Yogi: "For 2 yrs, we have been basically homebound, avoiding routine social gatherings. We have attended only a handful of very special events. Our friends complain and some have stopped inviting us. Most recent special event was a funeral of a good friend. ... we kept our masks on all the time but few others did."
Ditto; I understand whereof you speak. I apparently had it in the first wave (Feb. 2020, no reliable tests then according to PCP and local hospital) and developed some of the (now considered) standard sequelae, luckily relatively mild compared to others I know. Liver health is still a concern, though.

Thanks for well wishes & suggestions.
Will give Cinnamon Red Hots candies a try. A relative is coming tomorrow to drop some meds & supplies at the door. Will ask her to also stop at the nearby Walmart.
We were waiting to get the new bivalent boosters that became available only recently. We didn't want to just keep getting the old boosters that are still based on the original 2020 virus.
For 2 yrs, we have been basically homebound, avoiding routine social gatherings. We have attended only a handful of very special events. Our friends complain and some have stopped inviting us. Most recent special event was a funeral of a good friend. We are not sure but we both may have caught it there; we kept our masks on all the time but few others did.
Life happens.
Now to sleep again in the Covid world - late here anyway.

I was also fleeced by TBO Capital LLC aka HMC Trading LLC when we invested USD 10,000 with them on 8th July 2022 . I would like to get our money back. This forum is soo helpful.
Henry K

Hi@Derf et al
A bond plan: Ah, yes. When rates begin to subside. So, I/we have to think we know and can witness as a meaningful shift and one that has legs, that will travel for more than 3 months. A tough task, yes?
The "immaculate" bond plan is: Maintain our cash in FZDXX MM at 3% and then attempt to catch a wave with investment grade bonds; buying at enough of a depressed price to make the money on the price ride upward. A purchase would likely be a dollar cost average, barring some type of special financial event. At this point, the bond purchase would be AGG, bond etf.
I feel the CD plans discussed have full merit and are a good plan, too. If I traveled that path, I would keep 6 month and/or 1 year laddered combo. I am not convinced the FED can keep pushing rates for more than 1 more year without causing too much economic damage, high inflation or not; which for the most part they can not control, due to conditions beyond their control (being political, war and climate). If rates continue to climb, we'll have a continued higher yield with FDZXX MM.
As to the below. I watch several different bond types for movements related to yields. These 2 below have traders involved, for the most part, versus the average retail investor. They have distinct price actions that I've followed for several years. I'll be watching these 2 for clues, too.
And, as important; is that I am able to dedicate time to research and view Bloomberg. Yes, one can learn from tv programs.
The first two TBT and TMF are M* links, if you want to look. They will link to "quote", but you may select any of the other tabs for other data. The third is the relationship, of the two, to interest rate changes.
TBT Ultra Short 20 + YearTreasury
TMF Bull 3X 20+ Year Treasury
TBT vs TMF chart Starting Jan. 2020 to date.
Sleep time here,
Catch

BAC - 24% YTD
APPL - 19% YTD
BRK - 12& YTD
Does diversification work ? Looks like over YTD it does.
Have a good day, Derf

Also remember how BRK acquired shares of BAC
bank-america-become-one-warren

Buffett ended up investing $5 billion in preferred Bank of America stock redeemable at a 5% premium and paying a 5% annual dividend. In addition, Buffett received warrants to buy 700 million shares of Bank of America common stock at a price of $7.14 anytime within the next 10 years.
Right off the bat, Buffett was earning $300 million per year in dividends from his preferred shares. He waited until 2017 to exercise the warrants to buy shares of common stock at the $7.14 price. By the end of 2017, those shares were worth $20 billion, three times the size of his initial investment.
At the time of the Buffett bailout, Bank of America shares were trading at around $7.65. By late 2012, Bank of America was trading back above $10. After a volatile decade of trading, Bank of America hit its post-Great Recession high of $35.72 in December 2019.
BofA In 2020, Beyond: Bank of America shares dropped to $17.95 in March during the coronavirus sell-off, but have since recovered to above $27.
Buffett has made a fortune on his initial investment, but he's still buying the stock. In the third quarter alone, Buffett added 85 million shares to his stake, which is now valued at about $24.3 billion.
Bank of America investors who bought the day of the Buffett investment back in 2011 didn’t get the same sweet deal Buffett got, but they’ve still done pretty well over the years.
In fact, $1,000 worth of Bank of America stock bought on the day of the Buffett investment in 2011 would be worth about $4,081 today, assuming reinvested dividends.

