#5 @Sven did you happen to see 60 Minutes last night ? Over charging for tools that the armed forces use !! All at tax payer expense ! Armed services hurt to : 100 tanks ordered , can only buy 90 with their allotted dollars.

Good interview overall with many historical perspectives. He is quite bearish and the economy is entering a recession now.
1. He likes things that you need, i.e. consumer staples (food), utilities, and healthcare, not so much things you want.
2. Long and short tern treasury bonds as in a barbell
3. Gold, but they are near all time high
4. Farmland (impractical for most investors)
5. Defense industries as the budget goes up every year
6. His equity allocation is at all time low (recession)

@dtconroe what makes a banking account (checking and savings) more liquid than a money market fund at the likes of Schwab?

Hi Mona, I have a brick and mortar branch of my bank 10 minutes away. I literally can get whatever cash I need out of that bank within just a few minutes. If the bank is closed, I have a drive through ATM 5 minutes away where I can get cash. I can move money between my checking account and savings accout online, instantly. I have FDIC protections and I have tremendous trust in my bank as a result of many years of membership. I also have a large number of bills linked to my bank account online, for monthly drafting to pay the expenses. I also have a large number of ongoing deposits from social security, spouse pensions, etc. and if any of those are disrupted by Default problems, then I have other cash available in my bank savings account that I can quickly shift to my checking account for bill drafting coverage.
With my Schwab brokerage MM account, I have to put in a trade to sell a certain amount of the MM fund, and it goes to brokerage cash the next day. Then I have to transfer the brokerage cash electronically to my bank, and it takes a couple of days for the trade to settle and the transfer to be completed. Sometimes the weekend delays the process for a few more days. When the money finally arrives at my bank, then I can go through the withdrawal, bill paying process, that I already described.
From my perspective, everything is faster and more dependable by have adequate assets in my banking account, and quite frankly I trust my bank more than my Schwab brokerage to protect my cash.

I sold all of my bond funds in March of 2022. I have not bought any new bond funds since then, preferring Brokerage noncallable CDs and MMs. I have no plans on buying any new bond funds in the near future. For now, I prefer to reinvest CDs that are maturing, into new CDs at higher interest rates. I continue to hold a large number of watchlists of bond oefs, to see if there is an emerging performance pattern that interests me, but nothing I trust has emerged in 2023 so far. I continue to have interest in Bank Loans, Municipal Funds, and some HY, Multisector and Nontraditional funds, so I watch those most closely. With MMs and CDs paying aroung 5% or more, I have no sense of urgency to rush back into bond oefs.

At this time, and for lack of any better alternatives that meet my comfort level, I am keeping 100% of my portfolio in a Treasury Only MM fund and in FDIC insured CDs issued by the largest national banks until the proverbial dust settles.
Good luck,
Fred

Hi Fred, I am not sure what kind of portfolio you have. I have both a traditional taxable account, along with an IRA account. I am keeping my Brokerage IRA portion in MMs and CDs, but I am transferring "part" of my traditional brokerage taxable account to my Banking Account (checking and Savings) for liquidity reasons. Do you count your Banking Account as part of your portfolio?

@fred495...question if you are comfortable answering...how much of a change meaning your 100% Treasury MMKT and FDIC CD portfolio from your past portfolio...were you very heavy in those investments prior and if so what % of your portfolio?
FWIW...I've been 85-90% for many years in those types of investments....now ~ 95%...."stop playing the game if you feel you've got enough...don't get greedy...get your portfolio where you can sleep well at night" I'm still working and do I guess you would say better than average out there...working for the "fun of the game, camraderie and challenge.."
Have to say, my current thinking is you might be "safer?" in AAPL as due to a better balance sheet than the govt (no printing press though) as it is a utility without the interest rate exposure of a normal utility and has plenty of "fan boys/girls/others" who are addicted to their products...maybe BRK-B too but I saw during the Pandemic ole'Warren kinda froze up a bit, he seemed really rattled for someone who has had many trips around the sun...
I've been adding to FPACX...nice cash buffer in portfolio, thinking Romick and the boys will know what to do AND act at the somewhat correct time...heard on recent podcasts that the "technicals" are looking better, throwing off buy signals...who the heck knows though right?
Good Luck to ALL,
Baseball Fan

