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
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The Gabelli Equity Trust Inc.
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(Exact name of registrant as specified in charter)
One Corporate Center
Rye, New York 10580-1422
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(Address of principal executive offices) (Zip code)
Bruce N. Alpert
Gabelli Funds, LLC
One Corporate Center
Rye, New York 10580-1422
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(Name and address of agent for service)
Registrant's telephone number, including area code: 1-800-422-3554
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Date of fiscal year end: December 31
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Date of reporting period: March 31, 2008
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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.
[LOGO]
THE GABELLI
EQUITY TRUST INC.
THE GABELLI EQUITY TRUST INC.
First Quarter Report
March 31, 2008
TO OUR SHAREHOLDERS,
The Gabelli Equity Trust's (the "Fund") net asset value ("NAV") total
return was (11.7)% during the first quarter of 2008, compared with declines of
9.4% and 6.9% for the Standard & Poor's ("S&P") 500 Index and the Dow Jones
Industrial Average, respectively. The total return for the Fund's publicly
traded shares was (6.3)% during the first quarter. On March 31, 2008, the Fund's
NAV per share was $7.94, while the price of the publicly traded shares closed at
$8.50 on the New York Stock Exchange.
Enclosed is the investment portfolio as of March 31, 2008.
COMPARATIVE RESULTS
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
AVERAGE ANNUAL RETURNS THROUGH MARCH 31, 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) .................. (11.70)% (4.35)% 10.68% 19.49% 8.01% 10.90% 11.42% 11.66%
INVESTMENT TOTAL RETURN (c) ........... (6.25) (1.29) 10.57 15.92 8.58 10.92 12.55 11.60
S&P 500 Index ............................ (9.44) (5.08) 5.84 11.32 3.50 9.45 10.94 10.54(d)
Dow Jones Industrial Average ............. (6.92) 1.57 7.75 11.46 5.51 11.23 12.31 11.90(d)
Nasdaq Composite Index ................... (14.07) (5.89) 4.46 11.19 2.19 8.29 9.45 8.63
(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 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.
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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 MARCH 31, 2008 (UNAUDITED)
OWNERSHIP AT
MARCH 31,
SHARES 2008
------------ ------------
NET PURCHASES
COMMON STOCKS
American International Group Inc. .................................................................. 5,000 60,000
Baxter International Inc. .......................................................................... 17,000 17,000
BEA Systems Inc. ................................................................................... 450,000 450,000
Becton Dickinson & Co. ............................................................................. 2,000 2,000
BP plc ............................................................................................. 10,000 100,000
BPW Acquisition Corp. .............................................................................. 300,000 300,000
British American Tobacco plc ....................................................................... 25,000 25,000
ChoicePoint Inc. ................................................................................... 185,000 215,000
Citadel Broadcasting Corp. ......................................................................... 200 10,343
Citigroup Inc. ..................................................................................... 40,000 350,000
CNH Global NV ...................................................................................... 15,000 15,000
Constellation Brands Inc., Cl. A ................................................................... 14,000 104,000
Corus Entertainment Inc., Cl. B, New York (a) ...................................................... 12,667 25,334
Corus Entertainment Inc., Cl. B, Toronto (a) ....................................................... 3,333 6,666
Diamond Offshore Drilling Inc. ..................................................................... 2,000 2,000
Diebold Inc. ....................................................................................... 80,000 80,000
DISH Network Corp., Cl. A .......................................................................... 133,700 133,700
E.I. du Pont de Nemours and Co. .................................................................... 5,000 30,000
EchoStar Corp., Cl. A .............................................................................. 26,740 26,740
Federal National Mortgage Association .............................................................. 40,000 40,000
Flowserve Corp. .................................................................................... 42,000 150,000
Fortress Investment Group LLC, Cl. A ............................................................... 8,000 20,000
FPL Group Inc. ..................................................................................... 400 25,000
General Motors Corp. ............................................................................... 50,000 150,000
Heineken NV ........................................................................................ 15,000 25,000
IDEX Corp. ......................................................................................... 5,000 320,000
Il Sole 24 Ore ..................................................................................... 33,000 2,000,000
Johnson & Johnson .................................................................................. 80,000 120,000
Legg Mason Inc. .................................................................................... 5,000 55,000
OWNERSHIP AT
MARCH 31,
SHARES 2008
------------ ------------
Liberty Media Corp. - Entertainment, Cl. A (b) ..................................................... 308,000 308,000
Loews Corp. ........................................................................................ 5,000 5,000
Macy's Inc. ........................................................................................ 95,000 135,000
Mandarin Oriental International Ltd. ............................................................... 50,000 3,811,000
MGM Mirage ......................................................................................... 105,788 135,788
Monster Worldwide Inc. ............................................................................. 50,000 50,000
O'Reilly Automotive Inc. ........................................................................... 110,000 110,000
PepsiAmericas Inc. ................................................................................. 65,000 600,000
Pernod-Ricard SA (a) ............................................................................... 30,100 51,200
Pfizer Inc. ........................................................................................ 20,000 450,000
Pinnacle Entertainment Inc. ........................................................................ 7,000 50,000
Rohm & Haas Co. .................................................................................... 40,000 40,000
Rolls-Royce Group plc, Cl. B (c) ................................................................... 59,040,000 107,520,000
Sara Lee Corp. ..................................................................................... 30,000 330,000
Schering-Plough Corp. .............................................................................. 10,000 110,000
Schroders plc ...................................................................................... 20,000 45,000
Sprint Nextel Corp. ................................................................................ 150,000 700,000
SUPERVALU Inc. ..................................................................................... 30,000 50,000
Swire Pacific Ltd., Cl. A .......................................................................... 69,000 69,000
Syngenta AG ........................................................................................ 3,500 3,500
Tenaris SA, ADR .................................................................................... 10,000 80,000
Tesco plc .......................................................................................... 10,000 110,000
The Bear Stearns Companies Inc. .................................................................... 32,000 50,000
Time Warner Inc. ................................................................................... 110,000 920,000
Tokyo Broadcasting System Inc. ..................................................................... 10,000 110,000
Tootsie Roll Industries Inc. (d) ................................................................... 3,565 122,385
Transocean Inc. .................................................................................... 3,000 3,000
UnitedHealth Group Inc. ............................................................................ 10,000 100,000
Visa Inc., Cl. A ................................................................................... 8,000 8,000
Vivendi ............................................................................................ 70,000 453,900
Walgreen Co. ....................................................................................... 15,000 65,000
Wal-Mart Stores Inc. ............................................................................... 35,000 50,000
Wells Fargo & Co. .................................................................................. 230,000 230,000
Whole Foods Market Inc. ............................................................................ 10,000 20,000
Yahoo! Inc. ........................................................................................ 45,000 190,000
2
THE GABELLI EQUITY TRUST INC.