I am one of the have been taken from by TBO Capital Group - HMC Trading LLC. I have made the rounds on reporting but as others have said and the SEC said, they work at protecting the government only. Of note I feel we all should report it even though we may not get anywhere. Based on the numbers of people reporting who they spoke with at the SEC I would say the case is being looked at seriously. It is being funneled to the same Attorneys to handle the case. My understanding from Wells Fargo the SEC will have a direct contact to someone high up in Wells Fargo to get this mess of a web figured out. I am curious if anyone else has any experience with Private Equity Investing like this? This was my first and likely only try at it. What is to say any old mutual fund with a ticker symbol is being operated honestly though? TBO did not have a ticker symbol hence Private Equity is my interpretation of it. It was a stretch for me, and I got burned... I hope all are doing their best considering.

@AndyJ
Nygen's colossal error with WaMu made me believe the entire "shop" was and is suspect.
this ranks with the Sequoia disaster, and I can never understand/forgive the board of directors for allowing this to happen.
While there are many articles ( mainly form M*) about Hero's "genius" I never found that to be believable. Sorta like the Davis father and son's "brilliance" in managing Clipper funds.
Open the hood, look around and run for the hills
Start a small position and wait and see. If in three years, you are significantly underwater and all they do is blame "market conditions" sell
Very different story from Valley Capital that states up front they will not buy unless they see real value. They underperform wildly in some markets, but at least you know why and you don't loose money, only opportunity cost

Current Barron's has a Q&A with David Hero. LINK1 LINK2
David HERO, Harris (international CIO; OAKIX). There are attractive values in EUROPE and CHINA (several big Chinese companies have dual-listed in the US and HK). Rising dollar is a headwind for international investing. ENERGY crisis in Europe is hurting big companies while smaller companies are getting relief. Some of these stocks are near their March 2009 and March 2020 valuations. European banks and German autos are very cheap. Several euro-zone countries are having troubles. European unemployment is low.

Requesting access for the private board! My friend was recently a victim of TBO capital group, this is the only place where I have found any info :/ any help or next steps really needed!

https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/802716/000168386322006771/f23437d1.htm
497 1 f23437d1.htm VP NEWBRIDGE LARGE CAP GROWTH FUND LIQUIDATION
Victory Funds
Victory NewBridge Large Cap Growth Fund
Supplement dated October 20, 2022
to the Prospectus, Summary Prospectus, and
Statement of Additional Information
each dated March 1, 2022
On October 18, 2022, the Board of Trustees of Victory Portfolios ("Trust"), upon the recommendation of Victory Capital Management Inc., the Trust's investment adviser, approved a Plan of Liquidation ("Plan") for the Victory NewBridge Large Cap Growth Fund (the "Fund"). It is anticipated that the Fund will liquidate on or about December 28, 2022. On the liquidation date, the Fund will redeem all its outstanding shares at the net asset value of such shares.
In anticipation of the liquidation, at the start of business on November 1, 2022, the Fund will be closed to new investors and shareholder accounts. Through end of business on December 21, 2022, the Fund will continue to accept additional investments (including through the reinvestment of dividends and capital gains) from existing shareholders. In order to provide for an orderly liquidation and satisfy redemptions in anticipation of the liquidation, the Fund may deviate from its investment objective and strategies as the liquidation date approaches. It is anticipated that the Fund's portfolio will be positioned into cash on or some time prior to the liquidation date.
The Fund may pay more than one liquidating distribution in more than one installment. Distribution of liquidation proceeds to Fund shareholders may result in a taxable event for shareholders, depending on their individual circumstances. Shareholders should consult their own tax advisors about any tax liability resulting from the receipt of liquidation proceeds.
If you wish to obtain more information, please call the Victory Funds at 800-539-3863.
PLEASE RETAIN THIS SUPPLEMENT FOR YOUR FUTURE REFERENCE.