The Week in Charts (05/20/23)
A tour of the markets covering the most important charts & themes, including the Nasdaq 100 comeback, the inverse of 2022, US equity valuations, the US Consumer pullback, and more.
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The way brokerages service cash accounts (variously called "transaction accounts", "core accounts", etc.) is confusing by design. Sweeps happen automagically (pay no attention to the man behind the curtain), and investors are not supposed to concern themselves with details.
Those details vary from brokerage to brokerage but are generally similar. A brokerage transaction account is used to pay for investment purchases and to hold proceeds from sales, interest and dividend payments.
Investors typically have a choice of places where this cash may be kept. One option is a bank sweep. Brokerages use one or more banks (called "Program Banks") to hold the cash of investors choosing this option. Even though you get FDIC insurance "passed through" to you from the banks, you don't actually have a bank account at any program bank. Rather, the brokerage aggregates all the cash together and has a single bank account at each program bank for this purpose.
If brokerages own banks, they generally use those banks as their program banks. So Merrill uses BofA. Schwab uses Charles Schwab Bank, Charles Schwab Premier Bank, Charles Schwab Trust Bank, TD Bank, and TD USA Bank. The latter two are not affiliated with Schwab. (Their use might just be legacy from when TD Bank owned TD Ameritrade; just speculating about status.)
For checkwriting services, Schwab encourages you to open (and link) a Schwab bank account. It provides a combined application for a brokerage and a bank account. It provides combined reports (see OJ's image above). But the basic brokerage application (w/o Schwab Bank) also allows you to request checks & debit card (see section 5).
Checkingwriting services are spelled out a little better for Schwab IRA brokerage accounts. Here's the IRA checkwriting disclosure. These checks are processed by BNY Mellon. So it is clear that for IRA checkwriting at least, you don't need to link to a Schwab Bank checking account.
Aside from bank sweeps, the other main option at Schwab is Schwab One® Interest Feature (you're loaning the cash to Schwab; it gets SIPC protection). Some investors (employer plans, advised accounts) may also be able to use sweep shares of a MMF SWGXX.
See also:
https://www.schwab.com/legal/cash-features-disclosure-statement
https://www.schwab.com/legal/schwab-brokerage-account-agreement

Several Matthews Asia funds were mentioned.
I personally would stay away from all Matthews Asia funds in the near-term (possibly long-term).
There has been an exodus of talent at the firm over the past few years.
https://www.mutualfundobserver.com/discuss/discussion/comment/152046
https://www.mutualfundobserver.com/discuss/discussion/comment/156101
https://www.mutualfundobserver.com/discuss/discussion/comment/159415

I agree.
@randynevin. Look at DODWX. It is global, not strictly international. Great track record.
https://www.morningstar.com/funds/xnas/dodwx/quote

Not really- there are two separate entries there:
• The first shows "Cash and Cash Investments Total $54,014.50"
And down in the extreme lower right of the "Balance Details" section:
• "Funds in linked Bank Account $10,046.00"
And that is agreement with the Account Summary as shown above. The only account we have at the Schwab Bank is a checking account. I'm not sure if that's the same on your side, or if that actually makes any difference at all. This whole thing with the apparent differences in our accounts is very puzzling to me.

19 May, 2022.
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/videos/2023-05-20/wall-street-week-full-show-05-19-2023
GULP! The national debt is now up to 97% of GDP!? (Remember when the figure was tagged as GNP? So, what's the difference, and why the change?)

Recessions & financial crises go hand in hand after Federal Reserve tightening cycles. Outspoken economist Dave Rosen-"bear"-g sees evidence of both and advises defensive investments.
He's predicting 3100 on the S&P 500.
Previous lows:
Present Level = 4192
1 year low - Oct 10, 22 = 3500
3 year low - Mar 11, 2020 = 2586
5 year low - Dec 1, 2018 = 2506

Anybody care to speculate on what caused BAMBX to fall to earth after several great years? From 2016 through 2021 it was positive every year - delivering (by my estimate) around 5% yearly returns on average. That type performance from a low / moderate risk fund is going to attract eyeballs. But it fell 3% in 2022 and is dead-even (0%) YTD.
OK - 2022 was reasonable considering the whacking both equities and fixed income received, But this year makes no sense. All I can figure is that it’s invested heavily at the short end of the yield curve and has struggled against sharply rising short term rates. If that’s the case, it stands to do much better when short-term rates begin falling. Just a guess. Anybody see anything different?
“Black box” is probably a misnomer. Yet, ISTM this type of investment process makes it a real challenge to “get under the hood” and really understand what makes the fund behave the way it does.

