Reply to @Accipiter: Make that 6 years. By then I'll be in "the home", so I won't have to worry about it.
:-))

Reply to @Investor:
I defer to Accipiter on the coding question, not only because my programming skills are fairly basic, but also because he's really well versed at making the Vanilla Board work. I personally don't have a preference over where the bookmarks show, and it might be a good subject for a future poll. (I've been dying to use the poll feature, because I'm really much more of a data geek.)
For now, though, I'd be happy to give folks a chance to try out the new features, and even more importantly, give Accipiter a chance to have a life for a little while. He's really put so much time into this upgrade and deserves a chance to relax.

Accipiter- You suppose it's possible (without a ridiculous amount of time and work) to trigger a page refresh when using either "Show All" or "Show Unread"?

Howdy,
A thank you to all who post the links, start and participate in the many fine commentaries woven into the message threads.
For those who don't know; I ramble away about this and that, at least once each week.
NOTE: For those who visit MFO, this portfolio is designed for near retirement, capital preservation and to stay ahead of inflation creep. This is not a buy and hold portfolio, and is subject to change on any given day; based upon perceptions of market directions. All assets in this portfolio are in tax-sheltered accounts; and any fund distributions are reinvested in the funds. Gains or losses are computed from actual account values.
While looking around..... Fund Tools, here at MFO and Google Finance. MFO's Accipiter has graciously provided 2 wonderful tools for our use. Both tools, Falcon's Eye and Navigator may be found at the main, large, blue title bar at the top of each page here, but I will only define my use of Navigator. At "Resources", hover the mouse for a drop down menu, and select "Navigator". Accipiter has written a nice "how-to" at this page. This note regards finding funds by name title, to help sort a fund list for special fund types of interest. A good example, which will allow you to discover the value of this tool; is to type the word "unconstrained" in the "fund" box. This word example is used to find any fund that is likely an "unconstrained bond fund" by vendor name. You will discover a full list to be generated, at which point you may click upon the fund name, which will allow you to study this fund via a number of selectable sources (M*, etc.). NOTE: If one uses a very generic name, as "total"; the generated list may be too large, and can not fill to the end of the alpahbetic naming list. Also, as you begin to type a naming; you will likely find an intuitive list begin to generate; which may or may not be what you intended to search.
Google Finance: You do not need to be signed in or a registered user of any Google function to use this method.
At the search box, try "high yield" for a test of this feature. An intuitive drop list will begin to form. Ignore this list and click the "blue spyglass" to generate a list of the words searched. Upon loading your search, you will discover a "company" and a "mutual fund" header list generated. As you scroll down, the "company" list may contain various types of funds (etf's, index, etc.). Further scrolling will provide the "mutual fund" list. IN BOTH LISTS, if the list is large, you will find a "more" highlighted at the end of the list. For high yield, 100's of mutual funds are noted; but keep in mind, and not unlike "Navigator", some of these are redundant listings for various classes of a same fund. After selecting more, arrow keys appear at the list end to move through the list.
I believe all of these procedures are proper steps. If I missed something, please let me know.
The data/numbers below have been updated.
As to sector rotations below (Fidelity funds); for the past week: (Note: any given fund in any of these sectors will have varing degrees of performance based upon where the manager(s) choose to be invested and will not directly reflect upon your particular fund holdings from other vendors.)
--- U.S. equity - 2.4% through + 3.8%, week avg. = + 2.4% YTD = + 16%
--- Int'l equity - .4% through + 4.0%, week avg. = + 2.5% YTD = + 11%
--- Select eq. sectors + .9% through + 5.6%, week avg. = + 2.7% YTD = + 15%
--- U.S./Int'l bonds - 2.4% through + .6%, week avg. = - .26% YTD = + 3.2%
--- HY bonds + .2% through + 1.1%, week avg. = + .65% YTD = + 10.3%
An Excellent Overview, M* 1 Month through 5 Year, Multiple Indexes
You may consider our portfolio to be quite boring, but you may be assured that it moves and bends each and every day; from forces beyond our control. We retail investors will find many interesting investment periods to ponder, as usual, in the coming years.
I have added a few blips related to our portfolio and market observations at the below SELLs/BUYs and Portfolio Thoughts.
SELLs/BUYs THIS PAST WEEK: = NONE

