plc ............................ 2,891,836
30,000 Svenska Cellulosa AB, Cl. B ............................ 313,051
1,000,000 Swedish Match AB ....................................... 17,331,523
37,500 The Swatch Group AG .................................... 1,232,543
--------------
80,027,391
--------------
TELECOMMUNICATIONS -- 5.2%
60,000 BCE Inc. ............................................... 2,082,600
1,000 Bell Aliant Regional Communications Income Fund ........ 23,481
16,000 Bell Aliant Regional Communications Income Fund
(a)(b) .............................................. 399,840
30,000 Brasil Telecom Participacoes SA, ADR ................... 1,465,800
1,700,000 BT Group plc ........................................... 4,868,973
1,727,420 Cable & Wireless Jamaica Ltd. .......................... 19,077
4,440,836 Cable & Wireless Jamaica Ltd. (c) ...................... 49,043
908,300 Cincinnati Bell Inc.+ .................................. 2,806,647
120,000 Compania de Telecomunicaciones de Chile SA, ADR ........ 817,200
190,000 Deutsche Telekom AG, ADR ............................... 2,893,700
3,394 FairPoint Communications Inc. .......................... 29,426
5,000 France Telecom SA, ADR ................................. 140,050
80,000 Frontier Communications Corp. .......................... 920,000
33,000 Hellenic Telecommunications Organization SA ............ 586,291
8,500 Hellenic Telecommunications Organization SA, ADR ....... 76,500
100,000 Koninklijke KPN NV ..................................... 1,434,826
15,000 Orascom Telecom Holding SAE, GDR ....................... 552,632
540,000 Qwest Communications International Inc. ................ 1,744,200
700,000 Sprint Nextel Corp. .................................... 4,270,000
186,554 Tele Norte Leste Participacoes SA, ADR ................. 3,257,233
60,000 Tele2 AB, Cl. B ........................................ 673,763
48,000 Telecom Argentina SA, ADR+ ............................. 588,000
1,440,000 Telecom Italia SpA ..................................... 2,132,643
MARKET
SHARES VALUE
---------- --------------
225,000 Telefonica SA, ADR ..................................... $ 16,085,250
60,000 Telefonos de Mexico SAB de CV, Cl. L, ADR .............. 1,545,000
265,000 Telephone & Data Systems Inc. .......................... 9,473,750
360,000 Telephone & Data Systems Inc., Special ................. 12,924,000
60,000 Telmex Internacional SAB de CV, ADR .................... 780,000
15,000 TELUS Corp. ............................................ 547,851
180,000 Verizon Communications Inc. ............................ 5,776,200
5,169 Windstream Corp. ....................................... 56,549
--------------
79,020,525
--------------
HEALTH CARE -- 4.8%
8,000 Abbott Laboratories .................................... 460,640
145,000 Advanced Medical Optics Inc.+ .......................... 2,578,100
14,046 Allergan Inc. .......................................... 723,369
30,000 Alpharma Inc., Cl. A+ .................................. 1,106,700
52,000 Amgen Inc.+ ............................................ 3,082,040
19,146 AstraZeneca plc ........................................ 844,782
17,000 Baxter International Inc. .............................. 1,115,710
2,000 Becton Dickinson & Co. ................................. 160,520
35,000 Biogen Idec Inc.+ ...................................... 1,760,150
155,000 Boston Scientific Corp.+ ............................... 1,901,850
135,000 Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. ............................... 2,814,750
3,000 Cephalon Inc.+ ......................................... 232,470
12,000 Cochlear Ltd. .......................................... 562,343
20,000 Covidien Ltd. .......................................... 1,075,200
45,036 GlaxoSmithKline plc .................................... 969,610
4,000 GlaxoSmithKline plc, ADR ............................... 173,840
5,000 Greatbatch Inc.+ ....................................... 122,700
30,000 Henry Schein Inc.+ ..................................... 1,615,200
18,000 Hospira Inc.+ .......................................... 687,600
80,000 Invitrogen Corp.+ ...................................... 3,024,000
120,000 Johnson & Johnson ...................................... 8,313,600
95,000 Merck & Co. Inc. ....................................... 2,998,200
10,000 Nobel Biocare Holding AG ............................... 329,657
39,000 Novartis AG ............................................ 2,031,178
102,000 Novartis AG, ADR ....................................... 5,389,680
470,000 Pfizer Inc. ............................................ 8,666,800
16,400 Roche Holding AG ....................................... 2,545,632
10,000 Sanofi-Aventis ......................................... 655,329
110,000 Schering-Plough Corp. .................................. 2,031,700
80,000 Smith & Nephew plc ..................................... 840,563
50,000 SSL International plc .................................. 398,459
5,250 Straumann Holding AG ................................... 1,438,356
12,500 Synthes Inc. ........................................... 1,712,329
19,000 Takeda Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd. ......................... 937,897
125,000 UnitedHealth Group Inc. ................................ 3,173,750
82,000 William Demant Holding A/S+ ............................ 3,635,849
100,000 Wyeth .................................................. 3,694,000
3,000 Zimmer Holdings Inc.+ .................................. 193,680
--------------
73,998,233
--------------
See accompanying notes to schedule of investments.
6
THE GABELLI EQUITY TRUST INC.
