Date: 5/31 gain $625 in portfolio
6/24 gain $590 in portfolio
Others I looked at, not so good. WAFMX $480 $160 , GASFX $321 $133 , MAINX (-27) (-189)
Note: Not apples to apples, but so it goes.
Have a nice day, Derf

Rather, investors should worry about a less-discussed reality: The structure of the bond market itself is balky and vulnerable to bouts of exacerbated investor losses and trading air pockets, simply because the act of trading corporate bonds among funds and banks has become tougher and less-efficient since the financial crisis.
Inventories of corporate bonds among the big Wall Street banks known as primary dealers totaled $100 billion in 2004 and more than $200 billion at their 2007 peak, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. Today, in a larger overall market, dealers hold just over $50 billion.
“What scares me and really what the reality is, is that there’s not enough balance sheet on the ‘sell side’ to support any kind of warehousing activity if institutional investors want to materially reduce their holdings.”
He’s concerned about a “structural asymmetry” in the fixed-income market: “It’s fine when there are [mostly] buyers, but not when there are sellers.”
http://finance.yahoo.com/blogs/michael-santoli/balky-bond-market-plumbing-big-hidden-risk-145357441.html
It's always the unknown unknowns that blindside.
Holdings RNSIX, MAINX down 4-5% in selloff (more than a year's yield)...RPHYX, SUBFX, FFRHX down two or three hundred bips.

Bonds continued their large decline today. Sold ALL bond-heavy funds except AQRIX. Bought WBMIX and more DODGX...rest in cash for now.
Unfortunately, AQRIX continues its decline. Appears highly correlated to world bond performance. Trust draw down control will kick-in soon or I will be out of it too, as it's below 10 mo SMA along with BOND, RNSIX, MAINX, DODIX.
Three top fund holdings now: AQRIX, WBMIX, FAAFX.

Reply to @AndyJ: My thinking is similar. I conidered MAINX, but the high expense ratio for what it offers does not overcome Templeton Global Total Return, TRTRX, and the experience of the Templeton manager. I might consider Vanguard's fund when more details are available.
Lately new Matthews funds are carrying higher expense ratio than the older ones such as MACSX and MAPIX.

I have both MAPIX and MAINX along with MAPTX as part if my holdings. I consider MAINX an integral part of my bond portfolio not only for what it holds but also knowing that Matthews runs a good shop and their funds are top notch when it comes to Asia. The management is excellent.

IE, I think it depends on what else in Asia/EM you own. If you've got another foreign or EM bond fund you're happy with, maybe you don't need MAINX. If you have an EM stock fund you're happy with, you might be more diversified with MAPIX than MACSX. If you have a developed ex-U.S. stock fund with investments in Asia & you're happy with it, you might be better off with MACSX than MAPIX. So I'd suggest looking at the overall portfolio to help decide.
Fwiw, over the longest time frame with a direct comparison (since MAPIX inception in late '06), MAPIX has returned more than MACSX ($10k = $20.3k MAPIX, $17.8k MACSX) with fairly similar drawdown. Up/down capture for 5y is MAPIX 80/49 vs. MACSX 73/50, so MAPIX has a slight edge on risk-adjusted return.

fwiw: I hold MACSX and have a smaller amount in MAINX. If I had to pick 3 funds I wouldn't want to be without, MACSX would be one of them. FGBRX is my international bond fund of choice. I don't think I really need MAINX, but I'm betting the Asia bond market might do better than U.S. in the future so I wanted a little more weight there. The interview David had with the MAINX manager also swayed me.

This figure suggests that MAINX is 50% of MACSX for the same money, falling and rising proportionally at the same time. Then why keep MAINX if one can have MACNX + 50% cash?

