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:    9/30/2007   

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
Certification

Item 1. Schedule of Investments

Portfolio of Investments (Unaudited)

Nuveen Core Equity Alpha Fund (JCE)
September 30, 2007

Shares			Description (1)							Value
			Common Stocks – 94.9%
			Aerospace & Defense – 5.0%
	19,900		Boeing Company							$	2,089,301
	24,900		General Dynamics Corporation								2,103,303
	8,600		Goodrich Corporation								586,778
	18,200		Honeywell International Inc.								1,082,354
	1,300		L-3 Communications Holdings, Inc.								132,782
	43,900		Lockheed Martin Corporation								4,762,711
	400		Northrop Grumman Corporation								31,200
	24,200		Precision Castparts Corporation								3,581,116
	16,600		Raytheon Company								1,059,412
	1,300		Rockwell Collins, Inc.								94,952
			Total Aerospace & Defense								15,523,909
			Auto Components – 1.1%
	51,800		Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company, (2)								1,575,238
	16,000		Johnson Controls, Inc.								1,889,760
			Total Auto Components								3,464,998
			Automobiles – 0.0%
	1,500		Harley-Davidson, Inc.								69,315
			Beverages – 1.5%
	25,000		Coca-Cola Company								1,436,750
	10,000		Molson Coors Brewing Company, Class B								996,700
	31,000		PepsiCo, Inc.								2,271,060
			Total Beverages								4,704,510
			Biotechnology – 0.2%
	9,500		Gilead Sciences, Inc., (2)								388,265
			Capital Markets – 2.1%
	700		American Capital Strategies Limited								29,911
	4,300		Ameriprise Financial, Inc.								271,373
	4,964		Bank of New York Company, Inc.								219,111
	3,800		Franklin Resources, Inc.								484,500
	16,600		Goldman Sachs Group, Inc.								3,597,884
	31,800		JPMorgan Chase & Co.								1,457,076
	7,300		Morgan Stanley								459,900
			Total Capital Markets								6,519,755
			Chemicals – 0.3%
	10,400		Dow Chemical Company								447,824
	200		E.I. Du Pont de Nemours and Company								9,912
	8,100		International Flavors & Fragrances Inc.								428,166
			Total Chemicals								885,902
			Commercial Banks – 1.6%
	86,400		Bank of America Corporation								4,343,328
	800		PNC Financial Services Group, Inc.								54,480
	2,100		Sovereign Bancorp, Inc.								35,784
	2,100		SunTrust Banks, Inc.								158,907
	11,900		U.S. Bancorp								387,107
	3,300		Wells Fargo & Company								117,546
			Total Commercial Banks								5,097,152
			Commercial Services & Supplies – 0.2%
	2,800		Equifax Inc.								106,736
	500		Fiserv, Inc., (2)								25,430
	8,100		R.R. Donnelley & Sons Company								296,136
			Total Commercial Services & Supplies								428,302
			Communications Equipment – 1.9%
	23,200		Avaya Inc., (2)								393,472
	133,400		Cisco Systems, Inc., (2)								4,416,874
	27,300		Juniper Networks Inc., (2)								999,453
	1,700		QUALCOMM Inc.								71,842
			Total Communications Equipment								5,881,641
			Computers & Peripherals – 4.4%
	28,800		Apple, Inc., (2)								4,421,952
	3,000		Dell Inc., (2)								82,800
	38,100		EMC Corporation, (2)								792,480
	89,900		Hewlett-Packard Company								4,476,121
	24,300		International Business Machines Corporation (IBM)								2,862,540
	19,200		NCR Corporation, (2)								956,160
			Total Computers & Peripherals								13,592,053
			Construction Materials – 0.6%
	20,900		Vulcan Materials Company								1,863,235
			Containers & Packaging – 0.7%
	11,100		Ball Corporation								596,625
	13,700		Pactiv Corporation, (2)								392,642
	24,700		Temple-Inland Inc.								1,299,961
			Total Containers & Packaging								2,289,228
			Diversified Financial Services – 1.3%
	70,800		Citigroup Inc.								3,304,236
