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.
Multisector FMSDX may have only 30% nominal-equity now (it varies), but it has increased HY/FR-BL/convertibles/EMs to 25%. So, it still acts as moderate-allocation. Of course, it will lag in any stock rally.
Canadian exchange TMX Group buys the rest of VettaFi. It bought 22% stake in January and is buying the remaining 78% now.
https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/tmx-group-buying-78-stake-in-vettafi-it-doesn-t-already-own-for-1-15b-1.2011572
https://www.reuter…
FOMC Statements are embargoed by the Fed until 2:00 PM Eastern/1:00 PM Central. I try to post ASAP, with 1:0x PM Central time stamp. The Fed site is swamped right at 1:00 PM Central and its refresh take a while. My Notes follow after Powell's presse…
YBB Notes
Rates were maintained - fed funds 5.25-5.50%, bank reserves rate 5.4%, discount rate 5.5%. Rates are at/near peak. Rate cuts are possible in late-2024 or 2025. LT rate decline is market-driven.
QT continues at -$60 billion/mo for Treasur…
Indicative-value (IV) is that of the ETF trade-basket used by authorized-participants. It indicates real-time premium/discount for the ETF. For liquid ETFs, there isn't much difference from the trade-price, but for illiquid/less-liquid ETFs, it may …
@MikeM, that is why I had "may".
One problem is that there are different types of ADRs. Some are company-sponsored that follow all rules; you can think of these as "official" ADRs.
But there are some nonsponsored ADRs that may be different - you…
Foreign companies may withhold tax that can be refunded if a bilateral treaty exists. So, several ADRs withhold taxes.
BTW, you will see foreign tax withheld in your yearend brokerage 1099 that can be deducted simply on Form 1040 (simple situations…
There is lot of conduiting going on: Bank==>DTC/DTCC==>Broker==>Customer.
But the broker is charging 25-50 bps to list CDs on its platform. Customers don't see this fee, but banks pay high prices to quickly raise funds via brokered-CD chan…
@Baseball_Fan, there are several recent studies, including by Pfau, that include basic immediate annuities (SPIAs) in the withdrawal mix. So, that is one way to address the SOR risk.
"Rising equity glide path" indeed follows a lower equity exposure…
@sma, Wade Pfau has done several recent studies on retirement withdrawals. Basically, he has looked at various ways to modify/improve Bengen's 4% w/COLA Rule. He was a Professor at the American College of Financial Services, so he is not pushing any…
I think I have mentioned in some thread at MFO. Dave Ramsey said recently that withdrawing 8% with COLA was OK with all-stock portfolios and that everyone recommending only 4-5% with COLA from hybrids was a fool.
Well, tables were turned soon on R…
Article focuses on the accumulation phase when periodic contributions can overcome lots of market adversity. It isn't surprising that the overall result is good as the US markets have trended up since inception (not true universally).
But things ar…
New message, 12/8/23
Effective December 8, 2023, the vendor operational outage is resolved, and operations have resumed. However, there is a temporary delay with resuming full online services for your policy/contract. We anticipate full online self-…
FCNVX is really an ultra-ST bond fund. That is how I use it. It may also be the only Fido fund (besides Fido m-mkt funds) that don't have ANY ST trading restrictions at Fido. Also, not long ago, its higher ER investor class was dropped and now there…
I am just testing and canceling at the last order step.
I recently started simulating PRWCX (closed; NA to me) with 62% TCAF + 20% PYLD + 18% USFR. I am using that mix for VG domestic hybrids too that I dumped recently. I can tinker with that mix t…
@yogibearbull, what part do you see as conflicting?
Status still says, "Not Available for Purchases at Schwab"
Transaction fee Field just has "-- (blanks)", not "$0".
Quote pages don't show green button "No Load/No Fee".
They may be fixing it…
I also verified that for PRCFX, Schwab test allows $100+ orders NTF/no-load.
