Hi, guys.
We posted our September issue late on the evening of September 1st, as usual, but decided to delay this announcement until this morning. We were thinking that you’d rather get the reminder when you were fresh in the morning, rather than late at night. As Derf notes in a separate thread, I'd be curious to hear folks reflection on the decision.
My publisher’s letter celebrated the start of the college year, my Propaganda class, the propaganda that you’re being bombarded with, the rising influence of frantically trading young stock investors (uhh, 20-25% of daily volume!), strategies to consider for managing a weak dollar environment and a sort of buyers guide for face masks. It’s a fairly busy missive.
We face uncertain times, and so we shared stories of three funds whose managers have seen many years and many market adventures. They seem like the sorts of people you’d want at the helm just about now.

• Jim Callinan manages the five-star Osterweis Emerging Opportunities Fund (OSTGX) now, but his career encompasses the frantic '90s and a Morningstar manager of the year award. We profile the fund.
  
• Eric Cinnamond and Jayme Wiggins manage one of the two top-performing small value funds, Palm Valley Capital Fund (PVCMX), up 15% YTD which is about 30% above their peers. That success shouldn’t surprise anyone who’s been following their absolute-value strategy back 20 years. Palm Valley just became available through TD Ameritrade. We explain why I just added PVCMX to my portfolio.
  
• Mark Oelschlager managed the very fine Pin Oak Equity Fund (POGSX) until he and Tina struck out on their own. They’re now replicating his Pin Oak strategy in their new all-cap Towpath Focus Fund (TOWFX). We share a belated Launch Alert of the youngster.

I think a conversation between the three would be fascinating if only because their views of the markets and investing are so dramatically different.
Complementing those individual fund-focused pieces, both Lynn Bolin and I take on the question of alternative funds that are demonstrably worth keeping around. Lynn’s piece is the broader of the two, “Alternative and Global Funds during a Global Recession.” I stuck close to my knitting with “The Long (and Short) of It: Top-Tier Long-Short Options" and starts with a short eye-roll in response to the WSJ observation that "most" long-short funds are a disappointment. (Duh.)
Ed Studzinski offers a surprising recommendation of “Where Not to Invest.” Hint: he’s not worrying you about stocks.
Charles Boccadoro takes inspiration from Warren Buffett’s recent comments about the meaning of "long-term".
In a mini-T. Rowe Price fest, I explain the decision to add T. Rowe Price Multi-Strategy Total Return (TMSRX) to my portfolio and we offer a Launch Alert for the active, low-cost ETF version of four of T. Rowe Price’s large-cap funds.
And, as always, Chip’s compendium of manager changes, plus funds in reg (Dodge & Cox is about to hit the emerging markets and T Rowe Price is launching active ETF versions of huge funds), liquidations, and other industry news.

https://www.fedsmith.com/2020/09/01/32-return-one-tsp-fund-in-5-months/
. stocks just finished their best month since April. The monthly returns for August continued an extraordinary rally fueled by stimulus money pouring from the federal government, signs of economic revival and apparent progress toward a coronavirus vaccine.
Best TSP Returns for August
The C Fund in the Thrift Savings Plan (TSP) advanced 7.19% and the S Fund went up 7.20% in August. The 7.20% return is the best return for August among all of the TSP Funds.
This is the fifth month in a row that the C and F Funds have provided positive returns for investors. The C Fund has ranged from a return of 12.81% in April (after falling 12.4% in March) to its lowest monthly return of 1.99% in June.
Imho - Maybe reasonable just add more index or tsp funds /spy qqq, these appears doing quite well compared to most hefty high fees active managed funds

https://www.schwab.com/resource-center/insights/section/on-investing
Schwab Fall issue
Come What May
1 0
by
Walt Bettinger
| AUGUST 24, 2020
Whatever the circumstances, we’re here to help.
The Law of Averages and Your Portfolio
9 3
AUGUST 24, 2020
How outsize gains plus outsize losses may produce long-term success.
Tax Withholding in Retirement
3 0
AUGUST 24, 2020
How to help ensure you prepay enough taxes once you’re no longer working.
Socially Responsible Investing in Your 401(k)
AUGUST 24, 2020
What to know before adding socially responsible investments to your retirement portfolio.
How to Shop for Bonds
3 0
AUGUST 24, 2020
You comparison-shop for everything else—so why not for bonds?
Can Your Family Members Collect Social Security When You File?
by
Carrie Schwab-Pomerantz
| AUGUST 24, 2020
Social Security benefits begin with you—but they don’t end there.
Enjoy
....