Hi to all. I conduct due diligence on funds and fund managers professionally, typically for large institutions. I was asked by a retail client to look into TBO Capital in July - he claimed it was too good to be true. I decided to help out the investor and reviewed all of the firm's public data and noted the lack of SEC registration, as required. The lack of EDGAR filings and many other red flags including that the firm's address on the website was a post office box in a UPS Store on Madison Ave. My research led me to believe that the operation was likely a fraud, and I contacted the retail investor and told them to stay away.
In early August I contacted the SEC and reported my findings. Three days later I was contacted by SEC investigators, and I supplied them with my research and findings. within a few weeks the firm's website came down and the LinkedIn profiles of the firm and the principals were removed as well.
I cannot confirm, but I assume that the SEC is behind the sudden disappearance of TBO Capital. Typically, the SEC will also move quickly to freeze the assets of the fund manager, the fund, the principals, and any related assets to try to recover funds for investors. I do not know, but I assume, that the SEC will eventually make a public announcement about their actions and look to secure the fund's/firm's records to try to determine who may have been caught up in the fraud.
John

https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1418191/000141304222000878/walthfocusedsupp.htm
497 1 walthfocusedsupp.htm
WALTHAUSEN FUNDS
Walthausen Focused Small Cap Value Fund (WSVIX)
Supplement dated October 20, 2022 to
the Prospectus dated June 1, 2022
The Board of Trustees of Walthausen Funds (the “Board”) has determined based on the recommendation of the investment adviser of the Walthausen Focused Small Cap Value Fund (the “Fund”), that it is in the best interests of the Fund and its shareholders that the Fund cease operations. The Board has determined to close the Fund and redeem all outstanding shares on or about November 21, 2022.
Effective at the close of business October 20, 2022, the Fund will not accept any purchases and will no longer pursue its stated investment objectives. The Fund may begin liquidating its portfolio and may invest in cash equivalents such as money market funds until all shares have been redeemed. Any capital gains and ordinary income will be distributed as soon as practicable to shareholders. Shares of the Fund are otherwise not available for purchase.
Prior to November 21, 2022, you may redeem your shares, including reinvested distributions, in accordance with the “Instructions For Selling Fund Shares” section in the Prospectus. Unless your investment in the Fund is through a tax-deferred retirement account, a redemption is subject to tax on any taxable gains. Please refer to the “Dividends and Distributions” and “Taxes” sections in the Prospectus for general information. You may wish to consult your tax advisor about your particular situation.
ANY SHAREHOLDERS WHO HAVE NOT REDEEMED THEIR SHARES OF THE FUNDS PRIOR TO NOVEMBER 21, 2022 WILL HAVE THEIR SHARES AUTOMATICALLY REDEEMED AS OF THAT DATE, AND PROCEEDS WILL BE SENT TO THE ADDRESS OF RECORD. IF YOU HAVE QUESTIONS OR NEED ASSISTANCE, PLEASE CONTACT YOUR FINANCIAL ADVISOR DIRECTLY OR THE FUNDS AT 1-888-925-8428.
IMPORTANT INFORMATION FOR RETIREMENT PLAN INVESTORS
If you are a retirement plan investor, you should consult your tax advisor regarding the consequences of a redemption of Fund shares. If you receive a distribution from an Individual Retirement Account or a Simplified Employee Pension (SEP) IRA, you must roll the proceeds into another Individual Retirement Account within sixty (60) days of the date of the distribution in order to avoid having to include the distribution in your taxable income for the year. If you receive a distribution from a 403(b)(7) Custodian Account (Tax-Sheltered account) or a Keogh Account, you must roll the distribution into a similar type of retirement plan within sixty (60) days in order to avoid disqualification of your plan and the severe tax consequences that it can bring. If you are the trustee of a Qualified Retirement Plan, you may reinvest the money in any way permitted by the plan and trust agreement.
This Supplement and the existing Prospectus dated June 1, 2022, provide relevant information for all shareholders and should be retained for future reference. Both the Prospectus and the Statement of Additional Information dated June 1, 2022, have been filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, are incorporated by reference and can be obtained without charge by calling the calling the Fund at 1-888-925-8428 or by visiting the Fund’s website at www.walthausenfunds.com.

