(x-posted from Armchair...)
Charles Schwab announces TD Ameritrade data breach
Charles Schwab Corp., the parent company of TD Ameritrade, Inc., has disclosed that it is just the latest company to suffer a data breach resulting from vulnerabilities found in MOVEit file transfer software. While the company claims that the computer systems of both companies remains unharmed, customer data stored on Ameritrade’s MOVEit server was compromised.
The incident is currently under investigation by both Schwab and Ameritrade, with a thorough analysis expected to be completed soon. Upon conclusion, Schwab says, affected customers will be notified.
This data breach holds significant implications, as it contributes to one of the largest breaches of 2023, affecting millions of Americans. The compromised information puts individuals at an increased risk of identity theft and other fraudulent activities. It is crucial for customers who receive a data breach notification from TD Ameritrade or Charles Schwab to understand the potential risks and take appropriate measures.
The cause of the breach stems from vulnerabilities discovered in the MOVEit software, which TD Ameritrade used on a limited basis. The incident came to light after the software’s developers detected a zero-day vulnerability.
Promptly responding to the potential security breach, TD Ameritrade ceased using MOVEit and promptly informed law enforcement. Simultaneously, an investigation was initiated to determine the scope of the breach and the specific client data that may have been exposed. Although this investigation remains ongoing, Schwab estimates that approximately 0.5% of Ameritrade’s clients may have been affected. That could mean up to 55,000 clients have been affected.
< - >
www.investmentnews.com/charles-schwab-announces-td-ameritrade-data-breach-239887
(I have TD and Schwab accounts and heard nothing - it would be nice of them to inform all account holders!)

July 15 Episode

Discover investment opportunities in this field through the expertise of Lucas White, Lead Portfolio Manager of GMO’s successful Climate Change Strategy. With the impressive performance of GMO’s Climate Change Fund, which beats its benchmark and boasts 12% annualized returns, investors gain exposure to companies combatting climate change and adapting to its effects. White shares insights on the fund’s unique approach and discusses his journey in launching it.

PRWCX is closed to new investors, so I don’t know why people keep recommending it.
A few reasons:
1. It serves as a benchmark
2. It may be open to investors in 401(k) or other employer-sponsored plans that include it as an option
3. It is open to "mass affluent" investors (see below).
4. Some people own shares and are interested in how the fund is doing (is it a buy?).
Supposedly there are round-about ways to open a new account, but I view that as a myth.
Fund companies reward account size, not longevity. Vanguard opens some of its closed funds to Flagship ($1M+) customers. Artisan allows shareholders who hold more than $250K in its funds to buy into closed funds like ARTKX (see statutory prospectus). Similarly, T. Rowe Price allows investors holding more than $250K at TRP to invest in its closed funds, via its Summit program. This program replaced its Select Client Services in 2021. These "back doors" are not myths.
In a way, you were right to wait for TRP to partially open its closed funds. Around the end of 2020 T. Rowe Price reorganized itself in part to give it greater capacity. Not long after, it made its closed funds available to some investors.
Maybe you left before TRP sent out the memo. Or maybe, in splitting assets across institutions, you maintained only a toe hold at TRP. Whatever. Time is not what matters. I've had assets at Fidelity since before I was born (parents set up a UGMA account with really old fund shares). Yet Fidelity doesn't even offer me a free copy of Turbotax.
TRP's brokerage was always an adjunct to its fund business - offered as a convenience to its fund investors but not its mainline business. (A $35 fee each way on TF funds and a six month holding period is not competitive.) So it's not surprising that you would find Fidelity a better platform for securities aside from house funds.
Good luck with TCAF. It's not a clone of PRWCX - simply by its nature as a pure equity funds I expect it to outperform over time with greater volatility.

PRWCX is closed to new investors, so I don’t know why people keep recommending it. Supposedly there are round-about ways to open a new account, but I view that as a myth. My wife and I had accounts with TRP for more than 25 years, and they wouldn’t let me buy, exchange or trade my way into PRWCX — despite numerous attempts. I finally transferred all of our TRP accounts to Fidelity to consolidate all of our holdings and make life easier. I kept some of my TRP funds in my Fidelity account, but exchanged the poorer performing ones to Fidelity funds (including FBALX). I also bought shares in the ETF counterpart of PRWCX through Fidelity.
In my opinion, the Fidelity website is vastly superior to TRP, although it probably takes time to familiarize oneself. It is much easier to research, compare and buy funds or ETFs from other investment companies through Fidelity than TRP.