SCHEDULE OF INVESTMENTS (CONTINUED)
SEPTEMBER 30, 2008 (UNAUDITED)
MARKET
SHARES VALUE
---------- --------------
COMMON STOCKS (CONTINUED)
ENTERTAINMENT -- 4.7%
100,000 Aruze Corp. ............................................ $ 2,129,660
32,000 Canal+ Groupe .......................................... 279,307
2,002 Chestnut Hill Ventures+ (a) ............................ 56,356
134,500 Discovery Communications Inc.,
Cl. A+ .............................................. 1,916,625
134,500 Discovery Communications Inc.,
Cl. C+ .............................................. 1,904,520
3,000 DreamWorks Animation SKG Inc.,
Cl. A+ .............................................. 94,350
695,000 Grupo Televisa SA, ADR ................................. 15,199,650
430,000 Liberty Media Corp. - Entertainment,
Cl. A+ .............................................. 10,737,100
125 Live Nation Inc.+ ...................................... 2,034
65,341 Macrovision Solutions Corp.+ ........................... 1,004,945
50,000 Pinnacle Entertainment Inc.+ ........................... 378,000
150,000 Rank Group plc+ ........................................ 188,673
12,000 Regal Entertainment Group, Cl. A ....................... 189,360
45,000 Six Flags Inc.+ ........................................ 31,050
32,000 The Walt Disney Co. .................................... 982,080
920,000 Time Warner Inc. ....................................... 12,061,200
120,000 Tokyo Broadcasting System Inc. ......................... 2,025,293
20,200 Triple Crown Media Inc.+ ............................... 343
355,000 Viacom Inc., Cl. A+ .................................... 8,825,300
453,900 Vivendi ................................................ 14,070,753
--------------
72,076,599
--------------
EQUIPMENT AND SUPPLIES -- 4.4%
257,000 AMETEK Inc. ............................................ 10,477,890
4,000 Amphenol Corp., Cl. A .................................. 160,560
94,000 CIRCOR International Inc. .............................. 4,082,420
194,000 Donaldson Co. Inc. ..................................... 8,130,540
50,000 Fedders Corp.+ (a) ..................................... 0
150,000 Flowserve Corp. ........................................ 13,315,500
23,000 Franklin Electric Co. Inc. ............................. 1,024,650
90,000 Gerber Scientific Inc.+ ................................ 822,600
75,000 GrafTech International Ltd.+ ........................... 1,133,250
320,000 IDEX Corp. ............................................. 9,926,400
40,000 Ingersoll-Rand Co. Ltd., Cl. A ......................... 1,246,800
102,000 Lufkin Industries Inc. ................................. 8,093,700
11,000 Mueller Industries Inc. ................................ 253,110
2,000 Sealed Air Corp. ....................................... 43,980
75,000 Tenaris SA, ADR ........................................ 2,796,750
4,000 The Manitowoc Co. Inc. ................................. 62,200
95,000 The Weir Group plc ..................................... 1,029,414
190,000 Watts Water Technologies Inc., Cl. A ................... 5,196,500
--------------
67,796,264
--------------
MARKET
SHARES VALUE
---------- --------------
AUTOMOTIVE: PARTS AND ACCESSORIES -- 2.8%
2,000 BERU AG ................................................ $ 211,169
86,000 BorgWarner Inc. ........................................ 2,818,220
181,000 CLARCOR Inc. ........................................... 6,868,950
82,500 Earl Scheib Inc.+ ...................................... 181,912
340,000 Genuine Parts Co. ...................................... 13,671,400
200,000 Johnson Controls Inc. .................................. 6,066,000
135,000 Midas Inc.+ ............................................ 1,857,600
330,000 Modine Manufacturing Co. ............................... 4,778,400
160,000 O'Reilly Automotive Inc.+ .............................. 4,283,200
160,000 Proliance International Inc.+ .......................... 120,000
175,000 Standard Motor Products Inc. ........................... 1,088,500
35,000 Superior Industries International Inc. ................. 670,600
--------------
42,615,951
--------------
PUBLISHING -- 2.7%
4,000 Idearc Inc. ............................................ 5,000
1,960,000 Il Sole 24 Ore ......................................... 8,305,436
348,266 Independent News & Media plc ........................... 568,734
320,000 Media General Inc., Cl. A .............................. 3,977,600
122,000 Meredith Corp. ......................................... 3,420,880
1,525,000 News Corp., Cl. A ...................................... 18,284,750
20,000 News Corp., Cl. B ...................................... 243,000
66,585 Seat Pagine Gialle SpA+ ................................ 6,440
43,333 The E.W. Scripps Co., Cl. A ............................ 306,364
182,000 The McGraw-Hill Companies Inc. ......................... 5,753,020
50,000 The New York Times Co., Cl. A .......................... 714,500
--------------
41,585,724
--------------
SPECIALTY CHEMICALS -- 2.1%
30,000 Ashland Inc. ........................................... 877,200
20,000 Ciba Holding AG ........................................ 845,045
5,400 Ciba Holding AG, ADR ................................... 114,381
30,000 E.I. du Pont de Nemours and Co. ........................ 1,209,000
350,000 Ferro Corp. ............................................ 7,035,000
4,000 FMC Corp. .............................................. 205,560
45,000 H.B. Fuller Co. ........................................ 939,150
175,000 Hercules Inc. .......................................... 3,463,250
70,000 International Flavors & Fragrances Inc. ................ 2,762,200
230,000 Omnova Solutions Inc.+ ................................. 457,700
40,000 Rohm & Haas Co. ........................................ 2,800,000
275,000 Sensient Technologies Corp. ............................ 7,735,750
165,000 Tokai Carbon Co. Ltd. .................................. 1,165,107
100,000 Zep Inc. ............................................... 1,764,000
--------------
31,373,343
--------------
BUSINESS SERVICES -- 2.0%
7,050 ACCO Brands Corp.+ ..................................... 53,157
15,450 Ascent Media Corp., Cl. A+ ............................. 377,134
15,000 Avis Budget Group Inc.+ ................................ 86,100
See accompanying notes to schedule of investments.