PORTFOLIO CHANGES (CONTINUED)
QUARTER ENDED MARCH 31, 2008 (UNAUDITED)
OWNERSHIP AT
MARCH 31,
SHARES 2008
------------ ------------
NET SALES
COMMON STOCKS
ABG Sundal Collier ASA ............................................................................. (62,000) --
Altadis SA (e) ..................................................................................... (20,000) --
Assa Abloy AB, Cl. B ............................................................................... (50,000) --
China Petroleum & Chemical Corp., Cl. H ............................................................ (770,000) --
Clear Channel Communications Inc. .................................................................. (126,000) 174,000
Cognos Inc. (f) .................................................................................... (100,000) --
Consolidated Minerals Ltd. (g) ..................................................................... (280,000) --
EchoStar Communications Corp., Cl. A ............................................................... (133,700) --
EMI Group plc, ADR (h) ............................................................................. (79,500) --
Guangzhou R&F Properties Co. Ltd., Cl. H ........................................................... (140,000) --
Harrah's Entertainment Inc. (i) .................................................................... (70,000) --
Lighthouse Caledonia ASA ........................................................................... (8,075) --
Marine Harvest ..................................................................................... (950,000) --
MasterCard Inc., Cl. A ............................................................................. (8,500) 54,000
Northrop Grumman Corp. ............................................................................. (2,000) 78,000
Rowan Companies Inc. ............................................................................... (5,000) 200,000
SCMP Group Ltd. (j) ................................................................................ (261,319) --
Standard Chartered plc ............................................................................. (10,000) 45,000
The Mosaic Co. ..................................................................................... (4,000) 17,000
UBS AG ............................................................................................. (25,000) --
UniCredito Italiano SpA ............................................................................ (150,000) --
----------
(a) 2 for 1 stock split
(b) Spin-off - 4 new of Liberty Media Corp. - Entertainment, Cl. A shares for
every 1 Liberty Media Corp. - Capital, Cl. A share held
(c) Spin-off - 89.6 new of Rolls-Royce Group redeemable "B" shares for every 1
Rolls-Royce Group share held
(d) 3.00% stock dividend
(e) Tender Offer - $50.00 for every 1 share
(f) Cash Merger - $58.00 for every 1 share
(g) Tender Offer - $5.00 for every 1 share
(h) Cash Merger - $10.713246 for every 1 share
(i) Cash Merger - $90.00 for every 1 share
(j) Tender Offer - $2.75 for every 1 share
3
THE GABELLI EQUITY TRUST INC.
SCHEDULE OF INVESTMENTS
MARCH 31, 2008 (UNAUDITED)
MARKET
SHARES VALUE
------------ ---------------
COMMON STOCKS -- 97.7%
FOOD AND BEVERAGE -- 13.9%
85,000 Ajinomoto Co. Inc. .............................................................................. $ 861,256
40,000 Anheuser-Busch Companies Inc. ................................................................... 1,898,000
36,000 ARIAKE JAPAN Co. Ltd. ........................................................................... 492,977
24,000 Brown-Forman Corp., Cl. A ....................................................................... 1,661,760
110,000 Cadbury Schweppes plc ........................................................................... 1,208,347
180,000 Cadbury Schweppes plc, ADR ...................................................................... 7,959,600
80,000 Campbell Soup Co. ............................................................................... 2,716,000
32,000 Cermaq ASA ...................................................................................... 405,314
40,000 China Mengniu Dairy Co. Ltd. .................................................................... 116,670
20,000 Coca-Cola Enterprises Inc. ...................................................................... 484,000
57,000 Coca-Cola Hellenic Bottling Co. SA .............................................................. 2,654,679
104,000 Constellation Brands Inc., Cl. A+ ............................................................... 1,837,680
55,000 Corn Products International Inc. ................................................................ 2,042,700
300,000 Davide Campari-Milano SpA ....................................................................... 2,910,437
40,000 Dean Foods Co.+ ................................................................................. 803,600
60,000 Del Monte Foods Co. ............................................................................. 571,800
80,000 Diageo plc ...................................................................................... 1,613,115
224,000 Diageo plc, ADR ................................................................................. 18,215,680
90,000 Flowers Foods Inc. .............................................................................. 2,227,500
99,000 Fomento Economico Mexicano SAB de CV, ADR ....................................................... 4,136,220
180,000 General Mills Inc. .............................................................................. 10,778,400
368,000 Groupe Danone ................................................................................... 32,906,838
1,000,000 Grupo Bimbo SAB de CV, Cl. A .................................................................... 6,013,483
100,000 H.J. Heinz Co. .................................................................................. 4,697,000
20,000 Hain Celestial Group Inc.+ ...................................................................... 590,000
25,000 Heineken NV ..................................................................................... 1,452,061
200,000 ITO EN Ltd. ..................................................................................... 3,539,326
60,000 ITO EN Ltd., Preference ......................................................................... 677,769
90,000 Kellogg Co. ..................................................................................... 4,730,400
75,000 Kerry Group plc, Cl. A .......................................................................... 2,339,711
200,000 Kraft Foods Inc., Cl. A ......................................................................... 6,202,000
12,100 LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton SA ............................................................. 1,346,758
10,000 Meiji Seika Kaisha Ltd. ......................................................................... 50,863
70,000 Morinaga Milk Industry Co. Ltd. ................................................................. 214,185
5,000 Nestle SA ....................................................................................... 2,498,490
300,000 Nissin Food Products Co. Ltd. ................................................................... 10,112,359
600,000 PepsiAmericas Inc. .............................................................................. 15,318,000
315,000 PepsiCo Inc. .................................................................................... 22,743,000
51,200 Pernod-Ricard SA ................................................................................ 5,267,034
68,200 Ralcorp Holdings Inc.+ .......................................................................... 3,965,830
26,000 Remy Cointreau SA ............................................................................... 1,748,630
330,000 Sara Lee Corp. .................................................................................. 4,613,400
110,000 Tesco plc ....................................................................................... 827,396
200,000 The Coca-Cola Co. ............................................................................... 12,174,000
70,000 The Hershey Co. ................................................................................. 2,636,900
2,000 The J.M. Smucker Co. ............................................................................ 101,220
MARKET
SHARES VALUE
------------ ---------------
122,385 Tootsie Roll Industries Inc. .................................................................... $ 3,084,092
170,000 Wm. Wrigley Jr. Co. ............................................................................. 10,682,800
42,500 Wm. Wrigley Jr. Co., Cl. B ...................................................................... 2,643,500
550,000 YAKULT HONSHA Co. Ltd. .......................................................................... 17,049,559
---------------
245,822,339
---------------
FINANCIAL SERVICES -- 9.0%
2,800 Allianz SE ...................................................................................... 554,687
575,000 American Express Co. ............................................................................ 25,139,000
60,000 American International Group Inc. ............................................................... 2,595,000
8,000 Ameriprise Financial Inc. ....................................................................... 414,800
19,452 Argo Group International Holdings Ltd.+ ......................................................... 690,935
80,000 Aviva plc ....................................................................................... 980,412
158,600 AXA Asia Pacific Holdings Ltd. .................................................................. 797,196
90,000 Banco Santander SA, ADR ......................................................................... 1,794,600
143 Berkshire Hathaway Inc., Cl. A+ ................................................................. 19,076,200
7,500 Calamos Asset Management Inc., Cl. A ............................................................ 122,100
350,000 Citigroup Inc. .................................................................................. 7,497,000
155,000 Commerzbank AG, ADR ............................................................................. 4,897,395
148,000 Deutsche Bank AG ................................................................................ 16,731,400
40,000 Federal National Mortgage Association ........................................................... 1,052,800
20,000 Fortress Investment Group LLC, Cl. A ............................................................ 245,600
20,000 H&R Block Inc. .................................................................................. 415,200
20,000 Interactive Brokers Group Inc., Cl. A+ .......................................................... 513,400
180,000 Janus Capital Group Inc. ........................................................................ 4,188,600
52,000 JPMorgan Chase & Co. ............................................................................ 2,233,400
55,000 Legg Mason Inc. ................................................................................. 3,078,900
133,000 Leucadia National Corp. ......................................................................... 6,014,260
5,000 Loews Corp. ..................................................................................... 201,100
265,000 Marsh & McLennan Companies Inc. ................................................................. 6,452,750
65,000 Moody's Corp. ................................................................................... 2,263,950
2,000 Och-Ziff Capital Management Group LLC, Cl. A .................................................... 42,000
2,500 Prudential Financial Inc. ....................................................................... 195,625
45,000 Schroders plc ................................................................................... 837,716
45,000 Standard Chartered plc .......................................................................... 1,537,897
80,000 State Street Corp. .............................................................................. 6,320,000
20,000 SunTrust Banks Inc. ............................................................................. 1,102,800
150,000 T. Rowe Price Group Inc. ........................................................................ 7,500,000
5,000 The Allstate Corp. .............................................................................. 240,300
146,038 The Bank of New York Mellon Corp. ............................................................... 6,094,166
50,000 The Bear Stearns Companies Inc. ................................................................. 524,500
5,000 The Blackstone Group LP ......................................................................... 79,400
44,500 The Charles Schwab Corp. ........................................................................ 837,935
18,000 The Dun & Bradstreet Corp. ...................................................................... 1,464,840
188,000 The Midland Co. ................................................................................. 12,206,840
135,000 The Phoenix Companies Inc. ...................................................................... 1,648,350
3,000 The Travelers Companies Inc. .................................................................... 143,550
100,000 Waddell & Reed Financial Inc., Cl. A ............................................................ 3,213,000
See accompanying notes to schedule of investments.
