I would sell but not based on the 10 year performance, which it did in fact beat the S&P 500. Not sure what Ted was looking at. Personally I like BIAWX for my LG exposure.

@Carefree: Has had difficulty beating it's benchmark the S&P 500 Index over the last ten years, I'd sell.
Regards,
Ted

In what ways has it had difficulty beating the S&P 500? It seems to have beaten it cleanly over the past 3, 5, and 10 year time frames.

A not so brief followup. I sent Merrill a set of questions given all the processing in my accounts. It took a week, but I did get a response which was more a reiteration of what happened than an explanation. Whatever. Here are some excerpts:
(Merrill online counts TTTXX MMF as cash available to trade online even though they don't automatically redeem the fund; what happens if you actually place a trade w/o selling the fund):

For fund held in TTTXX, this amount may still show as available to invest ... online due to this fund being considered a cash equivalent. However, if you place a trade using the funds held in TTTXX, it would be necessary to deposit funds into the account or liquidate shares of TTTXX to make funds available before the trade settlement date.

But what happens if I don't place an order to sell TTTXX? Not answered. No explanation as to why this MMF shows up as cash while others don't.
(BPTXX MMF divs reinvested in fund even after I closed the position:)

if there were pending dividends set to be paid, the dividend received would be paid based on your previous reinvestment options selected for that fund

It goes on to say that I could change my reinvestment options to prevent this from happening. At other brokerages, when I close out a position, the trailing divs go to cash (if position liquidated) or follow shares (if transferred in kind).
(Reinvesting dividends in MMFs and bank sweep accounts:)

money market mutual funds will typically reinvest fractional amounts while bank deposits or money funds like TTTXX or the ML Direct Deposit Program are only able to reinvest in whole dollar amounts.

OMG. "Money market mutual funds" get all their divs reinvested, but "money funds" like the money market fund TTTXX only reinvest whole dollar amounts?
ML Direct Depost Program (MLDPP) is the BofA sweep account for taxable Merrill accounts. Apparently bank accounts like the MLDPP credit only whole dollars of interest. What real bank refuses to credit pennies of interest back to your account? Is BofA a real bank?
The response goes on to say that for IRAs, the equivalent sweep program is called "Bank of America NA RASP". The problem is that in my IRA, my one penny of interest was credited to the bank account. So what is different between the two BofA sweep accounts? Is this RASP program not like MLDPP?
(Wrong cost basis as described in previous post:)

when transferring securities from another firm, this information is updated based on the information provided by the other firm.

Blame the other guy. Who do you think got the cost basis wrong, Merrill or Schwab (the other firm)?
(Roth conversion form was submitted 5/29; still not processed):

due to high volume of requests it has not yet been reviewed.

I submitted a substantially identical form on 12/18/2018 and it was processed in two days. Who knew that the run up to Flag Day was a busier season than end of year for Roth conversions?
Almost needless to say, once I get the cost basis corrected (if I can) and receive my bonus for transferring in the taxable account, I'll be transferring it out. I expect to convert my full T-IRA account at Merrill to a Roth where I will let it sit. I plan on no activity, no other accounts remaining.

https://m.nasdaq.com/article/exposed-the-6-dividend-the-irs-doesnt-want-you-to-buy-cm1163455
This levitating market just might have you thinking there are no more cheap 6%+ dividends out there.
Mfl
Mub

