FYI: T shares won't immediately revolutionize the financial-advisory industry but will ultimately be a positive for investors.
Regards,
Ted
http://news.morningstar.com/articlenet/article.aspx?id=787395

FYI: I will link episode as soon as it becomes available for free, early Saturday morning.
Regards,
Ted
January 5th, 2017
Dear WEALTHTRACK Subscriber,
Ed Hyman is cautiously predicting that the U.S. economy will grow a little bit faster this year and bring inflation and interest rates up along with it. As for the likelihood of recession, he believes it is several years away. This week, in what has become an annual WEALTHTRACK tradition, Hyman joins us for an exclusive two-part interview on the outlook for the global economy.
The founder and Chairman of Evercore ISI is a financial super star, having been voted Wall Street’s number one economist for 36 out of the past 37 years. His research is a daily must read for institutional investors all over the country if not the world.
Every year on WEALTHTRACK we also ask a top investment pro to join Ed, to put his macroeconomic outlook into investment perspective. This year another WEALTHTRACK regular, First Eagle Management’s Matthew McLennan is joining us.
McLennan is Head of the Global Value Team at First Eagle Investment Management, where he is also a portfolio manager for several funds, including the flagship First Eagle Global Value fund, which he took over from legendary value investor, Jean Marie Eveillard in 2008.
Rated Five Star by Morningstar, the Global fund is in the top decile or higher in its World Allocation category for the past one, three, five and ten year periods and is known for its above average risk adjusted returns.
This week our primary focus will be the outlook for the U.S. economy and markets. Next week we will concentrate more on international conditions, although we recognize they are all interrelated.
Hyman’s team expects the U.S. economy to pick up steam this year, forecasting real GDP- that’s excluding inflation- of 2.5% in 2017 versus an estimated 2% in 2016. They expect inflation to pick up as well, with the Fed’s favored GDP deflator measure rising from 1.5% last year to 2.5%. As for the Fed Funds Rate, they are looking for a sizable increase from around 0.60% to 1.35% by year-end.
The yield on the benchmark ten-year Treasury should rise half a percentage point from 2.5% in December to 3% by December of this year. And finally they expect profits to improve, estimating that the combined earnings per share of the S&P 500 companies will rise about 10% year over year.
Hyman is the first to admit that a lot can change between now and year-end, but eight years into an economic recovery he lists the mounting evidence of improvement, including his expanding list of American cities where business in booming.
If you miss the show on air this week, you can always catch it on our website. You can also view it on our YouTube channel.
As always, we welcome your feedback on Facebook, Twitter or via the Contact Us link on our website. We read all of your comments!
Have a great weekend and make the week ahead a profitable and productive one!
Best Regards,
Consuelo
Ed Hyman Video Clip:

Scott Blankenship, who is responsible for the firm’s sales and distribution of products offered through financial intermediaries, says that the fund will be available at all major brokerages but that "will take weeks and maybe months." Schwab might be first in line, he said. The fund is registered in all 50 states. GQG has no documents available on its site as of yet for downloading account applications or related forms, but you can receive them through their distributor SEI by calling 866-362-8333 and have them emailed if you want to buy the fund directly from them. Best.

Hi Guys,
I am an engineer by temperament, training, and experience. I like smart folks, especially those that develop sophisticated investment prediction models. In his "The Money Game" book, Adam Smith concurs that an investor should seek advice from smart people. Of course, one issue is how to identify smart market participants.
One might suspect that carefully trained economists, who are hired by financial organizations, would nicely fit that framework. Maybe, but it's not that easy.
In the early 1990s I counted Elaine Garzarelli as one such market-wise forecasting hero. She had an elaborate macroeconomic computer model that accurately forecasted the 1987 equity meltdown. Since that famous forecast, her record has suffered somewhat. According to one scorecard, she is correct about one-third of the time. Anyone for a fair coin toss projection?
Equity returns forecasts for 2017 are presently dominating the media and investor exchanges. It's great sport, but it is highly likely that the projections are in serious error. The record, even for the most well informed cohort of professionals, is dismal. How dismal? Here is a Link to some research that was completed a year ago:
http://www.fool.com/investing/general/2015/02/25/the-blind-forecaster.aspx
The findings are consistent with similar studies. Predicting returns is a challenging assignment, and most fail the task. A blind forecaster just might equal the accuracy of these highly paid experts. The author claims that emotional factors control the outcome, and these are impossible to forecast. I guess that means we should all keep a heavy reserve to protect against the uncertainty of the markets, regardless of professional opinion.
Best Regards.