4
THE GABELLI EQUITY TRUST INC.
SCHEDULE OF INVESTMENTS (CONTINUED)
MARCH 31, 2008 (UNAUDITED)
MARKET
SHARES VALUE
------------ ---------------
COMMON STOCKS (CONTINUED)
FINANCIAL SERVICES (CONTINUED)
230,000 Wells Fargo & Co. ............................................................................... $ 6,693,000
50,000 Westpac Banking Corp. ........................................................................... 1,085,257
---------------
159,717,861
---------------
ENERGY AND UTILITIES -- 7.5%
5,000 AGL Resources Inc. .............................................................................. 171,600
68,000 Allegheny Energy Inc. ........................................................................... 3,434,000
70,000 Apache Corp. .................................................................................... 8,457,400
800,000 Aquila Inc.+ .................................................................................... 2,568,000
100,000 BP plc .......................................................................................... 1,016,135
247,000 BP plc, ADR ..................................................................................... 14,980,550
105,000 CH Energy Group Inc. ............................................................................ 4,084,500
70,000 CMS Energy Corp. ................................................................................ 947,800
315,000 ConocoPhillips .................................................................................. 24,006,150
8,000 Constellation Energy Group Inc. ................................................................. 706,160
2,000 Diamond Offshore Drilling Inc. .................................................................. 232,800
60,000 DPL Inc. ........................................................................................ 1,538,400
14,000 DTE Energy Co. .................................................................................. 544,460
230,000 Duke Energy Corp. ............................................................................... 4,105,500
270,000 El Paso Corp. ................................................................................... 4,492,800
280,000 El Paso Electric Co.+ ........................................................................... 5,983,600
50,000 Energy East Corp. ............................................................................... 1,206,000
80,000 Exxon Mobil Corp. ............................................................................... 6,766,400
25,000 FPL Group Inc. .................................................................................. 1,568,500
210,000 Halliburton Co. ................................................................................. 8,259,300
32,000 Imperial Oil Ltd. ............................................................................... 1,677,237
20,000 Marathon Oil Corp. .............................................................................. 912,000
10,000 Mirant Corp.+ ................................................................................... 363,900
140,000 Mirant Corp., Escrow+ (a) ....................................................................... 0
2,000 Niko Resources Ltd., New York ................................................................... 162,210
1,000 Niko Resources Ltd., Toronto .................................................................... 81,105
10,000 NiSource Inc. ................................................................................... 172,400
240,000 Northeast Utilities ............................................................................. 5,889,600
19,000 Oceaneering International Inc.+ ................................................................. 1,197,000
1,300 PetroChina Co. Ltd., ADR ........................................................................ 162,903
27,000 Petroleo Brasileiro SA, ADR ..................................................................... 2,756,970
100,000 Progress Energy Inc., CVO+ (a) .................................................................. 33,000
200,000 Rowan Companies Inc. ............................................................................ 8,236,000
65,000 Saipem SpA ...................................................................................... 2,631,155
5,000 SJW Corp. ....................................................................................... 142,950
20,000 Southwest Gas Corp. ............................................................................. 559,200
120,000 Spectra Energy Corp. ............................................................................ 2,730,000
60,000 The AES Corp.+ .................................................................................. 1,000,200
24,128 Total SA ........................................................................................ 1,791,858
3,000 Transocean Inc.+ ................................................................................ 405,600
270,000 Westar Energy Inc. .............................................................................. 6,147,900
---------------
132,123,243
---------------
SHARES/ MARKET
UNITS VALUE
------------ ---------------
DIVERSIFIED INDUSTRIAL -- 6.6%
9,000 Acuity Brands Inc. .............................................................................. $ 386,550
163,000 Ampco-Pittsburgh Corp. .......................................................................... 7,007,370
155,000 Baldor Electric Co. ............................................................................. 4,340,000
24,000 Bayer AG ........................................................................................ 1,923,304
25,000 Bouygues SA ..................................................................................... 1,588,229
245,000 Cooper Industries Ltd., Cl. A ................................................................... 9,836,750
260,000 Crane Co. ....................................................................................... 10,491,000
77,500 CRH plc ......................................................................................... 2,946,275
300,000 Enodis plc ...................................................................................... 829,083
150,000 General Electric Co. ............................................................................ 5,551,500
210,000 Greif Inc., Cl. A ............................................................................... 14,265,300
18,000 Greif Inc., Cl. B ............................................................................... 1,100,340
450,000 Honeywell International Inc. .................................................................... 25,389,000
253,000 ITT Corp. ....................................................................................... 13,107,930
100,000 Park-Ohio Holdings Corp.+ ....................................................................... 1,571,000
1,000 Pentair Inc. .................................................................................... 31,900
2,000 Sulzer AG ....................................................................................... 2,644,245
69,000 Swire Pacific Ltd., Cl. A ....................................................................... 778,424
30,000 Technip SA ...................................................................................... 2,336,401
75,000 Trinity Industries Inc. ......................................................................... 1,998,750
200,000 Tyco International Ltd. ......................................................................... 8,810,000
---------------
116,933,351
---------------
TELECOMMUNICATIONS -- 5.3%
85,000 BCE Inc. ........................................................................................ 2,867,050
1,000 Bell Aliant Regional Communications Income Fund ................................................. 29,217
16,000 Bell Aliant Regional Communications Income Fund (a)(b) .......................................... 479,840
30,000 Brasil Telecom Participacoes SA, ADR ............................................................ 1,963,800
1,700,000 BT Group plc .................................................................................... 7,329,768
4,440,836 Cable & Wireless Jamaica Ltd. (c) ............................................................... 48,873
900,000 Cincinnati Bell Inc.+ ........................................................................... 3,834,000
90,000 Citizens Communications Co. ..................................................................... 944,100
110,000 Compania de Telecomunicaciones de Chile SA, ADR ................................................. 935,000
168,000 Deutsche Telekom AG, ADR ........................................................................ 2,785,440
5,000 France Telecom SA, ADR .......................................................................... 167,900
100,000 Koninklijke KPN NV .............................................................................. 1,689,269
15,000 Orascom Telecom Holding SAE, GDR ................................................................ 1,035,884
540,000 Qwest Communications International Inc. ......................................................... 2,446,200
700,000 Sprint Nextel Corp. ............................................................................. 4,683,000
186,554 Tele Norte Leste Participacoes SA, ADR .......................................................... 4,951,143
60,000 Tele2 AB, Cl. B ................................................................................. 1,133,485
48,000 Telecom Argentina SA, ADR+ ...................................................................... 1,016,640
1,450,000 Telecom Italia SpA .............................................................................. 3,033,185
228,000 Telefonica SA, ADR .............................................................................. 19,724,280
See accompanying notes to schedule of investments.
