Edgar Filing: Nuveen Core Equity Alpha Fund

nvq

UNITED STATES SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Washington, DC 20549

FORM N-Q

QUARTERLY SCHEDULE OF PORTFOLIO HOLDINGS OF REGISTERED MANAGEMENT INVESTMENT COMPANY

Investment Company Act file number 811-22003

Nuveen Core Equity Alpha Fund

(Exact name of registrant as specified in charter)

333 West Wacker Drive, Chicago, Illinois 60606
(Address of principal executive offices) (Zip code)

Kevin J. McCarthy—Vice President and Secretary
333 West Wacker Drive, Chicago, Illinois 60606
(Name and address of agent for service)

Registrant’s telephone number, including area code: 312-917-7700

Date of fiscal year end: 12/31

Date of reporting period: 3/31/2008

Form N-Q is to be used by management investment companies, other than small business investment companies registered on Form N-5 (§§ 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, 450 Fifth Street, NW, Washington, DC 20549-0609. The OMB has reviewed this collection of information under the clearance requirements of 44 U.S.C. § 3507.

TABLE OF CONTENTS


	Item 1. Schedule of Investments
	Item 2. Controls and Procedures
	Item 3. Exhibits
SIGNATURES
Certifications

Item 1. Schedule of Investments

Portfolio of Investments (Unaudited)

Nuveen Core Equity Alpha Fund (JCE)
March 31, 2008


Shares			Description (1)							Value


			Common Stocks – 95.6%

			Aerospace & Defense – 5.8%

	24,000		Boeing Company							$	1,784,880
	11,300		General Dynamics Corporation								942,081
	28,200		Goodrich Corporation								1,621,782
	45,600		Honeywell International Inc.								2,572,752
	4,300		L-3 Communications Holdings, Inc.								470,162
	34,400		Lockheed Martin Corporation								3,415,920
	5,800		Northrop Grumman Corporation								451,298
	30,300		Precision Castparts Corporation								3,093,024
	8,800		Raytheon Company								568,568
	300		Rockwell Collins, Inc.								17,145
	16,600		United Technologies Corporation								1,142,412

			Total Aerospace & Defense								16,080,024


			Air Freight & Logistics – 0.1%

	4,000		Expeditors International of Washington Inc.								180,720
	1,800		United Parcel Service, Inc., Class B								131,436

			Total Air Freight & Logistics								312,156


			Airlines – 0.1%

	10,900		Southwest Airlines Co.								135,160


			Auto Components – 0.8%

	6,400		Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company, (2)								165,120
	60,900		Johnson Controls, Inc.								2,058,420

			Total Auto Components								2,223,540


			Automobiles – 0.4%

	11,300		Ford Motor Company, (2)								64,636
	47,900		General Motors Corporation								912,495

			Total Automobiles								977,131


			Beverages – 4.6%

	19,800		Brown-Forman Corporation								1,311,156
	69,900		Coca-Cola Company								4,254,813
	60,300		Coca-Cola Enterprises Inc.								1,459,260
	39,200		Constellation Brands, Inc., Class A, (2)								692,664
	9,400		Molson Coors Brewing Company, Class B								494,158
	33,300		Pepsi Bottling Group, Inc.								1,129,203
	45,300		PepsiCo, Inc.								3,270,660

			Total Beverages								12,611,914


			Biotechnology – 0.5%

	2,000		Amgen Inc., (2)								83,560
	4,200		Biogen Idec Inc., (2)								259,098
	12,900		Celgene Corporation, (2)								790,641
	1,700		Genzyme Corporation, (2)								126,718
	1,500		Gilead Sciences, Inc., (2)								77,295

			Total Biotechnology								1,337,312


			Building Products – 0.0%

	700		American Standard Companies Inc.								32,130


			Capital Markets – 0.5%

	7,800		Charles Schwab Corporation								146,874
	400		Franklin Resources, Inc.								38,796
	3,300		Goldman Sachs Group, Inc.								545,787
	9,600		JPMorgan Chase & Co.								412,320
	6,700		T. Rowe Price Group Inc.								335,000

