WSJ provides a broader societal perspective - https://www.wsj.com/us-news/hyundai-raid-rattles-a-hot-spot-of-growth-in-georgia-d1fcd585?st=BMFs3C&reflink=article_email_share
Are these the ones that are “eating the dogs… eating the cats” ?

This is not the first time that the GOP has inked deals and boasted of success, only to be taken for a ride later. Foxconn in Wisconsin was not a whole lot different. None of the promised jobs for locals materialized. This is an example of he GOP's best work and portends how all of the ill-conceived deals revolving around tariff threats will turn out.
In five years, they will still be blaming Biden for MAGAs ineptitude. Without the slightest hint of credible causation. Just the usual complete lack of personal responsibility.

@yogibearbull mentioned MYGAs is a prior post.
MYGAs are functionally similar to CDs.
You could earn a 5+% yield with very little risk (assuming AM Best ratings are accurate).
2-year MYGA, insurance company rated "A" by AM Best, yields 5.15% ($70K or $100K min. premiums).
3-year MYGA, insurance company rated "A-" by AM Best, yields 5.45% ($100K min. premium).
5-year MYGA, two insurance companies rated "B++" by AM Best,
yield 5.80% and 5.81% respectively ($5K & $1K min. premiums).
https://www.annuityadvantage.com/annuity-rates-quotes/multi-year-guarantee-annuities/?years=3&sort=guarantee_period_yield&limit=20

Welcome to the September oh-so-totally back-to-school issue of the Mutual Fund Observer at https://www.mutualfundobserver.com/issue/september-2025/!
Highlights of this issue include:

• Lynn Bolin examines low-correlation alternatives in "BlackRock Systematic Multi-Strategy (BAMBX) versus BlackRock Tactical Opportunities (PCBAX)," seeking funds that can provide steady 5% returns with minimal correlation to traditional stocks and bonds.


• His companion piece, "Preparing for an Inflection Point on Interest Rates," responds to recent economic signals, including revised employment data, rising producer prices, and Fed Chair Powell's Jackson Hole remarks about potential rate cuts. Lynn anticipates sustained financial volatility with higher real interest rates and more frequent debt crises, and walks through portfolio protection.


• I share a Launch Alert for Franklin Multisector Income Fund, which debuted in the last week of August. The fund resonates with Lynn’s concern about finding investments that are insulated from the probable instability ahead, while at the same time offering the prospect of decent returns while we wait. The literature surrounding it got me thinking about the prudence of looking at income funds that were (a) successful and (b) determinedly isolated from the wobbles of the US market, which led us to …


• “Thinking more broadly: Bonds beyond vanilla,” in which we launch a systematic search for income-oriented funds that are insulated from the local lunacy. A screen for funds that could invest flexibly, have made 4% or more over the past five years, are uncorrelated with the US bond market, and qualify as MFO Great Owls (a sign of top 20% risk-adjusted returns across a range of examination periods). Sixteen such funds are available to regular investors, a combination of funds that we’ve written a lot about and ones that we’d never heard of.


• And The Shadow, as ever, tracks down a horde (perhaps a hoard) of industry developments, including a huge number of OEF-to-ETF conversions, two interesting reopenings, and the ongoing flight from funds grappling with climate change. (Pity.)

And what low risk are we talking about? Interest rate risk? Sorta a function of duration. Or default risk? Sorta a function of quality of the bonds and the broader business climate. If one defined low risk as short duration and high quality that would lead to a short term treasury and or high investment grade fund no? I see suggestions of funds with higher yields and generally higher yields come with higher risk.

Yes, gotcha. So far, to me, and given where we are, it's still worth it to reach into Junk for higher yield. I've now heard from SEVERAL of the "expert" talking heads that bond defaults remain low, about 3%. I'm using MMkt to save for a dedicated goal coming up. That money is out of the Market, still earning a virtually risk-free 4+ percent.
I stand by my recommendation, WCPNX. It's not as utterly tame as some, but I found that it served as extra ballast that I don't need. Duration is 5.48 years. And as a core-plus fund, it is reaching, just a tad, in order to offer you and me a BIT more profit. Is 5.48 years not "the belly" of the curve? (Again: I'm already out of it.)

