“The results of Bank of America Merrill Lynch's latest fund manager survey (FMS) are "the most bearish" since the financial crisis.During the month of June, the average fund manager flipped from overweight global equities to underweight. Specifically, a net 21% of fund managers were underweight, the lowest level since March 2009. That measure represents a 32-percentage point drop month over month, the second biggest one-month drop since the survey’s inception.”
“ ‘FMS investors have not been this bearish since the Global Financial Crisis, with pessimism driven by trade war and recession concerns,” writes Bank of America's chief investment strategist Michael Hartnett. “The tactical ‘pain trade’ is higher yields and higher stocks, particularly if the Fed cuts rates on Wednesday.’ “
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/fund-managers-most-bearish-since-crisis-112100919.html

FYI:
Regards,
Ted
June 15:
1995: Less than a year-and-a-half after breaking the 800 barrier, the NASDAQ Composite Index closes above 900 for the first time, finishing the day at 902.68.
1979: Fidelity Investments drops the sales charges on many of its largest mutual funds, including Fidelity Fund, Magellan, and Puritan -- giving a huge boost to the direct purchase of no-load funds by retail investors.
Source: Jason Zweig's Blog

Today’s technology companies, and their shares, look nothing like the speculative stocks of that bubblicious era, when tech accounted for more than 30% of the Standard & Poor’s 500 index. Today, it is only 22.5%, albeit well above weightings of about 14% for both financials and health care. Financial stocks have been among the main beneficiaries of funds flowing out of tech.

"Just because the banks are safer doesn’t necessarily mean the financial system is"
Here's a few selected excerpts from davfor's Bloomberg link, just above. The entire article is well worth a read.

Leveraged lending has raised eyebrows partly because of how lightly it’s regulated. Fueled in large part by demand from collateralized loan obligations that offer interest rates that approach 9% on some riskier portions of the debt, the market for leveraged loans has more than doubled since 2012.
One of the ironies of the boom is that much of the risk-taking decried by central banks and regulators is largely of their own making.
Years of ultra-low rates have made it easier than ever for less-creditworthy companies to borrow large sums of money, all while pushing investors toward riskier investments. At the same time, post-crisis bank regulations have fueled the rise of shadow lenders, which helped facilitate the growth of leveraged lending. Then, financial watchdogs appointed by the Trump administration started encouraging Wall Street to dial-up more risk last year by easing guidelines to limit lending to deeply indebted companies, which freed banks to compete more directly with non-bank firms to underwrite the riskiest loans.
• “Whenever you give children toys, you know they’re going to keep playing with them until they break them,” said Phil Milburn, a fund manager at Liontrust Asset Management in Edinburgh, Scotland. “Someone has to come into the room and say put your toys down.”
• Wells Fargo research suggests buyers of CLOs include U.S. banks, insurers and hedge funds, as well as a large number of non-U.S. financial firms.
• Pimco, the world’s largest bond investor, said last month the credit market is “probably the riskiest ever.”
• When the credit cycle finally does turn, UBS estimates investors in junk bonds and leveraged loans could lose almost a half-trillion dollars, more than any downturn since at least 1987.
• Just because the banks are safer doesn’t necessarily mean the financial system is, says Karen Petrou, managing partner at Federal Financial Analytics, a regulatory-analysis firm.

Comment: Well, it certainly won't be this administration that tells anyone to put their toys down.

FYI: Old-school value investing demands both cheapness and a margin of safety against financial distress. But the hundreds of value funds on the market today have largely suffered in the past decade. Growth stocks have outperformed since the financial crisis, but that’s not the only factor that has held back value funds: Most own hundreds of stocks that either aren’t so cheap or are cheap for good reason.
David Green goes beyond the traditional metrics. “Just looking at a screen gives you only a snapshot that won’t tell you what a company will do in the future,” says the manager of Hotchkis & Wiley Value Opportunities fund (ticker: HWAAX). “It won’t tell you what a company’s competitive position is, or if it has some hidden liability. So, each company’s earnings profile is determined by our research team.”
Regards,
Ted
https://www.barrons.com/articles/this-value-fund-owns-anything-it-wants-51559830489?refsec=funds
M* Snapshot HWAAX:
https://www.morningstar.com/funds/XNAS/HWAAX/quote.html
Lipper Snapshot HWAAX:
https://www.marketwatch.com/investing/fund/hwaax
HWAAX Ranks #4 In The (85%+E) Fund Category By U.S. News & World Report:
https://money.usnews.com/funds/mutual-funds/allocation-85-equity/hotchkis-wiley-value-opps-fd/hwaax