Here in California, ARCO has perhaps the lowest cost gasoline. Since the composition of the profit margin for fuel from any gas station is a "black box", it's pointless to wonder what part of the price may be ascribed to anything.
...
ARCO's price differential between cash and credit is also significant. So it's a no-brainer: if there's a convenient ARCO station, go there, use cash.

Years ago (the last time I lived near ARCO stations), ARCO didn't take credit cards and sold cheaper grade (not Top Tier™) gasoline.
Apparently not any more. ARCO's moved up in the world. Still cheaper, though.
https://www.savingadvice.com/articles/2020/10/30/1034665_is-arco-gas-bad-for-your-car.html
This got me looking, Where I live, the cheaper stations tend to be BP (no ARCOs). It seems that last year BP stopped selling Top Tier gasoline. Though BP claims that its Invigorate® additive exceeds Top Tier requirements.
Invigorate® FAQ
On the investment side, BP purchased ARCO in 1999. In 2012 it sold the ARCO brand and a refinery to Tesoro (now part of Marathon Petroleum), while licensing back the name for gas stations in Northern California, Oregon, and Washington State.
As near as I can tell, OJ's ARCO station is still owned by BP. I don't know what brand gasoline comes out of its pumps.

I believe the interval fund is a good structure with poor execution so far. If someone could offer a low fee product in an interval structure to invest in illiquid assets without applying any leverage, it could be quite attractive. But almost every product I've seen has high fees and applies leverage. There is no reason for it to be this way, other than the fact that new products tend to charge premium prices. But interval funds structurally solve many of the liquidity problems involved with public mutual funds and ETFs as well as providing the access to your capital at NAV traditional closed-end funds lack.

Barron’s sometimes publishes brief excerpts from newsletters or other market commentators. These do not necessarily reflect the opinion of the magazine. This one’s off-beat enough and short enough that I’ve quoted the entire piece as it appears in Barron’s for whatever interest it may hold.
“Buy the Garbage” - Insights from Heritage Capital Oct. 14:
“If the rally continues, we should see the most beaten-down stocks bounce the hardest for now. I literally laugh out loud when I hear pundits advise investors to buy ‘good, solid companies with strong balance sheets, cash flows, and dividends’ during bear markets. That's about the worst advice. When bears turn to bulls, the garbage and most beaten down initially rally the most. — Paul Schatz ” (From “Market Commentary” / Barron’s - October 17, 2022)
Unable to provide working links to Barron’s. But here’s a link to a commentary from Heritage Capital by Paul Schatz dated October 14. https://investfortomorrow.com/blog/bells-may-not-be-ringing-but-they-are-being-polished/

From my OP - “This isn’t to rag on the fund and manager. But just to lend support to the idea that there certainly appears to have been a genuine “bubble” in this sector of the market.”
No disputing it was a bubble. That’s what my modest post meant to address. Is 70% off the price of a year ago still a bubble? Remains to be seen. We all try hard here to steer clear of partisan politics. There’s enough blame to go around when it comes to falling equity and bond prices. I don’t think either party owns those issues 100%.
Personal belief: I think we’ve all become too short term focused. Instant prices / up to date gains & losses / fund flows / interest rates / everything’s at our finger tips today, and trade on it we do. So what happens is that many markets “run to extremes” as the “smart money” latches on to the trend. ARKK’s meteoric rise is but one example. And it works in reverse too with short sellers owning the day now. Eventually over time prices sort themselves out to where there’s some rationality. I’m confident that in 5-7 years folks who bought ARKK at these prices will be glad they did. But it’s damn hard just to sit and not look. I think most equities will do better over 5-7 years. That’s the optimist in me. John Templeton was my very first fund manager.

