Some of the below is directed towards the etf CN . This is a new fund, which I read about previously; but summertime work found this on the backburner of the list of "things to do". We are not invested in this fund at this time. 'Course, country specific investments always require serious consideration of all risks; with the exception at this time, being the U.S. IMHO.
Snippet regarding CN: Harvest MSCI All China Equity Fund (CN), offers exposure to an index that includes exposure to China A-shares, China B-shares, China H-shares, China Red Chips, China P-Chips, China ADRs, and securities of Chinese companies listed in the U.S. and Singapore.
Hoping you may find the below links of interest and value.
Your thoughts about this fund are appreciated.
Do you have more than 5% exposure to China via your current fund holdings?
All China Equity Fund, etfdb.com info
CN Fund, vendor site info
CN Fund, Fidelity snapshot
Forbes, Shanghai-Hong Kong investing connection
China eft list
M* China Funds list (active managed/index funds, no etf's included)
Take care,
Catch

Sears down 9.55% today......Amazing volatility in this stock.

It's because the public float has shrunk so much that Sears was taken out of the S & P 500 a couple of years ago. Plus, you have 65% of the float short. It's basically a tug-of-war between Lampert/Berkowitz and assortment of fund managers with smaller positions vs the shorts.
Shares Outstanding5: 106.47M
Float: 49.44M
Shares Short (as of Oct 15, 2014)3: 17.35M
Short Ratio (as of Oct 15, 2014)3: 9.30
Short % of Float (as of Oct 15, 2014)3: 65.10%
Shares Short (prior month)3: 17.19M
http://www.marketwatch.com/story/sears-booted-from-sp-500-over-public-float-level-2012-08-29

Never mind the arms. When I was getting set up for duty @ 9.04562 / 117.634 it was not only the arms but my butt also. That was in 1957. Semper per DingDing!

@Ted and @rono , et al veterans
First, thank you.
An added note. I recall my first 3 months of pay. $90 gross/month (perhaps that was net). I believe this moved to $102.50/month with the first rank promotion. 'Course, the food was free, housing was free, transportation was free, clothing was free and free medical/dental; including all 36 immunizations (I still have the record book for these) I received during my service time. :)
Best Regards,
Catch

Sears down 9.55% today......Amazing volatility in this stock. Looks like it is down another 0.96% after hours. Interesting to see what FAAFX and FAIRX will do today

@ron
Unfortunately, mutual fund distributions are no windfall. In an IRA, fund distributions are neutral because the fund's NAV drops by the amount that is distributed (a $20 NAV turns into $5 cash and $15 NAV or if reinvested into $5 in new shares and $15 NAV). There are a number of sites that explain this concept well. You may want to check out: https://americanfunds.com/funds/effect-capital-gain.html

Saying "shareholder proposals are not in the shareholders interest" is a rather Orwellian remark. I would think shareholder proposals regarding excess executive compensation, which is what the original AFSCME studies measured and found Vanguard lacking, are in everybody's interest, especially shareholders. As I referenced above, studies have shown that stocks of companies with excessive executive compensation tend to underperform their peers. papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1572085

FYI: It's easy to dismiss the "Brazil, Russia, India, China" market as an odd amalgam that's gained popularity only because it has a conveniently easy-to-pronounce acronym. That would belie the fact that many investors still view the quartet as a kind of "sweet spot" in the emerging market spectrum, and there's roughly $750 million allocated to the three major ETFs tracking the space.
Regards,
Ted
http://www.etf.com/sections/blog/23778-stay-on-sidelines-with-bric-funds.html?tmpl=component&print=1&layout=default&page=

PowerShares launches a new actively managed commodity ETF
Nov 10 2014, 14:25 ET
The PowerShares DB Optimum Yield Diversified Commodity Strategy Portfolio (NASDAQ:PDBC) offers broad commodity futures contracts through a Cayman Islands-based unit, which allows its investors to avoid K-1 tax forms.
http://seekingalpha.com/news/2112405-powershares-launches-a-new-actively-managed-commodity-etf?uprof=46

@Ron
Sure, it is good to have large distributions in a non-taxable account, like Fidelity's Select Biotechnology Portfolio of $25.31 per share (which I own in a non-taxable account). However, when you own Turner's Emerging Growth Fund in a taxable account with an estimated $21.94 per share payout that is not good (which I also own in a taxable account). I just sold my entire TMCGX position this morning in order to avoid the large distribution payout; the distribution payout would have been larger than my gain for selling all my TMCGX shares. If you look for Turner above, I noted that the estimated distribution amount has increased about a $1 since it was first posted (Turner Small Cap Growth and Turner Midcap Growth Funds are approximately $13.61 and $15.44, respectively) . In speaking with Turner's CSR this morning, she indicated that there have been numerous redemptions due to hefty estimated payouts. I plan to get back into TMCGX once the distribution has been paid.
@Valet
It is a sharp program!

I hope this is an appropriate addition to this thread... (not generally a good start to any message, I realize).
This year looks like it will be a record year for capital gains distributions. After years of thinking about it, I've put together a free website to serve as a one-stop shop for gathering capital gains estimates. My database has 250 firms and already has links to nearly 90 firms' estimates. The information I share is less valuable to the folks that are reviewing this thread, but I do think the site is more accessible and I do provide additonal information. (I'm currently posting links to preliminary information or even 2013 links if that's all that is available.)
The site is CapGainsValet.com. Although the site is free, like MFO, I am asking for financial support. In my case, I'm asking for donations to my favorite charity.
This is the first place I am notifying about the site. I could not think of a better group to reach out to before I try to spread the word. Please let me know your thoughts and recommendations.