5
THE GABELLI EQUITY TRUST INC.
SCHEDULE OF INVESTMENTS (CONTINUED)
MARCH 31, 2008 (UNAUDITED)
MARKET
SHARES VALUE
------------ ---------------
COMMON STOCKS (CONTINUED)
TELECOMMUNICATIONS (CONTINUED)
60,000 Telefonos de Mexico SAB de CV, Cl. L, ADR ....................................................... $ 2,256,000
254,000 Telephone & Data Systems Inc. ................................................................... 9,974,580
355,000 Telephone & Data Systems Inc., Special .......................................................... 13,241,500
15,000 TELUS Corp. ..................................................................................... 653,222
180,000 Verizon Communications Inc. ..................................................................... 6,561,000
5,169 Windstream Corp. ................................................................................ 61,770
---------------
93,846,146
---------------
CONSUMER PRODUCTS -- 5.1%
84,000 Avon Products Inc. .............................................................................. 3,321,360
25,000 British American Tobacco plc .................................................................... 938,238
42,000 Christian Dior SA ............................................................................... 4,648,837
15,000 Church & Dwight Co. Inc. ........................................................................ 813,600
30,000 Clorox Co. ...................................................................................... 1,699,200
69,000 Compagnie Financiere Richemont SA, Cl. A ........................................................ 3,870,003
112,000 Energizer Holdings Inc.+ ........................................................................ 10,133,760
60,000 Fortune Brands Inc. ............................................................................. 4,170,000
2,000 Givaudan SA ..................................................................................... 1,978,653
60,000 Hanesbrands Inc.+ ............................................................................... 1,752,000
32,000 Harley-Davidson Inc. ............................................................................ 1,200,000
175 Japan Tobacco Inc. .............................................................................. 876,053
2,000 Jarden Corp.+ ................................................................................... 43,480
35,000 Lenox Group Inc.+ ............................................................................... 61,950
15,000 Matsushita Electric Industrial Co. Ltd., ADR .................................................... 325,650
15,000 Mattel Inc. ..................................................................................... 298,500
21,000 National Presto Industries Inc. ................................................................. 1,100,400
2,000 Nintendo Co. Ltd. ............................................................................... 1,031,300
10,000 Oil-Dri Corp. of America ........................................................................ 178,900
112,000 Pactiv Corp.+ ................................................................................... 2,935,520
300,000 Procter & Gamble Co. ............................................................................ 21,021,000
60,000 Reckitt Benckiser Group plc ..................................................................... 3,323,477
30,000 Svenska Cellulosa AB, Cl. B+ .................................................................... 546,547
1,000,000 Swedish Match AB ................................................................................ 21,794,559
37,500 The Swatch Group AG ............................................................................. 1,925,788
---------------
89,988,775
---------------
ENTERTAINMENT -- 5.0%
100,000 Aruze Corp. ..................................................................................... 3,089,888
32,000 Canal+ Groupe ................................................................................... 342,022
2,002 Chestnut Hill Ventures+ (a) ..................................................................... 56,356
269,000 Discovery Holding Co., Cl. A+ ................................................................... 5,708,180
3,000 DreamWorks Animation SKG Inc., Cl. A+ ........................................................... 77,340
600,603 Gemstar-TV Guide International Inc.+ ............................................................ 2,822,834
700,000 Grupo Televisa SA, ADR .......................................................................... 16,968,000
MARKET
SHARES VALUE
------------ ---------------
308,000 Liberty Media Corp. - Entertainment, Cl. A+ ..................................................... $ 6,973,120
125 Live Nation Inc.+ ............................................................................... 1,516
50,000 Pinnacle Entertainment Inc.+ .................................................................... 640,000
500,000 Rank Group plc .................................................................................. 875,722
12,000 Regal Entertainment Group, Cl. A ................................................................ 231,480
75,000 Six Flags Inc.+ ................................................................................. 123,000
65,000 The Walt Disney Co. ............................................................................. 2,039,700
920,000 Time Warner Inc. ................................................................................ 12,898,400
110,000 Tokyo Broadcasting System Inc. .................................................................. 2,626,405
20,200 Triple Crown Media Inc.+ ........................................................................ 56,358
370,000 Viacom Inc., Cl. A+ ............................................................................. 14,663,100
453,900 Vivendi ......................................................................................... 17,735,787
---------------
87,929,208
---------------
CABLE AND SATELLITE -- 4.6%
1,550,000 Cablevision Systems Corp., Cl. A+ ............................................................... 33,216,500
65,000 Comcast Corp., Cl. A ............................................................................ 1,257,100
127,500 Comcast Corp., Cl. A, Special ................................................................... 2,418,675
133,700 DISH Network Corp., Cl. A+ ...................................................................... 3,841,201
26,740 EchoStar Corp., Cl. A+ .......................................................................... 789,900
156,770 Liberty Global Inc., Cl. A+ ..................................................................... 5,342,721
139,001 Liberty Global Inc., Cl. C+ ..................................................................... 4,514,752
500,690 Rogers Communications Inc., Cl. B, New York ..................................................... 17,984,785
19,310 Rogers Communications Inc., Cl. B, Toronto ..................................................... 694,554
160,000 Shaw Communications Inc., Cl. B, New York ....................................................... 2,908,800
40,000 Shaw Communications Inc., Cl. B, Toronto ........................................................ 731,843
300,000 The DIRECTV Group Inc.+ ......................................................................... 7,437,000
---------------
81,137,831
---------------
HEALTH CARE -- 4.4%
8,000 Abbott Laboratories ............................................................................. 441,200
130,000 Advanced Medical Optics Inc.+ ................................................................... 2,639,000
14,046 Allergan Inc. ................................................................................... 792,054
7,000 Alpharma Inc., Cl. A+ ........................................................................... 183,470
52,000 Amgen Inc.+ ..................................................................................... 2,172,560
19,146 AstraZeneca plc ................................................................................. 716,946
17,000 Baxter International Inc. ....................................................................... 982,940
2,000 Becton Dickinson & Co. .......................................................................... 171,700
35,000 Biogen Idec Inc.+ ............................................................................... 2,159,150
160,000 Boston Scientific Corp.+ ........................................................................ 2,059,200
135,000 Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. ........................................................................ 2,875,500
12,000 Cochlear Ltd. ................................................................................... 599,885
20,000 Covidien Ltd. ................................................................................... 885,000
45,036 GlaxoSmithKline plc ............................................................................. 952,793
4,000 GlaxoSmithKline plc, ADR ........................................................................ 169,720
5,000 Greatbatch Inc.+ ................................................................................ 92,050
See accompanying notes to schedule of investments.