Thanks @msf for your (typically) well reasoned and precisely detailed analysis. I’d preface my comments by saying things always look rosier late in a decade-long bull market cycle in equities. I’m confident that if this bull lasts another 3 or 4 years the than prevailing “expert” advice will be to pile 100% into aggressive equity funds because fixed income is tantamount to rubbish.
- Easy to overlook is investor risk tolerance. No matter what one’s rationale may be for “loading up” on equities, there’s nothing like a 40-50% drubbing over a couple miserable years to bring us to our knees and shock us back to our Puritan sensibilities. In too many cases those equities piled into during sunnier days get unloaded by investors at discounted prices late in the bear cycle.
- Also overlooked by the article’s underlying assumption is that although investors might well possess a pension, SS, or annuity assets that would allow some level of subsistence, their portfolio of equities, bonds, etc. is not without some immediate purpose. In many cases (speaking from personal experience) those assets are withdrawn regularly for major expenses like travel, new vehicles and upgrades / maintenance on their principal dwelling. It’s also an emergency fund for unexpected medical costs and provides needed “insurance” against having the carpet pulled out from underneath by a reduction in SS or pension benefits (though the assumption is these benefits will remain intact).
- Further, the invested portfolio provides needed growth to compensate for inflation - arguably better than those (somewhat fixed) pension, annuity, SS benefits can. Point being: Treat those invested assets with the same care & due diligence you would if you had none of those added “insurance” products.
The article seems related to an argument advanced by John Bogle around 2013 when he said investors should treat SS as a “bond” in their allocation decisions. It was part of a wider ranging interview, so I’m posting only one commentary from a secondary source. (But the actual full interview is linked within the commentary). I’m also posting a lengthy mfo discussion from around the same time in which a number of members from various tiers shared their (somewhat divergent) thoughts on the question.
Bogle’s position: https://www.businessinsider.com/how-to-save-for-retirement-vanguard-john-bogle-2017-1
MFO discussion (September 2013) : https://mutualfundobserver.com/discuss/discussion/7814/count-social-security-as-part-of-portfolio

https://seekingalpha.com/article/4269847-angl-provides-best-exposure-junk-bonds-etf-universe
ANGL Provides Best Exposure To Junk Bonds In The ETF Universe
Jun. 12, 2019 10:01 AM ETVanEck Vectors Fallen Angel High Yield Bond ETF (ANGL)5 Comments3 Likes
Summary
ANGL invest in bonds that were investment grade when issued but no longer are based on the BofA Merrill Lynch U.S. Fallen Angel High Yield Index.
There are at least four other ETFs mirroring this strategy for "fallen angel," but others are new and very small in size.
ANGL has out performed the other major junk bond ETFs and until the past year, the top investment-grade corporate bond fund; I consider it a buy.
Anyone has ANGL?!

@Carefree: Has had difficulty beating it's benchmark the S&P 500 Index over the last ten years, I'd sell.
Regards,
Ted

Not saying these are the best global dividend payers; but, it is what I own in my global equity and global hybrid sleeves found in the growth & income area of my portfolio. In my global equity sleeve I own DWGAX which has a dividend yield of 2.04%, CWGIX which has a dividend yield of 2.16%, DEQAX which has a dividend yield of 2.36% and EADIX which has a dividend yield of 3.67%. In my global hybrid sleeve I own CAIBX whcih as a dividend yield of 3.15%, TEQIX which has a dividend yield of 3.71% and TIBAX which has a dividend yield of 4.35%. All these funds pay quarterly except TEQIX which pays annually and EADIX which pays monthly.
My three highest dividend paying funds within my portfolio are PCLAX with a dividend yield of 17.23%, PMAIX with a dividend yield of 5.77% and FKINX with a dividend yield of 5.33%. PCLAX pays quarterly while PMAIX and FKINX pays monthly.
My portfolio contains four areas of investment which includes a cash area, an income area, a growth & income area and a growth area and overall has a dividend yield of better than 3.2%. When I include capital gain distributions it tops out at better than a 5% distribution yield. My current asset allocation is 20% cash, 40% income and 40% equity. This portfolio generates more than enough income to meet my needs plus I have some residual left over for new investment opportunities. Going forward, should I not be able to make enough interest in my cash area to offset inflation then I'll reduce cash by 5% and raise my income area by 5%.
My investment focus since I retired five years ago has been to invest for income generation over growth of principal. However, since I retired I have also been able to grow my principal.