7
THE GABELLI EQUITY TRUST INC.
SCHEDULE OF INVESTMENTS (CONTINUED)
SEPTEMBER 30, 2008 (UNAUDITED)
SHARES/ MARKET
UNITS VALUE
---------- --------------
COMMON STOCKS (CONTINUED)
BUSINESS SERVICES (CONTINUED)
310,000 BPW Acquisition Corp.+ ................................. $ 2,824,100
30,500 Canon Inc. ............................................. 1,095,482
110,000 Clear Channel Outdoor Holdings Inc.,
Cl. A+ .............................................. 1,504,800
186,554 Contax Participacoes SA, ADR ........................... 195,359
110,000 Diebold Inc. ........................................... 3,642,100
200,000 G4S plc ................................................ 720,026
1,000 Hertz Global Holdings Inc.+ ............................ 7,570
57,000 Jardine Matheson Holdings Ltd. ......................... 1,482,000
94,000 Landauer Inc. .......................................... 6,838,500
39,500 MasterCard Inc., Cl. A ................................. 7,004,535
55,000 Monster Worldwide Inc.+ ................................ 820,050
72,500 Nashua Corp.+ .......................................... 582,175
25,000 Secom Co. Ltd. ......................................... 1,022,519
252,800 The Interpublic Group of Companies Inc.+ ............... 1,959,200
8,000 Visa Inc., Cl. A ....................................... 491,120
--------------
30,705,927
--------------
AVIATION: PARTS AND SERVICES -- 1.7%
350,000 Curtiss-Wright Corp. ................................... 15,907,500
200,000 GenCorp Inc.+ .......................................... 1,348,000
105,000 Precision Castparts Corp. .............................. 8,271,900
160,000 The Fairchild Corp., Cl. A+ ............................ 416,000
--------------
25,943,400
--------------
CONSUMER SERVICES -- 1.7%
100,000 IAC/InterActiveCorp.+ .................................. 1,730,000
210,000 Liberty Media Corp. - Interactive, Cl. A+ .............. 2,711,100
1,100,000 Rollins Inc. ........................................... 20,878,000
--------------
25,319,100
--------------
RETAIL -- 1.6%
210,000 AutoNation Inc.+ ....................................... 2,360,400
4,000 AutoZone Inc.+ ......................................... 493,360
40,000 Coldwater Creek Inc.+ .................................. 231,600
40,000 Costco Wholesale Corp. ................................. 2,597,200
75,000 CVS Caremark Corp. ..................................... 2,524,500
10,108 Denny's Corp.+ ......................................... 26,079
21,500 Hennes & Mauritz AB, Cl. B ............................. 863,254
35,000 HSN Inc.+ .............................................. 385,350
140,000 Macy's Inc. ............................................ 2,517,200
50,000 Sally Beauty Holdings Inc.+ ............................ 430,000
50,000 SUPERVALU Inc. ......................................... 1,085,000
110,000 Tesco plc .............................................. 758,000
170,000 The Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Co. Inc.+ ............. 1,839,400
MARKET
SHARES VALUE
---------- --------------
20,000 Ticketmaster+ .......................................... $ 214,600
50,000 Wal-Mart Stores Inc. ................................... 2,994,500
75,000 Walgreen Co. ........................................... 2,322,000
44,000 Whole Foods Market Inc. ................................ 881,320
73,000 Woolworths Ltd. ........................................ 1,569,122
--------------
24,092,885
--------------
MACHINERY -- 1.5%
20,000 Caterpillar Inc. ....................................... 1,192,000
17,000 CNH Global NV .......................................... 374,680
425,000 Deere & Co. ............................................ 21,037,500
8,000 SMC Corp. .............................................. 816,135
--------------
23,420,315
--------------
HOTELS AND GAMING -- 1.5%
2,000 Accor SA ............................................... 105,233
190,000 Gaylord Entertainment Co.+ ............................. 5,580,300
20,000 Home Inns & Hotels Management Inc.,
ADR+ ................................................ 279,000
46,160 InterContinental Hotels Group plc ...................... 564,608
45,000 Interval Leisure Group Inc.+ ........................... 468,000
1,150,058 Ladbrokes plc .......................................... 3,813,217
6,000 Las Vegas Sands Corp.+ ................................. 216,660
3,811,000 Mandarin Oriental International Ltd. ................... 5,830,830
152,000 MGM Mirage+ ............................................ 4,332,000
18,000 Orient-Express Hotels Ltd., Cl. A ...................... 434,340
34,000 Starwood Hotels & Resorts
Worldwide Inc. ...................................... 956,760
--------------
22,580,948
--------------
AEROSPACE -- 1.4%
110,000 Boeing Co. ............................................. 6,308,500
30,000 Finmeccanica SpA ....................................... 643,645
25,899 Kaman Corp. ............................................ 737,604
9,000 Lockheed Martin Corp. .................................. 987,030
102,600 Northrop Grumman Corp. ................................. 6,211,404
1,200,000 Rolls-Royce Group plc+ ................................. 7,178,922
--------------
22,067,105
--------------
ENVIRONMENTAL SERVICES -- 1.2%
98,800 Republic Services Inc. ................................. 2,962,024
500,000 Waste Management Inc. .................................. 15,745,000
--------------
18,707,024
--------------
COMMUNICATIONS EQUIPMENT -- 1.2%
480,000 Corning Inc. ........................................... 7,507,200
90,000 Motorola Inc. .......................................... 642,600
160,000 Nortel Networks Corp.+ ................................. 358,400
235,000 Thomas & Betts Corp.+ .................................. 9,181,450
--------------
17,689,650
--------------
See accompanying notes to schedule of investments.