At some point the perfect becomes the enemy of the good. Finding something that suits the investor described may not match up with "best" solutions. There is no guarantee that more, or professional, advice will "remedy" the situation given the druthers of the parties involved.
Is it an insurmountable burden for a young man working three jobs to potentially deal with taxes on capital gains if he gets past a certain income at some point, when the alternative is a money market fund?
Maybe somebody out there has the numbers on paying 15% on cap gains versus returns on a money market, or numerous other vehicles the beneficiary, or his benefactor, have varying interest in pursuing.

Hi @Junkster
You noted about overbought bank loans. Peeking about, relative to the RSI 14 day theory, with a RSI under 30 being oversold and over 70 being overbought; this is a rare view chart. The chart is for the etf MINT, Pimco Enhanced Short Maturity Active managed.
The chart is set at 3 years and one can see the period of no love and then the rise when the FED started doing the rate rise. YTD is 3.25%, with a SEC yield of 5.44%. A very uncommon chart in my experience. Current RSI above 93 and holding. Yow !!!
Remain curious,
Catch

Prospectus update :
https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/923184/000119312523187267/d522100d497.htm

https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1199046/000158064223003676/nightshares497s.htm
497 1 nightshares497s.htm 497
NightShares 500 ETF (NSPY)
NightShares 2000 ETF (NIWM)
(each a series of Unified Series Trust)
Primary Listing Exchange for the Funds: NYSE Arca, Inc.
Supplement dated July 14, 2023 to the Prospectus and Statement of Additional Information (the “SAI”) dated May 18, 2022 and Summary Prospectuses dated May 18, 2022
The Board of Trustees (the “Board”) of Unified Series Trust (the “Trust”) authorized an orderly liquidation of the NightShares 500 ETF and the NightShares 2000 ETF (each, a “Fund” and together, the “Funds”), each a series of the Trust. The Board determined on July 14, 2023 that closing and liquidating the Funds was in the best interests of the Funds and the respective Fund’s shareholders, following a recommendation by the Funds’ investment adviser, AlphaTrAI Funds, Inc.
The last day of trading of Fund shares on NYSE Arca, Inc. (the “NYSE”) will be July 31, 2023 (the “Closing Date”), which will also be the last day each Fund will accept creation units from authorized participants. Shareholders may sell their holdings in a Fund prior to the Closing Date and customary brokerage charges may apply to these transactions. Authorized Participants may redeem baskets of shares for a pro rata portion of a Fund’s portfolio on hand through the Closing Date.
The Funds are expected to cease operations, liquidate their assets, and distribute the liquidation proceeds to shareholders of record on or about August 10, 2023 (the “Liquidation Date”).
From the Closing Date (July 31, 2023), through the Liquidation Date (August 10, 2023), shareholders may only be able to sell their shares to certain broker-dealers and there is no assurance that there will be a market for the Funds’ shares during this time period. Between the Closing Date and the Liquidation Date, the Funds will be in the process of closing down and liquidating their portfolios. This process will result in each Fund increasing its cash holdings and, as a consequence, not pursuing its investment objective.
Shareholders of record remaining on the Liquidation Date will receive cash equal to the net asset value of their shares as of that date, which will include any capital gains and dividends as of such date. The liquidating cash distribution to shareholders will be treated as payment in exchange for their shares. The liquidation of Fund shares may be treated as a taxable event. Shareholders should contact their tax adviser to discuss the income tax consequences of the liquidation. Once the distributions are complete, the Funds will terminate.
For additional information regarding the liquidation, shareholders of the Funds may call (833) 648-3383.
This Supplement provides new and additional information beyond that contained in the Summary Prospectuses, Prospectus, and Statement of Additional Information and should be read in conjunction with those documents. The Prospectus and Statement of Additional Information have been filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission and are incorporated herein by reference.
PLEASE RETAIN THIS SUPPLEMENT FOR FUTURE REFERENCE

FMIMX yahoo chart shows it at one year high !

