Here's a statement of the obvious: The opinions expressed here are those of the participants, not those of the Mutual Fund Observer. We cannot vouch for the accuracy or appropriateness of any of it, though we do encourage civility and good humor.
"The allocation back into high yield is a vote of confidence for risk-on bets," Lukeman said...Thanks @Junkster.
The past month junk has shown some real positive divergence with equities. While the S@P is down over 4% and the NASDAQ almost 6%, the…
I am still undecided on TD Ameritrade. One major positive is besides the $17 on transaction fee funds purchases, they are also only charging me $17 on the sale side of such funds.
I took Social Security ASAP at age 62. I dont regret that one bit. Before that I rarely had any guaranteed income and SS finally gave me that luxury. I have always felt most overestimate their potential longevity and thus overcomplicate retireme…
The topic of annuities seem to generate contentious debate on investment forums. Bottom line appears to be they are appropriate for those fearful of running out of money in old age. Hence not really appropriate for those with above average nest eg…
This is an example of what are called "Retail Notes". They're frequently offered by large, recognizable, primarily financial institutions.
Fidelity calls its program for selling these Corporate Notes℠. It has a good description of these bonds:
h…
This is not a suggestion or recommendation to @Junkster, but I'll just point out the obvious. As of Friday's close, a ladder of individually held to maturity Treasuries were yielding, not adjusting for state income tax exemptions, with little or no…
For those that follow junkster, as I do, to see what his perspectives is on bonds linked below is his last post, that I can find, on the Morningstar board.
http://socialize.morningstar.com/NewSocialize/ViewPost.aspx?apptype=0&PostID=3914111
A c…
The etransition was rocky primarily because of the dividends accumulated while at Scottrade. More specificically, on positions closed out in February while at Scottrade that had accumulated dividends, instead of the dividends going to our cash acc…
The transition was rocky primarily because of the dividends accumulated while at Scottrade. More specificically, on positions closed out in February while at Scottrade that had accumulated dividends, instead of the dividends going to our cash acco…
http://www.hustlermoneyblog.com/best-brokerage-bonuses/
The above site is updated monthly. However there are a lot of bonuses out there that aren’t mentioned above. For instance, Fidelity will pay you $2500 to transfer a million dollars and over…
Not looking good. My accumulated dividends from Scottrade have not been credited to my TD Ameritrade account. With Scottrade dividends were always in your account prior to open on the first trading day of the month. Either that is not the case wi…
http://www.hustlermoneyblog.com/best-brokerage-bonuses/
The above site is updated monthly. However there are a lot of bonuses out there that aren’t mentioned above. For instance, Fidelity will pay you $2500 to transfer a million dollars and over…
My fault. I should placed the trade before the transfer took place. Just got lazy. Seems to be just like after you purchase new fund shares it takes a couple of days before you can sell, it will take at least that much time after the transfer into A…
I had been dreading today worrying about possible glitches. But so far so good. Made a transaction fee fund purchase and was charged the $17 Scottrade rate as promised. The next hurdle will be if the accumulated dividends from Scottrade are poste…
Without looking I would say that is fake news and not remotely accurate.
Edit. OK I checked since it seemed so far fetched. The Dow would have to be down double digits YTD to have given back half of 2017 gains. The Dow is most definitely not dow…
Sold 50% of my bank loan fund today. Not sure this is the time to be taking credit risk. If equities remain under pressure the Fed may be less aggressive in raising rates. Fed funds futures are already pricing in less aggressiveness than they wer…
Entering today my only position was EIFAX at 90%. However don’t think floating rate/bank loans bond funds are necessarily a panacea for rising rates. I can see a lot that can go wrong there but until price shows some signs of slippage will stay pu…
With PIMIX it is all about their exposure to non agency rmbs. That market which had been their driver has stalled. RCTIX and DPFNX two players in non agencies also had a bad day at the office.
Junkster, any suggestions for those of us looking for buy and hold bond funds for the long term? I can't imagine trying to trade in and out of diiferent funds. Looking for a bond fund for income (already have PIMIX). Considering either VWEHX and/or…
@Junkster
Have you looked at SEMMX in any detail? Thoughts?
