Some great insights. The project’s funding (hopefully late summer) was already incorporated into my IRA withdrawal planning. I actually shifted some $$ Friday into cash as I noted on the “buy / sell” thread. If the Fido offer received yesterday by mail was indeed “free money” it would make more sense to leave the funds growing for another 12-15 months inside the 2 IRAs (Roth / Traditional)
But little is free in life. And there are the risks mentioned (mainly a possible hit to my insurance premiums) plus the unknown risk of assuming next year would be a better year to pull the IRA funds than this year. At 5% compounded, 15K would net something north of $750 over a year. Not a big deal in the whole scheme of things. Possibly, I might max the card out and pull the funds monthly to repay. When you’re mostly fully invested all the time as I tend to be, pulling money in stages is a bit easierl
Fortunately the project is 1-3 months away. No start date yet. Labor shortage here as has been for many years now.
Yuppers - As someone noted, some merchants (including one of my physicians) charge a fee for using credit cards. I’d be willing to bet that’s the case with this company. Just displaying credit card symbols on its webpage doesn’t mean they won’t charge a fee.
This “deal” is fast losing its luster. :)

Thanks, Yogi. Good idea.
@rforno, I called the transition team to get an ETA on the lot history so I do not check before that date and was told there is no pending work on it (i.e., no ETA) as they are not aware of any issues. (I had to disclose to the Rep what I did for a living so he takes me seriously and who he needs to go talk to.)

Good luck! (avoiding this kind of drama was exactly why I fled TD the week after they announced the merger -- I've gone thru enough retail brokerage mergers over the years and knew what I was in for. Though I held off moving everything for a while until my TD guy's pre-merger review took place, since I liked him and didn't want to ding him with noticeable AUM leaving his book as merger-mania was sweeping the company)

A problem with relying on a one year impact rule is that the institutions saying this almost always equivocate - "may" affect your score, "usually", etc.
Experian recently (2023) wrote: "While a hard inquiry will stay on your credit report for two years, it will usually only impact your credit for up to a year, and usually by less than five points."
Likewise, FICO writes: "In general, credit inquiries have a small impact on your FICO Scores. For most people, one additional credit inquiry will take less than five points off their FICO Scores."
That doesn't seem to match the experience you had. If Experian got the size of the impact wrong (or at least wrong for you), can one expect Experian's estimate of the duration of the impact to be any more reliable? All these "usually" statements from the industry seem designed more to calm critics than to provide actionable information.
There's a thread on MFO now about how fast insurance rates are going up. I'm disinclined to throw another variable (credit score) into the mix. As you wrote, it's a personal choice.
https://www.bankrate.com/insurance/car/rates-by-credit-score/

As Yogi alluded to, this is the first outsider to hold the Vanguard CEO position.
I'm somewhat surprised that Greg Davis, President and Chief Investment Officer,
will not assume the CEO position.
Mr. Ramji was most recently BlackRock's Global Head of iShares and Index Investments
where he was responsible for two-thirds of the firm's assets.
Prior to this, Mr. Ramji was Head of BlackRock's U.S. Wealth Advisory business.
In this role he implemented new portfolio technologies to reach thousands of advisors
and increased cohesion between the iShares / active teams around the mission of building better portfolios.
Will he ameliorate the many customer service issues which have plagued Vanguard for years?

Sure, it's a personal choice. Just to add my 2c: a CC application itself normally causes a hard pull on the credit report which can, indeed, 'stay' on your report for 2 years but 'affects' your score for 1 year. I did this offer last year - it cost me 12 points w one of the agencies (I did not track It did not go on the other two).

My experience is that the credit hits are at least that bad. When my current balance across all cards approaches 10% of my total credit limit across all cards (and not more than 25% on any given card), my credit scores take 20 point hits. I have a good enough credit rating that this doesn't worry me, but this is still crazy.
A hard pull can stay on your record for two years. Even if you abort an application before completing it. (I suppose one could contest that part of one's credit file, but what seems to matter is the fact that a credit inquiry was made, not so much whether it was justified.)
So I'm not too inclined to play the credit card application bonus game. If there's an offer on a card I wouldn't consider holding long term, I'll usually pass.

It was actually Elan (which I declined to name earlier) that has caused my angst. But honestly, I’ve been treated like royality by them for 15-20 years except for the recent change not allowing domestic travel notes. Sorry to hear people have said unkind things about them.
Everyone is moving more and more to automation. Humans are too expensive. I suspect that’s where this travel-notes change stems from. Carrying extra cash in your sock or wherever doesn’t work very well at 2:30 AM and you’re stranded somewhere ordering food online.
I carry 3 debit cards counting the Fidelity C/M card. Just one real CC.
My plan: Keep the current Elan for what I use it for. Call Fido to get a specific dollar offer before applying for their card. If it’s close to the 15K the planned infrastructure project will require, I’ll be glad to put that on their card, invest the money elsewhere, and pay them back a year later. (And maybe pocket the extra 2% as well).
And - Oh. Thanks for the help everyone.