6
THE GABELLI EQUITY TRUST INC.
SCHEDULE OF INVESTMENTS (CONTINUED)
MARCH 31, 2008 (UNAUDITED)
MARKET
SHARES VALUE
------------ ---------------
COMMON STOCKS (CONTINUED)
HEALTH CARE (CONTINUED)
30,000 Henry Schein Inc.+ .............................................................................. $ 1,722,000
18,000 Hospira Inc.+ ................................................................................... 769,860
40,000 Invitrogen Corp.+ ............................................................................... 3,418,800
120,000 Johnson & Johnson ............................................................................... 7,784,400
95,000 Merck & Co. Inc. ................................................................................ 3,605,250
2,000 Nobel Biocare Holding AG ........................................................................ 465,210
39,000 Novartis AG ..................................................................................... 1,998,892
102,000 Novartis AG, ADR ................................................................................ 5,225,460
450,000 Pfizer Inc. ..................................................................................... 9,418,500
16,400 Roche Holding AG ................................................................................ 3,086,457
10,000 Sanofi-Aventis .................................................................................. 750,225
110,000 Schering-Plough Corp. ........................................................................... 1,585,100
80,000 Smith & Nephew plc .............................................................................. 1,058,209
50,000 SSL International plc ........................................................................... 450,017
5,250 Straumann Holding AG ............................................................................ 1,498,716
12,500 Synthes Inc. .................................................................................... 1,748,313
19,000 Takeda Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd. .................................................................. 951,144
100,000 UnitedHealth Group Inc. ......................................................................... 3,436,000
82,000 William Demant Holding A/S+ ..................................................................... 6,553,542
100,000 Wyeth ........................................................................................... 4,176,000
3,500 Zimmer Holdings Inc.+ ........................................................................... 272,510
---------------
77,867,773
---------------
EQUIPMENT AND SUPPLIES -- 4.1%
265,000 AMETEK Inc. ..................................................................................... 11,636,150
4,000 Amphenol Corp., Cl. A ........................................................................... 149,000
94,000 CIRCOR International Inc. ....................................................................... 4,347,500
194,900 Donaldson Co. Inc. .............................................................................. 7,850,572
50,000 Fedders Corp.+ .................................................................................. 450
150,000 Flowserve Corp. ................................................................................. 15,657,000
23,000 Franklin Electric Co. Inc. ...................................................................... 785,910
90,000 Gerber Scientific Inc.+ ......................................................................... 800,100
75,000 GrafTech International Ltd.+ .................................................................... 1,215,750
320,000 IDEX Corp. ...................................................................................... 9,820,800
40,000 Ingersoll-Rand Co. Ltd., Cl. A .................................................................. 1,783,200
102,000 Lufkin Industries Inc. .......................................................................... 6,509,640
11,000 Mueller Industries Inc. ......................................................................... 317,350
2,000 Sealed Air Corp. ................................................................................ 50,500
80,000 Tenaris SA, ADR ................................................................................. 3,988,000
4,000 The Manitowoc Co. Inc. .......................................................................... 163,200
100,000 The Weir Group plc .............................................................................. 1,510,310
190,000 Watts Water Technologies Inc., Cl. A ............................................................ 5,325,700
---------------
71,911,132
---------------
PUBLISHING -- 3.8%
4,000 Idearc Inc. ..................................................................................... 14,560
2,000,000 Il Sole 24 Ore+ ................................................................................. 12,614,263
348,266 Independent News & Media plc .................................................................... 1,143,640
9,000 McClatchy Co., Cl. A ............................................................................ 96,300
SHARES/ MARKET
UNITS VALUE
------------ ---------------
320,000 Media General Inc., Cl. A ....................................................................... $ 4,486,400
122,000 Meredith Corp. .................................................................................. 4,666,500
1,540,000 News Corp., Cl. A ............................................................................... 28,875,000
20,000 News Corp., Cl. B ............................................................................... 380,800
63,666 PRIMEDIA Inc. ................................................................................... 467,945
66,585 Seat Pagine Gialle SpA .......................................................................... 11,521
160,000 The E.W. Scripps Co., Cl. A ..................................................................... 6,721,600
182,000 The McGraw-Hill Companies Inc. .................................................................. 6,724,900
55,000 The New York Times Co., Cl. A ................................................................... 1,038,400
---------------
67,241,829
---------------
BUSINESS SERVICES -- 2.5%
7,050 ACCO Brands Corp.+ .............................................................................. 95,669
14,000 Avis Budget Group Inc.+ ......................................................................... 148,680
300,000 BPW Acquisition Corp.+ .......................................................................... 2,868,000
30,500 Canon Inc. ...................................................................................... 1,404,444
215,000 ChoicePoint Inc.+ ............................................................................... 10,234,000
101,300 Clear Channel Outdoor Holdings Inc., Cl. A+ ..................................................... 1,925,713
186,554 Contax Participacoes SA, ADR .................................................................... 203,512
80,000 Diebold Inc. .................................................................................... 3,004,000
200,000 G4S plc ......................................................................................... 904,003
57,000 Jardine Matheson Holdings Ltd. .................................................................. 1,800,060
94,000 Landauer Inc. ................................................................................... 4,731,960
54,000 MasterCard Inc., Cl. A .......................................................................... 12,041,460
50,000 Monster Worldwide Inc.+ ......................................................................... 1,210,500
72,500 Nashua Corp.+ ................................................................................... 796,775
25,000 Secom Co. Ltd. .................................................................................. 1,213,884
40,000 The Interpublic Group of Companies Inc.+ ........................................................ 336,400
8,000 Visa Inc., Cl. A+ ............................................................................... 498,880
---------------
43,417,940
---------------
AUTOMOTIVE: PARTS AND ACCESSORIES -- 2.4%
2,000 BERU AG ......................................................................................... 234,130
86,000 BorgWarner Inc. ................................................................................. 3,700,580
182,000 CLARCOR Inc. .................................................................................... 6,470,100
82,500 Earl Scheib Inc.+ ............................................................................... 217,800
340,000 Genuine Parts Co. ............................................................................... 13,674,800
205,000 Johnson Controls Inc. ........................................................................... 6,929,000
130,000 Midas Inc.+ ..................................................................................... 2,234,700
317,500 Modine Manufacturing Co. ........................................................................ 4,600,575
110,000 O'Reilly Automotive Inc.+ ....................................................................... 3,137,200
160,000 Proliance International Inc.+ ................................................................... 291,200
175,000 Standard Motor Products Inc. .................................................................... 1,071,000
35,000 Superior Industries International Inc. .......................................................... 726,250
---------------
43,287,335
---------------
MACHINERY -- 2.1%
20,000 Caterpillar Inc. ................................................................................ 1,565,800
15,000 CNH Global NV ................................................................................... 780,450
See accompanying notes to schedule of investments.
7
THE GABELLI EQUITY TRUST INC.