Bezos Got the Message Before the Tweet ?
DEALS | Wed Jan 4, 2017 | 4:43pm EST
Exclusive: Amazon, Forever 21 vying for bankrupt American Apparel - sources
Reuters sources interest out of Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN), Forever 21 and others ahead of a deadline to submit offers for the bankrupt Los Angeles-based company set for this Friday.
http://seekingalpha.com/news/3233531-reuters-amazon-among-possible-american-apparel-bidders
By Jessica DiNapoli and Lauren Hirsch REUTERS
The bankruptcy auction of Los Angeles-based American Apparel, which made its branding theme "Made in the U.S.A", will determine the future of a major clothing manufacturing plant in California, one of the most expensive U.S. states in terms of labor costs.
Keeping jobs in the United States has become a hot button political issue since the presidential election. Ford Motor Co on Tuesday reversed plans for a $1.6 billion factory in Mexico and said it would add 700 jobs in Michigan after receiving criticism from President-elect Donald Trump.
Amazon and Forever 21, as well as California-based apparel maker Next Level Apparel and brand licensor Authentic Brands Group LLC, are in talks with American Apparel and its financial advisers about submitting offers ahead of a deadline on Friday, the people said
http://www.reuters.com/article/us-americanapparel-m-a-idUSKBN14O281

Hi Ron,
I agree that forecasting is folly and the trend is your friend. Trivial sayings but true nevertheless.
As J. Paul Getty said: "Bank on the trends and don't worry about the tremors". Getty is not a bad choice when accepting financial advice.
But it's not clear when a trend becomes a broken trend that demands some action. There are plenty of sources offering advice in that arena. Here is one such source:
http://www.investopedia.com/articles/active-trading/041814/four-most-commonlyused-indicators-trend-trading.asp
This is just one of many Links that summarize a host of candidate trading signals. I post it only as an example. I don't subscribe to any of them. I am basically a buy and hold investor, and typically make only 2 or 3 trades each year. These days they are coupled to my required mandatory withdrawals that are age related.
Again quoting Getty: "The big profits go to the intelligent, careful, and patient investor, not to the reckless and over eager speculator". I at least qualify as a patient investor. I'm not so sure about the other qualifiers.
Mark Twain wisely added this bit of wisdom: " There are two times in a man's life when he should not speculate: when he can't afford to and he can". But speculators help to make a market. More power to them.
And more power to you regardless of your investing philosophy. Thanks for your input.
Best Wishes.

"They've already been great for years, as both stocks and bonds have delivered fat returns since the worst of the financial crisis passed in 2009. But after such a strong and long gallop upward, markets have many reasons to slow down, analysts and fund managers say."

FYI: There's no denying the importance and popularity of 401(k)s for retirement savers. Americans have $4.8 trillion invested in these tax-deferred savings accounts, according to the Investment Company Institute, and there are 52 million active 401(k) participants. BrightScope, a financial-information company that rates retirement-savings plans, compiled this list for Kiplinger of the most popular mutual funds in 401(k) plans based on funds' 401(k) assets under management.
Regards,
Ted
http://www.kiplinger.com/article/investing/T047-C009-S003-105-most-popular-funds-for-your-retirement-savings.html

Hi @Ted and others,
Good information as I feel a good sector allocation is very important for good returns.
Something I feel has helped me and something that I strive to do is to maintain at least a 5% exposure in the minority sectors of materials, real estate, telecom and utilities and a minimum exposure of 9% in the majority sectors of consumer cyclicals, financial services, energy, industrials, technology, consumber defensive and health care. When the mimimun holdings amounts are added up this totals 83% and leaves 17% that can be moved around to increase the weightings in my sectors of choice.
Currently, my four most heavly overweighted sectors from their minimum base allocations are energy, financials, industrials and technology. Thus far this year as reflected in Dr. Carson's chart all four have been strong performers.
And, so it goes ...
Old_Skeet