Reply to @AMatMFO: MAINX is the blue line. MAPIX is green. MACSX is orange.
Sorry - M*'s embedded graphic cut off the legend.
David

Heigh ho!
MAINX strikes me as an entirely different creature that either of its equity-oriented brethren. So I guess if I were keeping two, it would be MAINX and one of the others.
Here's the picture of the three since MAINX's launch:

Not a huge argument there for one or the other. MAPIX has a higher dividend yield (4.0 vs 2.4%), a longer-tenure manager and more exposure to Japan (20 vs 11%).
I own MAINX and MACSX (dating from Mr. Foster's tenure), but suppose I'd be pretty comfortable with MAINX and MAPIX.
For what it's worth,
David

I am considering establishing a toehold in MAPIX before its close on June 14. I already own MAINX and MACSX, and don’t need 3 income-related offerings from Matthews. Anything in particular I should consider in choosing 2? (Or 1?)
Also, any thoughts on Vanguard’s new Total International Bond Index fund VTIBX/VTIFX (the latter institutional)?
Here’s some language from the Summary Prospectus:
"Investment strategy
The fund employs an indexing investment approach designed to track the performance of the Barclays Global Aggregate ex-USD Float Adjusted RIC Capped Index (USD Hedged), a broad-based measure of the global, investment-grade, fixed-rate debt markets. The index includes government, government agency, corporate, and securitized non-U.S. investment-grade fixed income investments, all issued in currencies other than the U.S. dollar and with maturities of more than one year. The index is capped, which means that its exposure to any particular bond issuer is limited to a maximum of 20%. Additionally, issuers that individually constitute 5% or more of the index may not constitute, in the aggregate, more than 48% of the index. If the index, as constituted based on market weights would exceed the 20% or 48% limit, the excess is reallocated to bonds of other issuers represented in the index. To minimize the currency risk associated with investment in bonds denominated in currencies other than the U.S. dollar, the fund will attempt to hedge its currency exposures.
The fund invests by sampling the Index, meaning that it holds a range of securities that, in the aggregate, approximates the full Index in terms of key risk factors and other characteristics. All of the fund’s investments will be selected through the sampling process, and at least 80% of the fund’s assets will be invested in bonds included in the index."
And a brief squib from the “Product Summary”:
“The fund seeks to track the performance of an index that includes international government, agency, and corporate securities, mostly from developed countries, but also some emerging markets countries.”
Regional allocation —unavailable
Currently 100% in short-term reserves
Vanguard has added this fund to its all-in-one funds, Target Retirement (12) and Life Strategy (4).
Thanks in advance for any comments on Matthews or VTIBX.

Thanks Max for the tip. I have been looking at this ASIOX lately and wondering about what to do with it. It is 8% of my portfolio right now. American Century has most of my business. I have the following; AOMIX, (which is my core holding) ARYVX which has done well, ASIOX as discussed already, and ACCNX. Outside of American Century I own MAPTX and MAINX of which has been discussed here I see. I try to be globally diversified in a roughly 60/40 mix. I invest more in the Asia region than anywhere else. I spend lots of time in Asia so I see what is happening.
I had been in BGNMX which has done very well for me over the years but I sold this earlier this year. The ASIOX is in a tax deferred account so I was thinking of transferring that back into BGNMX. However information on the performance of GNMA funds during rising interest rate conditions is a bit confusing. Maybe it will depend on how quickly rates go up? I suspect they will not unless something happens.
I have been doing this since the mid-eighties. I am retired but still believe in the 60/40 mix as attested to by Dr. Wm. Sharpe. Perhaps a bit aggressive for my stage in life but then again I watch it every day.

Yes, I'll try to be brief. You truly ought to diversify. Keep the LC funds the others have recommended. Just two or three. Add small cap. Like PRSVX or MSCFX. (Small-cap is on fire lately. The whole market, you should already know, has been in the midst of a huge run-up over the past several months.)
EM bonds: FNMIX or PREMX
International: MACSX, MAPIX , SFGIX. (The first two are all Asia. SFGIX is run by a Manager who did very well for Matthews, but left to start his own shop: Andrew Foster.)
Domestic bonds: DLTNX, MWTRX, MWHYX.
I want to recommend MAPOX, too. It is balanced, holding both equities and bonds. The bonds will hold it back from ever blazing a trail at the head of the pack, but the bonds will help to moderate losses during downdrafts.
Here's what I own, and I am heavily overweight in International/Global, not enough in the domestic area:
DLFNX (dom. bond, pays monthly)
MAPOX (balanced, pays quarterly)
MSCFX (small-cap, pays at year-end)
MAPIX (Asia, pays quarterly)
MACSX (Asia ex-Japan, pays June/December)
MAINX (Asia bonds, pays quarterly)
SFGIX (Global, still mostly Asia, pays June/December.)
TRAMX (Africa/Middle East, pays year-end)
PREMX (Emerg. Mkt. bonds, pays monthly.)
My next move will be to add another domestic equity fund, soon. i need to reinvest a bond maturing on July 1st. ... I have been in here gathering opinions, suggestions. Parnassus Equity PRBLX has been mentioned, as well as YACKX. I feel like I will be holding too many funds, but along the way, circumstances don't always unfold neatly and on time. My holdings amount to something over 6 figures, barely. Don't diversify so much that you end-up just diluting the profits you COULD have had. OK, "break a leg."