https://www.google.com/search?q=what+we've+learned+about+target-date+funds+10+years+later&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&client=firefox-b-1-m
Enter News, Quotes, Companies or Videos
Target-date funds have emerged strongly from the damage of 10 years ago, but some advisers say their one-size-fits-all approach to investing isn’t suitable for every investor. Nicolas Ortega
Journal Reports: Funds/ETFs
What We’ve Learned About Target-Date Funds, 10 Years Later
A decade after target-date funds were damaged during the financial crisis, they have re-emerged bigger than ever as retirement investments. But they still have vulnerabilities.
By Jeff Brown
May 5, 2019 10:09 p.m. ET
Back in 2008, many investors looking ahead to retirement in two years had a shock when “target-date funds” designed for them plummeted in value. Many had assumed those funds, targeted to a 2010 retirement, were safe from large moves that late in the game.
Despite the jolt to investor confidence, target-date funds have flourished in the decade since, becoming a staple in workplace retirement plans such as 401(k)s, as a net $532 billion in investor money poured in during that time, according to data from the Investment Company Institute trade group.
Journal Report
Insights from The Experts
Read more at WSJ.com/FundsETFs
More in Investing in Funds & ETFs
Fund Fees Still Vary Too Much
How Much Cash in Retirement?
U.S.-Stock Funds Rose 3.6% in April
529s or Coverdells for College?
ETFs Dial In to 5G
Whether that is a good thing remains a matter of debate. Some financial experts question the value of target-date funds, saying their one-size-fits-all approach to investing isn’t suitable for every investor. Others say the funds can be a good way to save for both retirement and college—as long as investors pay attention to the products’ risk profile, fees and performance, especially as market conditions change.
Of course, the idea behind target-date funds, or TDFs, is to make investing as simple as possible by gradually adjusting to a more conservative investment mix as a target date approaches. As the default option in many workplace retirement plans, TDFs attract investors who don't want to choose and rebalance their own investments and may not be aware that the funds can still own lots of risky stocks close to and even after the target date arrives.
“There is a common misconception among many target-date holders that the portfolio is completely de-risked at retirement, and that simply isn’t true,” says Robert R. Johnson, professor of finance at Creighton University’s Heider College of Business in Omaha, Neb.
A big factor in that growth was Obama-era legislation that encouraged employers to automatically enroll new employees in retirement plans and use target-date funds as the default for those who don’t choose their own investments. Previously, investors who were inattentive—a notorious problem with workplace retirement plans—simply accumulated cash, which doesn’t provide enough growth to build a nest egg that will last for decades.
“It’s certainly a good thing” to use TDFs as the default, says Dennis Shirshikov, financial analyst at FitSmallBusiness.com, an advice service for small-business owners and managers. “This has brought a great deal of consistency to a retirement portfolio, especially since most investors with a 401(k) do not manage their investment actively.”
Another factor in TDF growth, Morningstar says, is the growing popularity of index investing as most TDFs invest in index funds, rather than actively managed funds. In 2017, 95% of new employee contributions to TDFs went to one relying on index funds, according to Morningstar.
Investors can buy target-date funds for their individual retirement accounts and taxable accounts, as well, and most big fund companies offer them. The biggest player is Vanguard Group with about $381 billion in TDF assets in 2017, 34% of the market, Morningstar says. Fidelity Investments had a 20.5% share, and the third-biggest player, T. Rowe Price , TROW 1.89% had a 14.9% share.
The downsides
Retirement experts have mixed views about TDFs’ value in a portfolio. Most say TDFs are better than not investing at all, or putting retirement savings in cash, but the funds can’t take into account each investor’s unique situation. Two investors the same age would get the same fund, even if they have different needs due to dependents, availability of other assets, life expectancy and risk tolerance.
“In an attempt to simplify planning and saving for retirement—certainly a noble endeavor—the entire concept of target-date funds likely is a bridge too far,” Prof. Johnson says. “Individuals are unique, and one parameter, the anticipated retirement date, cannot and should not dictate the appropriate asset-allocation mix and the change in that mix over time.”
Another concern: The automatic investing strategy ignores changing conditions. Patrick R. McDowell, investment analyst at Arbor Wealth Management in Miramar Beach, Fla., says low bond yields in recent years have reduced TDF income after the target date, and increased the risk of losses on bondholdings if rates rise. (Higher rates hurt bond values because investors favor newer bonds that pay more.)
What’s more, he says, stocks and bonds have often moved in tandem in recent years, reducing the benefit from diversification, which assumes one asset goes up when the other falls.
Know your rights
Retirement savers who are automatically put into TDFs have the right to switch to other funds in their retirement plan as they learn more or conditions change, and Mr. McDowell recommends that investors get more involved as retirement nears. He says he often recommends investors nearing retirement leave the target-date fund and buy a mix of stock and stable-value funds—which contain bonds insured against loss and are designed to preserve capital while generating returns similar to a fixed-income investment—to reduce danger from a potential market plunge.
Advisers urge investors to examine the TDF’s ‘glide path’—its investing policy for shifting from stocks to bonds over time. Photo: iStock
“In that strategy, a big drop in equity and fixed-income prices won’t hurt a soon-to-be retiree in the same way it would in a TDF strategy,” he says. “It also helps investors defend against a rising interest-rate scenario” harmful to bonds.
Experts say TDF investors should keep abreast of performance and not just assume they are on track to a comfortable retirement. Morningstar provides data on average performance by target date, as well as details on individual funds.