8
THE GABELLI EQUITY TRUST INC.
SCHEDULE OF INVESTMENTS (CONTINUED)
SEPTEMBER 30, 2008 (UNAUDITED)
MARKET
SHARES VALUE
---------- --------------
COMMON STOCKS (CONTINUED)
METALS AND MINING -- 1.1%
28,000 Alcoa Inc. ............................................. $ 632,240
30,030 Anglo American plc ..................................... 990,358
89,148 Barrick Gold Corp. ..................................... 3,275,298
20,000 BHP Billiton Ltd. ...................................... 489,956
52,500 Harmony Gold Mining Co. Ltd.+ .......................... 524,430
35,000 Harmony Gold Mining Co. Ltd., ADR+ ..................... 338,800
25,000 Impala Platinum Holdings Ltd. .......................... 500,966
75,000 Ivanhoe Mines Ltd.+ .................................... 454,500
52,000 New Hope Corp. Ltd. .................................... 176,700
155,000 Newmont Mining Corp. ................................... 6,007,800
25,000 Rio Tinto plc .......................................... 1,542,722
69,666 Xstrata plc ............................................ 2,125,353
--------------
17,059,123
--------------
WIRELESS COMMUNICATIONS -- 1.1%
95,000 America Movil SAB de CV,
Cl. L, ADR .......................................... 4,404,200
65,000 China Mobile Ltd. ...................................... 643,734
14,000 Clearwire Corp., Cl. A+ ................................ 166,320
2,000 NTT DoCoMo Inc. ........................................ 3,157,350
3,340 Tele Norte Celular Participacoes SA,
ADR ................................................. 57,869
5,087 Telemig Celular Participacoes SA,
ADR ................................................. 188,270
32,165 Tim Participacoes SA, ADR .............................. 670,962
115,400 United States Cellular Corp.+ .......................... 5,414,568
170,010 Vivo Participacoes SA, ADR ............................. 703,841
50,000 Vodafone Group plc, ADR ................................ 1,105,000
--------------
16,512,114
--------------
ELECTRONICS -- 1.0%
6,000 Advanced Micro Devices Inc.+ ........................... 31,500
14,000 Bel Fuse Inc., Cl. A ................................... 385,000
14,000 Fanuc Ltd. ............................................. 1,018,852
5,000 Hitachi Ltd., ADR ...................................... 346,950
180,000 Intel Corp. ............................................ 3,371,400
5,920 Keyence Corp. .......................................... 1,157,783
80,000 LSI Corp.+ ............................................. 428,800
20,000 Molex Inc., Cl. A ...................................... 416,200
7,500 NEC Corp., ADR ......................................... 33,938
38,000 Royal Philips Electronics NV ........................... 1,035,500
265,000 Texas Instruments Inc. ................................. 5,697,500
62,000 Tyco Electronics Ltd. .................................. 1,714,920
--------------
15,638,343
--------------
AGRICULTURE -- 0.9%
405,000 Archer-Daniels-Midland Co. ............................. 8,873,550
31,000 Monsanto Co. ........................................... 3,068,380
MARKET
SHARES VALUE
---------- --------------
5,000 Syngenta AG ............................................ $ 1,054,972
15,000 Syngenta AG, ADR ....................................... 634,800
10,000 The Mosaic Co. ......................................... 680,200
--------------
14,311,902
--------------
AUTOMOTIVE -- 0.9%
330,000 General Motors Corp. ................................... 3,118,500
125,000 Navistar International Corp.+ .......................... 6,772,500
96,750 PACCAR Inc. ............................................ 3,694,882
--------------
13,585,882
--------------
BROADCASTING -- 0.6%
95,000 British Sky Broadcasting Group plc ..................... 700,069
425,000 CBS Corp., Cl. A ....................................... 6,217,750
10,343 Citadel Broadcasting Corp.+ ............................ 8,068
2,000 Cogeco Inc. ............................................ 58,633
25,334 Corus Entertainment Inc., Cl. B,
New York ............................................ 440,812
6,666 Corus Entertainment Inc., Cl. B,
Toronto ............................................. 113,934
120,000 Gray Television Inc. ................................... 206,400
26,000 Gray Television Inc., Cl. A ............................ 89,700
77,000 Liberty Media Corp. - Capital, Cl. A+ .................. 1,030,260
90,000 LIN TV Corp., Cl. A+ ................................... 464,400
100,000 Television Broadcasts Ltd. ............................. 421,129
80,000 Young Broadcasting Inc., Cl. A+ ........................ 4,200
--------------
9,755,355
--------------
REAL ESTATE -- 0.6%
2,000 Brookfield Asset Management Inc.,
Cl. A ............................................... 54,880
70,000 Cheung Kong (Holdings) Ltd. ............................ 777,542
55,500 Griffin Land & Nurseries Inc. .......................... 2,057,940
145,000 The St. Joe Co.+ ....................................... 5,668,050
--------------
8,558,412
--------------
TRANSPORTATION -- 0.5%
100,000 AMR Corp.+ ............................................. 982,000
165,000 GATX Corp. ............................................. 6,529,050
16,000 Grupo TMM SA, Cl. A, ADR+ .............................. 14,240
70,000 Toll Holdings Ltd. ..................................... 383,904
--------------
7,909,194
--------------
COMPUTER SOFTWARE AND SERVICES -- 0.4%
8,000 Alibaba.com Ltd.+ ...................................... 7,233
10,000 Check Point Software
Technologies Ltd.+ .................................. 227,400
50,000 NCR Corp.+ ............................................. 1,102,500
24,000 Rockwell Automation Inc. ............................... 896,160
24,100 Square Enix Co. Ltd. ................................... 693,395
See accompanying notes to schedule of investments.