			Total Capital Markets								1,478,777


			Chemicals – 1.4%

	10,700		Air Products & Chemicals Inc.								984,400
	7,600		Dow Chemical Company								280,060
	2,000		Ecolab Inc.								86,860
	600		International Flavors & Fragrances Inc.								26,430
	25,300		PPG Industries, Inc.								1,530,903
	8,200		Praxair, Inc.								690,686
	3,700		Sigma-Aldrich Corporation								220,705

			Total Chemicals								3,820,044


			Commercial Banks – 2.5%

	94,100		Bank of America Corporation								3,567,331
	15,400		BB&T Corporation								493,724
	1,800		Comerica Incorporated								63,144
	5,000		Fifth Third Bancorp.								104,600
	5,000		M&T Bank Corporation								402,400
	17,000		Marshall and Ilsley Corporation								394,400
	7,900		Northern Trust Corporation								525,113
	2,000		PNC Financial Services Group, Inc.								131,140
	2,100		SunTrust Banks, Inc.								115,794
	7,953		Toronto-Dominion Bank								487,894
	22,800		Wells Fargo & Company								663,480

			Total Commercial Banks								6,949,020


			Commercial Services & Supplies – 0.1%

	2,100		Cintas Corporation								59,934
	1,700		Equifax Inc.								58,616
	1,800		R.R. Donnelley & Sons Company								54,558
	2,200		Waste Management, Inc.								73,832

			Total Commercial Services & Supplies								246,940


			Communications Equipment – 2.2%

	12,500		Ciena Corporation, (2)								385,375
	156,300		Cisco Systems, Inc., (2)								3,765,267
	15,700		Corning Incorporated								377,428
	54,100		Juniper Networks Inc., (2)								1,352,500
	24,900		Motorola, Inc.								231,570

			Total Communications Equipment								6,112,140


			Computers & Peripherals – 4.5%

	22,400		Apple, Inc., (2)								3,214,400
	30,500		Dell Inc., (2)								607,560
	101,800		EMC Corporation, (2)								1,459,812
	87,900		Hewlett-Packard Company								4,013,514
	26,000		International Business Machines Corporation (IBM)								2,993,640
	2,100		SanDisk Corporation, (2)								47,397
	6,900		Teradata Corporation, (2)								152,214

			Total Computers & Peripherals								12,488,537


			Construction & Engineering – 0.9%

	8,800		Fluor Corporation								1,242,208
	16,100		Jacobs Engineering Group Inc., (2)								1,184,799

			Total Construction & Engineering								2,427,007


			Construction Materials – 0.1%

	4,800		Vulcan Materials Company								318,720


			Consumer Finance – 0.3%

	2,700		American Express Company								118,044
	1,400		Capital One Financial Corporation								68,908
	38,200		SLM Corporation, (2)								586,370

			Total Consumer Finance								773,322


			Containers & Packaging – 0.1%

	4,400		Ball Corporation								202,136


			Diversified Consumer Services – 0.5%

	26,500		Apollo Group, Inc., (2)								1,144,800
	12,100		H & R Block Inc.								251,196

			Total Diversified Consumer Services								1,395,996


			Diversified Financial Services – 1.6%

	103,900		Citigroup Inc.								2,225,538
	600		CME Group, Inc.								281,460
	1,600		Intercontinental Exchange Inc., (2)								208,800
	38,200		Leucadia National Corporation								1,727,404
	200		New York Stock Exchange Euronext								12,342

			Total Diversified Financial Services								4,455,544


			Diversified Telecommunication Services – 5.4%

	297,800		AT&T Inc.								11,405,740
	600		CenturyTel, Inc.								19,944
	19,000		Embarq Corporation								761,900
	38,700		Sprint Nextel Corporation								258,903
	70,800		Verizon Communications Inc.								2,580,660
	1,500		Windstream Corporation								17,925