Portfolio Thoughts:
Our holdings had a + .27 % move this past week. Sidenote: The average return of 200 combined Fidelity retail funds across all sectors (week avg = + 1.75%, YTD + 12%). The equity markets, while having been very happy recently, still appear a bit on edge; so our portfolio will stay in place for now. This coming week may indicate any further actions by the Fed. Reserve, relative to "stimulus". We will review one particular holding (PLDDX) based upon a Fed. plan going forward. As for Europe's grand plan to buy every sovereign bond in sight to help stablize some country bond issues; well, I am not waving a victory flag for this project just yet. Still plodding along, and we will retain the below write from previous weeks; as what we are watching still applies.
--- commodity pricing, especially the energy and base materials areas; copper and related.
--- the $US broad basket value, and in particular against the Euro and Aussie dollar (EU zone and China/Asia uncertainties).
--- price directions of U.S. treasury's, German bunds, U.K. gilts, Japanese bonds; and continued monitoring of Spanish/Italian bond pricing/yield.
--- what we are watching to help understand the money flows: SHY, IEF, TLT, TIP, STPZ, LTPZ, LQD, EMB, HYG, IWM, IYT & VWO; all of which offer insights reflected from the big traders as to the quality/risk, or lack of quality/risk; in various bond sectors. These areas may also reflect towards directions of various equity sectors; as if some bond types get the cold shoulder, so will some equity areas, regardless of perceived quality or value.
The Funds Boat is at anchor, riding in the small waves, watching the weather and behind the breakwater barrier. To the high praise of MFO and the members, it is very difficult to find a topic to note here that has not been placed into the discussion boards. Excellence, as usual.
I have retained the following links for those who may choose to do their own holdings comparison against the fund types noted.
The first two links to Bloomberg are for their list of balanced/flexible funds; although I don't always agree with the placement of fund styles in their categories.
Bloomberg Balanced
Bloomberg Flexible
These next two links are for conservative and moderate fund leaders YTD, per MSN.
Conservative Allocation
Moderate Allocation
A reflection upon the links above. We attempt to establish a "benchmark" for our portfolio to help us "see" how our funds are performing. Aside from viewing many funds within the balanced/flexible funds rankings (the above links), a quick and dirty group of 5 funds (below) we watch for psuedo benchmarking are the following:
***Note: these week/YTD's per M*
VWINX .... + .2% week, YTD = + 8.56%
PRPFX .... + 2.05% week, YTD = + 7.01%
SIRRX ..... + .13 % week, YTD = + 5.29%
TRRFX .... + 1.24% week, YTD = + 9.39%
VTENX ... + .95% week, YTD = + 8.56%
Such are the numerous battles with investments attempting to capture a decent return and minimize the risk.
We live and invest in interesting times, eh? Hey, I probably forgot something; and hopefully the words make some sense. Comments and questions always welcomed.
Good fortune to you, yours and the investments.
Take care,
Catch
---Below is what M* x-ray has attempted to sort for our portfolio, as of June 1, 2012---
From what I find, M* has a difficult time sorting out the holdings with bond funds.
U.S./Foreign Stocks 1.9%
Bonds 93.9% ***
Other 4.2%
Not Classified 0.00%
Avg yield = 3.72%
Avg expense = .55%
***about 18% of the bond total are high yield category (equity related cousins)
---This % listing is kinda generic, by fund "name"; which doesn't always imply the holdings, eh?
-Investment grade bond funds 28.2%
-Diversified bond funds 22.4%
-HY/HI bond funds 14.5%
-Total bond funds 32.4%
-Foreign EM/debt bond funds .6%
-U.S./Int'l equity/speciality funds 1.9%
This is our current list: (NOTE: I have added a speciality grouping below for a few of fund types)
---High Yield/High Income Bond funds
FAGIX Fid Capital & Income
SPHIX Fid High Income
FHIIX.LW Fed High Income
DIHYX TransAmerica HY
---Total Bond funds
FTBFX Fid Total
PTTRX Pimco Total
---Investment Grade Bonds
ACITX Amer. Cent. TIPS Bond
DGCIX Delaware Corp. Bd
FBNDX Fid Invest Grade
FINPX Fidelity TIPS Bond
OPBYX Oppenheimer Core Bond
---Global/Diversified Bonds
FSICX Fid Strategic Income
FNMIX Fid New Markets
DPFFX Delaware Diversified
LSBDX Loomis Sayles
PONDX Pimco Income fund (steroid version)
PLDDX Pimco Low Duration (domestic/foreign)
---Speciality Funds (sectors or mixed allocation)
FRIFX Fidelity Real Estate Income (bond/equity mix)
---Equity-Domestic/Foreign
NONE outright, with the exception of equities held inside of some of the above funds.

The software upgrade is complete. We've added some incredibly cool and useful enhancements, most of which should be pretty self-explanatory: F/L, for example, takes you to the First or Last post on a particular thread. For those of you looking for some help with the new look, please see the User's Guide generously created for us by Old_Joe. We'll work on a "quick guide" in the weeks ahead.
If you've got problems, questions, comments and happy outbursts, please do share them with us and we'll keep refining the board for you.
Thanks to the folks who've been testing the site for the past week and, especially, to you for your patience.
chip, for Accipiter and David and the other folks behind the scenes

Dear friends.
This is just a quick heads-up. More details will follow but ...
1. I've set up a conference call with David Sherman of Cohanzick Asset Management, manager of RiverPark Short Term High Yield, and Morty Schaja, RiverPark's president. The call will occur September 13th at 7:00 p.m., Eastern. I'll moderate the call, which mostly means that I'll start with the two obvious questions: how bad can the downside get and how are changes in the market affecting your ability to continue finding funds? Details on registering are in my September essay.
2. there's a major software upgrade coming. Accipiter has been writing furiously and has managed to incorporate a number of cool features (yes, that includes easier hyperlinking) that folks have been asking for while preserving the board's look and feel. Highlights of the new software are contained in a note from chip at the end of the September essay.
We'll keep you informed as things get closer, but I thought you'd like to know.
David