9
THE GABELLI EQUITY TRUST INC.
SCHEDULE OF INVESTMENTS (CONTINUED)
SEPTEMBER 30, 2008 (UNAUDITED)
MARKET
SHARES VALUE
---------- --------------
COMMON STOCKS (CONTINUED)
COMPUTER SOFTWARE AND SERVICES (CONTINUED)
25,256 Telecom Italia Media SpA+ .............................. $ 3,559
190,000 Yahoo! Inc.+ ........................................... 3,287,000
2,000 Yahoo! Japan Corp. ..................................... 633,727
--------------
6,850,974
--------------
CLOSED-END FUNDS -- 0.3%
31,500 Royce Value Trust Inc. ................................. 419,580
104,000 The Central Europe and Russia Fund Inc. ................ 3,191,760
70,000 The New Germany Fund Inc. .............................. 749,000
--------------
4,360,340
--------------
MANUFACTURED HOUSING AND RECREATIONAL VEHICLES -- 0.2%
100,000 Champion Enterprises Inc.+ ............................. 555,000
50,000 Fleetwood Enterprises Inc.+ ............................ 51,000
31,000 Huttig Building Products Inc.+ ......................... 64,790
7,000 Martin Marietta Materials Inc. ......................... 783,860
10,000 Nobility Homes Inc. .................................... 162,000
30,000 Skyline Corp. .......................................... 792,900
--------------
2,409,550
--------------
REAL ESTATE INVESTMENT TRUSTS -- 0.1%
2,000 Camden Property Trust .................................. 91,720
24,984 Rayonier Inc. .......................................... 1,182,992
--------------
1,274,712
--------------
TOTAL COMMON STOCKS .................................... 1,520,416,231
--------------
CONVERTIBLE PREFERRED STOCKS -- 0.1%
TELECOMMUNICATIONS -- 0.1%
25,000 Cincinnati Bell Inc.,
6.750% Cv. Pfd., Ser. B ............................. 863,750
--------------
TOTAL CONVERTIBLE PREFERRED STOCKS ..................... 863,750
--------------
WARRANTS -- 0.0%
ENERGY AND UTILITIES -- 0.0%
12,183 Mirant Corp., Ser. A, expire 01/03/11+ ................. 48,732
--------------
PRINCIPAL MARKET
AMOUNT VALUE
---------- --------------
CONVERTIBLE CORPORATE BONDS -- 0.2%
RETAIL -- 0.1%
$3,100,000 The Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Co. Inc., Cv.,
5.125%, 06/15/11 .................................... $ 2,259,125
--------------
AUTOMOTIVE: PARTS AND ACCESSORIES -- 0.1%
1,000,000 Standard Motor Products Inc., Sub. Deb. Cv.,
6.750%, 07/15/09 .................................... 957,500
--------------
TOTAL CONVERTIBLE CORPORATE BONDS ...................... 3,216,625
--------------
CORPORATE BONDS -- 0.0%
CONSUMER PRODUCTS -- 0.0%
1,000,000 Pillowtex Corp., Sub. Deb., 9.000%, 12/15/17+ (a) ...... 0
--------------
TOTAL CORPORATE BONDS .................................. 0
--------------
U.S. GOVERNMENT OBLIGATIONS -- 0.3%
U.S. TREASURY BILLS -- 0.3%
3,776,000 U.S. Treasury Bills, 0.284% to 1.685%++,
10/30/08 to 12/04/08 (d) ............................ 3,772,096
--------------
U.S. TREASURY NOTES -- 0.0%
125,000 4.500%, 04/30/09 .................................... 127,061
--------------
127,061
--------------
3,899,157
--------------
TOTAL INVESTMENTS -- 100.0%
(Cost $1,394,564,156) ............................................ $1,528,444,495
==============
Aggregate book cost .................................... $1,394,564,156
==============
Gross unrealized appreciation .......................... $ 358,773,437
Gross unrealized depreciation .......................... (224,893,098)
--------------
Net unrealized appreciation/(depreciation) ............. $ 133,880,339
==============
NUMBER OF EXPIRATION UNREALIZED
CONTRACTS DATE APPRECIATION
---------- ---------- --------------
FUTURES CONTRACTS -- SHORT POSITION
40 S & P 500 Index Futures ................... 12/18/08 $ 448,000
==============
See accompanying notes to schedule of investments.