https://www.google.com/amp/s/seekingalpha.com/amp/article/4371744-stocks-for-long-run
Stocks For The Long Run
Sep. 1, 2020 7:00 AM
Summary
Jeremy Siegel's "Stocks for the Long Run" is a highly acclaimed book.
However, the evidence shows that stocks can underperform riskless investments for very long periods.
My tale is from my collection of stories that show the path to the prudent investment strategy.
Any choices or ideas added for this list besude author's SPY
Wmt
Apple
Tesla
QQQ
ITOT
Home depot
Are few that I think may fit this list
Regards

https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/836487/000110465920100504/a20-27131_3497.htm
497 1 a20-27131_3497.htm 497
Prospectus and Summary
Prospectus Supplement
August 31, 2020
Morgan Stanley Institutional Fund, Inc.
Supplement dated August 31, 2020 to the Morgan Stanley Institutional Fund, Inc. Prospectus and Summary Prospectus dated April 30, 2020, as amended May 11, 2020
Global Opportunity Portfolio (the "Portfolio")
Effective at the close of business on December 31, 2020, the Portfolio will suspend offering Class I, Class A, Class C, Class IR and Class IS shares of the Portfolio to new investors, except as follows. The Portfolio will continue to offer Class I, Class A, Class C, Class IR and Class IS shares of the Portfolio: (1) through certain retirement plan accounts, (2) to clients of certain registered investment advisors who currently offer shares of the Portfolio in their asset allocation programs, (3) to directors and trustees of the Morgan Stanley Funds, (4) to Morgan Stanley affiliates and their employees and (5) to benefit plans sponsored by Morgan Stanley and its affiliates. The Portfolio will continue to offer Class I, Class A, Class C, Class IR and Class IS shares of the Portfolio to existing shareholders. The Portfolio may recommence offering Class I, Class A, Class C, Class IR and Class IS shares of the Portfolio to new investors in the future. Any such offerings of the Portfolio's Class I, Class A, Class C, Class IR and Class IS shares may be limited in amount and may commence and terminate without any prior notice.
The Portfolio has suspended offering Class L shares to all investors. Class L shareholders of the Portfolio do not have the option of purchasing additional Class L shares. However, existing Class L shareholders may invest in additional Class L shares through reinvestment of dividends and distributions.
Please retain this supplement for future reference.
IFIGOPSUMPROSPT 8/20

I'd like to see the board move away from politics ... and, hopefully open more discussion on investing topics.
The big question for me is whether this market can keep up the momentum? Below is what one expert thinks.
“Obviously these things are difficult to pinpoint, but a 2%-3% decline sometime in the next couple of weeks wouldn’t be at all surprising to me. I continue to believe that the SPX SPX, -0.21% [S&P 500] can reach 3,700 (+14.5%) by year-end, but probably not without three or four small pullbacks along the way,” he told MarketWatch in an interview and follow-up email.
Read more about this by clicking the provided link; https://www.marketwatch.com/story/heres-what-could-trigger-more-stock-market-pullbacks-this-year-says-schwab-trading-expert-2020-09-01

https://www.marketwatch.com/news/story.asp?guid={21004575-02D4-D4B5-4572-D283723A90B1}&siteid=rss&rss=1
U.S. corporate debt soars to record $10.5 trillion
Published: Aug. 31, 2020 at 8:58 p.m. ET
By Joy Wiltermuth
Who owns U.S. company debt? Everyone...
Anyone concerned about total Usa Corp debt...will bubble burst soon. Think as long as fed keep pouring kool-aid the party will continue!? Jnk and LOQ Kept rising

“Growing uncertainty surging through global financial markets is helping to shine a spotlight on the gold market as more generalist investors and funds look for safe-haven assets.According to media reports, the Ohio Police & Fire Pension Fund (OP&F) approved a 5% allocation into gold in a move to diversify its portfolio and hedge against the risk of inflation. The fund currently holds about $16 billion in assets under management. The gold recommendation was made by the fund's investment consultant, Wilshire Associates,”
Story

Much to think about here. Includes some investment ideas....

Today’s low bond yields, which are without precedent in U.S. history, create several challenges for investors. Three crucial ones for investors to contemplate are: how can we replace the income that bonds used to supply; how can we adapt portfolios for the loss of depression protection that comes from bond yields having little or no room to fall; and how can we protect our portfolios from the risk of rising inflation and rising interest rates? Each of these challenges is unique and requires a different playbook than what we have used over the last 30 years. They will also require more dynamic allocation between the opportunity sets. We will take you through each of these issues and propose portfolio solutions to help adapt portfolios to today’s anemic interest rate environment.