FYI: For years, many refused to buy into the hype even as the stock market climbed to record after record. Wounds from the 2008 financial crisis were still too raw, and investors couldn't stomach the risk of watching their nest eggs drop by more than half for a second time. Instead, they favored bonds, which have pumped out relatively steady and healthy returns for decades.
Enter Donald Trump.
Since his surprise victory in last month's presidential election, stock prices have soared even higher, and bond prices have sunk on expectations that faster economic growth and inflation may be on the way. The change has been so seismic that investors poured a net $20.7 billion into U.S. stock funds last month. That's the biggest month for stock funds since 2014 and a stark turnaround from the nearly $76 billion that left those same funds in the 10 earlier months, according to Morningstar.
Regards,
Ted
http://bigstory.ap.org/article/eccce9265a14436696911e70363398df/greed-trumping-fear-investors-give-stocks-another-chance

Hi Guys,
This Adam Robinson, the subject of the article, seems like one strange guy with a philosophy and an occupation that appear to conflict with each other.
These days he earns his living as a financial advisor to a number of International hedge funds. Yet he thinks the world is so complex that it is impossible to logically understand or explain. The explaining only comes after the fact. The understanding may escape us forever.
He said: " explanation is impossible. The world is simply too complex to understand, so I don’t bother trying." But he likely draws a heavy salary for recommending investments to take advantage of perceived economic and market trends. How honest is that?
My simple interpretation of his complexity perspective is that an investor would be wise to invest in broad Index products. If an understanding is impossible, covering the waterfront seems like a prudent strategy.
Pete Seeger said: “Any darn fool can make something complex; it takes a genius to make something simple.” I'm not that genius with respect to investing so I do the default Index option.
Best Holiday Wishes.

FYI: In this article, we’ll discuss the differences between a target-date fund and a target-risk fund, and which can be a better investment choice depending on your specific financial goals.
Regards,
Ted
http://mutualfunds.com/target-date-funds/target-date-funds-better-than-target-risk-funds/

Zoneblitz said "This current market really makes this challenging."
Yes. I agree. And that's the difficulty of investing later in life. Were you 20 something or even in your 30s current valuations wouldn't pose much of an issue. Markets are very forgiving over very long time-spans (lasting several decades). Unfortunately, it's much easier to get caught leaning the wrong way when you've got a limited time span. And, if you're already taking distributions for subsistence, it makes it even harder.
I haven't responded earlier because I try not to give financial advice. But, couldn't resist diving in here. I'm sure the others have been helpful.
Wishing you success.

David: "(Edmond), do you have wisdom on PDI?
REPLY: Wisdom? No. I've traded in/out of it over the years. It seems to often generate a special year-end divd. It goes ex-divd on 12/22 (if I recall) a rather substantial special divd. So NAV and price will likely drop then accordingly. Its trading at a premium currently. Buy/sell points are not UN-important when trading CEFs -- just as they are not UNimportant in buying ANY security. The OP's initial inquiry indicated his objective was income. Several of the PIMCO CEFs especially seem extraordinarily good at maintaining their disty --- and (just as importantly) EARNING that disty.
As a general rule, with bond CEFs, besides evaluating current/historical premiums/discounts, I always like to review the most recent AR/SAR, and determine if the disty/share is covered by NII/share. If there is a substantial UNDER-earning of the disty, that is a big red-flag for me -- as it may portend a future disty cut (which is not fun for current shareholders. PIMCO publishes a monthy UNII/NII earnigs update on their website. PDI, PCI, PKO and a couple others look 'OK' to me -- but as always, choose buy points CAREFULLY, and consider easing into any position, rather than going 'all in' on one date.
=====================================
ZB: "..keep 20% on the sidelines for other opportunities"
REPLY: As a general comment, I think NOT being fully invested (holding cash) works well for a lot of people (this writer included!). Though I believe that position is a minority one. Most of the financial industry has a financial interest in keeping all retail investors fully invested all the time. And of course with the stock market at all time highs (as presently) those folks can point to the opportunity cost of holding cash. Of course we won't always be trading at all-time highs. Cash IS -- as it has been since 2009-- the most unloved of asset classes. But cash provides reliable "ballast" to a portfolio (bonds do too, but not always). Perhaps most importantly, as you note, cash provides optionality -- one cannot "buy low" if one is always 100% invested. And there is a "sleep easy" factor (speaking for myself) in holding cash. These are not quantitave benefits, they are qualitative. But that doesn't make them unimportant.
Good luck.