Naw @Mike … I prefer generally to pay cash for most things. (Just sent the propane company a $420 check for a tank top-off.) But for airfare, hotels, rental cars etc. I rely on credit. I could make an exception and charge the home project if Fido really wants to lend me 10 or 15K interest free for a year. Doesnt’t take rocket science to know you can invest that amount for 5%.
I’d rather not name my current Visa provider. Been with the firm 20 years. Large well known financial services company. But they will no longer accept “travel notes” ahead of domestic travel. So … after ending up stranded out of state in the early AM hours in January due to a flight delay, they declined a purchase for food (as “suspicious”). And the food / delivery provider would only accept credit at that time of night.
I do have a debit card tied to my Fido cash management account. And, thankfully, they allow you to leave travel notes, as I would expect their signature credit card would.
Thanks for the thoughts folks. I was thinking maybe there’s a hidden fee with the Fido card? Or maybe they’ll low ball me by offering only a small initial credit limit? Won’t know until I apply. Offer’s good until some time in July.

@hank
I've had the Fidelity Rewards Visa Signature Card for several years.
It has no annual fee and it offers 2% cash back on all purchases.
Foreign transaction fees for international purchases were removed last year.
My current APR for purchases and balance transfers is 19.24%.
I pay off the monthly balance in full.

Hank, sounds similar to the Capital One card I got a couple years ago. Cap-1 also gave me $200 if you charged 'x' amount in 'y' amount of time. That limit wasn't hard to reach, so a free $200. I try to use this card as my primary means of paying. I think I've accumulated $5-600 cash back so far. I don't travel a lot, other than visiting the kids in Columbus and Pittsburgh. I don't remember any problems.
I used to be a primarily cash person also, but I now find it very handy and useful to have a record of purchases at your finger tips. I also have a MM with Capital One and use that transfer feature to pay off the card monthly, fwiw.
@hank, are you on Credit Karma? There are a bunch of options there for new cards based on your credit score, fwiw. Most with about the same benefits as the Fidelity card you describe. Many will give you a bonus as I described.

@sma3- Great article- thanks. One thing puzzled me- it shows CA as being profitable for the past four years, yet the insurance companies are running away like a bunch of cockroaches. No info given on that.

I you can read it and not behind paywall good article about the crisis in home insurance
https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2024/05/13/climate/insurance-homes-climate-change-weather.html
Regarding car insurance, we had an old station wagon that got hit from behind. The repairs were far more than the Blue Book value but the car still ran and was safe to drive
I told the agent that I did not want to have to buy a new car, why couldn't I just take the check and keep the car
So I did. The title was marked "salvage" so I couldn't re-sell it, but I drove t for another two years then donated it to charity. We couldn't take the tax deduction but we got two years of transportation
I don't know if other insurance companies would do the same thing but it is worth asking.

would far prefer new money go to PRCHX . am deep into the risk-adjusted stage.
downside :
-not an ETF.
-unlikely that managers would utilize its nimble size to stray from their holdings elsewhere.
does anyone have handy the criteria for TRP Summit eligibility?
i x'frd my TRP holdings to vanguard brokerage a few years ago, and was at some preferred level prior.

Derf
I have owned BCX for several years and consider it a long term hold.

Thanks @bee. Ivancyn seldom provides interviews and this one is quite informative on Pimco’s strategies. PIMIX has done much better than typical core bond funds in the last several years.

@catch22 / Thanks for the comparison chart. My OP’s title wasn’t worded very well. Sounded like I was trying to decide which fund was better or running ahead of the other. That wasn’t it at all. What I was seeking was insight to the degree, if any, that each holds short equity positions (sells stocks short).
During the discussion it became clear M* doesn’t seem to understand that SPDN (1X short S&P 500) constitutes a short position and thus does not reflect this in its “portfolio” summary (top of page). Fortunately, as JD_co noted, it does list SPDN later on as among the fund’s top holdings. So readers can figure that out - if they realize SPDN is an inverse fund.
@Sven - Thanks for the insights. I wasn’t aware LCORX had lowered its short positioning since the Professor wrote of it. I had a sense they might have from Friday’s Bloomberg snippet I posted elsewhere in which one of LCORX’s managers is intoned (not quoted) to be bullish on the S&P thru year’s end.
As for fund performance, anything under 5 years would seem too soon to react to in terms of buying / selling. And, there are other factors besides past performance to take into account. As @MikeM mentioned, etfs are easier to trade.

Tough love here, so take my comments with a proverbial grain of salt and PLEASE do not be offended. Just trying to help.

No offence taken whatsoever. On the contrary, I'd asked for advice and sometimes the best advice is straight-up critique.

Here goes: Your OP comments reek of the same type of crap that I used to spew to myself just before taking the commodities plunge.
STOP and look at your comments objectively, if possible:
You say:
"I have recently come to believe in a thesis that there is a substantial likelihood of a spike in commodities prices over a year timescale..."
I hear:
I have a new, bright investment idea but I'm pretty sure it's going to require unusual market timing abilities to be even reasonably successful.