Update:
https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1486174/000143510919000266/chou497.htm
497 1 chou497.htm
CHOU AMERICA MUTUAL FUNDS
Supplement dated June 12, 2019 to the Prospectus dated May 1, 2019, as supplemented
On June 5, 2019, the Board of Trustees (“Board”) of Chou America Mutual Funds (the “Trust”) approved a Plan of Liquidation and Dissolution (the “Plan”) pursuant to which the assets of the Chou Opportunity Fund and the Chou Income Fund (the “Funds”) will be liquidated and the proceeds remaining after payment of or provision for liabilities and obligations of the Funds will be distributed to shareholders.
Each Fund will seek to complete the liquidation on or around the close of business on July 31, 2019 (the “Liquidation Date”). Shareholders will be permitted to redeem from the Funds prior to the Liquidation Date, according to the ordinary procedures for redemptions from the Funds described in this Prospectus. Francis Chou, the Portfolio Manager to the Funds and Chief Executive Officer of the Adviser, owns and controls a company that owns shares of each Fund (the “Chou Affiliated Shareholder”). Mr. Chou intends for this company to remain invested in each Fund in an amount that would enable each Fund to have sufficient cash to satisfy any redemptions by the other shareholders.
The Adviser anticipates that there may be certain portfolio holdings that will not be sold for cash prior to the Liquidation Date, such as the 1.75 Term Lien Loans of Exco Resources, Inc. (“Exco”) owned by each of the Funds. As further background, Exco is involved in an insolvency proceeding and, those loans have been deemed to constitute illiquid investments.
In order to mitigate concentration and liquidity risk, the Board has approved for the Chou Affiliated Shareholder to receive an in-kind distribution (i.e. redemption-in-kind) of the 1.75 Term Lien Loans of Exco in exchange for shares of the Funds owned by the Chou Affiliated Shareholder. In connection with this approval the Chou Affiliated Shareholder agreed to remain invested in each Fund in an amount that would enable each Fund to have sufficient cash to satisfy any redemptions by the other shareholders. Following receipt of the 1.75 Term Lien Loans of Exco, the Chou Affiliated Shareholder will own those investments and will accordingly have exposure to appreciation and depreciation in the value of those investments.
* * * *
For more information, please contact a Fund customer service representative toll free at
(877) 682-6352.
PLEASE RETAIN FOR FUTURE REFERENCE.

FYI: Quick — what’s the best performing sector in the S&P 500 so far in June? No, it isn’t the highflying information technology sector — that’s second best.
The materials sector is by far having the best month of any of the 11 sectors in S&P 500 groups, up 9.5% in the June to date, according to FactSet data, as of Wednesday afternoon trade (see charted attached).
Regards,
Ted
https://www.marketwatch.com/story/this-sp-500-sector-is-having-its-best-month-in-about-4-years-trouncing-tech-stocks-2019-06-12/print
M* Snapshot XLB:
https://www.morningstar.com/etfs/ARCX/XLB/quote.html

FYI: When it comes to dividends, the US may not be the best country for investors to look for a higher yield. US equities currently have a dividend yield of only 1.98%, well below the average of 3.51% for the 22 other major global economies that we track in our Global Macro Dashboard. The only country with a lower dividend yield is India with a 1.21% yield. A potential reason for this comparatively low yield in these two countries is simply higher equity prices. India runs away with the highest valuation of their equities with a P/E of 28.56; the highest among the 23 countries in our Global Macro Dashboard. The US similarly is not cheap relative to the rest of the world as it possesses the fourth highest valuation of 18.33x earnings. That compares to a world average of only 15.72.
Regards,
Ted
https://www.bespokepremium.com/interactive/posts/think-big-blog/us-dividend-yields-significantly-lower-than-rest-of-world

Today’s technology companies, and their shares, look nothing like the speculative stocks of that bubblicious era, when tech accounted for more than 30% of the Standard & Poor’s 500 index. Today, it is only 22.5%, albeit well above weightings of about 14% for both financials and health care. Financial stocks have been among the main beneficiaries of funds flowing out of tech.