10
THE GABELLI EQUITY TRUST INC.
SCHEDULE OF INVESTMENTS (CONTINUED)
SEPTEMBER 30, 2008 (UNAUDITED)
----------
(a) Security fair valued under procedures established by the Board of
Directors. The procedures may include reviewing available financial
information about the company and reviewing the valuation of comparable
securities and other factors on a regular basis. At September 30, 2008, the
market value of fair valued securities amounted to $489,196 or 0.03% of
total investments.
(b) Security exempt from registration under Rule 144A of the Securities Act of
1933, as amended. This security may be resold in transactions exempt from
registration, normally to qualified institutional buyers. At September 30,
2008, the market value of the Rule 144A security amounted to $399,840 or
0.03% of total investments.
(c) At September 30, 2008, the Fund held an investment in a restricted security
amounting to $49,043 or 0.00% of total investments, which was valued under
methods approved by the Board of Directors as follows:
09/30/08
ACQUISITION ACQUISITION ACQUISITION CARRYING VALUE
SHARES ISSUER DATE COST PER UNIT
----------- --------------------------- ----------- ----------- --------------
4,440,836 Cable & Wireless Jamaica
Ltd. ................... 03/29/01 $101,639 $0.0110
(d) At September 30, 2008, $2,900,000 of the principal amount was pledged as
collateral for futures contracts.
+ Non-income producing security.
++ Represents annualized yield at date of purchase.
ADR American Depositary Receipt
CVO Contingent Value Obligation
% OF
MARKET MARKET
GEOGRAPHIC DIVERSIFICATION VALUE VALUE
-------------------------- ------ --------------
North America ............ 75.7% $1,156,468,431
Europe ................... 15.8 241,656,640
Latin America ............ 4.2 64,398,847
Japan .................... 3.3 50,262,783
Asia/Pacific ............. 0.9 13,740,967
South Africa ............. 0.1 1,916,827
----- --------------
Total Investments ........ 100.0% $1,528,444,495
===== ==============
See accompanying notes to schedule of investments.
11
THE GABELLI EQUITY TRUST INC.
NOTES TO SCHEDULE OF INVESTMENTS (UNAUDITED)
1. SECURITY VALUATION. Portfolio securities listed or traded on a nationally
recognized securities exchange or traded in the U.S. over-the-counter market for
which market quotations are readily available are valued at the last quoted sale
price or a market's official closing price as of the close of business on the
day the securities are being valued. If there were no sales that day, the
security is valued at the average of the closing bid and asked prices or, if
there were no asked prices quoted on that day, then the security is valued at
the closing bid price on that day. If no bid or asked prices are quoted on such
day, the security is valued at the most recently available price or, if the
Board of Directors (the "Board") so determines, by such other method as the
Board shall determine in good faith to reflect its fair market value. Portfolio
securities traded on more than one national securities exchange or market are
valued according to the broadest and most representative market, as determined
by Gabelli Funds, LLC, the Adviser.
Portfolio securities primarily traded on a foreign market are generally valued
at the preceding closing values of such securities on the relevant market, but
may be fair valued pursuant to procedures established by the Board if market
conditions change significantly after the close of the foreign market but prior
to the close of business on the day the securities are being valued. Debt
instruments with remaining maturities of 60 days or less that are not credit
impaired are valued at amortized cost, unless the Board determines such amount
does not reflect the securities' fair value, in which case these securities will
be fair valued as determined by the Board. Debt instruments having a maturity
greater than 60 days for which market quotations are readily available are
valued at the average of the latest bid and asked prices. If there were no asked
prices quoted on such day, the security is valued using the closing bid price.
Futures contracts are valued at the closing settlement price of the exchange or
board of trade on which the applicable contract is traded.
Securities and assets for which market quotations are not readily available are
fair valued as determined by the Board.
On January 1, 2008, the Fund adopted Statement of Financial Accounting Standard
No. 157, "Fair Value Measurements" ("SFAS 157") that clarifies the definition of
fair value for financial reporting, establishes a framework for measuring fair
value, and requires additional disclosures about the use of fair value
measurements. The three levels of the fair value hierarchy under SFAS 157 are
described below:
- Level 1 - quoted prices in active markets for identical securities;
- Level 2 - other significant observable inputs (including quoted prices
for similar securities, interest rates, prepayment speeds, credit
risk, etc.); and
- Level 3 - significant unobservable inputs (including the Fund's
determinations as to the fair value of investments).