SCHEDULE OF INVESTMENTS (CONTINUED)
MARCH 31, 2008 (UNAUDITED)
MARKET
SHARES VALUE
------------ ---------------
COMMON STOCKS (CONTINUED)
MACHINERY (CONTINUED)
425,000 Deere & Co. ..................................................................................... $ 34,187,000
8,000 SMC Corp. ....................................................................................... 843,499
---------------
37,376,749
---------------
HOTELS AND GAMING -- 1.9%
1,200 Accor SA ........................................................................................ 87,640
100,000 Crown Ltd.+ ..................................................................................... 959,596
190,000 Gaylord Entertainment Co.+ ...................................................................... 5,755,100
20,000 Home Inns & Hotels Management Inc., ADR+ ........................................................ 393,800
46,160 InterContinental Hotels Group plc ............................................................... 696,243
1,247,116 Ladbrokes plc ................................................................................... 7,703,671
6,000 Las Vegas Sands Corp.+ .......................................................................... 441,840
3,811,000 Mandarin Oriental International Ltd. ............................................................ 7,202,790
135,788 MGM Mirage+ ..................................................................................... 7,980,261
16,000 Orient-Express Hotels Ltd., Cl. A ............................................................... 690,560
34,000 Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide Inc. ........................................................ 1,759,500
---------------
33,671,001
---------------
SPECIALTY CHEMICALS -- 1.7%
41,000 Ashland Inc. .................................................................................... 1,939,300
5,400 Ciba Holding AG, ADR ............................................................................ 98,877
30,000 E.I. du Pont de Nemours and Co. ................................................................. 1,402,800
350,000 Ferro Corp. ..................................................................................... 5,201,000
4,000 FMC Corp. ....................................................................................... 221,960
45,000 H.B. Fuller Co. ................................................................................. 918,450
175,000 Hercules Inc. ................................................................................... 3,200,750
70,000 International Flavors & Fragrances Inc. ......................................................... 3,083,500
230,000 Omnova Solutions Inc.+ .......................................................................... 917,700
40,000 Rohm and Haas Co. ............................................................................... 2,163,200
275,000 Sensient Technologies Corp. ..................................................................... 8,109,750
165,000 Tokai Carbon Co. Ltd. ........................................................................... 1,668,539
4,032 Tronox Inc., Cl. B .............................................................................. 15,725
100,000 Zep Inc. ........................................................................................ 1,622,000
---------------
30,563,551
---------------
CONSUMER SERVICES -- 1.5%
200,000 IAC/InterActiveCorp+ ............................................................................ 4,152,000
210,000 Liberty Media Corp. - Interactive, Cl. A+ ....................................................... 3,389,400
1,110,000 Rollins Inc. .................................................................................... 19,635,900
---------------
27,177,300
---------------
AGRICULTURE -- 1.5%
490,000 Archer-Daniels-Midland Co. ...................................................................... 20,168,400
30,000 Monsanto Co. .................................................................................... 3,345,000
3,500 Syngenta AG ..................................................................................... 1,025,576
15,000 Syngenta AG, ADR ................................................................................ 877,650
17,000 The Mosaic Co.+ ................................................................................. 1,744,200
---------------
27,160,826
---------------
MARKET
SHARES VALUE
------------ ---------------
AVIATION: PARTS AND SERVICES -- 1.5%
350,000 Curtiss-Wright Corp. ............................................................................ $ 14,518,000
200,000 GenCorp Inc.+ ................................................................................... 2,058,000
96,500 Precision Castparts Corp. ....................................................................... 9,850,720
160,000 The Fairchild Corp., Cl. A+ ..................................................................... 364,800
---------------
26,791,520
---------------
AEROSPACE -- 1.4%
105,000 Boeing Co. ...................................................................................... 7,808,850
25,899 Kaman Corp. ..................................................................................... 732,683
10,000 Lockheed Martin Corp. ........................................................................... 993,000
78,000 Northrop Grumman Corp. .......................................................................... 6,069,180
1,200,000 Rolls-Royce Group plc+ .......................................................................... 9,597,714
107,520,000 Rolls-Royce Group plc, Cl. B .................................................................... 213,388
---------------
25,414,815
---------------
RETAIL -- 1.4%
100,000 AutoNation Inc.+ ................................................................................ 1,497,000
4,000 AutoZone Inc.+ .................................................................................. 455,320
40,000 Coldwater Creek Inc.+ ........................................................................... 202,000
40,000 Costco Wholesale Corp. .......................................................................... 2,598,800
70,000 CVS Caremark Corp. .............................................................................. 2,835,700
10,108 Denny's Corp.+ .................................................................................. 30,122
21,500 Hennes & Mauritz AB, Cl. B ...................................................................... 1,320,717
135,000 Macy's Inc. ..................................................................................... 3,113,100
27,000 Next plc ........................................................................................ 610,336
50,000 Sally Beauty Holdings Inc.+ ..................................................................... 345,000
50,000 SUPERVALU Inc. .................................................................................. 1,499,000
115,000 The Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Co. Inc.+ ...................................................... 3,015,300
50,000 Wal-Mart Stores Inc. ............................................................................ 2,634,000
65,000 Walgreen Co. .................................................................................... 2,475,850
20,000 Whole Foods Market Inc. ......................................................................... 659,400
73,000 Woolworths Ltd. ................................................................................. 1,934,728
---------------
25,226,373
---------------
BROADCASTING -- 1.3%
95,000 British Sky Broadcasting Group plc .............................................................. 1,049,229
433,000 CBS Corp., Cl. A ................................................................................ 9,569,300
10,343 Citadel Broadcasting Corp. ...................................................................... 17,169
174,000 Clear Channel Communications Inc. ............................................................... 5,084,280
2,000 Cogeco Inc. ..................................................................................... 59,428
25,334 Corus Entertainment Inc., Cl. B, New York ....................................................... 446,639
6,666 Corus Entertainment Inc., Cl. B, Toronto ........................................................ 116,961
120,000 Gray Television Inc. ............................................................................ 682,800
27,000 Gray Television Inc., Cl. A ..................................................................... 159,705
77,000 Liberty Media Corp. - Capital, Cl. A+ ........................................................... 1,211,980
85,000 Lin TV Corp., Cl. A+ ............................................................................ 816,850
120,000 Mediaset SpA .................................................................................... 1,110,181
See accompanying notes to schedule of investments.
8
THE GABELLI EQUITY TRUST INC.