Hi Accipiter- You know, this reminds me that I've always thought that MFO would benefit from a quick and dirty "user info" or "helpful hints" section. Perhaps it could be "triggered" to automatically show when someone asks a question in the "technical questions" section, or maybe have a place up on the "blue bar".
I seem to notice quite a number of new folks visiting MFO as of late, and a short user guide might be very helpful to them, and encourage yet more panel participation.
Regards- OJ

Reply to @Accipiter:
That's really helpful...I didn't know their significance...thanks for the explanation.

Reply to @Accipiter:
Wow,
That explanation reminded me of the service that a customer would receive at their local Gulf service station...emphasis on service...thanks. At the time we were buying gas at 25 cents / gallon and did you get your money's worth. You guys are great!
Here's a great commercial from the time frame:

Hi hank,
Yes, SIRRX is showing to be a bit of a strange duck, too. A more conservative retirement fund than I though it might become and/or remain.
Knowing that many of us use our own benchmarkets privately; not unlike the ongoing chit-chat here; I hope the benchmarks we show may be of some benefit to those we know read through MFO, but either seldom or never comment.
The most difficult part (sometimes) for any jabber I post is to not forget that the mix of age groups and investment knowledge spans a vast range.
The "ease of use" from the wonderful program Accipiter set for use here with the tickers; lets folks jump to their favorite sniffing site to get further knowledge about the fund noted. This is part of the reason for placing the psuedo benchmarks.
We're all traveling a grand investment road here from the value of, to and for the participants at MFO. What a delightful place.
I gotta go outside to catchup on some chores. The wind here today, is strong and cold, from the northeast.
Take care,
Catch

I was wondering if you'd be interested in helping me figure out a better method for showing, sorting, searching and updating the manager changes that we post each month?
Everyone else -
Would you be interested in seeing managers changes that were searchable and sortable?

Chip and Accipiter,
As your time allows, may you be able to offer an opinion as to how much "space" is consumed by an inserted image (link example)? Would an image, as in the link fill only "x" number of lines of text, top to bottom? Or does an image insert consume more text box real estate?
I.E.; If an image insert, as viewed; appears to require the same amount of vertical space as would 30 full lines of text, does the insert actually consume more space in a text box or the same as would 30 full lines of text?
Note: I do enjoy the ability to offer image insertion, as shown in this link.
http://www.mutualfundobserver.com/discuss/index.php?p=/discussion/2696/question-how-would-a-mutual-fund-investor-monitor-a-mutual-funds-buying-and-sellings/p1
Thank you for your efforts.
Catch

Reply to @Accipiter: Here is a (very) minor quirk:
If you follow the following process you get both Home buttons visible.
Visit http://www.mutualfundobserver.com/discussions-3/
then click on "Discussions" link on black menu bar (belonging to forum software)

Reply to @Accipiter: Not sure on the terminology. Below is link used first to access summary page. From there I navigate to "Discussions" by clicking on one of the topics as they appear on summary page. May recall we went to the link below due to low bandwidth.
http://www.mutualfundobserver.com/discuss/mysum-absolute.php

Reply to @Accipiter: Thanks. FWIW it's the Safari browser standard on IPad. Tonight's is first problem like this. Noticed it in reply to John.

Accipiter, Maybe I'm missing something here, but am only able to display 5 lines of what I typed in the reply box. If I type beyond 5 lines, the top ones disappear. Hitting "edit" doesn't help. Simply shows the first 5 lines. Longer messages would be difficult to write (not that the limitation doesn't have its merrits).

Reply to @Accipiter: Works fine/lasts long time!

Reply to @Accipiter: I have seen the same thing to occur to me as well.
Here is to reproduce:
1) Post a reply using the "Reply" link.
2) Click "Save Comment"
3) Edit the same reply using "Edit" link.
4) Click "Save Comment"
This time indented view is lost. The post is flush to the left margin. This is a temporary situation. If you go back to the board and re-enter the thread it displays indented again.

Good morning, Catch.
The saved drafts are not immediately available, even to folks with administrative access to the Vanilla Board software. I suppose if i went digging directly into the database, I could find your saved draft. It wouldn't be easy, and frankly I would never think to do it without a darn good reason. I'd guess that Accipiter, also, could probably find his way there.
Technically, David has all the passwords, and while his tech skills are pretty good, I don't think he'd be inclined or able to find his way through the inner workings of the databases.
I think your saved drafts are safe.
Be well,
chip

Reply to @Accipiter:
Thanks for the heads up on this. I did not realize I had set one up under skeeter. However, this is the one I'll be sticking with.
Have a great day.
Skeeter