+1. Yes, all the bond-people i hear are more positive on IG corporates. If stocks turn around, I might put a big slug into Equity-Income. PRFDX. Or maybe nibble-in. Current yield on THAT puppy is a mere 1.91%. A far cry from over 7% at TUHYX. Of course, it's in relation to the share price. And the stock fund offers potential for cap gains, too. I think it will be quite a while: next year or the NEXT. patience is a virtue until it becomes procrastination. and there's the war in ukraine, too. and china-covid, still.

Bonds can recover in at least 2 ways. Treasuries recover when bond prices rise generating capital gains. I'm sure many astute investors bought the EDV etf in 2008 hoping to capitalize on interest rate cuts and rising bond prices. Junk bond funds recover when their bond prices rise to approach par at 100. So in theory a junk bond fund with bonds priced at 60 would generate nice gains in an equity recovery when those bonds rise in price to approach 80 or 90. Some junk bond funds returned 50% or more in 2009, resulting from price gains and interest payments when QE commenced. Current bond funds are priced so that their effective yield matches the stated yield of newly-issued bonds.

TBO Capital Group Owners, I looked around 9/29/22-09/30/2022 to check om my account value and the website was down. Then I looked for the executives and fund managers pages on LinkedIn. They were all missing. That put the nail in the coffin for me that TBO Capital Group - HMC Trading LLC were missing. The next day I tried the phones and emails etc. have all been disconnected. The account at Wells Fargo I had received a couple checks from HMC Trading LLC is gone as well. Simply says: Loading page please wait - System error on Wells Fargo end. It should either show an open account or a closed account but not that message. I wonder if someone could be playing a part of this issue from Wells Fargo. Due to the TBO Capital Group - HMC Trading LLC account complete disappearance. Any suggestions of steps to take please pass along. I have Wells Fargo involved where the funds were wired too, and the checks I also received from them. I have my bank involved in checking what action they can take on the wire sent to Wells Fargo. There was no BBB record in NY, NY for TBO Capital Group. They suggested the SEC but, they work for the (government only) and can maybe help stop this from happening further but not help for us. Did everyone's dividend check on the top left indicate NO ACCOUNT #? Thanks for all suggestions on any further action to look into. Stay focused there are many of us here that have been burned by this.

Yes, right now Britain is in the midst of a real mess, thanks in large part to the libertarian-influenced changes introduced by Prime Minister Elizabeth Truss.
Her interest in and links to various right-wing libertarian groups has been known for years, but has not really received much attention currently.
However, a recent perspective from the New York Times takes a look at her background. Here are some excerpts, heavily edited for brevity:

LONDON — For the past decade or more, Tufton Street has been the primary command center for libertarian lobbying groups, a free-market ideological workshop cloistered quietly in the heart of power. In September, it stepped out of the shadows. The “mini-budget” presented on Sept. 23 by Kwasi Kwarteng, Britain’s finance minister and key ally of Prime Minister Liz Truss, clearly owed a debt to Tufton Street.
The plan spooked the financial markets, sent the pound crashing and forced the Bank of England to intervene to halt a run on Britain’s pension funds. It was, in economic and political terms, a disaster — something made plain on Monday when the government, in an attempt to mitigate the damage, scrapped a planned tax cut for high earners. But the package was more than folly. It was the consummation of plans designed on Tufton Street, and of an alliance with Ms. Truss stretching back years. Under her watch, Britain has become a libertarian laboratory.
In Ms. Truss, they found a friend. After a youthful dalliance with the Liberal Democrats, the new prime minister’s belief in small-state libertarian politics has been a mainstay of her political career.
Appointed head of international trade, Ms. Truss seized the chance to staff her operation with libertarians. In October 2020, just a couple of months before the start of Britain’s new life outside the European Union, Ms. Truss appointed several pro-Brexit, free-market figures to advisory bodies in her department.
This battalion of free-market thinkers has now been welcomed into 10 Downing Street. Five of the new prime minister’s closest advisers are Tufton Street alumni, including Ms. Truss’s chief economic adviser and her political secretary, and at least nine Tufton Street alumni are scattered across other major government departments.
Under Ms. Truss, once nicknamed the “human hand grenade” for her ideological obduracy, the libertarian right has detonated the British economy. The cost, for all but the richest, could be incalculable.