OR:Send me a one-time (renewable) fee and I send you my previously (free) posted report "how to use Mutual funds to YOUR advantage", A limited offer to first 50 requests

FYI:
Regards,
Ted
Equity Funds:
http://www.allaboutfunds.com/performance/iops.pdf
Fixed-Income Funds:
http://www.allaboutfunds.com/performance/fixed_iops.pdf
25 Largest Funds:
http://www.allaboutfunds.com/performance/lg25.pdf
In Case You Missed Earlier Link To Yardsticks & Indexes: As Of 2/27/15
http://www.mutualfundobserver.com/discuss/discussion/19328/lipper-mutual-fund-yardsticks-indexes-as-of-2-27-15#latest

Who is Valley Vista Enterprises LLC?

Looks like a one man show:
https://dandb.com/businessdirectory/valleyvistaenterprisesllc-garwin-ia-25362973.html

FYI:
Regards,
Ted
http://www.berkshirehathaway.com/letters/2014ltr.pdf
What To Look For In Annual Letter:
http://blogs.wsj.com/moneybeat/2015/02/27/berkshire-hot-topics-what-to-watch-for-in-buffetts-annual-letter/tab/print/
Reuters Slant:
http://www.reuters.com/assets/print?aid=USKBN0LW0MG20150228
M* Slant:
http://news.morningstar.com/articlenet/article.aspx?id=687055

FYI: Brokerage platform will use asset-allocation strategies of disputed merit with retail clients.
Regards,
Ted
http://www.investmentnews.com/article/20150226/FREE/150229915?template=printart

As a sentient (or at least semi-sentient - my wife made me say this) carbon-based life form (yo, Spock), I can assure you, based on over 35 yr. in a profession in which personal benefit could be in conflict with the best interests of those served, fee for service or commission-based reimbursement poses stresses difficult to resist. There is a pressure to increase the services offered or the products recommended. Ultimately, I opted for the reduced income and the reduced stress of an employed position, where my recommendations were not financially altered.
OTOH, if the adviser, taking a small percentage of my investment portfolio, sucks down over a month's worth of income yearly, regardless of the quality of the advice, the eye I turn towards them is definitely jaundiced.
I plan to send my lovely wife to meet a Garrett network member to discuss her age 70 options to see if the adviser meets my standards, since the situation is moderately complex. I hope the result is positive, so I can get an opinion regarding the next 30 years.
The unfortunate reality is that honest financial investment advisers probably can't make a decent living. I may want to buy 3 or 6 hours of advice a year, and even at $500/hr (and, yes, I would be complaining loudly), it is less than any percentage-based advisory service. OTOH, I'd trust the hourly advice more, since I'd presume they were trying to earn my money.

That Q4 retail spending was awfully weak. Why didn't those darn consumers go out and buy thangs with that gas savings money? After all, it was Xmas, for "Christ's sake." Well, we did:

Bon apetite (though, apparently, on a small budget; food vs. HC)! This time around, Santa shorted you, it was his turn to get the present. And Santa liked it so much he's probably thinking about making the change permanent!
@Ted It's like the margin call from outer space. Whether you invest long or short, every month your brokerage calls to tell you that you need to borrow more from the future just to maintain your position, or they'll close you out. :)

IRY is thinly traded. The volume on 2/26 was 4833 shares per StockCharts.com. The average daily volume is 19,723 per etftrends.com. A spot check of prices on 2/27 at 10 AM EST on TradeMonster showed $51.00 Bid and $51.25 Ask. Besides, who wants to be told, "You need to..."?

FYI: Your 401k and your IRA are your best bets for retirement because all your gains compound upon themselves, tax-deferred, until you start taking money out down the road.
That’s why I like to put growth investments in my retirement accounts rather than the standard advice to shelter income from bond funds here instead — that’s what municipal bonds are for. Buying a bond fund in a retirement account might shelter that income from taxes, but overall growth is bound to disappoint
Regards,
Ted
http://investorplace.com/2015/02/5-best-vanguard-funds-401k/print

FYI: With healthcare stocks and exchange traded funds hitting new highs on almost daily basis, it is easy for some of the group’s smaller members to get lost in the shuffle.
Regards,
Ted
http://www.etftrends.com/2015/02/you-need-to-know-about-this-healthcare-etf/
M* Snapshot Of IRY: http://performance.morningstar.com/funds/etf/total-returns.action?t=IRY&region=usa&culture=en-US
M* Snapshot Of XLV: http://performance.morningstar.com/funds/etf/total-returns.action?t=XLV&region=usa&culture=en-US

this is all great, but do remember that the Fed only controls the fed funds rate (an overnight borrowing cost), the longer rates are controlled by market participants.
fa

Here's a bond related story. Understanding bonds has been my biggest investment challenge. Much of it seems counter-intuitive and layered with all kinds of investment vehicles.
Tom McClellan published this chart and article today regarding the topic of the Fed fund rate.
2-year_t-note_shows_what_fomc_should_do/
Here's how the Fed describes it:
Federal Funds and Interest on Reserves
Fedpoints:
"Fedpoints Fedpoints is a reference series explaining the structure and functions of the Federal Reserve System and the economic concepts relevant to its work."
newyorkfed.org/aboutthefed/fedpoints.html

