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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.
  • RMB Mendon Financial Long/Short Fund to be reorganized
    https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/30126/000089418920002257/rmbmendonreorganization497.htm
    497 1 rmbmendonreorganization497.htm RMB MENDON 497E
    RMB Mendon Financial Long/Short Fund
    Class A Ticker RMBFX
    Class C Ticker RMBCX
    Class I Ticker RMBIX
    Supplement dated March 26, 2020 to the
    Statutory Prospectus and Summary Prospectus dated May 1, 2019
    IMPORTANT NOTICE REGARDING FUND REORGANIZATION
    At a special meeting of the Board of Trustees (the “Board”) of RMB Investors Trust (the “Trust”) held on March 25, 2020, RMB Capital Management, LLC (“RMB”) proposed, and the Board approved, the reorganization of the RMB Mendon Financial Long/Short Fund (the “Financial Long/Short Fund”), a series of the Trust, into the RMB Mendon Financial Services Fund (the “Financial Services Fund”), also a series of the Trust (the “Reorganization”) (each, a “Fund” and together, the “Funds”). In making its decision, the Board considered the recommendation of RMB, the Funds’ investment advisor, that the Reorganization has the potential to benefit shareholders of both Funds through increased efficiencies leading to lower Fund operating expenses borne by shareholders.
    Pursuant to an Agreement and Plan of Reorganization, the Financial Long/Short Fund will transfer all of its assets and liabilities to the Financial Services Fund and Class A, Class C and Class I shareholders of the Financial Long/Short Fund will receive the same class of shares of the Financial Services Fund that are equal in value to their shares of the Financial Long/Short Fund that they held immediately prior to the closing of the Reorganization (although the number of shares and the net asset value per share may be different). Upon receipt of the Financial Services Fund shares, the shares of the Financial Long/Short Fund will be null and void. Shareholders of the Financial Long/Short Fund will not pay any sales load, commission, or other similar fee in connection with the Financial Services Fund shares received in the Reorganization. Expenses associated with the Reorganization will be borne by the Funds to the extent of a Fund’s estimated operating expense reduction during the first year following completion of the Reorganization.
    It is currently anticipated that the Reorganization will be completed as of the close of business on or about June 12, 2020. It is also intended that the Reorganization will qualify as a tax-free reorganization under the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended, which means that generally no gain or loss will be recognized for federal income tax purposes by the Financial Long/Short Fund or its shareholders as a direct result of the Reorganization. However, prior to completion of the Reorganization, the Financial Long/Short Fund may make net investment income and capital gains distributions to shareholders. Shareholders of the Financial Long/Short Fund should consult their tax advisors regarding the effect of the Reorganization and income and capital gains distributions on their particular tax situation.
    Shareholders of the Financial Long/Short Fund will receive an Information Statement/Prospectus that describes the Reorganization in greater detail, as well as important information about the Financial Services Fund. The Board determined that the Reorganization does not require approval by the Funds’ shareholders.
    Please retain this Supplement with the Statutory Prospectus and the
    Summary Prospectus.
  • The Fed Goes Nuclear
    Here are some possible next steps by the Fed. (Its sounding more and more like the low rate world will be with us at least until the crisis passes) --
    Potential Monetary Response
    • Forward guidance to signal FFR will remain at 0.00% well beyond the
    current crisis
    • Purchase short-term municipal bonds (six months or less to maturity)
    • Request authority from Congress to purchase a broader array of
    corporate and/or municipal bonds
    • Reinstate the Term Securities Lending Facility (TSLF)
    • Adopt a negative fed funds rate, though we view this as unlikely
    https://www08.wellsfargomedia.com/assets/pdf/commercial/insights/economics/policy-response-2020.pdf
  • Best websites for tracking portfolios?
    This is a problem I have struggled with as I am unwilling to give my passwords to Personal Capital or Yodele because of security concerns, or link my Vanguard accounts to Schwab or vice versa.
    I dont find Schwab portfolio analysis tools very helpful anyway.
    I continue to use Quicken ( have for decades) and it seems to work although it is clunky. However it will update the dividends buys and sells pretty easily pulling in data from the brokerage account. I do not keep my passwords in Quicken but paste them in when necessary, nor do I export my portfolio to their web service.
    I have set up my own system of asset classes and investment goals on Quicken and put each fund or stock in an appropriate class. Quicken has a link to Morningstar that will produce a portfolio xray report automatically ( although that seems to be down recently for some reason) that is helpful although it doesn't go into enough detail for me. For example it only has domestic and international equities bonds and cash and can't separate out anything else
    Quicken will export an excel tab delineated file easily and I import that into a watch list in Portfolio at Morningstar to get regular quotes. it takes a couple of minutes or less and is a lot easier than trying to update the share numbers dividends etc directly at Morningstar.
    I haven't had the problem with Morningstar web page crashing on a regular basis as is mentioned above.
    I used to use single shares to avoid giving Morningstar any information but I have so many watch lists there I don't think they could figure it out what is real and what is not
  • If today's gains hold up....
    If today's gains hold up, it will be our 3rd sharply higher day in a row, and we will be all the way up to Ghastly Horrible for the year!