@sfnative-
It's entirely possible that I'm ignorant of some things here. I have no idea what a "Program Bank" is, nor have I ever seen anything on Schwab referring to that. If I visit our "Account Summary" there are two separate entries for cash accounts- one for the brokerage and one for the bank.
Here's a reproduction of the top lines of our current Account Summary:

Note that the brokerage cash account is currently $54,014 (a CD just matured), while the bank account is $10,046.
I really don't know what else to say about this.
Regards- OJ

[snip]
Now the problem for me with locking up money in a CD is that it limits my ability to move in and out of what I believe are more profitable investments while that money is tied up. I’ll take the 4+% on cash Fido currently pays in return for being able to pick up equities anytime I want. While you’re tied up in a 3 year or 5 year C/D some hard assets or equities you watch could fall by 25%, making them an attractive buy. Do the math and you’ve actually lost money if you buy those assets a few years later after the prices have rebounded, even considering your “profit” from the C/D. When you lock up cash for any length of time you pay an opportunity cost.
[snip]

Well said!

https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/923184/000119312523149421/d475937d497.htm
497 1 d475937d497.htm FORM 497
SUPPLEMENT DATED MAY 19, 2023
TO THE MUTUAL FUND PROSPECTUS AND
STATEMENT OF ADDITIONAL INFORMATION OF
MATTHEWS ASIA FUNDS
DATED APRIL 28, 2023, AS SUPPLEMENTED
For all existing and prospective shareholders of Matthews Korea Fund – Investor Class shares (MAKOX) and Institutional Class shares (MIKOX):
As explained in the supplement dated March 7, 2023, the Matthews Korea Fund (the “Fund”) will be reorganized from a mutual fund into an exchange-traded fund (“ETF”), expected to occur on or around July 14, 2023 (the “Reorganization”).
As part of the Reorganization, the following preliminary events will occur before the Reorganization is completed:
●On or around June 20, 2023, all Investor Class shares of the Fund will be converted to Institutional Class shares of the Fund (the “Share Class Conversion”); and
●On or around June 23, 2023, when the Fund has only Institutional Class shares outstanding, those outstanding shares will be combined into fewer shares through a reverse stock split (the “Reverse Stock Split”).
At a meeting held on May 16-17, 2023, the Board of Trustees (the “Board”) of Matthews International Funds, (dba Matthews Asia Funds) (the “Trust”), approved, on behalf of the Fund, the Share Class Conversion and the Reverse Stock Split.
The Share Class Conversion is intended to help minimize the number of fractional shares prior to the Reorganization since fractional shares are not supported in the ETF structure. After the Share Class Conversion occurs, each shareholder that held Investor Class shares will instead hold Institutional Class shares with the same total net asset value as previously held in the Investor Class shares. The Institutional Class shares currently have a lower total expense ratio compared to the Investor Class shares.
Shortly after the Share Class Conversion, the Institutional Class shares will combine into fewer shares through the Reverse Stock Split to increase the net asset value per share of the Institutional Class prior to the Reorganization. A higher net asset value per share for the ETF is desired to help facilitate better secondary market quality of the ETF. The Reverse Stock Split will occur at an exact ratio to be determined by Matthews International Capital Management, LLC, as the adviser to the Fund, currently expected to be between 1-for-6 to 1-for-9. If, for example, the exact ratio is 1-for-7, a shareholder would receive 1 Institutional Class share for every 7 Institutional Class shares held, with any fractional amounts to be paid in cash prior to the Reorganization so that the shareholder would hold a round number of shares. As with the Share Class Conversion, the total net asset value of each shareholder’s Institutional Class shares will be the same after the reverse split as before the reverse split (except for the value represented by cash received for fractional shares). The Reverse Stock Split will not result in a taxable transaction for shareholders. However, any fractional shares of the Institutional Class that are held prior to the Reorganization will be liquidated for cash, which may cause a taxable event with respect to the cash received.
Please retain this Supplement with your records.

(a) It'd be best to invoke the 14th before a default, as a way of avoiding one ... like the language suggests.
(b) The SC-5/6 have shown they can "creatively" justify anything they want, constitution and precedent be damned. Ayatollah Alito may be on it right now.

History and the landing:
https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2023/05/18/opinion/jobs-inflation-economy.html

Schwab Bank pays whopping 0.45-0.48% on its checking and savings accounts.

Hey it's probably still more than they pay their brokerage sweep account!
Amazing that in 2023 they still want folks to buy into their (expensive) MMFs and take an extra step to move funds around when raising/storing cash in-between buys/sells, which is just as old-school a mindset as thinking OEFs with front-end loads are a good idea.
I just use t-bills instead for cash at Schwab ... sure, it's essentially the same process as using one of their MMFs, and they probably profit a few bps from the spread, but I feel less annoyed by that ... and probably come out a tiny bit ahead anyway in the end.