I think I should have been clearer: from following world developments, I have come to believe that there is a fairly high chance of a commodities market squeeze, particularly in Europe, over the next year (w the clock starting to tick in say a month or two and the likelihood really increasing in six month or so).
The only point I am 'pretty sure' about is that a market squeeze leads to price appreciation. In all fairness, I did not - and, by-and-large still do not - have any bright 'investment ideas' beyond this which was why I had asked for advice.
I do not think, however, that this is as much about 'market timing' in the conventional sense, i.e., this is not about timing the securities market but the actual goods market. What happens to the securities market is incidental to my reasoning, though it would very likely lead to appreciation. To make this more concrete by way of an example, a number of years ago there was a fire at one of the main silicon chip foundries that led to a lot of sector volatility in both stocks and goods prices. I did not try to time the 'stock market' and bought after the dust settled some days later because I believed that irrespective of the short-term stock market moves, the underlying electronics 'chip market' would be squeezed by the shortage. So, I bought some unaffected companies and waited. It took a couple of quarters but - when the squeeze inevitably hit - this turned into a very good trade.
I view this situation in analogous terms with two differences:
1. The underlying commodities market dynamics is a lot more complicated vis-à-vis the comparatively straightforward chip market.
So, I could be wrong and the squeeze does not happen, though I think there is a fair likelihood that it will. However, one thing I am pretty sure of is that there are no places for the extra supply to come from and no reason to think that the demand will decline. So, basic economic reasoning - and I welcome any critique to this argument - tells me that at worst prices will stay roughly the same (sans, seasonal adjustments), so all I am risking is opportunity cost.
2. Unlike the chip market, I do not know and cannot easily pick the securities to best benefit from the potential squeeze, should it arise.
This was my main problem. Hopefully, I've got good help with that through all the posts to my question! (I still need to go research the recommendations.)

You say:
"I have not invested much in commodities before..."
I hear:
I am a prime candidate for a cold call from a broker at one of the major commodities exchanges [ICE Futures U.S., the Chicago Board of Trade, the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME), and the New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX)] asking me if I would like to set up an account.
I will ask them how much it takes to open an account.
They will say, "Well first sucker, how much do you have to lose?"
Note that I had that very conversation (save the "sucker" reference!) several years ago with a broker at CME. I foolishly laughed it off at the time, and went on my merry way, investing instead in commodities ETFs and OEFs.
Here's hoping you at least consider NOT doing the same.

No, no one has cold called me about this. But why 'you laughing it off' was "foolish": sounds like you did not get hoodwinked by a broker and invested in ETFs/OEFs, did this not work out? Do you think you might have done better with a broker? Am I missing something?
I know you've said that you are a 'sceptic' on commodities, so I would be curious to hear what you thought of my reasoning above. I am not really looking for a multi-year investment and - with the global commodities prices bouncing at the bottom of a two-year ~ - 40% DD - I do not see a high likelihood of a significant loss, even if the squeeze I am expecting does not materialize within a year. Any thoughts?

Several years ago, our MFO contributor, Lynn Bolin wrote an article for Seeking Alpha, COM: searching for the best commodity funds
https://seekingalpha.com/article/4493298-com-searching-for-the-best-commodity-funds
The article requires registration. Short summary : COM, Direxion Auspice Broad Commodity Strategy ETF is the choice, as @MikeM mentioned above too.

Yikes. A very broad area. Commodities can be very volatile. I’ve lost more than I’ve made in them over the years, mostly in QRAAX , which Oppenheimer scuttled a decade or more ago.
- A real old timer is T. Rowe Price’s PRNEX, a “natural resources” fund - just one variation on the commodities theme. The scoop on that one is it is “cyclical”, doing well in good economies but losing more than average in downturns. But aside from perhaps precious metals, that’s the nature of commodities.
- Price has one that’s a bit more focused - PRAFX. Not strictly commodities. A lot of real estate. Worth a look.
- CMCAX (Commodities Index Fund) is rated gold by M* - I’ve never owned it.
- I’ve owned GGN (a CEF) in the past. Exposure to precious metals, industrial miners, energy. Prone to strong stretches of outperformance and underperformance as well - as CEFs tend to be.
- I’ve also owned BRCAX in the past. Uses derivatives to invest in commodities, Worth a look or small hold for newbies. You won’t make a lot, but shouldn’t loose a lot either. Apparently it employs hedging strategies that limit damage in bad markets,
- PRPFX is broadly diversified across equities, fixed income, precious metals, real estate and natural resources. But it is certainly not considered a “commodities” fund. I’ve owned it forever. Depends on how much risk you want to take. This one’s lower risk than my other suggestions.
*None of these are recommendations. Just suggestions based on my limited experience in the area.

Both OP funds are worthy Conservative Allocation funds but vastly different. We have owned both for long periods of time since 1980 but own neither now, and have likely parted ways with both permanently.
If choosing between the two, we would chose FMSDX as it is a unique fund that provides exposure and style that we do not otherwise get enough of.
VWIAX is pretty much Dead To Me for the time being. Significant underperformance over the past few years that we fortunately missed most of, having dropped it a while ago. Formerly the gold standard for its style, we are currently outperforming it with a combo of OAKMX (for the Value stock side) and a CP CD ladder for the FI side.