	1,200		CME Group, Inc.								704,820
	3,300		Leucadia National Corporation								159,126
	400		Principal Financial Group, Inc.								25,236
			Total Diversified Financial Services								4,193,418
			Diversified Telecommunication Services – 5.8%
	2,200		Alltel Corporation								153,296
	299,700		AT&T Inc.								12,680,307
	12,700		CenturyTel, Inc.								586,994
	4,400		Citizens Communications Company								63,008
	20,600		Embarq Corporation								1,145,360
	37,300		Sprint Nextel Corporation								708,700
	50,300		Verizon Communications Inc.								2,227,284
	41,900		Windstream Corporation								591,628
			Total Diversified Telecommunication Services								18,156,577
			Electric Utilities – 9.4%
	3,100		AES Corporation, (2)								62,124
	20,500		Allegheny Energy, Inc., (2)								1,071,330
	68,900		American Electric Power Company, Inc.								3,174,912
	59,100		CenterPoint Energy, Inc.								947,373
	25,500		CMS Energy Corporation								428,910
	1,500		Consolidated Edison, Inc.								69,450
	41,600		Constellation Energy Group								3,568,864
	2,800		DTE Energy Company								135,632
	16,400		Edison International								909,380
	41,700		Entergy Corporation								4,515,693
	8,900		Exelon Corporation								670,704
	42,200		FirstEnergy Corp.								2,672,948
	88,700		FPL Group, Inc.								5,400,056
	25,500		PG&E Corporation								1,218,900
	38,700		PPL Corporation								1,791,810
	900		Southern Company								32,652
	22,700		TXU Corp.								1,554,269
	46,700		Xcel Energy, Inc.								1,005,918
			Total Electric Utilities								29,230,925
			Electronic Equipment & Instruments – 1.9%
	21,900		MEMC Electronic Materials, (2)								1,289,034
	14,200		Perkinelmer Inc.								414,782
	48,900		Thermo Fisher Scientific, Inc., (2)								2,822,508
	20,100		Waters Corporation, (2)								1,345,092
			Total Electronic Equipment & Instruments								5,871,416
			Energy Equipment & Services – 1.1%
	9,700		National-Oilwell Varco Inc., (2)								1,401,650
	2,600		Noble Corporation								127,530
	13,400		Schlumberger Limited								1,407,000
	2,800		Smith International, Inc.								199,920
	3,200		Transocean Inc., (2)								361,760
			Total Energy Equipment & Services								3,497,860
			Food & Staples Retailing – 2.8%
	7,300		CVS Caremark Corporation								289,299
	107,400		Kroger Co.								3,063,048
	80,700		Safeway Inc.								2,671,977
	46,900		SUPERVALU INC.								1,829,569
	1,800		Sysco Corporation								64,062
	1,500		Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.								65,475
	12,200		Wm. Wrigley Jr. Company								783,606
			Total Food & Staples Retailing								8,767,036
			Food Products – 1.4%
	7,200		ConAgra Foods, Inc.								188,136
	15,000		Dean Foods Company, (2)								383,700
	14,000		General Mills, Inc.								812,140
	26,000		H.J. Heinz Company								1,201,200
	200		Kellogg Company								11,200
	6,200		Monsanto Company								531,588
	62,800		Tyson Foods, Inc., Class A								1,120,980
			Total Food Products								4,248,944
			Gas Utilities – 0.0%
	1,600		Questar Corporation								84,048
			Health Care Equipment & Supplies – 2.7%
	2,200		AmerisourceBergen Corporation								99,726
	53,500		Baxter International Inc.								3,010,980
	3,300		Becton, Dickinson and Company								270,765
	900		C. R. Bard, Inc.								79,371
	2,300		Medtronic, Inc.								129,743
	41,800		Stryker Corporation								2,874,168
	22,100		Zimmer Holdings, Inc., (2)								1,789,879
			Total Health Care Equipment & Supplies								8,254,632
			Health Care Providers & Services – 2.2%
	9,700		Aetna Inc.								526,419
	5,500		Bausch and Lomb Inc.								352,000
	52,800		CIGNA Corporation								2,813,712