  • Best websites for tracking portfolios?
    I use Personal Capital. Easy and free to setup by linking disparate accounts to the app.
  • Can the individual investor beat the machines & more
    thankyou Derf - Appreciate your linkage
    https://www.marketwatch.com/story/algorithms-sped-up-selling-leading-to-the-fastest-bear-market-in-stock-market-history-2020-03-26
    /Opinion: Algorithms sped up selling, leading to the fastest bear market in stock market
    By Beth Kindig
    The selling of stocks accelerated this month, leaving Americans with less wealth to scramble for cash/
  • Schwab market Commentary- Making Sense of Recent Bond Market Turmoil
    https://www.schwab.com/resource-center/insights/content/making-sense-recent-bond-market-turmoil-0
    /Making Sense of Recent Bond Market Turmoil
    By Kathy Jones
    The recent volatility in the bond market has been unprecedented. Over the course of just two weeks, long-term Treasury yields fell one full percentage point to record lows, while yields for nearly every other type of bond spiked sharply higher/
    Article discuss recent market conditions/summary along with several directions Investors may choose heading forward to reduce risks and reap markets gains
  • CARES ACT, allows penalty free withdraws up to $100k from 401K, 403B accts.
    I hope folks do not become forced into, or think they should "anyway", pull these monies.
    ***Presumption house will pass this legislation on Friday.
    CARES ACT article with internal links
    Take care of you and yours,
    Catch
  • IOFIX - I guess it works until it doesn't
    From a M* article posted today--
    The most vulnerable strategies in the current environment have been flashing red well in advance. For example, AlphaCentric Income Opportunities (IOFIX), a multisector bond fund that has invested the majority of its assets in mezzanine subprime MBS, has experienced heavy redemptions in recent weeks. Given that the portfolio was roughly 95% invested in nonagency residential mortgage credit, it’s highly unlikely the managers were able to raise cash to meet those redemptions without locking in losses in the current environment. The fund has erased more than 40% of its value for its shareholders since the beginning of March, with most of those losses coming in the last several trading days.
    But that fund’s highly aggressive approach already made it an outlier relative to competitors in the multisector bond category, which is home to funds with a greater appetite for credit-sensitive sectors. Its portfolio chock-full of subordinated mortgage credit avoided by other fund managers, its indeterminate credit quality profile (most of the fund’s holdings were nonrated), and absence of high-quality holdings to provide liquidity should have raised concerns for any investor. The fund’s chart-topping returns in recent years--its trailing three-year annualized return of 10.4% through February 2020 outpaced its next closest competitors’ by a full 300 basis points--should have also raised questions about the risks its managers were taking to achieve those results.
  • brief market news
    https://finance.yahoo.com/news/stock-market-news-live-updates-march-26-2020-221723808.html
    Good morning,
    Market very confusing still: unemployment numbers shatter previous records, multiple deaths remain high with COVID19, many more infected/many more counting and still remain critically ill. Hot spots open up in several countries.
    Dows still up today after all those news, think bottom maybe when Dows at 18750s levels last wk?
    maybe good to tiptoe in, DCA and watch closely.
  • The Fed Goes Nuclear
    Powell is appearing on mainstream media providing reassurance the public. Here is a little detail:
    Jerome Powell says the Federal Reserve would provide essentially unlimited lending to support the economy as long as it is damaged by the viral outbreak.
    The economic rescue bill approved by the Senate early Thursday includes $425 billion that the Treasury could use to backstop the Fed. That would allow the Fed to boost its lending programs to an astronomical $4.25 trillion.
    “Wherever ... credit is not flowing, we have the ability in these unique circumstances to temporarily step in and provide those loans and we will keep doing that, aggressively and forthrightly," Powell said.
    When asked if the Fed would run out of ammunition to support the economy, Powell said no.
    https://marketbeat.com/articles/fed-chair-powell-says-will-provide-nearly-unlimited-lending-2020-03-26/
  • Negative rates come to the US: 1-month and 3-month Treasury bill yields are now below zero
    In case you missed it...
    The one-month and three-month Treasury bill yields turned negative Wednesday.
    “This is part and parcel of the whole flight to quality thing,” said Kim Rupert, managing director of global fixed income at Action Economics.
    “Everyone is expecting the Fed to be lower for longer, and I mean longer. The whole bias is for yields to go lower. I would not rule out the front end of the curve going negative.”
    https://cnbc.com/2020/03/25/negative-rates-come-to-the-us-1-month-and-3-month-treasury-bill-yields-are-now-negative.html
  • TRP Floating Rate - Risk vs Reward
    Take a look at the historical returns for high yield and floating rate funds in 2008 and 2009. Most of them lost big in 2008 but had huge gains in 2009, in some cases as much as stock funds. However, there are no guarantees that history will repeat for stocks or bonds.
    In a somewhat related matter, muni bond funds and high yield munis also lost big recently (and in 2008). Muni funds had huge increases today — 3-5% — which is unheard of for munis. Personally I think most of the recent bond fund drops were due to liquidity issues from traders selling bonds, after stocks dropped so much, and overwhelming the markets.