https://gmo.com/americas/research-library/2q-2020-gmo-quarterly-letter/

follow-up
https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1005020/000110465920100855/tm2029720d5_497.htm
497 1 tm2029720d5_497.htm VIRTUS FORT TREND FUND
Virtus Rampart Equity Trend Fund,
a series of Virtus Opportunities Trust
Supplement dated August 31, 2020 to the
Statutory Prospectus and Statement of Additional Information (“SAI”),
each dated January 28, 2020, as supplemented
IMPORTANT NOTICE TO INVESTORS
The statutory prospectus and SAI for Virtus Opportunities Trust have been updated to reflect changes to Virtus Rampart Equity Trend Fund, including a name change.
Effective August 31, 2020, the Virtus Rampart Equity Trend Fund’s name has been changed to Virtus FORT Trend Fund (the “Fund”). The disclosure for Virtus Rampart Equity Trend Fund in the Virtus Opportunities Trust statutory prospectus and SAI is no longer valid. Please see the Fund’s separate statutory prospectus, summary prospectus and SAI for additional disclosure regarding these changes.
Investors should retain this amendment with the
Prospectuses and SAI for future reference.
VOT 8020 RampartEquityTrendFORTChanges (8/2020)

https://www.foxbusiness.com/markets/us-stocks-aug-31-2020
S&P 500 fights for best 5-month stretch since 1938 as Apple, Tesla split
U.S. equity markets were little changed on Monday and on track to wrap up their best month since April. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 52 points, or 0.18%, while the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq Composite were higher by 0.01% and 0.16%, respectively. All three of the major averages look to be on track for a fifth straight month of gains and are looking at their best five-month stretch in years
We are +7.4% YTD...glad did not pull out completely in March 20
Will trend continue at end summer/fall, nobody know

“Female fund managers, who remain woefully under-represented in the US Mutual Fund industry, have done a better job picking stocks than their male counterparts in 2020, Bloomberg reported. According to data compiled by Goldman Sachs Group, among 500 large-cap US mutual funds, those with at least one-third manager posts held by women have exceeded those with no women by 1 percentage point this year.” STORY

Last week's title was:

bonds found some "lovers" this past week

This week, well; the "love" is a bit on the edge. A bit twitchy in some sectors, overpriced perhaps; not unlike sectors in equity. Whata-ya-gonna-do ???
In the "old days" one could have at least a small amount of assurance, that if the equity markets started or were going to hell in a hand basket; that quality bond holdings would likely be a positive ballast for one's portfolio. The machinations of central banks right now is so fully overwhelming in all aspects of capital markets that I find it more difficult with how to deal with the "perversion" of reality markets. This week's "Jackson Hole" conference placed some guidance by Chairman Powell. What you or the "pundits" make of the pronouncements likely finds a large range of where the equity/bond markets travel in the future. The past 3 weeks of data in this thread show the amount of volatility within some bond sectors.
A few blips below, that may or may not be of value:
--- EXPLAINER, new Fed policy
--- Fed can't talk the U.S. economy into inflation
Lastly, if you remain curious about bonds; you have a defined list of etf's below to help you gauge which areas are having momentum; either positive or negative.
I'm going HIATUS with further posting.
I should have previously included performance for AGG, as a gauge, which is now included in the below list.
The AGG, formerly known as the Bloomberg Barclays Aggregate Bond Index, is an index used by bond traders, mutual funds, and ETFs as a benchmark to measure their relative performance. The index is broadly considered to be the best total market bond index, as it is used by more than 90% of investors in the United States.
Currently, I glance at data for , but do not track muni's, mortgage or foreign bonds.
A few data views from bondland, for mostly AAA rated bonds:

AUGUST 28 WEEK / YTD .....Data M* performance
--- AGG = -.48% / +6.6% (widely used bond benchmark)
--- MINT = + .06% / +1.29% (Pimco Enhanced short maturity, AAA-BBB rated)
--- SHY = + .02% / +2.98% (UST 1-3 yr bills)
--- IEI = - .07% /+7% (UST 3-7 yr notes/bonds)
--- IEF = -.61% /+11% (UST 7-10 yr bonds)
--- TIP = +.29% / +9% (UST Tips, 3-10 yrs duration, some 20+ yr duration)
--- LTPZ = -.7% / +21.1% (UST, long duration TIPs bonds
--- TLT = -3.1% /+20.1% (20+ Yr UST Bond
--- EDV = -4% / +26.3% (UST Vanguard extended duration bonds)
--- ZROZ = -4.4 /+27.4% (UST., AAA, long duration zero coupon bonds)
***Other, for reference, not AAA rated:
--- HYG = +.5 / -.2% (high yield bonds, proxy ETF)
--- LQD = -1.1% / +7.3% (corp. bonds, various quality)
Well, enjoy and be careful.
Regards,
Catch