SCHEDULE OF INVESTMENTS (CONTINUED)
MARCH 31, 2008 (UNAUDITED)
MARKET
SHARES VALUE
------------ ---------------
COMMON STOCKS (CONTINUED)
BROADCASTING (CONTINUED)
29,000 Modern Times Group MTG AB, Cl. B ................................................................ $ 2,020,583
100,000 Television Broadcasts Ltd. ...................................................................... 535,807
100,000 Young Broadcasting Inc., Cl. A+ ................................................................. 76,000
---------------
22,956,912
---------------
METALS AND MINING -- 1.3%
22,000 Alcoa Inc. ...................................................................................... 793,320
30,030 Anglo American plc .............................................................................. 1,804,649
89,148 Barrick Gold Corp. .............................................................................. 3,873,480
52,500 Harmony Gold Mining Co. Ltd.+ ................................................................... 629,547
35,000 Harmony Gold Mining Co. Ltd., ADR+ .............................................................. 414,400
75,000 Ivanhoe Mines Ltd.+ ............................................................................. 774,000
52,000 New Hope Corp. Ltd. ............................................................................. 126,886
155,000 Newmont Mining Corp. ............................................................................ 7,021,500
23,000 Rio Tinto plc ................................................................................... 2,388,692
69,666 Xstrata plc ..................................................................................... 4,876,496
---------------
22,702,970
---------------
COMMUNICATIONS EQUIPMENT -- 1.3%
480,000 Corning Inc. .................................................................................... 11,539,200
90,000 Motorola Inc. ................................................................................... 837,000
180,000 Nortel Networks Corp.+ .......................................................................... 1,204,200
235,000 Thomas & Betts Corp.+ ........................................................................... 8,546,950
---------------
22,127,350
---------------
WIRELESS COMMUNICATIONS -- 1.1%
96,000 America Movil SAB de CV, Cl. L, ADR ............................................................. 6,114,240
65,000 China Mobile Ltd. ............................................................................... 967,151
14,000 Clearwire Corp., Cl. A+ ......................................................................... 207,340
2,000 NTT DoCoMo Inc. ................................................................................. 3,029,695
3,340 Tele Norte Celular Participacoes SA, ADR ........................................................ 57,114
8,350 Telemig Celular Participacoes SA, ADR ........................................................... 473,111
32,165 Tim Participacoes SA, ADR ....................................................................... 1,038,608
100,000 United States Cellular Corp.+ ................................................................... 5,500,000
270 Vivo Participacoes SA+ .......................................................................... 1,924
174,122 Vivo Participacoes SA, ADR+ ..................................................................... 1,037,767
5,845 Vivo Participacoes SA, Preference+ .............................................................. 34,676
50,000 Vodafone Group plc, ADR ......................................................................... 1,475,500
---------------
19,937,126
---------------
ENVIRONMENTAL SERVICES -- 1.1%
97,500 Republic Services Inc. .......................................................................... 2,850,900
500,000 Waste Management Inc. ........................................................................... 16,780,000
---------------
19,630,900
---------------
MARKET
SHARES VALUE
------------ ---------------
ELECTRONICS -- 1.1%
5,000 Advanced Micro Devices Inc.+ .................................................................... $ 29,450
12,800 Bel Fuse Inc., Cl. A ............................................................................ 401,792
13,000 Fanuc Ltd. ...................................................................................... 1,236,356
5,000 Hitachi Ltd., ADR ............................................................................... 297,500
180,000 Intel Corp. ..................................................................................... 3,812,400
4,920 Keyence Corp. ................................................................................... 1,131,284
80,000 LSI Corp.+ ...................................................................................... 396,000
20,000 Molex Inc., Cl. A ............................................................................... 437,200
7,500 NEC Corp., ADR .................................................................................. 28,634
38,000 Royal Philips Electronics NV .................................................................... 1,456,920
265,000 Texas Instruments Inc. .......................................................................... 7,491,550
62,000 Tyco Electronics Ltd. ........................................................................... 2,127,840
---------------
18,846,926
---------------
COMPUTER SOFTWARE AND SERVICES -- 0.9%
8,000 Alibaba.com Ltd.+ ............................................................................... 16,570
450,000 BEA Systems Inc.+ ............................................................................... 8,617,500
10,000 Check Point Software Technologies Ltd.+ ......................................................... 224,000
24,100 Square Enix Co. Ltd. ............................................................................ 841,373
25,256 Telecom Italia Media SpA+ ....................................................................... 5,562
190,000 Yahoo! Inc.+ .................................................................................... 5,496,700
2,000 Yahoo! Japan Corp. .............................................................................. 1,039,326
---------------
16,241,031
---------------
AUTOMOTIVE -- 0.8%
150,000 General Motors Corp. ............................................................................ 2,857,500
125,000 Navistar International Corp.+ ................................................................... 7,518,750
96,750 PACCAR Inc. ..................................................................................... 4,353,750
---------------
14,730,000
---------------
REAL ESTATE -- 0.5%
70,000 Cheung Kong (Holdings) Ltd. ..................................................................... 993,877
55,500 Griffin Land & Nurseries Inc. ................................................................... 1,914,195
145,000 The St. Joe Co. ................................................................................. 6,224,850
---------------
9,132,922
---------------
TRANSPORTATION -- 0.5%
100,000 AMR Corp.+ ...................................................................................... 902,000
165,000 GATX Corp. ...................................................................................... 6,446,550
15,000 Grupo TMM SA, Cl. A, ADR+ ....................................................................... 30,000
70,000 Toll Holdings Ltd. .............................................................................. 641,010
---------------
8,019,560
---------------
CLOSED-END FUNDS -- 0.4%
31,500 Royce Value Trust Inc. .......................................................................... 493,920
104,000 The Central Europe and Russia Fund Inc. ......................................................... 4,932,720
70,000 The New Germany Fund Inc. ....................................................................... 1,081,500
---------------
6,508,140
---------------
See accompanying notes to schedule of investments.
9
THE GABELLI EQUITY TRUST INC.
SCHEDULE OF INVESTMENTS (CONTINUED)
MARCH 31, 2008 (UNAUDITED)
MARKET
SHARES VALUE
------------ ---------------
COMMON STOCKS (CONTINUED)
MANUFACTURED HOUSING AND
RECREATIONAL VEHICLES -- 0.1%
70,000 Champion Enterprises Inc.+ ...................................................................... $ 702,100
50,000 Fleetwood Enterprises Inc.+ ..................................................................... 230,000
31,000 Huttig Building Products Inc.+ .................................................................. 71,920
7,000 Martin Marietta Materials Inc. .................................................................. 743,190
10,000 Nobility Homes Inc. ............................................................................. 175,000
20,000 Skyline Corp. ................................................................................... 556,400
---------------
2,478,610
---------------
REAL ESTATE INVESTMENT TRUSTS -- 0.1%
2,000 Camden Property Trust ........................................................................... 100,400
2,187 Prosperity REIT ................................................................................. 464
24,984 Rayonier Inc. ................................................................................... 1,085,305
---------------
1,186,169
---------------
TOTAL COMMON STOCKS ............................................................................. 1,729,105,514
---------------
CONVERTIBLE PREFERRED STOCKS -- 0.2%
AEROSPACE -- 0.1%
13,500 Northrop Grumman Corp., 7.000% Cv. Pfd., Ser. B ................................................. 1,903,770
---------------
TELECOMMUNICATIONS -- 0.1%
25,000 Cincinnati Bell Inc., 6.750% Cv. Pfd., Ser. B ................................................... 1,060,000
---------------
TOTAL CONVERTIBLE PREFERRED STOCKS .............................................................. 2,963,770
---------------
PRINCIPAL
AMOUNT
------------
CONVERTIBLE CORPORATE BONDS -- 0.2%
RETAIL -- 0.1%
$ 3,000,000 The Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Co. Inc., Cv., 5.125%, 06/15/11 ................................ 2,977,500
---------------
AUTOMOTIVE: PARTS AND ACCESSORIES -- 0.1%
1,000,000 Standard Motor Products Inc., Sub. Deb. Cv., 6.750%, 07/15/09 ................................... 957,500
---------------
CONSUMER PRODUCTS -- 0.0%
1,000,000 Pillowtex Corp., Sub. Deb. Cv., 9.000%, 12/15/17 (a) ............................................ 0
---------------
TOTAL CONVERTIBLE CORPORATE BONDS ............................................................... 3,935,000
---------------
MARKET
SHARES VALUE
------------ ---------------
WARRANTS -- 0.0%
ENERGY AND UTILITIES -- 0.0%
12,183 Mirant Corp., Ser. A, expire 01/03/11+ .......................................................... $ 193,101
---------------
PRINCIPAL
AMOUNT
------------
U.S. GOVERNMENT OBLIGATIONS -- 1.9%
$ 34,521,000 U.S. Treasury Bills, 1.017% to 2.515%++, 04/03/08 to 09/18/08 (d) ............................... 34,415,685
---------------
TOTAL INVESTMENTS -- 100.0%
(Cost $1,408,836,848) ....................................................................................... $ 1,770,613,070
===============
Aggregate book cost ................................................................................ $ 1,408,836,848
---------------
Gross unrealized appreciation ...................................................................... $ 504,643,322
Gross unrealized depreciation ...................................................................... (142,867,100)
---------------
Net unrealized appreciation/depreciation ........................................................... $ 361,776,222
===============
NUMBER OF EXPIRATION UNREALIZED
CONTRACTS DATE DEPRECIATION
------------ ---------- ---------------
FUTURES CONTRACTS --
SHORT POSITION -- 0.0%
128 S & P 500 Index Futures ............................................................ 06/19/08 $ (142,125)
===============
----------
(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 March 31, 2008, the
market value of fair valued securities amounted to $569,196 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 March 31,
2008, the market value of Rule 144A security amounted to $479,840 or 0.03%
of total investments.