FYI: A decade after target-date funds were damaged during the financial crisis, they have re-emerged bigger than ever as retirement investments. But they still have vulnerabilities.
Regards,
Ted

CURTAINS??
In financial stuff??
Who knew?? :(

Call and Liquidity Risk
Municipal issuers often exercise the call option on their high-coupon paying outstanding debt in a low interest rate environment; which essentially means that they can retire their outstanding bonds before maturity by either buying back or refunding it with lower coupon debt.
This poses a significant risk for investors whose debt has been retired by the issuer.

My take on this risk is almost exactly the opposite.
If I buy a bond at a high premium (i.e. richly priced because its coupon is well above market rates), I buy it expecting it to be called. (Regardless, one should always look at yield to worst, not yield to maturity, when buying bonds.) Because the coupon is well above market rate, my expectation that it will be called is reasonable. Even if rates rise a bit by the time the bond is callable, it should still be trading at a premium. That makes it close to certain that the bond will be called.
The risk is not that the bond will be called - that's anticipated - but that it won't. That can happen for at least a couple of reasons. One is that the issuer's financial situation has deteriorated so much that it can't issue new bonds to raise the cash to retire the old bonds. Which means my bonds have become more likely to default.
Another reason the bond might not get called is that we hit a period of high inflation, so even the high coupon I'm getting isn't enough to compensate. In that case, I'm stuck with this longer term fixed income bond in a high inflation environment. Again, not good.

10 Safe Investments to Protect Your Money
Don't think article posted
-All safe investments come with a catch. They, alone, will never make you Bezos billions. They can, however, earn a little while serving another purpose such as being fairly liquid or balancing a portfolio. This roundup of safe investments explains their pros and cons to help you determine which investments best fit your needs. For even more detailed information, you may want to consult a financial advisor.-
https://smartasset.com/investing/safe-investments
Cd
Saving accts
Tips
Good grade bonds
Good grades munis
Bonds funds or etf

" the Advisor does not anticipate that the NextShares Fund will experience meaningful growth in the foreseeable future."
Hardly surprising. From WSJ, July 13, 2016:
"some analysts had suggested that it faced a major hurdle in getting any large broker-dealer on board because NextShares' unusual trading mechanism will require changes to trading platforms and entail some costs."
As I wrote before, NextShares are (were) a solution in search of a problem. A complex mechanism that seemed (to me) to serve no useful purpose.
https://mutualfundobserver.com/discuss/discussion/26290/nextshares-new-product-combines-a

In May, we launched our 13-step financial life planner, which also attracted a slew of readers. But it seems many folks went straight to the end of the story, because the most visited page was step 13, which is devoted to generating retirement income.
I can understand & will read again.
Derf