It's a little less high at the close of today's market. :)
PE is at 13.68, book 2.36, price/cash 7.98, price/sales .84. Smids (which is the current weight,, rather than the category) have been out of fashion for a while. I think there's room to run a little bit.
I have a long horizon in the taxable, which is heavily tilted to dividends at the moment. It's a little less flighty than recently added RWJ and SYLD. Sort of a boring match for SPGP, also recently added.
I added FMIMX to the IRA on June 8. I might regret not adding it to the taxable sooner. We'll see how I feel 10 years from now.
BTW, FMIMX has been an MFO Great Owl for at least 25 years, IIRC.

@Crash , you've not noted:
--- taxable account or Roth IRA ?
Taxable. We intend to put his name as primary, and my wife as the other joint-owner. (She's 19 years younger than me. Like my dear son, she does not "grok" investing at all. But eventually, some things will move beyond my control. Eventually, EVERYTHING will move beyond my control.) A taxable account means no worries about running afoul of the splendid and gorgeous and marvelous IRA rules brought to you by the glorious IRS.
--- If a taxable account, an ETF basically has no short/long taxable annual distributions; with the exception of possible dividends for tax reporting. While traditional mutual funds will have these taxable events every year. There are many very acceptable etf's that a 30 year old should be investing into, and the ER's are generally very low. 30 years old= growth, growth, growth.......ride out the machinations.
I have made an executive decision, myself: no ETFs. I don't like the way they behave, somehow. I've owned and already sold two. No more ETFs.
--- Roth IRA....course, no annual taxation, annual limit for 2023 is $6,500. ANYONE may provide the money to fund the account, as long as the owner 'HE' has taxable income that satisfies the funding limits for the year. We funded our daughter's ROTH when she had income for a given year, starting at age 14. She kept her income for her needs at the time.
My son does not possess an "investing bone" in his body, anywhere. Does not want to even deal with the necessary papers. He's about as organized as his mother. Has no desire to do any investing homework or come up with a plan, or learn the admittedly abstruse, esoteric jargon. I've had some conversations with him about it, trying to simplify and break it all down, avoiding the whacked, specialized terminology. He flatly told me: "All I need is a single fund that I can hold for a long time, and just let it ride."
--- Has your son viewed the Fido site? If so, what is his opinion? If he is comfortable with the site, will he not he be the one maintaining the investments/site when you can not longer perform this function?
No, surely he's not seen the Fido website. He doesn't even know where to begin. Previously, I sent him MAPOX IRA paperwork, and he got entangled in it all and wasn't even sure where to fill out the forms. (I have since told him simply: Just look for the pages with blank spaces that tell you to provide X, Y and Z.) He is NOT dumb, just is the type who prefers to fly by the seat of his pants and eschews sorting, organizing, arranging----- or CLEANING HIS ROOM. LOL.
He will surely not be active in monitoring his mutual fund. Truthfully, I suspect I will be contributing the lion's share of what goes into it. And after getting a dose of Fidelity's website, that mutual fund will not be a Fidelity fund. (I think I've all but decided on RPBAX. He's not even going to CARE which one we use.) He is cobbling together three jobs to make a living. Doing alright for himself, in that regard.
A full world of investment choices with Fidelity.
I provided a number of choices for a young niece and her mother.....
A theme, yes, for a young person in particular; but also suitable in part for an older person, when adjusting some of the holdings positions by percentages. Redundancies with some holdings, yes. But, not a problem.
The above 6 bar chart from Sept. 13, 2016 (inception date limitation)
Using standard charting.
Time frame of niece's investment period chart< (3 years)>
'Course, this time frame includes the 2022 period of 'face slapping' until near the end of October when the equity and bond markets rotated towards a positive direction for performance. Generally, equity and bonds ranged down between -13 and -16% in 2022, including gains that started in October.
Remain curious,
Catch

Your thorough and thoughtful response is a thing I'm grateful for, @catch22.