The inputs or methodology used for valuing securities are not necessarily an
indication of the risk associated with investing in those securities. The
summary of inputs used to value the Fund's net assets as of September 30, 2008
is as follows:
OTHER FINANCIAL
INVESTMENTS IN INSTRUMENTS (UNREALIZED
SECURITIES APPRECIATION
VALUATION INPUTS (MARKET VALUE) (DEPRECIATION))*
---------------- -------------- -----------------------
Level 1 - Quoted Prices $1,522,196,857 $ 488,000
Level 2 - Other Significant Observable Inputs 6,158,282 (180,747)
Level 3 - Significant Unobservable Inputs 89,356 --
-------------- ---------
Total $1,528,444,495 $ 307,253
============== =========
----------
* Other financial instruments are derivative instruments not reflected in the
Schedule of Investments, such as futures, forwards, and swaps, which are
valued at the unrealized appreciation/depreciation on the investment.
12
THE GABELLI EQUITY TRUST INC.
NOTES TO SCHEDULE OF INVESTMENTS (CONTINUED) (UNAUDITED)
The following is a reconciliation of Level 3 investments for which significant
unobservable inputs were used to determine fair value:
INVESTMENTS IN
SECURITIES
(MARKET VALUE)
--------------
BALANCE AS OF 12/31/07 $89,356
Accrued discounts/(premiums) --
Realized gain/(loss) --
Change in unrealized appreciation/(depreciation) 0
Net purchases/(sales) --
Transfers in and/or out of Level 3 0
-------
BALANCE AS OF 09/30/08 $89,356
=======
In March 2008, the Financial Accounting Standards Board (the "FASB") issued
Statement of Financial Accounting Standard No. 161, "Disclosures about
Derivative Instruments and Hedging Activities" ("SFAS 161") that is effective
for fiscal years beginning after November 15, 2008. SFAS 161 is intended to
improve financial reporting for derivative instruments by requiring enhanced
disclosure that enables investors to understand how and why an entity uses
derivatives, how derivatives are accounted for, and how derivative instruments
affect an entity's results of operations and financial position. Management is
currently evaluating the implications of SFAS 161 on the Fund's financial
statement disclosures.
2. SWAP AGREEMENTS. The Fund may enter into equity, contract for difference, and
interest rate swap or cap transactions. The use of swaps and caps is a highly
specialized activity that involves investment techniques and risks different
from those associated with ordinary portfolio security transactions. A swap
agreement may involve, to varying degrees, elements of market and counterparty
risk and exposure to loss in excess of the related amounts reflected in the
Statement of Assets and Liabilities. In an interest rate swap, the Fund would
agree to pay to the other party to the interest rate swap (which is known as the
"counterparty") periodically a fixed rate payment in exchange for the
counterparty agreeing to pay to the Fund periodically a variable rate payment
that is intended to approximate the Fund's variable rate payment obligation on
Series C Preferred Stock and Series E Preferred Stock. In an interest rate cap,
the Fund would pay a premium to the counterparty and, to the extent that a
specified variable rate index exceeds a predetermined fixed rate, would receive
from that counterparty payments of the difference based on the notional amount
of such cap. In a swap, a set of future cash flows are exchanged between two
counterparties. One of these cash flow streams will typically be based on a
reference interest rate combined with the performance of a notional value of
shares of a stock. The other will be based on the performance of the shares of a
stock. Swap and cap transactions introduce additional risk because the Fund
would remain obligated to pay preferred stock dividends when due in accordance
with the Articles Supplementary even if the counterparty defaulted. If there is
a default by the counterparty to a swap contract, the Fund will be limited to
contractual remedies pursuant to the agreements related to the transaction.
There is no assurance that the swap contract counterparties will be able to meet
their obligations pursuant to a swap contract or that, in the event of default,
the Fund will succeed in pursuing contractual remedies. The Fund thus assumes
the risk that it may be delayed in or prevented from obtaining payments owed to
it pursuant to a swap contract. The creditworthiness of the swap contract
counterparties is closely monitored in order to minimize this risk. Depending on
the general state of short-term interest rates and the returns on the Fund's
portfolio securities at that point in time, such a default could negatively
affect the Fund's ability to make dividend payments. In addition, at the time a
swap or cap transaction reaches its scheduled termination date, there is a risk
that the Fund will not be able to obtain a replacement transaction or that the
terms of the replacement will not be as favorable as on the expiring
transaction.
13
THE GABELLI EQUITY TRUST INC.
NOTES TO SCHEDULE OF INVESTMENTS (CONTINUED) (UNAUDITED)
The use of derivative instruments involves, to varying degrees, elements of
market and counterparty risk in excess of the amount recognized below.
At September 30, 2008, there were no open interest rate swap agreements.
The Fund has entered into a contract for difference swap agreement with Bear,
Stearns International Limited. Details of the swap at September 30, 2008 as
follows:
NOTIONAL EQUITY SECURITY INTEREST RATE/ TERMINATION NET UNREALIZED
AMOUNT RECEIVED EQUITY SECURITY PAID DATE DEPRECIATION
--------------------------- --------------------- ------------------------ ----------- --------------
Overnight LIBOR plus
Market Value 40 bps plus Market Value
Appreciation on: Depreciation on:
$1,371,396 (200,000 Shares) Rolls-Royce Group plc Rolls-Royce Group plc 09/15/09 $(180,747)
14
DIRECTORS AND OFFICERS
THE GABELLI EQUITY TRUST INC.
ONE CORPORATE CENTER, RYE, NY 10580-1422
DIRECTORS
Mario J. Gabelli, CFA
CHAIRMAN & CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER,
GAMCO INVESTORS, INC.