Technology Stocks Have Dominated June Rally
IA
Investopedia Chart Advisor
Tue 6/11/2019 9:38 PM
Junk Email
To
Chart Advisor | Focus on the Price
By John Jagerson, CFA, CMT
Tuesday, June 11, 2019
1. Tech Stocks Continue to Lead the Way Higher
2. S&P 500 Stalls After Stellar Week
3. UTX and RTN Crash and Burn After Acquisition Announcement
Major Moves
In a market that has been negatively impacted by so much geo-political uncertainty, it’s amazing just how consistent the performance of the Technology sector has been.
There’s a strategy in investing that draws on the same principle found in Newton’s first law of motion – an object in motion tends to stay in motion and an object at rest tends to stay at rest unless acted upon by an outside force.
This strategy is called momentum investing. In momentum investing, you look for the sectors and stocks that are doing well, and you put your money into those sectors and stocks with the anticipation that they will continue to do well in the future unless acted upon by negative news.
One way to find which sectors and stocks are doing well is to conduct a relative-strength analysis. This is an exercise where you compare how well a sector or stock has done in the past compared to other sectors or stocks or to a broad-based index, like the S&P 500.
You’ve seen me do this a number of times in the Chart Advisor when I show the relative performance of the S&P stock sectors.
For example, if you look at the first sector comparison chart below, you will see that the Technology sector (lime green line) – as represented by the Technology Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLK) – has been the clear winner on Wall Street since the market pulled back in February 2016.
Knowing this, it should come as no surprise that the top performing sector since the market started rebounding on June 4th has been the Technology sector. You can see this in the second sector comparison chart below where XLK (lime green line) is leading the way higher.
Of course, the Technology sector has experienced just as much volatility as the other sectors on Wall Street as trade war rhetoric has flared up and cooled down and as threats of tariffs have materialized over night and vanished just as quickly, but the out-performance by the sector has remained consistent.
Unless something fundamentally changes in the outlook for the U.S. economy, I wouldn’t be surprised to see this trend continue.
Image
Image
S&P 500
The S&P 500 has stalled just above the former resistance level that formed the right shoulder of the index’s head-and-shoulders bearish reversal pattern. This level is currently serving as support, but it is barely holding on.
For two straight days, bullish traders on Wall Street have tried to push the S&P 500 higher, only to see the index fall before the closing bell.
It appears we’re seeing another classic example of the old market adage, “Buy the rumor. Sell the news.”
Last week, traders were buying hand over fist in anticipation that the Trump administration wouldn’t impose tariffs on Mexico and the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) would start preparing to cut rates.
Now that President Trump has decided not to impose tariffs and multiple members of the FOMC have stated they are considering rate cuts, traders are starting to take some of last week’s profits off the table.
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Risk Indicators - UTX and RTN
Mergers and acquisitions are typically a bullish sign on Wall Street. They signal that corporate management believes the economic outlook and the “synergistic benefits” of the merger or acquisition are strong enough to offset the risks that accompany the endeavor.
Typically in an acquisition, the stock of the acquiree (the company being bought) will jump higher and the stock of the acquiror (the company doing the buying) will drop on the announcement.
The acquiree’s stock usually jumps because the acquiror is often paying a premium for the acquire. The acquiror’s stock usually drops because traders get nervous about the additional risk – and oftentimes debt – the acquiror is taking on.
When it comes to mergers, the performance of the related stocks depends on how the deal is structured. Often one of the companies will be viewed as getting the majority of the benefits from the transaction, and that company’s stock price will rise.
Interestingly, in the case of the United Technologies (UTX) merger with Raytheon (RTN), both stocks are plunging.
This tells me that traders have no confidence that the “synergies” outlined by the two management teams will materialize in a meaningful way.
Seeing this is important not only as it relates to the future performance of these two stocks but also as it relates to investor sentiment. Traders who are confident in the future of the market love “synergies” and tend to pay a premium for them. The fact that they are not paying a premium for these “synergies” tells me we’ve got a long way to go before we solidify bullish trader sentiment on Wall Street.
Bottom Line - Cautious Optimism
Traders continue to practice cautious optimism as they approach the U.S. stock market. They are optimistic about the bullish impact rate cuts and a possible increase in geo-political stability could have on the markets, but they are cautiously focusing that optimism on fundamentally strong companies.
Traders aren’t chasing long shots at the moment. They only want the sure things.
Read more:
Why General Motors Could Be the Robotaxi King
Will New SEC Regulations Change Anything for Retail Investors?
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Hedge Fund Managers' 7 Favorite Stocks of 2019
https://money.usnews.com/investing/stock-market-news/slideshows/hedge-fund-managers-favorite-stocks
Apple
Microsoft
Bac
Wellsfargo
Fb
Cocacola
Amazon
Once every quarter, investors get a glimpse inside the minds of some of the wealthiest and most successful investors in the U.S. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission requires any funds with more than $100 million in assets under management to file public quarterly updates on their stock holdings on form 13F.
Hedge funds made some big profits in a red-hot U.S. stock market in the first quarter of 2019. Novus recently compiled the following list of the top seven largest stock investments among fundamental equity managers that filed 13F forms.
1. Apple (ticker: AAPL). Apple is the top overall pick among hedge fund managers. After a hot start to the year, Apple shares dipped in May due to the company’s exposure to the U.S. trade war with China.
However, the stock still shows 22% gains for the year, outpacing the 15.4% rise of the S&P 500 index. D.E. Shaw & Co. and Adage Capital Management are top investors, each owning more than $1 billion in AAPL stock. Hedge funds reported owning a total of $57.9 billion in AAPL stock at the end of the first quarter.
2. Microsoft Corp. (MSFT). The company that overtook Apple as the most valuable public company is also the second top pick among hedge funds. Microsoft has been a market leader in 2019, gaining more than 32% year-to-date and pushing its market cap to more than $1 trillion.
In April, Microsoft reported fiscal third-quarter revenue growth of 14%, including 41% growth in commercial cloud sales and 71% Azure revenue growth. Top Microsoft investors include TCI Fund Management ($2 billion) and Tiger Global Management ($1.5 billion). Hedge funds reported $31.6 billion in total MSFT stock holdings. – Wayne Duggan