	100		Humana Inc., (2)								6,988
	2,000		Laboratory Corporation of America Holdings, (2)								156,460
	12,600		Manor Care, Inc.								811,440
	22,900		Medco Health Solutions, Inc., (2)								2,069,931
	4,300		UnitedHealth Group Incorporated								208,249
			Total Health Care Providers & Services								6,945,199
			Hotels, Restaurants & Leisure – 2.4%
	1,400		Carnival Corporation								67,802
	26,300		Harrah’s Entertainment, Inc.								2,286,259
	7,100		Hilton Hotels Corporation								330,079
	11,400		Marriott International, Inc., Class A								495,558
	74,600		McDonald’s Corporation								4,063,462
	1,900		Wendy’s International, Inc.								66,329
			Total Hotels, Restaurants & Leisure								7,309,489
			Household Durables – 0.3%
	7,300		Harman International Industries Inc.								631,596
	4,200		Newell Rubbermaid Inc.								121,044
	3,400		Snap-on Incorporated								168,436
			Total Household Durables								921,076
			Household Products – 3.3%
	52,500		Colgate-Palmolive Company								3,744,300
	4,700		Kimberly-Clark Corporation								330,222
	86,600		Procter & Gamble Company								6,091,444
			Total Household Products								10,165,966
			Industrial Conglomerates – 2.6%
	2,100		3M Co.								196,518
	2,400		American Standard Companies Inc.								85,488
	190,900		General Electric Company								7,903,260
			Total Industrial Conglomerates								8,185,266
			Insurance – 3.3%
	32,700		American International Group, Inc.								2,212,155
	600		Lincoln National Corporation								39,582
	99,200		Loews Corporation								4,796,320
	2,100		Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc.								53,550
	7,800		MetLife, Inc.								543,894
	9,500		Prudential Financial, Inc.								927,010
	1,300		SAFECO Corporation								79,586
	10,800		Travelers Companies, Inc.								543,672
	37,000		Unum Group								905,390
	800		XL Capital Ltd, Class A								63,360
			Total Insurance								10,164,519
			Internet & Catalog Retail – 1.4%
	34,400		Amazon.com, Inc., (2)								3,204,360
	40,300		IAC/InterActiveCorp., (2)								1,195,701
			Total Internet & Catalog Retail								4,400,061
			Internet Software & Services – 0.8%
	2,000		eBay Inc., (2)								78,040
	4,100		Google Inc., Class A, (2)								2,325,807
			Total Internet Software & Services								2,403,847
			IT Services – 0.3%
	16,700		Convergys Corporation, (2)								289,912
	16,600		Fidelity National Information Services								736,542
			Total IT Services								1,026,454
			Leisure Equipment & Products – 1.0%
	36,400		Hasbro, Inc.								1,014,832
	90,000		Mattel, Inc.								2,111,400
			Total Leisure Equipment & Products								3,126,232
			Machinery – 2.1%
	5,100		Cummins Inc.								652,239
	5,100		Deere & Company								756,942
	24,800		PACCAR Inc.								2,114,200
	30,000		Pall Corporation								1,167,000
	19,300		Terex Corporation, (2)								1,718,086
			Total Machinery								6,408,467
			Media – 4.8%
	4,700		CBS Corporation, Class B								148,050
	39,700		Clear Channel Communications, Inc.								1,486,368
	104,200		Comcast Corporation, Class A, (2)								2,519,556
	125,900		DIRECTV Group, Inc., (2)								3,056,852
	7,900		Dow Jones & Company, Inc.								471,630
	57,700		Interpublic Group Companies, Inc., (2)								598,926
	10,200		McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.								519,282
	5,000		Meredith Corporation								286,500
	118,500		News Corporation, Class A								2,605,815
	13,900		Omnicom Group Inc.								668,451
	59,300		Time Warner Inc.								1,088,748
	45,600		Walt Disney Company								1,568,184
			Total Media								15,018,362
			Metals & Mining – 1.7%
	2,100		Alcoa Inc.								82,152