Bay,
It is the aggregate numbers that matter more than individual cases, and the last time it was checked Vanguard had one of the worst records of voting for executive compensation and against shareholder proposals to reign that compensation in. But the last time I saw a study on it was for 2011, so maybe that's changed. But because you want examples, here's one: copper miner Freeport-McMoran (FCX)quotes.morningstar.com/stock/s?t=FCX&region=usa&culture=en-US&ownerCountry=USA.
In 2013 CEO Richard Adkerson made $55 million in total compensation:
insiders.morningstar.com/trading/executive-compensation.action?t=FCX&region=usa&culture=en-US
aflcio.org/Corporate-Watch/Paywatch-2014/100-Highest-Paid-CEOs#!/search/FCX
According to Morningstar, Freeport's stock underperformed other copper miner's for every time period. Nor is it a highly profitable time to be a miner in general, a time when responsible executives should be tightening their belts with lower executive compensation. Vanguard's S&P 500 Fund (VFINX) is one of Freeport's largest holders, yet it voted in its latest proxy to ratify Adkerson's compensation:
sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/36405/000093247114006617/indexfunds0040.htm
It also voted against a shareholder proposal to have an independent chairman on Freeport's board. Having a truly independent board is essential to having some control over executive compensation as often the ties of board members are too cozy with that of management and they have conflicts of interest that lead them to overpay their executives. Yet Vanguard often in the past has voted against board independence and for excessive pay packages. And this excessive pay often leads to excessive risk taking by management and stock underperformance studies reveal: papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1572085
Even worse, as a passive index fund investor, it is incumbent on Vanguard to be as vigilant as possible when it comes to corporate governance because the company must buy and hold no matter how flagrant the abuses of corporate governance and executive compensation at a specific holding. John Bogle himself has been very critical of Vanguard for not being more active in this area. I've actually written about this subject in my book on Bogle. The question is has Vanguard changed its ways. I would like to think so, but until there is firm statistical evidence that its voting record has changed, I find it hard to believe.

FYI: Just like the Energizer Bunny PFF, one of my largest positions, just keep ticking along, and pays a dividend monthly. Bought in 3/09, you do the math.
The little-known securities split the difference between bonds and equities.
Regards,
Ted
http://www.marketwatch.com/story/3-preferred-stock-etfs-with-dividends-of-at-least-5-2014-11-10/print

Hello,
It is now 9:00 AM EST as I write ...
I phone M* at about 8:45 AM EST and went through the prompts. Aflter being on hold for about ten minutes without being able to speak with someone I terminated the call.
Part of good service is timely pricing updates along with being able handle inbound customer service calls in a timely manner. This did not happen. Their star rating in now under review.
Old_Skeet

It is about 7:15 AM EST as I write.
In checking the price of SGGDX on its fund report and in portfolio manager it has now been updated as of it's Friday closing price.
At about 7:10 AM EST I called M* and got a recording that their office hours were from 7AM to 7PM ... I'll try again as they might be in a different time zone?
M* could have run updates early Saturday morning and in doing this their reports would not have reflected stale pricing over the weekend.
Old_Skeet

FYI: Commodities are an outlier at a time of record or near-record prices for other major asset classes, such as stocks, bonds and real estate.
Regards,
Ted
http://online.wsj.com/articles/its-time-to-consider-commodities-1415495805?tesla=y&mg=reno64-wsj&url=http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10630045880067773408604580260661565673950.html&fpid=2,7,121,122,201,401,641,1009

Add-on, @catch22:
>>>>>"Not sure what you mean by "We'll do our SERIOUS investing elsewhere."
Does this mean that monies that are not invested in the workplace 403b are instead invested in a trad. or ROTH IRA?
One aspect of workplace retirement accounts is reducing gross taxable income during the tax year, which some folks consider a benefit to saving by this method."
**********
By "serious" investing, I just meant that we won't be putting our OWN money into the 403b. We get the deduction from our IRAs, still. We've not even begun to withdraw from our IRAs, and are still adding to them. Traditional. (Wife still is working, though lately cut to part-time.) There were a couple of years in which I inherited more than the $6,500.00 Trad. IRA maximum and so we bought a couple of funds as taxable investment accounts, but they remain quite small: SFGIX and DLFNX. Whether taxable or not, I think they were solid choices. :) Thank you for your concern, which I know is genuine. Typo above: we own NAESX Vang. Small-cap, not NEASX.

Hey. it only took three days, but M* status of my 1 star fund is now current...

Although I would have thought Friday's jump should have earned it a 2nd star...

A side note for those who care (perhaps too much) about who got caught in the 2003ish mutual fund scandal.
Here's a settlement notice from Columbia that pays shareholders of (among other funds) Acorn International, Acorn Select, and funds coming from Stein Roe, Newport, Wanger, and others whose lineage I don't care to track down.
I do recall that one of the more egregious offenders was Nations Bank (which later got merged into Columbia Funds).
I'm not going to sort out which funds were involved; just point out that the scandal appears to have come into present day Columbia from two distinct lines - Nations Bank and Fleet Boston (which bought Liberty which bought Acorn among others). So there were scoundrels on both sides of the "family".