Well, somethings sure has changed. The "first" video screen, (as those above) has, as before, no player control buttons. Clicking on the "go" button in that window brings up a second, almost identical window, with all of the various player controls. Clicking on the "go" button in that window now causes the video to play. In other words, it now operates as it used to before the recent problems started.
This is in the very latest (v31.5) of the Firefox variant specifically optimized for G5 model Macs using OS 10.4. (This variant is called "TenFour Fox.)
Edit/Add: That's a great pic, @Maurice. It's exactly as I imagined you!! :-)

Here's a bond related story. Understanding bonds has been my biggest investment challenge. Much of it seems counter-intuitive and layered with all kinds of investment vehicles.
Tom McClellan published this chart and article today regarding the topic of the Fed fund rate.
2-year_t-note_shows_what_fomc_should_do/
Here's how the Fed describes it:
Federal Funds and Interest on Reserves
Fedpoints:
"Fedpoints Fedpoints is a reference series explaining the structure and functions of the Federal Reserve System and the economic concepts relevant to its work."
newyorkfed.org/aboutthefed/fedpoints.html

FYI:
Regards,
Ted
WSJ Slant:
http://www.wsj.com/articles/u-s-stock-futures-edge-up-ahead-of-economic-data-1424956728
Bloomberg Slant:
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-02-26/u-s-stock-index-futures-advance-indicating-equities-to-climb
Reuters Slant:
http://www.reuters.com/assets/print?aid=USKBN0LU1EB20150226
MarketWatch Slant;
http://www.marketwatch.com/story/us-stocks-wall-street-trades-sideways-ahead-of-cpi-durable-goods-data-2015-02-26?dist=countdown
WSJ Market At A Glance:
http://markets.wsj.com/us
Sector Tracker;
http://www.sectorspdr.com/sectorspdr/tools/sector-tracker
Current Futures:
http://finviz.com/futures.ashx

Old Skeet,
Obviously, there are many ways to skin the investment cat.
Mass diversification is one answer… but then, so is simplification.
I’ll admit that the first time you posted that you owned 50 funds,
I had to laugh. Sleeves - or pant legs or socks – had me in stitches
(so to speak).
That anyone could take diversification this far sounded
particularly risible on its face.
And then you listed your funds and I said, “This guy is actually serious.”
Venturing a wild-ass guess, I imagine that you were bitten
by the diversification Primacy Effect feline.
Of course, early on, many of us were bitten – if a little
diversification is good, than mass diversification must be better.
Fortunately for many of us, the infection has been cured by
a dose of Recency Effect, as we’ve witnessed that simplification
has proven to be as effect as mass diversification.
That said, I do applaud your fortitude and wish you well.

No problem Ted, and just so you know I am not meaning to be confrontational (I know how the tone of Internet discussions can be misinterpreted). The 3 fund portfolio you listed are all stock funds. We have been in a 5 year bull market, so of course they have been performing well. As you know, we will not always have up markets, and it is prudent to guard yourself against bear markets, or significant corrections, although to what extent depends on your time horizon or comfort level. If we had a 20 % down year, which you can't predict, that 3 fund portfolio wouldnt look so good. I am suggesting that there is a possibility that there could be periods when both stocks and bonds will not perform well. A period of rising interest rates, whenever that might come, could possibly provide that scenario. It does not hurt to explore other types of investments.

@Chinfist: I'm not trying to beat a dead horse, but here is a example of less is more.
Regards,
Ted
SPY: 5-yr. 16.18%
QQQ 5-yr. 20.74%
PRSHX 5-yr. 30.02%
Average Return Just Three Funds: 22.31%
SPY: 10Yrs. 7.87%
QQQ 10Yrs. 11.98%
PRHSX 10 Yrs. 18.31%
Average Return Just Three Funds: 12.72%

@BenWP: Yes, My drugs went from $10 per generic drug for a ninety day supply to $25 for the same seven generics. For three years I paid $280 for my meds, I'm now paying $700.
Regards,
Ted

I just picked up two prescriptions for meds we've been taking for several years and which are Tier One generics on our prescription plan. One rose in price from $1.79 to 2.89 and the other from $10 to $40. The lower prices had been in effect for at least two calendar years. We did not change the drug plan from 2014 to 2015. The pharmacist told me I am not to only one to register sticker shock since Jan 1st. No wonder our healthcare stocks and funds are doing so well…

Hey Catch, from M* charts and Yahoo price data, it looks like those pretty mild capital losses at PIMIX go back ~ 7 months.
One of the eye-catching features of the portfolio lately has been the lowered duration of the fund, down below 3 now, which they've pulled off by going negative duration on U.S. government debt. I think, without doing month-by month reviews of the portfolio commentary, that the negative duration position and some of the EM holdings (Russia, Brazil) are what have had the most to do with the capital losses. They're also vulnerable to credit risk on their mortgages, as they no longer hold much if anything in gov't mortgages. (Current breakdown is 2% government and 45% private.)
I wouldn't think the reorganization per se would have had a lot of effect on PIMIX, but they have been advertising themselves heavily as THE place to go for income, so I kinda wonder if there's been a subtle shift in how much they care about maintaining NAV.
Fwiw, I cut my formerly large position in half during Q4 '14, but holding there.
Good luck, AJ