  • Treat with caution: rocketing stocks aren't cause for comfort
    Hi Sir @_Old_Joe, I am always wrong in terms of market timing, hope to stay that way. We are indeed 4-6 weeks behind China, so hopefully by next month, warmer weather at least in Southern States/less virus transmissions, things maybe more Rosy. I read 85% of structures very similar to SARS, may not to do well in warmer weather/viral loads significantly reduced and unable to stay around in hot /sunny surface much longer. Hope this horrific virus go away in few months. Of course few patients with immuno-compromised states may still get problems even in [summer flu]. Hope curve significantly flattened soon.
    Interesting article about current market conditions from marketwatch:
    Stock market’s historic bounce may signal ‘near-term bottom,’ but remember what happened in 1987 and 2008
    https://www.marketwatch.com/story/stock-markets-historic-bounce-may-signal-near-term-bottom-but-a-retest-of-the-low-like-1987-and-2008-is-still-a-possibility-2020-03-25?siteid=yhoof2&yptr=yahoo
  • TRP Floating Rate - Risk vs Reward
    @Tarwheel. You have officially proved I'm an idiot. I did bloody read, BUT I never read properly. maybe because I read it on my phone. The "Risks" and "Rewards" sections are flipped on TRP website but "Rewards" are in left column. I never read the right column else I would never have invested in this fund. Like I mentioned it's for my MIL who's 80 years old.
    Straight from TRP website.
    The floating-rate feature virtually eliminates interest rate risk.
    Bank loans typically rank higher in the capital structure for repayment.
    Low historical return correlations with other asset classes, including high-yield bonds, make bank loans a diversifier for equity and fixed-income portfolios.

    ... AND ...
    The loans and debt securities held by the fund are usually considered speculative and involve a greater risk of default and price decline than higher-rated bonds.
    This fund could have greater price declines than a fund that invests primarily in high-quality bonds or loans.

    The ones highlighted line led me to believe the fund was invested in government securities only. Next time I see "interest rate risk" I'll know better.
    I dunno why I assumed "floating rate" with safety. Thinking I will make 0.1% when rates were very low and about 3% when rates were about that. Then again, I somehow don't believe I'm the only one who's stupid. I can't imagine why any sane person would invest in floating rate funds. The risk/reward is simply not there and simply plotting say PBDIX against FFHRX shows that. "Diversification" like this I don't need.
  • David Sherman's updates (and offer) on RiverPark Short Term High Yield
    Hi David, You noted:
    Long-Term Treasuries have both returned more in four weeks than they normally would in an entire year.

    Chart, SP500, TLT, EDV, ZROZ starting Nov. 4, 2009 (limited by fund inception date) through March 24, 2020.
    TLT, EDV, ZROZ returns chart , Jan. 2 -March 9, 2020. March 9 is the initial date when Treasury issues began to be "non-normal" in pricing relative to the whack down in the equity markets.
    QQQ versus EDV crossover points. One may drag and slide the 3,090 day line at the bottom area of the chart, from the left (oldest date) to the right towards the current date to find many other crossover points. EDV and QQQ generally perform inverse to one another.
    Ok, away to listen to Bolero and then meditate.
    Take care,
    Catch
  • David Sherman's updates (and offer) on RiverPark Short Term High Yield
    All I want now is people stop calling RPHYX as a proxy for "cash". And then "interpret" it. It's like any other fund you invest in which holds bonds.
    Serves me right for trying to grow a brain and invest in bond funds. I never did it pre-financial crisis. Now I know I should never have. Going forward I never will. Really have to rethink my FPNIX investment as well.
    I think someone has said investing in bonds is harder than investing in stocks. No kidding! Perhaps it's also because stocks can be manipulated easily by news or otherwise than bonds. Or maybe I'm wrong there as well. In any case, no more 007s in my life. I'll stick to balanced funds at best. At least I know my tax loss candidates for 2020 since hindsight is now also 20-20. Hah!
  • Recapturing Portfolio Loss
    I have not lost confidence in ARTGX or TBGVX-YAFIX I'd like to replace them with similar as temporary parking place to harvest the losses - ( i am still working - at least I hope so !) DDVIX ( value) and LCEYX dividend - both under performed before the deep dive, but I held on - not wanting to take the gains . All advice wellcome !
  • PIMCO CEF Update | It's 2008 Redux
    Relax, breathe easy for now at least for today. By Alpha General Capital at Seeking Alpha
    Summary
    ° The PIMCO UNII report showed some modest progress on coverage and UNII levels.
    ° Obviously, the traditional looks at this report are less important given what is happening in the markets and with these funds specifically.
    ° We expect distributions to be maintained in most of the taxable bond CEFs from PIMCO and that the muni funds are investable for the first time in years.
    ° Most funds earned their distribution in the month according to NII production with small shortfalls in the others. Nothing concerning.
    The Report
  • TRP Floating Rate - Risk vs Reward
    You may want to checked again on TRP website. YTD as of 3/20/2020 is -17.2% ! Floating rate bonds are BBB and below rated bonds, i.e. junk bonds. Junk bonds move in the same direction as equities, thus has no downside protection.