			Total Diversified Telecommunication Services								15,045,072


			Electric Utilities – 4.8%

	4,800		Allegheny Energy, Inc.								242,400
	9,500		Ameren Corporation								418,380
	28,400		American Electric Power Company, Inc.								1,182,292
	8,700		Edison International								426,474
	26,600		Entergy Corporation								2,901,528
	4,900		Exelon Corporation								398,223
	17,800		FirstEnergy Corp.								1,221,436
	49,800		FPL Group, Inc.								3,124,452
	8,500		PG&E Corporation								312,970
	69,000		PPL Corporation								3,168,480

			Total Electric Utilities								13,396,635


			Electrical Equipment – 0.4%

	16,800		Cooper Industries, Ltd., Class A, (2)								674,520
	9,500		Rockwell Automation, Inc.								545,490

			Total Electrical Equipment								1,220,010


			Electronic Equipment & Instruments – 1.1%

	8,800		MEMC Electronic Materials, (2)								623,920
	5,800		Molex Inc.								134,328
	34,700		Thermo Fisher Scientific, Inc., (2)								1,972,348
	6,700		Waters Corporation, (2)								373,190

			Total Electronic Equipment & Instruments								3,103,786


			Energy Equipment & Services – 3.2%

	9,700		Baker Hughes Incorporated								664,450
	6,200		Cooper Cameron Corporation, (2)								258,168
	39,300		National-Oilwell Varco Inc., (2)								2,294,334
	5,300		Noble Corporation								263,251
	400		Rowan Companies Inc.								16,472
	30,200		Schlumberger Limited								2,627,400
	19,300		Smith International, Inc.								1,239,639
	4,546		Transocean Inc., (2)								614,619
	10,600		Weatherford International Ltd, (2)								768,182

			Total Energy Equipment & Services								8,746,515


			Food & Staples Retailing – 2.5%

	43,200		CVS Caremark Corporation								1,750,032
	89,800		Kroger Co.								2,280,920
	35,100		Safeway Inc.								1,030,185
	28,800		SUPERVALU INC.								863,424
	4,600		Sysco Corporation								133,492
	2,600		Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.								136,968
	22,300		Whole Foods Market, Inc.								735,231

			Total Food & Staples Retailing								6,930,252


			Food Products – 1.7%

	2,500		Archer-Daniels-Midland Company								102,900
	1,600		ConAgra Foods, Inc.								38,320
	500		Dean Foods Company, (2)								10,045
	5,000		General Mills, Inc.								299,400
	15,900		H.J. Heinz Company								746,823
	19,600		Kellogg Company								1,030,176
	11,400		Kraft Foods Inc.								353,514
	7,100		Monsanto Company								791,650
	49,000		Tyson Foods, Inc., Class A								781,550
	7,000		Wm. Wrigley Jr. Company								439,880

			Total Food Products								4,594,258


			Gas Utilities – 0.2%

	7,400		Questar Corporation								418,544


			Health Care Equipment & Supplies – 2.3%

	7,900		Applera Corporation-Applied Biosystems Group								259,594
	40,200		Baxter International Inc.								2,324,364
	300		Becton, Dickinson and Company								25,755
	600		C. R. Bard, Inc.								57,840
	1,800		Cardinal Health, Inc.								94,518
	2,700		Hospira Inc., (2)								115,479
	900		Medtronic, Inc.								43,533
	10,900		Patterson Companies Inc., (2)								395,670
	39,300		Stryker Corporation								2,556,465
	7,600		Zimmer Holdings, Inc., (2)								591,736

			Total Health Care Equipment & Supplies								6,464,954


			Health Care Providers & Services – 2.9%

	9,400		Aetna Inc.								395,646
	52,200		CIGNA Corporation								2,117,754
	4,100		Coventry Health Care, Inc., (2)								165,435
	10,100		Express Scripts, Inc., (2)								649,632
	100		McKesson HBOC Inc.								5,237
	74,100		Medco Health Solutions, Inc., (2)								3,244,839
	33,700		Quest Diagnostics Incorporated								1,525,599
	500		UnitedHealth Group Incorporated								17,180