Reply to @Mona: Mona, got your message; I'd just reiterate from above that PIMIX would be fine for all your mortgage exposure by itself, IMHO. I'd look at DBLTX apart from the specific asset category and decide whether you want a fund in the portfolio that's comparatively safe, balances risks well, that's not going to either shoot the lights out or take a swan dive, and provide some fairly steady income at a decent level. If that approach appeals, I'd keep DBLTX, and think of it in as an allocation to "safer, low-beta bond" more than to mortgages.
Another thought would be to have an additional fund house beyond Pimco and Osterweis in the portfolio, to hedge management group-think risk a bit more ... so DBLTX or TGLMX would help there, OR, as you mentioned in this last post, you could try a foreign bond fund instead. If your Asia allocation is light overall (considering stocks and bonds), that could be MAINX, which is pretty expensive but solid and with plenty of info about it right here on MFO. And to Bob's point above about currencies, which makes great sense, MAINX has mixed currency exposure.
Last, I'm with HY007 that an overweight to PIMIX is not a problem.

Reply to @BobC:
Hi BobC,
Thanks much for your post.
You have provided me good thoughts. Thanks. At this point in time, I too am most comfortable with good management teams and funds with low average duration. That's why I am getting the larger part of my high yield from OSTIX.
I also like the idea of an approximate 50% allocation to domestic bond funds and 50% allocation to foreign bond funds. I am having difficulty figuring out how much allocation I currently have to each, which is one of the two reasons I am having a problem on which direction to go after my changes. It does appear that I have considerably more domestic than foreign and the reason I brought up the idea of MAINX. I do need to stay on a Vanguard Brokerage platform and I would have liked to see how Vanguard Total International Bond Index Fund fit in, but I understand it won't be available for a few more months.
The second reason I am having a problem on which direction to go in now and is related to the first, is I do not have a good feel as to how best to allocate between mortgages, IG, EM, HY, and non-US developed in today's environment. I only get the sense that I am overly allocated to mortgages because I have '2.5 units' compared to 1.5 of high yield, 1 of IG and EM, and 1/2 of non-US developed.
Another combination that comes to mind in addition to my prior post, is to sell both DBLTX and TGLMX and replace with PIMIX and a world bond fund. This would decrease my exposure to mortgages and increase it to foreign bonds, and give me more of a 'uniform' allocation between the different bond classes. However, I would be 'considerably' overweight in PIMIX, which may not be a bad thing.
Mona