Yesterday a slew of junk bond funds closed at all time highs on a total return basis. The proxy index for junk bonds closed at 1343.59 vs its May 1 all time high of 1344.07. Prior to that May 1 top, junk bonds had been making all times highs on a seemingly daily basis since mid February. Unless there is some reversal in today’s trading (anything is possible) the junk bond index will also close at all time highs.. How can this be? If you read the commentary below you will read that the macro and micro economic data continues to deteriorate.
https://www.marketwatch.com/story/this-big-wall-street-bear-warns-his-bleak-scenario-for-2019-is-taking-shape-2019-06-10

This has probably been linked before. But it looks helpful enough to link again. I sometimes recommend specific T. Rowe Price funds to others because that’s the fund group I’m most familiar with. However, low cost leader Vanguard should not be overlooked. This link (from Vanguard) allows you to enter a symbol from another fund house and find the Vanguard fund(s) that are most similar.
https://personal.vanguard.com/us/funds/tools/findsimilarfund?FundId=1595&FundIntExt=EXT

- “My issue is related to ... RISK TOLERANCE ... Investing is so emotional for many of us. Its hard to sit by and watch your Account Balance go down the tubes.”
- “I've (incorrectly) gone to cash more often than I want to admit over the years. Though I am shy of my 50s, I am personally still all about preservation of capital.”
- “Combine this president, with his "Tariff policies", alongside a very, very long bull market...... and I am once again (cautious).” I am mostly in CASH. “