			Total Health Care Providers & Services								8,121,322


			Health Care Technology – 0.1%

	11,500		IMS Health Incorporated								241,615


			Hotels, Restaurants & Leisure – 1.3%

	55,400		McDonald’s Corporation								3,089,658
	4,900		Wyndham Worldwide Corporation								101,332
	7,200		YUM! Brands, Inc.								267,912

			Total Hotels, Restaurants & Leisure								3,458,902
	h

			Household Durables – 0.3%

	2,300		Black & Decker Corporation								152,030
	3,000		Centex Corporation								72,630
	3,500		D.R. Horton, Inc.								55,125
	2,200		Fortune Brands Inc.								152,900
	1,000		Harman International Industries Inc.								43,540
	17,200		Pulte Corporation								250,260
	2,600		Whirlpool Corporation								225,628

			Total Household Durables								952,113


			Household Products – 2.9%

	35,700		Colgate-Palmolive Company								2,781,387
	1,800		Kimberly-Clark Corporation								116,190
	74,600		Procter & Gamble Company								5,227,222

			Total Household Products								8,124,799


			Independent Power Producers & Energy Traders – 0.7%

	23,300		Constellation Energy Group								2,056,691


			Industrial Conglomerates – 4.4%

	17,400		3M Co.								1,377,210
	262,100		General Electric Company								9,700,321
	19,600		Textron Inc.								1,086,232

			Total Industrial Conglomerates								12,163,763


			Insurance – 2.7%

	11,000		AFLAC Incorporated								714,450
	2,700		Allstate Corporation								129,762
	14,400		American International Group, Inc.								622,800
	1,400		Aon Corporation								56,280
	3,200		Cincinnati Financial Corporation								121,728
	91,300		Loews Corporation								3,672,086
	21,900		MBIA Inc.								267,618
	4,400		MetLife, Inc.								265,144
	16,100		Progressive Corporation								258,727
	5,700		Prudential Financial, Inc.								446,025
	3,400		Travelers Companies, Inc.								162,690
	27,400		Unum Group								603,074
	3,700		XL Capital Ltd, Class A								109,335

			Total Insurance								7,429,719


			Internet & Catalog Retail – 1.2%

	41,000		Amazon.com, Inc., (2)								2,923,300
	20,500		Expedia, Inc., (2)								448,745

			Total Internet & Catalog Retail								3,372,045


			Internet Software & Services – 0.6%

	3,600		Google Inc., Class A, (2)								1,585,692


			IT Services – 0.2%

	10,900		Fidelity National Information Services								415,726


			Leisure Equipment & Products – 0.1%

	6,400		Eastman Kodak Company								113,088
	2,300		Hasbro, Inc.								64,170
	9,300		Mattel, Inc.								185,070

			Total Leisure Equipment & Products								362,328


			Life Sciences Tools & Services – 0.1%

	11,700		Perkinelmer Inc.								283,725


			Machinery – 3.3%

	23,600		Caterpillar Inc.								1,847,644
	32,500		Cummins Inc.								1,521,650
	1,000		Danaher Corporation								76,030
	9,300		Deere & Company								748,092
	1,400		Dover Corporation								58,492
	4,400		Eaton Corporation								350,548
	7,900		Illinois Tool Works Inc.								381,017
	38,900		Ingersoll Rand Company Limited, Class A								1,734,162
	1,000		ITT Industries Inc.								51,810
	2,600		Manitowoc Company Inc.								106,080
	28,300		PACCAR Inc.								1,273,500
	10,400		Pall Corporation								364,728
	2,400		Parker Hannifin Corporation								166,248
	7,600		Terex Corporation, (2)								475,000