Here are a couple of earlier Section 19a docs for the fund: March and April. There may be others.
As @Vegomatic posted in another thread, sometimes these interim classifications of distributions change before getting to the official 1099-DIV.
That said, I noticed that 97% of IOFIX's securities are floating rate. Years ago, I owned a fund that invested in agency ARMs. Almost a quarter of the distributions I received that year was ROC. There may be something inherent in these securities that creates ROC. Just an observation, I'm not digging into it.
The ROC shows up on your 1099-DIV in Box 3 (nondividend distributions). This is pretty basic, and not uncommon for closed end fund with managed distributions. So all tax software should handle it.
There is a quirk with ROC. As noted, this reduces your cost basis. If your cost basis drops to zero, any additional ROC is treated as capital gains.
https://www.irs.gov/taxtopics/tc404
If your shares are "covered" Schwab is required to keep track of your cost basis. I believe that it is required to incorporate the effect of return of capital when reporting your cost basis (i.e. it should track this correctly). However, the ultimate responsibility for keeping track is yours, regardless of what Schwab reports.

I received a “section 19a” document from Alpha Centric via Schwab informing shareholders about the percentage of monthly distributions that is income and that which is return of capital. It seems to me this is the first such notice I have received, but I could have missed something previously. In the event, to date, ROC amounts to 56% of the gross distributions with the remainder as true income. I believe the cost basis of one’s holding in the fund must be reduced by the amount of the ROC. I have no idea if what Schwab reports to the IRS accounts for this, nor do I know if TurboTax can account for this. Apparently, upon sale of the MF, if the ROC is not factored in, the shareholder could be in violation of IRS rules. I did not sell when IOAFX cratered, but I did hear on the board of others bailing out. I hope this is post is not too wonky.

https://www.marketwatch.com/story/dont-settle-for-skimpy-bond-yields-and-make-dividend-stocks-your-best-income-play-fixed-income-veteran-says-2020-08-27
Don’t settle for skimpy bond yields and make dividend stocks your best income play, fixed-income veteran says
The fixed-income market ‘is as much of a challenge as I have seen in 41 years,’ says Dan Genter, CEO of RNC Genter Capital Management
Bonds and treasuries mm yields are in the toilets....not many options left
What else are you folks doing? More junk and prefered???
We did buy/add more BAC PREFERRED few days, maybe good play medium long terms
(BAC.PRA)
Pff
Jnk

Here's Vanguard's press release (largely duplicative of the above info)
https://pressroom.vanguard.com/news/Press-Release-Vanguard-Announces-Changes-Money-Market-Fund-Lineup-082720.html

Over the past two decades, Vanguard’s approach has helped Prime Admiral Shares outperform 97% of the competition. However, Prime Investor Shares have only slightly outperformed Vanguard Federal Money Market Fund over this same time period. This shift in the fund’s portfolio [to US government securities] underscores Vanguard’s belief that government money market funds can better meet investor needs for capital preservation and liquidity while avoiding undue risk.

Pardon a bit of cynicism here, but it doesn't take two decades to come to this conclusion. Unless something unspoken has changed, like risk. Not necessarily risk to the investor, but to Vanguard. Jane Bryant Quinn wrote in 1990:

The last year has seen at least two near-misses. Integrated Resources defaulted on commercial paper that was being held by some money funds, and paper owed by Mortgage & Realty Trust was threatened. Among the victims: funds carrying the good names of Value Line, Liquid Green, Alliance and T. Rowe Price.
In each case, the sponsor stepped in to absorb the loss. But if it hadn`t, the fund`s investors would have come up short.

https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-1990-05-21-9002110461-story.html
The risk in a prime MMF is largely to the fund sponsor - eat the loss or lose face.
Why doesn't Vanguard simply merge the fund with VMFXX? Prime MMF is going to have a similar portfolio anyway. So even if you stay with the fund, you'll get the lower yield of a government MMF. The ER of VMFXX is just one basis point more than the Admiral shares of Prime. With Prime MMF Admiral shares you lose the ability to write checks; with VMFXX you can still write checks.

I've been impressed by the approach taken by Grandeur Peak (as well as by the performance). They seem interested in serving their clients, not merely themselves. In tough markets, like 4th quarter 2018, they may drop like a rock but seem to recover quite well. I used to own OAKIX. Performance, both medium and long term, can now be described as no better than average while volatility is off the charts and fees are too high. The comment about FMIJX reports sounding like a broken record struck home. So many redemptions there, year end capital gains distributions may be ugly for a taxable account. Sold that earlier this year. It's hard to overlook the hot streak VWIGX has been on. Gaudy is the word. But even when you back out 2020 performance it has done very well historically. Personally, I've also opted for rock bottom expenses in the form of VTMGX.