@Crash , you've not noted:
--- taxable account or Roth IRA ?
--- If a taxable account, an ETF basically has no short/long taxable annual distributions; with the exception of possible dividends for tax reporting. While traditional mutual funds will have these taxable events every year. There are many very acceptable etf's that a 30 year old should be investing into, and the ER's are generally very low. 30 years old= growth, growth, growth.......ride out the machinations.
--- Roth IRA....course, no annual taxation, annual limit for 2023 is $6,500. ANYONE may provide the money to fund the account, as long as the owner 'HE' has taxable income that satisfies the funding limits for the year. We funded our daughter's ROTH when she had income for a given year, starting at age 14. She kept her income for her needs at the time.
--- Has your son viewed the Fido site? If so, what is his opinion? If he is comfortable with the site, will he not he be the one maintaining the investments/site when you can not longer perform this function?
A full world of investment choices with Fidelity.
I provided a number of choices for a young niece and her mother using past performance numbers and what each investment was able to provide based upon their exposure in the investment world. The niece has many years in front of her for investing .
They decided (the niece) to fund a Fido ROTH among six choices, mostly equally funded of:
---QQQ, etf
--- BOTZ, etf (robotics +)
--- FSMEX, medical tech. OR IHI etf, which about a twin for performance
--- FHLC, etf, broad healthcare (some downside market protection)
--- FTEC, etf, technology
--- FBALX, a hard to beat for performance balanced fund, generally 70/30
A theme, yes, for a young person in particular; but also suitable in part for an older person, when adjusting some of the holdings positions by percentages. Redundancies with some holdings, yes. But, not a problem.
The above 6 bar chart from Sept. 13, 2016 (inception date limitation)
Using standard charting.
Time frame of niece's investment period chart< (3 years)>
'Course, this time frame includes the 2022 period of 'face slapping' until near the end of October when the equity and bond markets rotated towards a positive direction for performance. Generally, equity and bonds ranged down between -13 and -16% in 2022, including gains that started in October.
Remain curious,
Catch

If one has $250K or more invested at T. Rowe Price, one can invest in PRWCX. To help meet that threshold one can include the amount planned for PRWCX by first moving cash into a TRP MMF.
There is a commonly held perception that if one transfers a share of a closed fund to another investor, then that other investor will be able buy more shares. Maybe, maybe not. It may not even be possible to transfer the share.
When Vanguard closes a fund, it prohibits new accounts from being opened in that fund. That includes opening a new account to receive a gifted share. This is based on personal experience. The first time I did a partial conversion of a closed fund from a T-IRA to a Roth IRA, Vanguard balked. It was only when I pointed out that I already had an account with this fund in my Roth that Vanguard permitted the transfer (convesion) to be performed.
Other funds/families may explicitly exclude owners of accounts opened with a gifted share from purchasing additional shares. Or they may state that to qualify for additional purchases, the current owner must have owned some shares continuously from the date the fund closed. I've seen both of these in prospectuses but can't recall where at the moment.
T. Rowe Price is a bit more ambiguous but may also prohibit share recipients from purchasing additional shares. PRWCX's prospectus says that "Transferring ownership to another party or changing an account registration may restrict the ability to purchase additional shares."
With respect to gaining access to PRWCX by rolling over a 401(k) to a TRP IRA, this too is at best ambiguous. I had a (solo) 401(k) administered by TRP. When rolling assets over into a TRP IRA, I asked about opening PRWCX. I was told then that if there had been 401(k) money in PRWCX I could move it to PRWCX in the IRA. Otherwise I could not open a new position even when doing this rollover. Does TRP treat "regular" 401(k)s differently from solo 401(k)s? I can't say.

FBALX, hands down. It can be a little more volatile than some AA funds at times but always bounces back. I’ve owned it for about 25 years and it’s my largest holding. I have never considered selling it because it’s consistently excellent. It also has very low expenses and team management, so you don’t have to worry about it faltering when a top manager leaves.

WORD!

I bought HYDB in 2021 and its down about 12% but might be about even with Div. I enjoy the monthly div @ over 8% but ALL I read is one needs to sell bond funds. Does anyone have any input on how safe it is or is it time to sell. PV shows its been a close race with PIMIX since 2021.

HYDB lost 16% in 2022, but has gained nearly 4% in 2023. I wouldn’t care to have more than 10-15% of portfolio exposed to high yield bonds. But I’d hang on to the fund if it were me and I was under 10% allocated. Why lock-in a loss?
The “sell bonds” mantra here and elsewhere (which I think is overdone) pertains mainly to interest-rate sensitive bonds. It is based on a belief that interest rates will continue going up. High yield has other attributes and is less prone (but not immune) to interest rate risk. That’s not to say high yield is less risky; just that the risks are different from what we normally call “bonds.” Would really love to hear @Junkster’s take on your question. He’s the expert on HY.

You two really deserve each other.