			Total Machinery								9,155,001


			Media – 2.1%

	2,500		CBS Corporation, Class B								55,200
	28,300		Clear Channel Communications, Inc.								826,926
	82,300		Comcast Corporation, Class A								1,591,682
	44,800		DIRECTV Group, Inc., (2)								1,110,592
	1,700		E.W. Scripps Company, Class A								71,417
	59,400		News Corporation, Class A								1,113,750
	3,000		Omnicom Group Inc.								132,540
	18,700		Walt Disney Company								586,806
	400		Washington Post Company								264,600

			Total Media								5,753,513


			Metals & Mining – 0.7%

	9,500		Alcoa Inc.								342,570
	2,300		Allegheny Technologies, Inc.								164,128
	5,900		CONSOL Energy Inc.								408,221
	4,500		Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold, Inc.								432,990
	5,500		United States Steel Corporation								697,785

			Total Metals & Mining								2,045,694


			Multiline Retail – 0.3%

	1,700		Big Lots, Inc., (2)								37,910
	900		Costco Wholesale Corporation								58,473
	11,400		Kohl’s Corporation, (2)								488,946
	1,300		Sears Holding Corporation, (2)								132,717
	3,900		Target Corporation								197,652

			Total Multiline Retail								915,698


			Multi-Utilities – 0.7%

	14,100		Dynegy Inc., (2)								111,249
	46,000		Public Service Enterprise Group Incorporated								1,848,740
	1,000		Sempra Energy								53,280

			Total Multi-Utilities								2,013,269


			Oil, Gas & Consumable Fuels – 9.4%

	10,200		Anadarko Petroleum Corporation								642,906
	2,100		Apache Corporation								253,722
	1,700		Chesapeake Energy Corporation								78,455
	54,500		Chevron Corporation								4,652,120
	32,900		ConocoPhillips								2,507,309
	800		Devon Energy Corporation								83,464
	147,900		Exxon Mobil Corporation								12,509,382
	600		Hess Corporation								52,908
	31,200		Marathon Oil Corporation								1,422,720
	10,600		Murphy Oil Corporation								870,684
	17,600		Occidental Petroleum Corporation								1,287,792
	1,000		Peabody Energy Corporation								51,000
	700		Range Resources Corporation								44,415
	6,800		Tesoro Petroleum Corporation								204,000
	23,000		Valero Energy Corporation								1,129,530
	1,700		Williams Companies, Inc.								56,066
	3,950		XTO Energy, Inc.								244,347

			Total Oil, Gas & Consumable Fuels								26,090,820


			Paper & Forest Products – 0.2%

	3,300		International Paper Company								89,760
	3,300		MeadWestvaco Corporation								89,826
	3,700		Weyerhaeuser Company								240,648

			Total Paper & Forest Products								420,234


			Personal Products – 0.2%

	9,200		Avon Products, Inc.								363,768
	3,800		Estee Lauder Companies Inc., Class A								174,230

			Total Personal Products								537,998


			Pharmaceuticals – 5.6%

	43,600		Abbott Laboratories								2,404,540
	1,200		Allergan, Inc.								67,668
	68,100		Bristol-Myers Squibb Company								1,450,530
	15,300		Eli Lilly and Company								789,327
	28,400		Johnson & Johnson								1,842,308
	163,400		Merck & Co. Inc.								6,201,030
	46,000		Pfizer Inc.								962,780
	103,800		Schering-Plough Corporation								1,495,758
	6,600		Watson Pharmaceuticals Inc., (2)								193,512

			Total Pharmaceuticals								15,407,453


			Real Estate – 0.0%

	3,300		Plum Creek Timber Company								134,310


			Road & Rail – 0.3%

	5,300		CSX Corporation								297,171
	4,000		Union Pacific Corporation								501,520