Hi @JoeD, You raise a lot of interesting points. Nothing much I can say, but some vague thoughts might help ...
Re risk tolerance - Everybody’s different based on their own life experiences and personality. You remind me of one time in the ‘80s when I had secured a good paying job and wished to do something nice for my aging parents. Knowing they weren’t very astute in money matters, I opened an account in their name in a reputable money market fund that was yielding something like a crazy 15-20% in those days. Gifted them $1,000 which was the minimum to open an account. I hoped they would let it grow into their retirement years, perhaps add to it, and that it might benefit them years later. While grateful, they were suspicious of this new-fangled type of account in a big city somewhere and almost immediately cashed-out and moved the money to their passbook account at a local bank yielding something like 3%. So for them (both products of the Depression), even a money market fund was way beyond their risk tolerance!
Going to cash can be risky from an investment standpoint. Sure, if you will need the money within a few years, it’s a smart move. But if you are doing it with the intent of reinvesting later on, it’s tough to pull-off. I’d rather invest in something like TRRIX (a lame 40/60 fund) if I was really worried about the markets. If your guess is right and the market tanks you will lose something - maybe 20% of your money. But over the very long-term the fund should allow you to sleep better and keep you at least ahead of inflation. FWIW - My gut tells me equities are overpriced. But I’m not going to bet the ranch on that gut feeling.
Missing is reference to the purpose for which you are investing. I’d assume it’s for retirement in another 10-15 years. With retirement that near, I’d be reluctant to go overboard with aggressive equity funds myself. However, I wouldn’t exclude equities completely. I started moving out of the really aggressive stuff at about age 50 (but retired in my early 50s). Again, there are many great conservative funds that will keep you out of deep trouble during a big sell off and still help you accumulate more for retirement than cash would. Furthermore; most of us dollar cost average into our equity positions during our working years. I’d think that during those years the temptation (or need) to “sell all” and move to cash would be lessened.
re: “Bizarro” politics. I may share your foreboding. But I think we do a disservice to @Junkster who devoted considerable time and thought into creating a pretty valuable thread if we move it into the political arena. So I won’t go there and hope others don’t. What I tell myself every day is that regardless of who is President or what type of government we become, great companies like Amazon, Boeing, Apple, Microsoft aren’t going to go away - at least any time soon. So we may be appalled by some of the politics taking place, but that shouldn’t deter us from investing in great capitalist companies and sharing in the wealth they create.
There’s no right answer to any of this. And nothing I said should be construed as investment advice.
Regards

https://mutualfundobserver.com/discuss/discussion/11407/an-exciting-portfolio-backtesting-website
If your question is how to input data into any backtesting tool, I've worked through an example, using FCNTX. According to M*, its top five positions are: AMZN (7.05%), FB (7.01%), BRK.A (5.28%), MSFT (4.62%), and CRM(3.56%). That totals 27.52%.
To construct a portfolio of these five securities, you would divide their percentages by 27.52%, thusly:
AMZN (25.62%), FB (25.47), BRK.A (19.19%), MSFT (16.79%), and CRM (12.94%). Due to rounding, that comes to 100.01%. Round one of these down. BRK.A was rounded up the most (19.1860% was rounded up to 19.19%), so round this one down to 19.18%.
Depending on the backtesting tool you use, you might need to represent Berkshire Hathaway A as BRK.A or BRK-A.
Some tools (e.g. Portfolio Asset Simulator, http://capitalpas.com/Tools/BacktestPortfolioAssetAllocation) offer you a choice of benchmarks (such as the S&P 500 total return) to compare against. Others require you to pick an actual fund to compare with. For S&P 500 I might use VFIAX, or for longer periods, VFINX.
FB went public in May 2012, so one can't backtest this portfolio of five stocks further back than that. Backtesting from end of 2012 to end of 2018 shows that these five stocks did much better than FCNTX, which in turn beat the S&P 500 by a tad. Try running these tools and you can see this yourself.