	20,700		Allegheny Technologies, Inc.								2,275,965
	4,100		Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold, Inc.								430,049
	4,700		Nucor Corporation								279,509
	21,100		United States Steel Corporation								2,235,334
			Total Metals & Mining								5,303,009
			Multiline Retail – 1.5%
	17,900		Big Lots, Inc., (2)								534,136
	1,800		Family Dollar Stores, Inc.								47,808
	500		Federated Department Stores, Inc.								16,160
	10,300		J.C. Penney Company, Inc.								652,711
	32,300		Kohl’s Corporation, (2)								1,851,759
	14,200		Nordstrom, Inc.								665,838
	5,500		Sears Holding Corporation, (2)								699,600
	1,900		Target Corporation								120,783
			Total Multiline Retail								4,588,795
			Multi-Utilities – 1.0%
	1,000		Dominion Resources, Inc.								84,300
	84,200		Dynegy Inc., (2)								778,008
	9,700		Public Service Enterprise Group Incorporated								853,503
	23,500		Sempra Energy								1,365,820
			Total Multi-Utilities								3,081,631
			Office Electronics – 0.0%
	2,900		Xerox Corporation, (2)								50,286
			Oil, Gas & Consumable Fuels – 5.9%
	36,600		Chevron Corporation								3,425,028
	12,300		ConocoPhillips								1,079,571
	600		Devon Energy Corporation								49,920
	122,900		Exxon Mobil Corporation								11,375,624
	1,200		Hess Corporation								79,836
	25,300		Marathon Oil Corporation								1,442,606
	5,600		Valero Energy Corporation								376,208
	400		Williams Companies, Inc.								13,624
	8,100		XTO Energy, Inc.								500,904
			Total Oil, Gas & Consumable Fuels								18,343,321
			Paper & Forest Products – 0.4%
	3,100		MeadWestvaco Corporation								91,543
	16,700		Weyerhaeuser Company								1,207,410
			Total Paper & Forest Products								1,298,953
			Personal Products – 0.4%
	23,100		Avon Products, Inc.								866,943
	12,300		Estee Lauder Companies Inc., Class A								522,258
			Total Personal Products								1,389,201
			Pharmaceuticals – 5.7%
	41,600		Abbott Laboratories								2,230,592
	1,500		Allergan, Inc.								96,705
	17,300		Bristol-Myers Squibb Company								498,586
	23,400		Celgene Corporation, (2)								1,668,654
	26,900		Johnson & Johnson								1,767,330
	25,400		King Pharmaceuticals Inc., (2)								297,688
	155,600		Merck & Co. Inc.								8,042,964
	25,400		Pfizer Inc.								620,522
	76,200		Schering-Plough Corporation								2,410,206
	1,600		Watson Pharmaceuticals Inc., (2)								51,840
	1,500		Wyeth								66,825
			Total Pharmaceuticals								17,751,912
			Real Estate – 0.7%
	900		Apartment Investment & Management Company, Class A								40,617
	1,300		Archstone-Smith Trust								78,182
	12,400		Boston Properties, Inc.								1,288,360
	8,100		General Growth Properties Inc.								434,322
	2,100		Simon Property Group, Inc.								210,000
	2,100		Vornado Realty Trust								229,635
			Total Real Estate								2,281,116
			Real Estate Management & Development – 0.0%
	3,400		CB Richard Ellis Group, Inc., Class A, (2)								94,656
			Road & Rail – 0.2%
	2,200		CSX Corporation								94,006
	600		Union Pacific Corporation								67,836
			Total Road & Rail								161,842
			Semiconductors & Equipment – 0.2%
	4,400		Analog Devices, Inc.								159,104
	9,100		Intel Corporation								235,326
	4,600		Microchip Technology Incorporated								167,072
	2,700		Novellus Systems, Inc., (2)								73,602
	300		NVIDIA Corporation, (2)								10,872
			Total Semiconductors & Equipment								645,976
			Software – 2.5%
	2,900		Adobe Systems Incorporated, (2)								126,614
	1,700		Akamai Technologies, Inc., (2)								48,841
	3,600		BMC Software, Inc., (2)								112,428