I thought RPHYX was open on a limited basis?
From the 1/28/19 summary prospectus,
https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1494928/000139834419001751/fp0038745_497k.htm
The Fund is currently available for sale on a limited basis. The following groups will be permitted to purchase Fund shares:
1.Shareholders of record of the Fund as of April 5, 2017 (although if a shareholder closes all accounts in the Fund, additional investment in the Fund from that shareholder may not be accepted) may continue to purchase additional shares in their existing Fund accounts either directly from the Fund or through a financial intermediary and may continue to reinvest dividends or capital gains distributions from shares owned in the Fund;
2.New shareholders may open Fund accounts and purchase directly from the Fund (i.e. not through a financial intermediary); and
3.Members of the Board of Trustees of RiverPark Funds Trust, persons affiliated with RiverPark Advisors, LLC or Cohanzick Management, LLC and their immediate families will be able to purchase shares of the Fund and establish new accounts.
The Fund may from time to time, in its sole discretion, limit the types of investors permitted to open new accounts, limit new purchases or otherwise modify the above policy at any time on a case-by-case basis.
I do not want to discourage/disappoint prospective investors who want to invest in the fund.
Also, you may want to look at Crossingbridge Funds. They have a similar type of fund,
CrossingBridge Low Duration High Yield Fund. Investor class is available for $2,500 initial investment. The Fund is managed by Portfolio Managers, David Sherman and Michael De Kler.
From the Crossingbridge Funds website for the Low Duration High Yield Fund:
The strategy focuses on purchasing high yield debt with an expected effective maturity of 3 years or less and a weighted average investment horizon of 0.75-2 years. Our goal is to limit credit risk and interest rate risk.

Good advice, though you could argue they are one and the same depending on venue.

2 investing lessons you can learn:
• Ignore financial porn
• Ignore posting porn

2 investing lessons you can learn:
• Ignore financial porn
• Ignore posting porn

FYI: Heading into 2019, one of the biggest fears among investors was the idea of an “earnings recession,” a situation where corporate profits decline for two quarters or more in a row. A few months later, those concerns are starting to fade.
The latest figures from FactSet suggest that first quarter earnings for S&P 500 firms will be down 0.5% from a year ago, much less than the 3.9% decline analysts were expecting at the end of March.
Moreover, with 76% of companies beating estimates by an average of 5.5%, there is a good chance that when the earnings reporting season is officially over, first quarter profit growth will end up in positive territory. About 10% of S&P 500 companies have yet to report.
Flat earnings for the first quarter is a much better situation than investors had feared only weeks ago, and raises hopes that full-year 2019 earnings can grow by 3.3% or more, as analysts currently expect.
Regards,
Ted
https://www.etf.com/sections/features-and-news/consumer-financial-sector-etfs-lead-way

