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As an aside Fido lists , in their screener, only 10 utility funds available ntf. Vanguard has a tf, and T Rowe Price, Janus, Invesco, Putnam and Blackrock don't even offer funds. PRUZX seems comparable to FSUTX, but has a tf. I'll probably throw a few coins at FSUTX and add XLU as my secondary fund.
Finishing up some quarterly rebalancing. Adding funds for inflation: PZRMX, BCASX. Adding funds for Value/Quality: GQEPX, CDC. Building cash from sales in CTFAX, SWAN, GIBLX, TMSRX. Added a bit to REMIX. Watching GLFOX. Best of luck, Rick
In the current financial environment, which of investment grade Muni or investment grade Corporate are considered less credit sensitive (i.e., ballast)? (Assume their Duration and thus their interest rate risk is the same.)
@BaluBalu, why not just start a separate new discussion? (if you feel that it is off topic to this particular post, which it is.) More folks might give it more attention that way.
I got my answer based on today’s market action. I put in an order to sell 50% of the small Muni assets I have. The other 50% will go on Friday if I do not get any contradictory signal from the market tomorrow.
The only munis I follow are the short-intermediate high yield ones. IMHO they are bottoming right now. PRIHX will be off nearly 7% YTD after today’s small drop. Depends on what muni(s) you own. But, generally speaking, states are flush with cash. Pension funds are in the best shape they’ve been in for years. I’d not be selling their bonds at this point. But that 5-7% on I-Bonds sounds nice if you want to lock up a sum for a year. (I knocked a couple % off the advertised rate because there’s a penalty for unloading within 5 years.)
@hank, as mentioned in my first post, I was enquiring about investment grade that is what I will be unloading. Not a big position, which I bought in 2013-14 and today when rates fell throughout the curve, Muni is the only sector that lost ground - answered my relative question. Even NVHIX was lower. I am not worried about defaults but market sentiment is an entirely different matter. I already bought IBonds for 2021 & 22 because it took less than a minute to do so. I am not going to use the tax overpayment to buy more as that requires more work and I already own them in six figures. I plan to hold them past the 5 yr mark.
The only munis I follow are the short-intermediate high yield ones. IMHO they are bottoming right now. PRIHX will be off nearly 7% YTD after today’s small drop. Depends on what muni(s) you own. But, generally speaking, states are flush with cash. Pension funds are in the best shape they’ve been in for years. I’d not be selling their bonds at this point. But that 5-7% on I-Bonds sounds nice if you want to lock up a sum for a year. (I knocked a couple % off the advertised rate because there’s a penalty for unloading within 5 years.)
Not sure if we've hit bottom on the munis, their dip seems to be lagging the taxable space...but definitely moving into excellent buying opportunity. The best market moves I've made in my entire investing life was going big into Vanguard HY corporate on its lows and same with Vanguard HY Tax exempt mainly when people thought that market was going to implode. Just keep buying more and either you will get capital appreciation, higher yield or both. Yes, I know, rates could just keep rising to the sky...but if that happens then all our plans will be laid to waste, not an investing strategy IMO. Just need to be patient, and collect the income while you wait.
Swapped out IEDI (iShares Evolved US Discretionary Spending ETF) for FCPI (Fidelity Stocks for Inflation ETF) mostly because I don't like having a pile of cash just sitting there doing nothing. I feel that I can sell pretty quickly if it turns dramatically south.
What is working for me this year is RPHYX, TPHD, REMIX and RYU. I have 12 individual stocks that are collectively up 8.25% YTD. I am on a hold pattern for now. REMIX would be my top choice.
I like REMIX and PQTAX/PQTIX on longer charts, but will just point out that EQCHX seems twice as strong post-Dec. If one is to assume (dangerous, of course) that things are different now, then this perhaps becomes important. Full disclosure: I bought EQCHX very recently..
ASFYX looks more like straight equity managed futures with an FI overlay, with > 4% yield. But hard to tell, their only website I can find doesn't have the usual fund info, just an email address to query .. which I did. Fidelity has the A shares (AMFAX) NTF and load waived, $2,500 minimum. The $100k ASFYX minimum leaves me out too.
I thought that Chesapeake fund sounded familiar; I owned it for a while in 2015, bought not long before it peaked and headed south. I guess there's a lesson in that.