Hello,
Due to some medical issues I may be forced to find ways to generate income. I have read this forum for some time and think the members here are top notch. I've managed my own investments for about 15 years and consider myself pretty knowledgeable. However, truth be told, I'm no expert with bonds or bond funds.
I have sought out the advise of a financial advisor and one consultant from a major discount brokerage. Both had very different opinions. The financial advisor recommended a basket of American Funds. The consultant recommended several ETF's, like BAB and high yield mutual funds. ( The actual recommended portfolio only had 18% dividend paying stocks)
Most of the assets are in a taxable account. But, I guess, I can't allow the possible tax ramifications to dictate every investment decision.
I'm thinking of funds like:
VWINX
PONDX
SCHD
DLTNX
High yield bond ?
Short term ?
Trying to generate around 4% yield with around 30% in high quality stocks, if possible. I know that interest will likely keep going higher and this could cause serious issues with the bond portion.
I would absolutely love to hear the thoughts and opinions from forum members. Thanks in advance

Dow 20,000
Posted on December 12, 2016 by Bob Fleming
Acropolis Investment Management Insights
...part of the reason that it’s doing so well this year (16.4 percent, vs. 12.9 percent for the S&P 500) is that it is heavy in industrial and financial stocks, and underweight in technology stocks – a near perfect combination for the Trump bump.
I’m not making a prediction, but if the DJIA grows by 7.7 percent over the next ten years (which is how much it grew over the last 10 years), we’ll be looking at Dow 43,000.
http://acrinv.com/dow-20000/

https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1423047/000116204416002687/kimberlite497201612.htm
497 1 kimberlite497201612.htm
KIMBERLITE INVESTMENT TRUST
Supplement to the Prospectus dated December 12, 2016
Effective as of December 12, 2016, Kimberlite Floating Rate Financial Services Capital Fund (the “Fund”), a series of the Kimberlite Investment Trust (the “Trust”), will end the public offering of its shares. Accordingly, shares of the Fund are no longer available for purchase. The Fund will continue to operate until the soonest practicable date on or after December 16, 2016 (the “Closing Date”), when it will be liquidated.
The Board of Trustees of the Trust (the “Board”), in consultation with the Fund’s investment adviser, Kimberlite Asset Management, LLC (the “Adviser”), made the determination to end the Fund’s public offering and to discontinue the Fund by unanimous vote of the Board during the Board Meeting held on December 12, 2016, based on, among other factors, the Board’s determination that the Fund’s current asset size, recent purchase and redemption history and projected expenses and expense structure indicate that it is unlikely that the Fund will grow for the foreseeable future. Through the date of the Fund’s liquidation, currently scheduled to take place on the Closing Date, the Adviser will continue to waive fees and reimburse expenses of the Fund, as necessary, in order to maintain the Fund’s fees and expenses at their current level, as specified in the Prospectus.
As of December 1, 2016, in response to market conditions, the Fund assumed a temporary defensive position and converted all of the Fund’s portfolio securities to cash. In connection with the liquidation: (i) the Fund will remain in cash until Closing Date; and (ii) all outstanding shareholder accounts on the Closing Date will be closed and the proceeds of each account will be sent to the shareholder’s address of record or to such other address as directed by the shareholder including special instructions that may be needed for Individual Retirement Accounts (“IRAs”) and qualified pension and profit sharing fund accounts. In addition, the Fund’s redemption fee for all shareholder redemptions on or after December 12, 2016 is eliminated. As a result of the Fund’s cash position described above, the Fund’s normal exposure to investments has been eliminated. Accordingly, shareholders should not expect the Fund to achieve its stated investment objective.
Shareholders may continue to freely redeem their shares on each business day during the Fund’s liquidation process. The distribution of proceeds from the closing of shareholder accounts remaining on the Closing Date will be considered for tax purposes a sale of Fund shares by shareholders, and shareholders should consult with their own tax advisors to ensure its proper treatment on their income tax returns. In addition, shareholders invested through an IRA or other tax-deferred account should consult with their own tax advisors to understand the rules regarding the reinvestment of these assets. In order to avoid a potential tax issue, shareholders may choose to authorize, prior to the Closing Date, a direct transfer of their retirement account assets to another tax-deferred retirement account. In addition, shareholders generally have 60 days from the date of the liquidation to invest the proceeds in another IRA or qualified retirement account; otherwise the liquidation proceeds may be required to be included in the shareholder’s taxable income for the current tax year.
If you have any questions regarding this Supplement, please call (855)- 318-2804.
Investors Should Retain this Supplement for Future Reference

