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Sven
Lynn,
Thank you so much. I am planning on a 3-year ladder since I am a year away from retirement. Lots of spreadsheet work to calculate the income replacement needed. This ladder will create a steady income stream. So thank you for all your help.
I moved back to high quality bond funds this year. Some of which you covered in the SA article. For now, I will stay with agency bonds to the bond ladder. I will pick active managers for corporate bonds.
Sven
Yields fell since the rate cut this week. Most noncallable CD’s (1-2 years) are yielding 4.2% at Fidelity. Still sticking with T bills and USFR in non-IRA accounts.
Junk still looks good. Also leveraged loans, bank loans. Stay very short on duration.
Ironically these higher risk bonds did much better than the safer investment grade bonds. As long as labor market stays healthy one can expect this trend contin…
No buying here. Just watching if this situation worsen. Cash is building up as T bills are maturing.
Let’s hope an agreement will reach on time until the next Continuing Resolution vote.
Making correction to my earlier posting.
Better: ARTKX -6.3%, FMIJX -3.8%, FPACX -2.3%, CGBL 2.5%, RSIIX +0.0%
Worse: BND -1.8%
This is more like a thought exercise. A 10 days performance varies quite a bit. However, I like to compare each fund/E…
Here is more details from the funding bill mess. Quote from the article.
Musk didn’t seem to think a government shutdown would have significant consequences for the country. He responded “YES” to a post that read, “Just close down the govt until …
Here is the active link above.
https://irs.gov/newsroom/401k-limit-increases-to-23500-for-2025-ira-limit-remains-7000
Another way to get additional saving is through their employer’s matching contributions, often at 4% or more of their salary. T…
@yogibb, thank you for your detail report on FOMC meeting today.
The negative reaction from the stock and bond markets to the rate cut is not unexpected. The market will likely to stay volatile now that the government revisit a potential shutdow…
There is a new memecoins, Fartcoin, that I got to get some….
https://nbcnews.com/business/personal-finance/memecoins-what-are-they-why-are-they-popular-cryptocurrency-rcna184223
We have been swapping more SPY for short term high yield bond funds si…
We are likely to revisit a government shutdown as the one during his first term in 2018-2019. Can’t believe that Johnson is bending to his demands and he has not even swore in until January 20, 2025.
What sounds appealing on the campaign trail will bring about unintended consequences. Even Giroux said on the recent WealthTrack interview that tariffs and immigration will bring inflationary pressure. Who will pay the tariffs in the end? Likely t…
It is no surprise that Grandeur Peaks funds are reopening since they trail the benchmark badly and AUM falls.
Wish they spent less time writing their travel adventures and more time in managing their portfolios. See previous posting on GP funds in…
With the inflation being sticky, it is likely the rate will stay higher and longer with fewer cuts in 2025. One pundit mentioned there may be no cut next year and one or two cut in 2026.
Since this fall, there has been more political instability from one region to another. We have been pulling back a bit on stocks and increasing the cash position. Don’t like what we are seeing going into 2025 - high US stock valuation, sticky infla…
The return of polio and smallpox (and other preventable diseases) would be devastating for the future generations. The idiots have not learned the wonder of vaccines.
Edit: Even the previous FDA head appointed by Trump in 2017 is against Kenned…
@catch22, the 10 years treasury rose again to 4.40% on Friday, 12/13/24. Now it is higher than the shorter T bills, 3 mo and 6 mo. Is this the beginning of the yield curve flattens ?
@Old_Joe, in the last several years we have had mixed experience with Waymo taxi mostly in San Francisco area. I have to admit this year’s ride was smooth comparing to prior ones. The car nearly hit a pedestrian when it did not slow down at the i…
My counter-argument is that if Ai is so great, why are self-driving cars keep hitting pedestrians and other accidents? Thought the Ai algorithm can perform more calculations simultaneously than human can. Driving should be quite straightforward eve…
You beat me to it, PRCFX. Having 40% stocks certain lower the risk profile.
BTW, there is an ETF version of PRCFX being registered, and manage by Giroux and five other managers. That would be something to consider if that does not overlap too m…
@BaluBalu,
These are weekly data: the first data is the NAV changes, and the second data is the YTD total return in %. I think @catch22 has them in reverse order. Correct me if I’m off.
For the WEEK/YTD, NAV price changes, December 2 - December…
Thank you for all your effort. We looking forward to the great articles. Happy holidays.
Edits: another month of outstanding articles. It is time to review our portfolio going into 2025.
The R-class of American funds have the lowest ER, no front load and 12-b-1 fee. Unfortunately they are only available in 401k) and 403(b) plan without advisors, and not at brokerages.
This year CGBL leads the pack of moderate allocation ETFs. Be…
President Yoon Suk Yeol Must has nine lives. The ruling party boycott the impeachment vote and killed the legislature moving forward.
https://npr.org/2024/12/07/g-s1-37286/south-korean-president-impeachment-vote-fails
Now what?
An article from Atlantic shows South Korea’s political challenges and the implications of this declaration of martial law by the president. The last paragraph drew relevant scenario of what can happen in the States.
South Korea’s recent turmoil al…
Chancellor Kathaleen St. Jude McCormick said:
“Were the court to condone the practice of allowing defeated parties to create new facts for the purpose of revising judgments, lawsuits would become interminable.”
So true!
BaluBalu said: I expect a lot of stock market volatility for the next four years with this type of flame thrower mentality. May be time to cash in some chips from the steady two year gains and build extra dry powder.
If inflation go up instead of t…
Arkansas-based Walmart, the world’s largest retailer that traditionally has catered to working- and middle-class Americans, warned the President-elect’s plans to hike import duties across the board will be felt by everyday consumers. “Tariffs are …
Mexico Economy Minister Marcelo Ebrard response to the tariff:
1. Hurts US automakers who already have assembly plants in Mexico
2. Increases 3,000 per vehicle which will pass onto the US car buyers
https://reuters.com/markets/mexico-warns-trumps…
Many firms believe that they can sell their products easier in form of ETFs. Sometime it works in the case of GMO ETFs as @Mitchelg mentioned. American funds are making good progress with their ETFs such as CGDV. Others are slow to attract new as…
My car mechanic of the past 15 years recommends only two name brands for their reliability and repair record: Toyota and Honda. He has seen them all as he stated, the good, the bad and the ugly. If you want luxury, get a Lexus; next is Acura. Euro…
@Mona, it was a parasite worm, probably resulted from his consumption of rotten roadkills. He did lots of strange stuff that we would think they are outright dangerous. We have backpacked in many remote areas infected with tapeworms and other paras…
@catch22, I was being lazy. Thought through your statement above, I find each ETF and bookmark their links. From there I am able to obtain the up to date YTD return and daily price change. Yahoo financial does not provide the most updated yields. …