ASFYX looks more like straight equity managed futures with an FI overlay, with > 4% yield. But hard to tell, their only website I can find doesn't have the usual fund info, just an email address to query .. which I did. Fidelity has the A shares (AMFAX) NTF and load waived, $2,500 minimum. The $100k ASFYX minimum leaves me out too.
I thought that Chesapeake fund sounded familiar; I owned it for a while in 2015, bought not long before it peaked and headed south. I guess there's a lesson in that.
Yes, date them; don't get married! 8^b I think there's a window here if things are going to behave reasonably, rather than unpredictably. These types of funds weren't particularly productive when btd ruled the day. Right now they're looking pretty good.
ASFYX looks more like straight equity managed futures with an FI overlay, with > 4% yield. But hard to tell, their only website I can find doesn't have the usual fund info, just an email address to query .. which I did. Fidelity has the A shares (AMFAX) NTF and load waived, $2,500 minimum. The $100k ASFYX minimum leaves me out too.
I thought that Chesapeake fund sounded familiar; I owned it for a while in 2015, bought not long before it peaked and headed south. I guess there's a lesson in that.
Yes, date them; don't get married! 8^b I think there's a window here if things are going to behave reasonably, rather than unpredictably. These types of funds weren't particularly productive when btd ruled the day. Right now they're looking pretty good.
Agreed. Once in a great while they shine. In 2015, the only reason I made any $ that year was due to chunks I put into two AQR funds (Long-Short Equity and Market Neutral). Those are out of the question now due to major bumpups in minimum initial investments, so it's good to find others to fit the bill.
But going through Fidelity, the Chesapeake fund doesn't allow auto-investing, which for me is a nonstarter in a TF fund. AMFAX does, though.
@AndyJ, how does one figure out whether Fidelity allows auto invest on a fund one does not already own? Thanks.
You have to call and ask. Some CSRs can find that info right away, some take a few minutes. Every time I call I ask if they wouldn't please put that info on the fund page. (Oh yeah, and according to Fidelity and one fund I called to ask about it, it's the fund itself that makes that decision. There's apparently a small cost to the fund of every auto invest transaction.)
What duration T's are you buying? Been thinking there's a chance 3% on the 30y might be a turning point into a trading range, and it sorta has that look about it today, after topping 3% intraday yesterday.
Lots of juggling … I plunked a bit into GNMA (ETF) today thinking it will outperform cash the rest of the year. I mean … down nearly 8% YTD … How much worse can it get?
I’m pleased to have one recent acquisition, FLO (Flowers Foods), in the green today. Among other products, they distribute Dave’s Killer Bread - which I unabashedly highly recommend.
Edit: FLO finished the day down .69%. So I lost some “dough” on it.
@AndyJ, Yes, it is not so convenient to find the auto invest info if you do not already own the fund. River Canyon fund does not participate. I have been buying 2 Yr & 3 mo Treasuries. I am not buying them for cap gains but for yield while waiting for MM rates to go up or deploy into spread products.
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Best of luck,
Rick
Placed CIBFX on my potential Funds to BUY list.
Waiting for the next dip, assuming it shows. That "Patience young grasshopper" phrase keeps replaying in the back of my mind.
In the current financial environment, which of investment grade Muni or investment grade Corporate are considered less credit sensitive (i.e., ballast)? (Assume their Duration and thus their interest rate risk is the same.)
Thanks for adding to the thread @BaluBalu.
I thought that Chesapeake fund sounded familiar; I owned it for a while in 2015, bought not long before it peaked and headed south. I guess there's a lesson in that.
But going through Fidelity, the Chesapeake fund doesn't allow auto-investing, which for me is a nonstarter in a TF fund. AMFAX does, though.
@AndyJ, how does one figure out whether Fidelity allows auto invest on a fund one does not already own? Thanks.
(Oh yeah, and according to Fidelity and one fund I called to ask about it, it's the fund itself that makes that decision. There's apparently a small cost to the fund of every auto invest transaction.)
What duration T's are you buying? Been thinking there's a chance 3% on the 30y might be a turning point into a trading range, and it sorta has that look about it today, after topping 3% intraday yesterday.
I’m pleased to have one recent acquisition, FLO (Flowers Foods), in the green today. Among other products, they distribute Dave’s Killer Bread - which I unabashedly highly recommend.
Edit: FLO finished the day down .69%. So I lost some “dough” on it.
Watching red market carnage
Friend added amaz put sale to open mature 4.29 strike 2600, premium 1780