Holy INSIGHT, Batman! ...Cripes, I've maintained this very approach ever since I began to learn my very first lesson in investing, going back to the 1990s. I listened and read a lot, and made a habit to watch PBS each week when Lew Ruckeyser offered his corny-jokes and puns in his opening monologue for "Wall Street Week." I paid attention AND "read between the lines" as I heard each panelist's weekly contributions. I realized that the first step was to learn how to translate all of the "money-speak" lingo. It helped me to find and identify their professional thought-matrix, even if I did not give it a name, for my own purposes. (The talking heads and guests on CNBC need to be constantly translated in one's head, as they go along, too.) Being able to just know it when I heard and saw it was (and is) good enough--- at least for starters. THEN, I could learn to MAKE something of it all. Along the way, I learned to hear the double-speak underneath the actual words being expressed. "Tax Reform" = making things better for Capital and screwing Labor, for example. Avoiding any talk about the underlying POLICIES being advocated and instead deciding to speak in terms of mechanics of the Market, is the "common currency." It's more politically correct to go about it THAT way, between Talking Head-host and Prestigious Guest.
Examining financial statements and doing analyses are Science. How one uses the information is Art. (All things being equal---and they never are--- why invest in A instead of B, when they look the same in terms of fundamentals? Ding!) One's investing elan needs to be tempered with skill, a certain legerdemain. Thus, I assert, the validity and usefulness of the paradoxes to be found in the likes of The Zurich Axioms. Eh???
Here, you can click on the link that will let you open or download the Axioms via .pdf:
http://r.search.yahoo.com/_ylt=A0LEVr1ArE1YBa0ASO0nnIlQ;_ylu=X3oDMTEyNnJkMjI2BGNvbG8DYmYxBHBvcwMxBHZ0aWQDQjI1ODBfMQRzZWMDc3I-/RV=2/RE=1481514176/RO=10/RU=http://www.forexfactory.com/attachment.php/706430/Zurich_axioms/RK=0/RS=vlCWaQCq0eLSeDxZtls.pv6Awv8-
...I hope it works for you all. ...At the same time, I hasten to add that I've never been able to perfectly follow Max Gunther's advice, here. I doubt it can be done, and I doubt it was ever written with that intention. The attempt would be to confuse the Art with the Science of the whole thing. ;)
Follow-up edit: Crap, that link is dead now. But Yahoo, as a kind afterthought, will allow you to click on THEIR OWN link to the same thing, once you click on my original link. Stupid stuff.

Hi Guys,
Investing successfully is far more difficult than it appears on the surface. Otherwise we would all be millionaires several times over.
Investing is especially challenging because it demands a set of skills and emotional factors that are not constant over time. What characteristics and styles worked in the past are not as dominant in today's marketplace. A changing market environment and flexible thinking to recognize those changes in a timely manner is not an easy assignment.
Financial,writer Morgan Housel examines the mixed requirements of science and art that an investor needs to be successful in that arena. Here is a Link to his recent article on this topic:
http://www.collaborativefund.com/blog/the-art-and-science-of-investing/
There are no answers here except that perhaps we should be very flexible in our attempts to understand the markets. What is popular today will likely not be so popular tomorrow. That's a probable explanation why the list of extraordinary investors is so short. Changing a winning strategy to reflect a changing marketplace demands a discipline that not many of us possess.
Even those in the investment profession are too glued to what worked for them historically. And history does not perfectly repeat itself. Therefore, as a group, these professional experts underperform the market on average. A few exceptions do exist, but even this elite group has a bad period on occasion.
It's never easy.
Best Regards.

The contrary view is that now is the time to accumulate health and biotech during this long pullback. Sectors do rotate. Take Financial and small value as examples.
When Trump is in his administration may want the FDA to shorten the new drug application period. That will be the impetus for a move in health.
Cutting profits to biotech is like saying I'll take my chances in life and if I get a serious disease like Alzheimer........ well thats to bad. But there are companies working and spending lots of money on this disease and they deserve to be handsomely rewarded. So will you if you own their stock. And there are many such examples. The FDA goes beyond the needs of safety. They are an inefficient bureaucracy.
prinx