			Total Road & Rail								798,691


			Semiconductors & Equipment – 1.6%

	40,400		Advanced Micro Devices, Inc., (2)								237,956
	7,200		Altera Corporation								132,696
	17,000		Analog Devices, Inc.								501,840
	3,500		Applied Materials, Inc.								68,285
	67,700		Intel Corporation								1,433,886
	1,500		KLA-Tencor Corporation								55,650
	14,000		Linear Technology Corporation								429,660
	3,600		Microchip Technology Incorporated								117,828
	60,700		Micron Technology, Inc., (2)								362,379
	7,200		National Semiconductor Corporation								131,904
	6,500		NVIDIA Corporation, (2)								128,635
	26,800		Texas Instruments Incorporated								757,636

			Total Semiconductors & Equipment								4,358,355


			Software – 2.1%

	1,600		Autodesk, Inc., (2)								50,368
	7,500		Citrix Systems, (2)								219,975
	5,700		Compuware Corporation, (2)								41,838
	1,600		Electronic Arts Inc. (EA), (2)								79,872
	7,500		Intuit Inc., (2)								202,575
	92,100		Microsoft Corporation								2,613,798
	92,400		Oracle Corporation, (2)								1,807,344
	30,600		Symantec Corporation, (2)								508,572
	9,500		VeriSign, Inc., (2)								315,780

			Total Software								5,840,122


			Specialty Retail – 1.1%

	2,300		Abercrombie & Fitch Co., Class A								168,222
	4,000		AutoNation Inc., (2)								59,880
	900		AutoZone, Inc., (2)								102,447
	5,200		Best Buy Co., Inc.								215,592
	18,100		GameStop Corporation, (2)								935,951
	7,100		Gap, Inc.								139,728
	5,400		Office Depot, Inc., (2)								59,670
	9,900		RadioShack Corporation								160,875
	100		Sherwin-Williams Company								5,104
	17,600		Tiffany & Co.								736,384
	10,200		TJX Companies, Inc.								337,314

			Total Specialty Retail								2,921,167


			Textiles, Apparel & Luxury Goods – 1.1%

	26,100		Coach, Inc., (2)								786,915
	16,100		Nike, Inc., Class B								1,094,800
	500		Polo Ralph Lauren Corporation								29,145
	14,700		VF Corporation								1,139,397

			Total Textiles, Apparel & Luxury Goods								3,050,257


			Thrifts & Mortgage Finance – 0.6%

	8,800		Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation								222,816
	18,600		Federal National Mortgage Association								489,552
	25,400		Hudson City Bancorp, Inc.								449,072
	40,300		Washington Mutual, Inc.								415,090

			Total Thrifts & Mortgage Finance								1,576,530


			Tobacco – 0.2%

	8,100		Altria Group, Inc.								179,820
	8,100		Philip Morris International, (2)								409,698

			Total Tobacco								589,518


			Trading Companies & Distributors – 0.0%

	1,700		W.W. Grainger, Inc.								129,863


			Wireless Telecommunication Services – 0.0%

	2,000		American Tower Corporation, (2)								78,420

			Total Common Stocks (cost $277,623,172)								264,682,929


Principal
Amount (000)			Description (1)		Coupon		Maturity			Value


			Short-Term Investments – 6.1%

			U.S. Government and Agency Obligations – 2.1%

$	6,000		U.S. Treasury Bills		0.000%		4/17/08			$	5,994,347


			Repurchase Agreements – 4.0%

	11,062		Repurchase Agreement with State Street Bank, dated 3/31/08, repurchase price $11,061,990, collateralized by $9,745,000 U.S. Treasury Bonds, 5.375%, due 2/15/31, value $11,285,570		1.100%		4/01/08				11,061,652

$	17,062		Total Short-Term Investments (cost $17,055,999)								17,055,999

			Total Investments (cost $294,679,171) – 101.7%								281,738,928


				Notional			Expiration	Strike
Contracts			Type	Amount (3)			Date	Price		Value


			Call Options Written – (0.1)%

	(694,700	)	Custom Basket 1 NASDAQ	$	(69,470,038	)	4/10/08	$	100.0	$	(351,796	)
	(689,327	)	Custom Basket 3 NASDAQ		(68,932,699	)	4/03/08		100.0		(18,888	)