(c) At March 31, 2008, the Fund held an investment in a restricted security
amounting to $48,873 or 0.00% of total investments, which were valued
under methods approved by the Board of Directors as follows:
03/31/08
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 March 31, 2008, $400,000 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
See accompanying notes to schedule of investments.
10
THE GABELLI EQUITY TRUST INC.
SCHEDULE OF INVESTMENTS (CONTINUED)
MARCH 31, 2008 (UNAUDITED)
% OF
MARKET MARKET
GEOGRAPHIC DIVERSIFICATION VALUE VALUE
----------------------------------------- ------ ---------------
LONG POSITIONS
North America ........................... 73.3% $ 1,298,487,657
Europe .................................. 18.2 321,722,834
Latin America ........................... 4.7 83,989,626
Japan ................................... 3.1 54,633,732
Asia/Pacific ............................ 0.6 9,699,391
South Africa/Africa/Middle East ......... 0.1 2,079,830
------ ---------------
Total Investments ....................... 100.0% $ 1,770,613,070
====== ===============
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.
ADOPTION OF STATEMENT OF FINANCIAL ACCOUNTING STANDARDS NO. 157 "FAIR VALUE
MEASUREMENTS" ("SFAS 157")
On January 1, 2008, the Fund adopted 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:
o Level 1 - quoted prices in active markets for identical securities;
o Level 2 - other significant observable inputs (including quoted
prices for similar securities, interest rates, prepayment speeds,
credit risk, etc.); and
o 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 March 31, 2008 is as
follows:
INVESTMENTS IN OTHER FINANCIAL INSTRUMENTS
SECURITIES (UNREALIZED
VALUATION INPUTS (MARKET VALUE) DEPRECIATION)*
------------------------------------------------ --------------- ---------------------------
Level 1 - Quoted Prices $ 1,733,130,529 $ (142,125)
Level 2 - Other Significant Observable Inputs 37,393,185 (35,151)
Level 3 - Significant Unobservable Inputs 89,356
--------------- ----------
Total $ 1,770,613,070 $ (177,276)
=============== ==========
----------
* 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)
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 --
Net purchases (sales) --
Transfers in and/or out of Level 3 --
--------
BALANCE AS OF 3/31/08 $ 89,356
========
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 transactions. 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.
The use of derivative instruments may involve, to varying degrees, elements of
market and counterparty risk in excess of the amount recognized below.
At March 31, 2008, there were no open interest rate swap agreements.
13
THE GABELLI EQUITY TRUST INC.
NOTES TO SCHEDULE OF INVESTMENTS (CONTINUED) (UNAUDITED)
The Fund has entered into a contract for difference swap agreement with Bear,
Stearns International Limited. Details of the swap at March 31, 2008 as follows:
NOTIONAL EQUITY SECURITY INTEREST RATE/ TERMINATION NET UNREALIZED
AMOUNT RECEIVED EQUITY SECURITY PAID DATE DEPRECIATION
--------------------------- --------------------- -------------------------------- ----------- --------------
Market Value Overnight LIBOR plus 40 bps plus
Appreciation on: Market Value Depreciation on:
$1,690,183 (200,000 shares) Rolls-Royce Group plc Rolls-Royce Group plc 09/15/08 $(35,151)
14
DIRECTORS AND OFFICERS
THE GABELLI EQUITY TRUST INC.
ONE CORPORATE CENTER, RYE, NY 10580-1422
DIRECTORS OFFICERS
Mario J. Gabelli, CFA Bruce N. Alpert
CHAIRMAN & CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER, PRESIDENT
GAMCO INVESTORS, INC.
Carter W. Austin
Dr. Thomas E. Bratter VICE PRESIDENT
PRESIDENT & FOUNDER, JOHN DEWEY ACADEMY
Peter D. Goldstein
Anthony J. Colavita CHIEF COMPLIANCE OFFICER
ATTORNEY-AT-LAW,
ANTHONY J. COLAVITA, P.C. Agnes Mullady
TREASURER AND SECRETARY
James P. Conn
FORMER MANAGING DIRECTOR & LoAn P. Nguyen
CHIEF INVESTMENT OFFICER, VICE PRESIDENT & OMBUDSMAN
FINANCIAL SECURITY ASSURANCE HOLDINGS LTD.
Frank J. Fahrenkopf, Jr. INVESTMENT ADVISER
PRESIDENT & CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER, Gabelli Funds, LLC
AMERICAN GAMING ASSOCIATION One Corporate Center
Rye, New York 10580-1422
Arthur V. Ferrara
FORMER CHAIRMAN & CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER, CUSTODIAN
GUARDIAN LIFE INSURANCE COMPANY OF AMERICA Mellon Trust of New England, N.A.
Anthony R. Pustorino
CERTIFIED PUBLIC ACCOUNTANT, COUNSEL
PROFESSOR EMERITUS, PACE UNIVERSITY Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP
Salvatore J. Zizza TRANSFER AGENT AND REGISTRAR
CHAIRMAN, ZIZZA & CO., LTD. Computershare Trust Company, N.A.
STOCK EXCHANGE LISTING
5.875% 6.20%
Common Preferred Preferred
----------- --------- ---------
NYSE-Symbol: GAB GAB PrD GAB PrF
Shares Outstanding: 172,955,093 2,949,700 6,000,000
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
FIRST QUARTER REPORT
MARCH 31, 2008
GAB Q1/2008
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 May 29, 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 May 29, 2008
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
By (Signature and Title)* /s/ Agnes Mullady
-------------------------------------------------------
Agnes Mullady,
Principal Financial Officer and Treasurer
Date May 29, 2008
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
* Print the name and title of each signing officer under his or her signature.