	900		Cognizant Technology Solutions Corporation, Class A, (2)								71,793
	36,700		Compuware Corporation, (2)								294,334
	151,800		Microsoft Corporation								4,472,028
	109,200		Oracle Corporation, (2)								2,364,180
	4,500		Symantec Corporation, (2)								87,210
	2,800		VeriSign, Inc., (2)								94,472
			Total Software								7,671,900
			Specialty Retail – 1.2%
	10,900		AutoZone, Inc., (2)								1,265,926
	5,300		OfficeMax Inc.								181,631
	37,100		RadioShack Corporation								766,486
	6,400		Sherwin-Williams Company								420,544
	22,900		Tiffany & Co.								1,198,815
			Total Specialty Retail								3,833,402
			Textiles, Apparel & Luxury Goods – 2.2%
	50,900		Coach, Inc., (2)								2,406,043
	29,300		Nike, Inc., Class B								1,718,738
	15,700		Polo Ralph Lauren Corporation								1,220,675
	16,700		VF Corporation								1,348,525
			Total Textiles, Apparel & Luxury Goods								6,693,981
			Tobacco – 0.8%
	26,300		Altria Group, Inc.								1,828,639
	1,100		Reynolds American Inc.								69,949
	13,700		UST Inc.								679,520
			Total Tobacco								2,578,108
			Total Common Stocks (cost $283,289,776)								294,856,148
Principal
Amount (000)			Description (1)		Coupon		Maturity			Value
			Short-Term Investments – 8.1%
			U.S. Government and Agency Obligations – 1.3%
$	4,000		United State of America Treasury Bills		0.000%		12/13/07			$	3,970,492
			Repurchase Agreements – 6.8%
	21,079		Repurchase Agreement with Fixed Income Clearing Corporation, dated 9/28/07, repurchase price $21,085,540, collateralized by $19,010,000 U.S. Treasury Bonds, 6.000%, due 2/15/26, value $21,505,253		3.750%		10/01/07				21,078,953
$	25,079		Total Short-Term Investments (cost $25,049,445)								25,049,445
			Total Investments (cost $308,339,221) – 103.0%								319,905,593
				Notional			Expiration	Strike
Contracts			Type (1)	Amount (3)			Date	Price		Value
			Call Options Written- (1.6)% (4)
	(698,585	)	CUSTOM BASKET 1 NASDAQ	$	(69,858,499	)	10/02/07	$	100.00	$	(3,023,266	)
	(762,530	)	CUSTOM BASKET 4 NASDAQ		(76,252,963	)	11/08/07		100.00		(1,872,544	)
	(1,461,115	)	Total Call Options Written (premiums received $4,090,014)		(146,111,462	)					(4,895,810	)
			Other Assets Less Liabilities – (1.4)%								(4,385,667	)
			Net Assets – 100%							$	310,624,116

Futures Contracts outstanding at September 30, 2007:

							Unrealized
	Contract	Number of		Contract	Value at		Appreciation
Type	Position	Contracts		Expiration	September 30, 2007		(Depreciation)
S&P 500 Index	Long		46	12/07		$17,688,150		$631,787

(1)	All percentages shown in the Portfolio of Investments are based on net assets applicable to Common shares unless otherwise noted.
(2)	Non-income producing.
(3)	For disclosure purposes, Notional Amount is calculated by multiplying the number of Contracts by the Strike Price.
(4)	The Fund may designate up to 100% of its Common Stock investments to cover outstanding Call Options Written.

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 option contracts and timing differences in recognizing certain gains and losses on investment transactions.

At September 30, 2007, the cost of investments was $308,339,221.

Gross unrealized appreciation and gross unrealized depreciation of investments at September 30, 2007, were as follows:

Gross unrealized:
Appreciation	$	19,512,274
Depreciation		(7,945,902	)
Net unrealized appreciation (depreciation) of investments	$	11,566,372

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 November 29, 2007

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 November 29, 2007

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

Date November 29, 2007

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