The animosity between Stillers and FD is very longstanding, but the original post on this thread, directed to FD specifically, was not worded in a very inviting or constructive tone. I am a bit surprised FD replied at all.

(Guffaw!)
Yeah, I worked in the fraud bizness for 35+ years and FD, to me and many others, is the quintessential investment forum fraud. So yeah, there's a wee bit of animosity.

You two really deserve each other.

Mona asked a serious, honest question, pretty much knowing she would NOT get a serious, honest answer.
FD deflected, just as he has done since I first read a post of his about 15 years ago.
I duly noted that.
And yet you troll me.
Got it.

+1.5

Yep, we have discussed PIMIX for years. It's difficult to know exactly what they do at any given time. I used to own a lot of it prior to 01/2018.
But perform Percentile Rank in its category is...1+3 year=20-22...5 years=15. Not too shabby for AUM=124 Billion. PIMIX has much high securitized and lower HY+EM bonds.
Derivative is a complicated subject and difficult to quantify. But, because the ER=0.50/0.51, I think the leverage is very low.
In the past, I posted about RCTIX as a good "cleaner" securitized with better LT risk/reward, see 3 year chart(https://schrts.co/kCDynyVs)
There is a new kid in town...PYLD=Pimco Multisector Bond Active Exchange-Traded Fund. See (https://www.pimco.com/en-us/investments/etf/multisector-bond-active-exchange-traded-fund). Strategy: The Fund seeks to achieve its investment objective by investing, under normal circumstances, at least 80% of its assets in a multi-sector portfolio of Fixed Income Instruments of varying maturities, which may be represented by forwards or derivatives such as options, futures contracts or swap agreements. “Fixed Income Instruments” include bonds, debt securities and other similar instruments issued by various U.S. and non-U.S. public- or private-sector entities.
ER=0.55. See below its holdings...mmm... definitely unique.

FBALX, hands down. It can be a little more volatile than some AA funds at times but always bounces back. I’ve owned it for about 25 years and it’s my largest holding. I have never considered selling it because it’s consistently excellent. It also has very low expenses and team management, so you don’t have to worry about it faltering when a top manager leaves.

Gosh, this is a stodgy old board!
Not at all. Several people on this site have suggested 100% (or near 100%) equity portfolios for young people. But those recommendations came with the proviso that the person had an emergency fund, or perhaps that the income stream was dead certain. And that there wasn't an alternative investment available with a higher projected risk-adjusted return.
A lot to unpack there. If he had an inherited annuity paying a steady monthly income, that would be one thing. A job without more info is not a certain income. Right now, the economy is at surprisingly full employment (3.6% unemployment). When (not if) the economy goes through a recession, jobs will be at risk. Jobs are always at risk of becoming obsolete. Moving from job to job takes time, which is one of the points of having an emergency fund that will last a few months.
A three stock portfolio of leading names may look good now, but then again, so did the Nifty Fifty. (FWIW, well before my time.)
https://bridgeway.com/perspectives/party-like-its-1972-what-can-the-nifty-fifty-teach-us-about-todays-market/
Building a diversified equity portfolio is a good idea for someone starting out. That doesn't preclude him from first building an emergency fund. (That exercise alone has the benefit of forcing one to budget expenses, including health care if employer coverage is lost.)
Starting out with highly non-diversified portfolio is not a great idea. At the very least, he would be better off diversifying now - sell at least some of the stock (being inherited they likely don't have huge unrealized gains). That's not a buy/sell/hold recommendation on the individual stocks, but a suggestion for thoughtful portfolio management.
Moving on to the alternative: paying down debt. As others have said here, that's 7% return, certain. Many sources project lower returns than that for equity over the next decade. Here's Schwab's take as of nine months ago. Admittedly things so far have gone better than projected last year (inflation coming down, employment remaining high).
https://www.schwab.com/learn/story/schwabs-long-term-capital-market-expectations

(Vanguard and others offer similar projections, though similarly predicated on a 2023 recession.)
Something you didn't mention about the student loan is whether it might qualify for loan forgiveness (should that become a reality) and whether the amount he would pay down would cost him some of that "free" money. That might militate against paying down the loan.
As you said, this is a learning experience for your grandson. Even if the risk of a catastrophic failure is small, should it happen he might not return to investing for years. It would seem to be better to virtually eliminate that risk (diversify now, have a cash reserve), even at the cost of (possibly) reduced returns for now.