But Schwab info on it is conflicting.
https://www.schwab.com/research/mutual-funds/quotes/fees/prcfx
Edit/Add. Test at Fido has $49.95 fee.
M* has a list of ETFs paying high CG distributions in 2023. They are expected to be tax-efficient but sometimes that doesn't work - very high outflows, illiquid areas, etc.
https://www.morningstar.com/etfs/few-etfs-are-paying-out-capital-gains-2023
M* has a list of ETFs paying high CG distributions in 2023. They are expected to be tax-efficient but sometimes that doesn't work - very high outflows, illiquid areas, etc.
https://www.morningstar.com/etfs/few-etfs-are-paying-out-capital-gains-2023
One reason for large haircuts on must-sell-now is that these nontraded funds don't have many rules to follow. Some value holdings whenever they feel like, in a month or a quarter; the valuations are also up to their firms/boards. Mark-to-market idea…
BCRED is a nontraded credit fund by Blackstone/BX.
Some here may be more familiar with nontraded-real estate BREIT (Blackstone), SREIT (Starwood). They have been in the news for max redemptions for almost a year.
These nontraded/nonlisted funds ca…
I wonder if MFO Charts can be make linkable (preferably .png, but .pdf OK too). While it is a Premium feature, I can:
1. Download .png
2. Upload to ImgBB
3. Use MFO Image-tool to put it here, see sample below.
But why not make them simply linkable?…
It seems that M* has stopped providing the details for its backward-looking, performance-driven *-ratings on the website. Only the overall *-rating is now provided, not the details for 3-yr, 5-yr, 10-yr.
A less known fact is that newer funds get t…
@WABAC, not so for SPGP. ETFdb.com, ETF.com, M* AND Invesco/VZ say that it follows S&P MC 400 GARP index (note its name too). Moreover, ETF.com says,
"Prior to June 24, 2019, the fund tracked a Russell pure growth index (perhaps the opposite of…
I searched but there is no small-cap GARP ETF yet. I found only SC-gr, SC-value, SC-quality, etc.
As @WABAC noted, even MC 600 GARP GRPM is new - Invesco/VZ switched from equal-weigh to GARP only in August 2023. However, M* analysis is dated Octobe…
At both Fido and Schwab, the mutual fund sell order screen will indicate if there are any ST trading fees, and even may indicate how many shares are available for NTF.
I thought that the funds must state any ST fees, as some VG funds do. Anything e…
Of course, John Irving/Robin Williams Garp (a last name) had nothing to do with G.A.R.P. or just GARP. But an interesting coincidence.
G.A.R.P relied heavily on PEG or P/E divided by earnings growth, and Peter Lynch and others were willing to pay …
It is a valid strategy and the term was popular for a while.
Now, there are 2 ETFs with GARP in their names - SP500 GARP SPGP and SP MC 400 GARP GRPM. Of course the ERs are higher than the regular SP500 or SP MC 400 funds.
Fund managers are more adept with callable bonds.
FWIW, one common strategy by "income funds" is to buy premium bonds to boost the current income. But this is at the expense of declining value to par.
The "total return" funds may buy discount bond…
@catch22, I tried Red Hot Cinnamon candy,
https://www.amazon.com/Wonka-hots-Hard-candy-Spicy-cinnamon/dp/B01KOKCV8Y/ref=asc_df_B01KOKCV8Y/
It took about a couple of days to find it locally. Then, it was a disappointment. The "hot" sensation was ver…
11/30/23, Thursday evening quote of $25.01 for PRCFX is at Yahoo Finance & CNBC. Not yet at other sites.
https://finance.yahoo.com/quote/PRCFX?p=PRCFX
https://www.cnbc.com/quotes/PRCFX
I did try a Schwab test order around 2:00 PM Central, but t…
Good & timely reminder.
Secure 2.0 made many changes that have been covered in earlier threads.
Sticking to RMDs, another1 change from 2024 is that RMDs will no longer be required from Roth 401k/403b. Until 2023, retirees have to move Roth 40…