	(1,384,027	)	Total Call Options Written (premiums received $4,014,378)		(138,402,737	)					(370,684	)

			Other Assets Less Liabilities – (1.6)%								(4,404,262	)

			Net Assets – 100%							$	276,963,982

Futures Contracts outstanding at March 31, 2008:

Unrealized

Contract

Number of

Contract

Value at

Appreciation

Type

Position

Contracts

Expiration

March 31, 2008

(Depreciation)

S&P 500 Index

Long

185

6/08

$12,247,000

$(18,593

)


(1)		All percentages shown in the Portfolio of Investments are based on net assets.

(2)		Non-income producing.

(3)		For disclosure purposes, Notional Amount is calculated by multiplying the number of Contracts by the Strike Price.

Fair Value Measurements

During the current fiscal period, the Fund adopted the provisions of Statement of Financial Accounting Standards No. 157, Fair Value Measurements (SFAS 157). SFAS 157 defines fair value, establishes a framework for measuring fair value in generally accepted accounting principles, and expands disclosure about fair value measurements. In determining the value of the Fund’s investments various inputs are used. These inputs are summarized in the three broad levels listed below:

Level 1 -

Quoted prices in active markets for identical securities.

Level 2 -

Other significant observable inputs (including quoted prices for similar securities, interest rates, prepayment speeds, credit risk, etc.).

Level 3 -

Significant unobservable inputs (including management’s assumptions in determining the fair value of investments).

The inputs or methodology used for valuing securities are not an indication of the risk associated with investing in those securities.

The following is a summary of the Fund’s fair value measurements as of March 31, 2008:


		Level 1			Level 2			Level 3		Total

Investments	$	281,329,230		$	409,698		$	-	$	281,738,928
Derivatives*		(18,593	)		-			-		(18,593	)
Call options written		-			(370,684	)		-		(370,684	)

Total	$	281,310,637		$	39,014		$	-	$	281,349,651

* Represents net unrealized appreciation (depreciation).

Income Tax Information

The following information is presented on an income tax basis. Differences between amounts for financial statement and federal income tax purposes are primarily due to the recognition of unrealized gain or loss for tax (mark-to-market) on futures contracts and timing differences in recognizing certain gains and losses on investment transactions. To the extent that differences arise that are permanent in nature, such amounts are reclassified within the capital accounts on the Statement of Assets and Liabilities presented in the annual report, based on their federal tax basis treatment; temporary differences do not require reclassification. Temporary and permanent differences do not impact the net asset value of the Fund.

At March 31, 2008, the cost of investments was $295,287,890.

Gross unrealized appreciation and gross unrealized depreciation of investments at March 31, 2008, were as follows:




Gross unrealized:
Appreciation	$	8,517,644
Depreciation		(22,066,606	)



Net unrealized appreciation (depreciation) of investments	$	(13,548,962	)

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 this report that includes the disclosure required by this paragraph, based on their evaluation of the controls and procedures required by Rule 30a-3(b) under the 1940 Act (17 CFR 270.30a-3(b)) and Rule 13a-15(b) or 15d-15(b) under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (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.

File as exhibits as part of this Form a separate certification for each principal executive officer and principal financial officer of the registrant as required by Rule 30a-2(a) under the 1940 Act (17 CFR 270.30a-2(a)), exactly as set forth below: EX-99 CERT 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) Nuveen Core Equity Alpha Fund



By (Signature and Title)*	/s/ Kevin J. McCarthy
	Kevin J. McCarthy
	Vice President and Secretary

Date May 30, 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/ Gifford R. Zimmerman
	Gifford R. Zimmerman
	Chief Administrative Officer (principal executive officer)

Date May 30, 2008



By (Signature and Title)*	/s/ Stephen D. Foy
	Stephen D. Foy
	Vice President and Controller (principal financial officer)

Date May 30, 2008


*		Print the name and title of each signing officer under his or her signature.

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