Reply to @AndyJ:
AndyJ, Hiyield007, BobC, et al.
I have made a few moves that I would like to mention, but there might be another one or two more to go. Again, one of the problems is I have multiple retirement accounts that cannot be consolidated. This makes reducing the number of funds somewhat difficult, while trying to achieve some degree of balance between the different type of bonds.
1. I sold my positions in PEBIX and TEGIX.
2. I purchased PDIIX.
2. I sold VFIDX.
3. I added to PIMIX.
If I put this in units of 1, this is where I now stand.
I have 1 unit of investment grade bonds. A little comes from PIMIX, more from PDIIX, and the most from PIGIX.
I have 1 unit of emerging markets bonds. This is coming from PIMIX, more from PIGIX, and the most from PDIIX.
I have 1.5 units of high yield. 1/2 unit from PIGIX, PIMIX, and PDIIX. 1 unit from OSTIX.
I have 1/2 unit of non-US developed coming from the three Pimco funds.
I have 2.5 units of mortgages primarily between DBLTX, TGLMX, and PIMIX.
My flexibility lies in "account 1" where I hold DBLTX and TGLMX (clearly TGLMX has been a better performer for me). While I wanted to reduce the number of funds and in fact did by selling 3, I now may need to add one to obtain a better balance. I could sell DBLTX or TGLMX (some or all of one) and I still will be overweight in mortgages and on par with my high yield.
The question becomes, which of the two should I sell and what should I purchase. One alternative is as I interpreted what AndyJ said, I could sell all of TGLMX and put some of the proceeds in my existing position of DBLTX and some in a new position of PIMIX (or keep TGLMX and sell DBLTX). However, with DBLTX about 80% in mortgages the remainder cash and PIMIX 64% mortgages, I will still be considerably overweight in mortgages. Possibly that's fine and I take one fund away and add one.
While 1 out of the 1.5 units of high yield is coming from OSTIX, and I'm glad it is, if I add any one of the Pimco funds I own in other accounts, I will be adding to high yield, which does not thrill me. However, I do need to recognize that OSTIX is a lower risk high yield fund.
Since I only have a 1/2 unit in non-US developed, possibly for diversification, it might make sense to sell some or all DBLTX or TGLMX (if some then combine the remaining proceeds into the other) and purchase a 1/2 unit of a world bond fund such as MAINX.
I do agree with Hiyield that I am over thinking this, but I am pleased that I have made strides in reducing the number of funds, while seemingly losing nothing.
Your thoughts as to how best to handle "account 1" would be appreciated.
Mona

I can't imagine tracking such very specific allocations by single percentage points. My bonds are held in MAINX, PREMX and DLFNX:
-International/Asia
-EM worldwide
-domestic corporate and gov't
ALSO, some bonds in the balanced fund, MAPOX. I own a zero-coupon thing that has almost matured now, (July 1st, Canada Day) after 10 years, too. But I count that as cash. It's been earning me 5.68% over these past 10 years and compounding.
So, I'm about 50/50, bonds/equities. Most is in Trad. IRAs, and the picture is by no means neat and trim. Two of my funds hold approx. 75% of my stuff: PREMX and MAPIX.

Of my 35% slug of fixed income are OSTIX, PTRAX, LSBRX, PONDX, OIBYX, TGINX, BERIX, and MAINX.
Now, if you are familiar with the bucketing model, I also have a separate sleeve of funds for which I am accumulating 5 years worth of expense dollars in advance of a hopeful near-term retirement (currently I have 3). In theory, these should be as safe as cash. As you can see, I push that envelope a bit.
The funds in this sleeve are PIFZX, SUBFX, VWITX, and PAUDX.
My accomodation to "this current environment" is that I have been steering dollars to funds which give the managers additional flexibility in their allocations, and specifically ones shortening up on duration.

Isn't cash a guaranteed source of negative alpha? So, only minimum amount of cash in my portfolio. I'm 40% fixed income (multi-sector bonds...BOND, RNSIX, MAINX, FOCIX, DODIX), 30% risk parity/mod allocation (AQRIX, DODBX, ARLSX), 30% long equities (FAAFX, SIGIX, DODGX, BAC, ARIVX, FAIRX, BRK.B, GE, COP).

Bee...I use a similar strategy, though with the same objectives in mind.
A few key differences. I take more than a 10% haircut, I take 20%. My portfolio metrics make this rather easy as I set an arbitrary ceiling...$50K in my case...and I trim to 40. I knowingly violate the rule of "let your winners run", but this is a good forced rebalancing ritual and that 20% window allows for some runup.
I do violate this rule in the case of my individual stocks, as I focus on divi payors and am letting the shares pile up until retirement.
This metric also allows for parsing the "trimmings" into my current targets....SUBFX and OSTIX, currently both with transaction fees at Schwab. I don't mind the fees, as long as I plow sufficient dollars into the transaction. And MAINX (NTF). I tend not to take equity fund profits into other equity funds, but have recently violated that as I am filling out a position on YAFFX.
Generally, the profits are used for filling in around the edges...and PEDTX looks like a good candidate....thanks.