(The Closing Bell will be updated sometime after 4:00 PM CDST to include the latest updates from IBD and Bloomberg Evening Briefing.)
FYI: The S&P 500 fell Tuesday, as the dimming likelihood of an imminent trade deal upended earlier gains and sent investors seeking less risky assets like U.S. government bonds.
The broad index was recently down 0.4%, giving up an earlier advance of as much as half a percentage point to put the S&P 500 on pace for another tough week. Losses widened among shares of consumer staples, utilities and energy companies throughout the session, more than offsetting gains from communication stocks.
The S&P 500 fell 0.84%, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average shed 237 points, or 0.93%, to 255347. The Nasdaq Composite also reversed an earlier lead, falling 0.39% in recent trading.
Investors, meanwhile, appeared to be taking on less-risky assets, such as U.S. government bonds, pushing the yield on the benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury down to a fresh 19-month low.
Consumer staples shed 1.2% to lead the S&P 500 lower. Food companies notched some of the biggest losses, with Kraft Heinz sliding 6.3%. Kraft, which said last week it wasn’t in compliance with Nasdaq’s financial disclosure rules, has fallen 32% this year due to a regulatory probe into its procurement practices.
Utilities also struggled, shedding 0.9% in recent trading, while energy companies fell 0.7%.
Meanwhile, communication stocks were the only S&P 500 sector to still be in the green in late-afternoon trading. Shares of some media companies were helping to support the sector, along with videogame makers after a Goldman Sachs analyst said Activision is on the cusp of an earnings inflection, upgrading the stock to a buy.
Shares of Activision were up 2.6% in recent trading.
Overseas, the Stoxx Europe 600 fell 0.2, snapping a two-session winning streak, while stocks in Asia mostly gained. The Shanghai Composite added 0.6%, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index was up 0.4% and Japan’s Nikkei was up 0.4%.
Regards,
Ted
Bloomberg Evening Briefing:
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-05-28/your-evening-briefing
MarketWatch:
https://www.marketwatch.com/story/stock-index-futures-edge-lower-as-trade-worries-hang-over-market-2019-05-28/print
WSJ:
https://www.wsj.com/articles/investors-grow-jittery-over-italy-11559053435
Bloomberg:
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-05-27/asia-stocks-set-for-muted-open-dollar-edges-up-markets-wrap?srnd=premium
IBD:
https://www.investors.com/market-trend/stock-market-today/stocks-fade-sp-500-today-ends-lower/
CNBC:
https://www.cnbc.com/2019/05/28/stock-markets-wall-street-in-focus-amid-lingering-trade-worries.html
Reuters:
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-stocks/tech-gains-keep-wall-street-afloat-idUSKCN1SY15F
U.K:
https://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-britain-stocks/ftse-100-miners-capitalise-on-iron-ore-surge-galliford-jumps-idUKKCN1SY0L2
Europe:
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-europe-stocks/european-shares-retreat-led-by-banks-on-italian-budget-woes-idUSKCN1SY0SE
Asia:
https://www.marketwatch.com/story/asian-shares-up-in-muted-trading-after-trump-visit-to-japan-2019-05-28/print
Bonds:
https://www.cnbc.com/2019/05/28/us-bonds-wall-street-set-to-monitor-economic-data-treasury-auctions.html
Currencies:
https://www.cnbc.com/2019/05/28/forex-market-eu-elections-trumps-japan-visit-in-focus.html
Oil:
https://www.cnbc.com/2019/05/28/oil-market-chinese-economy-opec-supply-cuts-in-focus.html
Gold
https://www.cnbc.com/2019/05/28/gold-market-dollar-moves-eu-elections-in-focus.html
WSJ: Markets At A Glance:
https://markets.wsj.com/us
Major ETFs % Change:
https://www.barchart.com/etfs-funds/etf-monitor
SPDR's Sector Tracker:
http://www.sectorspdr.com/sectorspdr/tools/sector-tracker
SPDR's Bloomberg Sector Performance Pie Chart:
https://www.bloomberg.com/markets/sectors
Current Futures:
https://finviz.com/futures.ashx

FYI: There were two recurring themes at the annual InvestmentNews​ Retirement Income Summit in Chicago earlier this month: the economic impact of increased longevity and the need for guaranteed income in retirement.
Retirement has traditionally been described as a long-term investment goal. That's true for the accumulation phase. But as clients near the retirement-distribution phase, financial planning needs to shift to risk management and capital preservation.
Regards,
Ted
https://www.google.com/search?source=hp&ei=OcrrXLLfOszGsAWW2om4Aw&q=How+to+battle+sequence-of-returns+risk&oq=How+to+battle+sequence-of-returns+risk&gs_l=psy-ab.12..33i22i29i30.3194.3194..8730...0.0..0.347.440.1j3-1......0....2j1..gws-wiz.....0.mCqDITIbkQ8

Economic injustice is rampant, perhaps worse than in the Gilded Age. Yet, the monetary, financial ignorance out there is huge. Teens AND most adults never have had the most basic lessons in how NOT to go "from paycheck to paycheck."

The dividing line is between those who could come up with $400, including using a CC and paying it off completely, and those who have to beg, borrow, or steal to cover an emergency.
I agree with @sfnative, that figures like these help remind us that so many people live paycheck to paycheck.
There will always be those who try to slough off such statistics. Cato tries to do this by pointing out that one of the questions asked people whether they would (not were able to) pay the $400 bill "out of savings (or checking) if they wanted to."
https://www.cato.org/blog/it-true-40-americans-cant-handle-400-emergency-expense-0
But Cato makes two errors. The minor one is that it cites last year's survey results, not the current results, dated May 2019.
The more serious error is that, unlike the Fed, it ignores the fact that "Even without an unexpected expense, 17 percent of adults expected to forgo payment on some of their bill in the month of the survey." Add to that the fact that "Another 12 percent of adults would be unable to pay their current month's bills if they also had an unexpected $400 expense that they had to pay. Altogether, 3 in 10 adults are either unable to pay their bills or are one modest financial setback away from hardship."
https://www.federalreserve.gov/publications/files/2018-report-economic-well-being-us-households-201905.pdf (p. 21, pdf p. 29)
Think about that. Not that people wouldn't pay their bills, but that they couldn't. Even with borrowing.
There's a lot of interesting data in the Fed's report people's economic well being that goes well beyond whether people can handle an unexpected $400 expense.