Too mundane and groupthink for me. But that is not a criticism. It has been one smooth upward ride with little to no volatility. I can understand its appeal and why it is so loved. I t…
PIMIX is my largest bond holding and yes, it's struggled over the past few weeks for sure. I've been looking at LSYFX but it does seem a bit volatile in that category. Any thoughts on LFRAX ? It seems to be a tamer fund.
LFRAX (assuming it is load w…
https://www.mutualfundobserver.com/discuss/discussion/38025/a-mfo-fave-shines-and-gaffney-regains-her-touch#latest
It worries me bank loans are rapidly becoming groupthink as well as seriously overbought. Junk corporates are seriously lagging equi…
I sure must be missing something here. Since September leveraged loan funds have been in a real sweet spot with prices steadily rising. You would be making money there on a total return basis while losing in Treasuries. And YTD the rate of ascent…
I have an account with Scottrade - I have confirmed that as part of the transfer to TDA the transaction fees for mutual funds will remain $17.
Thanks for the feedback. Hopefully this is applicable to all Scottrade clients and not just those in thei…
@msf. Thanks for all your help. Contacted TD Ameritrade this morning and on transaction fee funds it is indeed a $49.99 charge on both purchases and sales. And if I understood correctly there is no time limit on the sales. They charge you be it o…
@msf. Yes, I saw that from 2012 but on the TD Ameritrade website could find nothing about any fees on selling a transaction fee fund. I guess I will just contact an office and ask them about the fees. My Scottrade brokers haven’t been of any help.…
Junkster,
"As for the transaction fee funds at TD Ameritrade that would benefit me being a shorter term holder as TDAmeritade doesn’t additionally charge a fee for selling their transaction fee funds."
How is one able to take advantage of such? I t…
TD Ameritrade has over 13,000 mutual funds according to their website. From my research they and Fidelity have the broadest selection of funds. I too am with Scottrade and looking forward to the final consolidation as I will have more funds to se…
Back in the old days - like the 1950s through the 1980s - one of the best if not best leading indicators of the stock market was the action of the Dow Jones Utilities Index. Two of the more prominent examples were the peaking of the Utilities in No…
@msf. Correct me if I am wrong, but Fidelity has several higher minimum requirement money market funds with yields over 1.40% to as high as 1.52%. I talked to a branch manager who didn’t seem too up to speed on these funds other than to say they a…
@bee. That is a tough one. Junk corporates do well when rates are rising. But with credit spreads already so tight not sure how that would work this time around. If we have a weak dollar in 2018 world and emerging markets bonds should do well. …
Sentiment indicators worked very well in the 80 and 90s. Not so well since as they became so en vogue. The past many months ebullience is at all time highs on some of these indicators. I see it with a lot of hikers I interact with. Everyone now…
A great shortened trading week for bonds - lead by emerging markets, high yield corporates, and world. Added to my existing positions there and sold half of my lagging bank loan. That puts me at 70% in the three strongest and 15% bank loan with 1…
Going into the New Year I hold 4 bond funds - emerging markets, world, high yield corporate, and bank loan. Plan on adding a multi sector tomorrow and possibly a high yield muni. Hold too large an amount in cash and hope to deploy much of that ov…
This is why I wish this forum had more retirement discussions. Old_Skeet you are still a youngster and apparently haven’t been hit by RMDs yet. It’s under $85,000 and $170,000 for couples with the next bracket being 85,000 to 107,000 and 170,000…
Maybe geography has something to do with it. I live 100 miles south of Louisville. That’s the major UPS hub for the United States. There is also an Amazon distribution center in Campbellsville not far away. But most and almost all of my smaller …
I’ve lightened up ever so slightly on IOFIX. Will sell more if it takes out recent lows and buy back if it takes out recent highs (adjusted for November dividend). The non agencies seem to have hit a wall here albeit IOFIX hasn’t really been affect…