Dr. Thomas E. Bratter
PRESIDENT & FOUNDER, JOHN DEWEY ACADEMY
Anthony J. Colavita
ATTORNEY-AT-LAW,
ANTHONY J. COLAVITA, P.C.
James P. Conn
FORMER MANAGING DIRECTOR &
CHIEF INVESTMENT OFFICER,
FINANCIAL SECURITY ASSURANCE HOLDINGS LTD.
Frank J. Fahrenkopf, Jr.
PRESIDENT & CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER,
AMERICAN GAMING ASSOCIATION
Arthur V. Ferrara
FORMER CHAIRMAN & CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER,
GUARDIAN LIFE INSURANCE COMPANY OF AMERICA
Anthony R. Pustorino
CERTIFIED PUBLIC ACCOUNTANT,
PROFESSOR EMERITUS, PACE UNIVERSITY
Salvatore J. Zizza
CHAIRMAN, ZIZZA & CO., LTD.
OFFICERS
Bruce N. Alpert
PRESIDENT
Carter W. Austin
VICE PRESIDENT
Peter D. Goldstein
CHIEF COMPLIANCE OFFICER
Agnes Mullady
TREASURER AND SECRETARY
Marc C. Rinaldi
VICE PRESIDENT & OMBUDSMAN
INVESTMENT ADVISER
Gabelli Funds, LLC
One Corporate Center
Rye, New York 10580-1422
CUSTODIAN
The Bank of New York Mellon
COUNSEL
Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP
TRANSFER AGENT AND REGISTRAR
Computershare Trust Company, N.A.
STOCK EXCHANGE LISTING
5.875% 6.20%
Common Preferred Preferred
----------- --------- ---------
NYSE-Symbol: GAB GAB PrD GAB PrF
Shares Outstanding: 174,919,152 2,949,400 5,999,500
The Net Asset Value per share appears in the Publicly Traded Funds column, under
the heading "General Equity Funds," in Monday's The Wall Street Journal. It is
also listed in Barron's Mutual Funds/Closed End Funds section under the heading
"General Equity Funds."
The Net Asset Value per share may be obtained each day by calling (914) 921-5070
or visiting www.gabelli.com.
For general information about the Gabelli Funds, call 800-GABELLI
(800-422-3554), fax us at 914-921-5118, visit Gabelli Funds' Internet homepage
at: WWW.GABELLI.COM, or e-mail us at: closedend@gabelli.com
Notice is hereby given in accordance with Section 23(c) of the Investment
Company Act of 1940, as amended, that the Fund may, from time to time, purchase
shares of its common stock in the open market when the Fund's shares are trading
at a discount of 10% or more from the net asset value of the shares. The Fund
may also, from time to time, purchase shares of its preferred stock in the open
market when the preferred shares are trading at a discount to the liquidation
value.
THE GABELLI EQUITY TRUST INC.
ONE CORPORATE CENTER
RYE, NY 10580-1422
(914) 921-5070
WWW.GABELLI.COM
THIRD QUARTER REPORT
SEPTEMBER 30, 2008
GAB Q3/2008
ITEM 2. CONTROLS AND PROCEDURES.
(a) The registrant's principal executive and principal financial
officers, or persons performing similar functions, have concluded
that the registrant's disclosure controls and procedures (as
defined in Rule 30a-3(c) under the Investment Company Act of 1940,
as amended (the "1940 Act") (17 CFR 270.30a-3(c))) are effective,
as of a date within 90 days of the filing date of the report that
includes the disclosure required by this paragraph, based on their
evaluation of these controls and procedures required by Rule
30a-3(b) under the 1940 Act (17 CFR 270.30a-3(b)) and Rules
13a-15(b) or 15d-15(b) under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934,
as amended (17 CFR 240.13a-15(b) or 240.15d-15(b)).
(b) There were no changes in the registrant's internal control over
financial reporting (as defined in Rule 30a-3(d) under the 1940 Act
(17 CFR 270.30a-3(d)) that occurred during the registrant's last
fiscal quarter that have materially affected, or are reasonably
likely to materially affect, the registrant's internal control over
financial reporting.
ITEM 3. EXHIBITS.
Certifications pursuant to Rule 30a-2(a) under the 1940 Act and Section 302 of
the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 are attached hereto.
SIGNATURES
Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and the
Investment Company Act of 1940, the registrant has duly caused this report to be
signed on its behalf by the undersigned, thereunto duly authorized.
(Registrant) The Gabelli Equity Trust Inc.
--------------------------------------------------------------------
By (Signature and Title)* /s/ Bruce N. Alpert
-------------------------------------------------------
Bruce N. Alpert, Principal Executive Officer
Date November 24, 2008
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and the
Investment Company Act of 1940, this report has been signed below by the
following persons on behalf of the registrant and in the capacities and on the
dates indicated.
By (Signature and Title)* /s/ Bruce N. Alpert
-------------------------------------------------------
Bruce N. Alpert, Principal Executive Officer
Date November 24, 2008
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
By (Signature and Title)* /s/ Agnes Mullady
-------------------------------------------------------
Agnes Mullady,
Principal Financial Officer and Treasurer
Date November 24, 2008
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
* Print the name and title of each signing officer under his or her signature.