junkster: "Weren’t you a victim of the SEMMX scam that it was a cash substitute in 2020? I wouldn’t touch any fund associated with the fellow that has run LCTRX since 1997. Investigate its punk performance in 2015 and why. I would stick with the guy that runs HOSIX who at one time worked at Leader. He has done an admirable job at the helm of Holbrook."
No I was not a "victim" of the SEMMX scam. I did own SEMMX for several years, but fortunately I was successful of trading out of SEMMX at the very early stages of its decline in 2020, and did not experience any significant losses from SEMMX or any of the other bond oefs I owned at that period. I have not been back into bond oefs since that period. As I have stated several times over the years, retirement investing objectives is to achieve a total return of 4 to 6%, with the least amount of risk. Since I was able to do that with CDs and MMs for several years after 2020, I found no need to invest bond oefs. Now it is becoming very difficult to buy a CD that makes 4%, so I am looking at the least risky way of making at least 4%

FD mentioned a fund above for consideration--LCTRX. It is categorized as an Intermediate Core Plus bond oef, but it is very different than other funds in this bond oef category, in that it has a very low duration and very low standard deviation. This fund uses CLOs (Collaterized Loan Obligations) defined in Investopedia in the following way:
"Collateralized loan obligations (CLOs) are structured securities that bundle a pool of lower-rated corporate loans and sell them to investors in tranches. These investments, managed by CLO managers, offer an opportunity for investors to gain exposure to higher-than-average returns by assuming default risk."
I am curious if any other posters have opinions about LCTRX and the use of CLOs.

Weren’t you a victim of the SEMMX scam that it was a cash substitute in 2020? I wouldn’t touch any fund associated with the fellow that has run LCTRX since 1997. Investigate its punk performance in 2015 and why. I would stick with the guy that runs HOSIX who at one time worked at Leader. He has done an admirable job at the helm of Holbrook.
Also I would like to retract a comment I made a while back about not touching HOBIX with a 10 ft pole. Not that I am recommending it for the purpose of this thread. Also as you alluded to, as the Fed fund rates declines so will the yields on a lot of funds mentioned in this thread. With your adversity to risk would just stick with money markets, CDs and Treasuries. I mean you already missed some big bull markets in many bond sectors over the course of the past several years. As for CLOs, they have been widely discussed here for some time now. Check the archives.
Surprised no one has mentioned a fund widely held by the populace here NRDCX. Talk about low volatility with nary a down day.

I have been tracking AAII Sentiment for a very long time - elsewhere before here. But that's only 1 indicator of many, & in recent years, it has been sending negative signals while some other indicators were just the opposite.
Some also differentiate between sentiment & market indicators. I interpret the data more broadly as market sentiment or temperature.
So, I have been tweaking the data & contents of these postings. A big change happened on/after 8/20/25 when the title was changed & an additional Fear & Greed indicator was added. AAII Sentiment is still featured prominently & there is still 6-wks of recent data (AAII website has lifetime history).
I am open to further tweaking but there are additional considerations: (i) the indicator data should be accessible to me for free by Wednesday-PM or Thursday-AM, (ii) it not be survey based (as AAII Sentiment already is), but market data based.

@hank "Just stopped my “voluntary” tax withholding on SS benefits yesterday. But - gosh - the break appears to expire in ‘28 - So guess will have to remember to turn withholding back on in couple years. Setting up an online account with SS took a lot of patience - but finally got it to work.''
Can you explain how you can turn off tax withholding "totally". I could see reducing , but not total turn off. With that said I should ask what % are you withholding. I think I'm at 22%.
Last year I had to send in $1K & change to IRS. I was thinking this -$6K deduction would even me out so to speak.
If one is in the 22% tax rate, $6000 times 22% equals $1320 in tax savings.

Thanks @msf. Just stopped my “voluntary” tax withholding on SS benefits yesterday. But - gosh - the break appears to expire in ‘28 - So guess will have to remember to turn withholding back on in couple years. Setting up an online account with SS took a lot of patience - but finally got it to work..

Fidelity has a free fund screener.
I looked for all bond fund (risk tab) + sorted by Sharpe ratio(risk/reward) + SD<2.
See this (<a href="https://fundresearch.fidelity.com/fund-screener/results/table/risk/sharpeRatio3Yr/desc/1?assetClass=TBND&amp;category=BL,CI,CL,CS,EB,GI,GL,GS,HY,IB,IP,MU,NT,PI,RR,TP,TW,UB,WH,XF,XP&amp;order=assetClass,category,standardDeviation&amp;standardDeviation=LS,2">link)
Then I switch to the overview tab, see (link).
To see 1,3,5 year performance.
The best funds for 3 years are
HOSIX leads the pack by a wide margin with Sharpe>3 and SD=1.28 and 3 years average of 9.1%. $49.95 fee at Schwab
LCTRX is great too. NTF at Schwab
CBLDX, SEMIX, SCFZX, DHEAX
The best for one year
HOSIX+DHEAX
For YTD
DHEAX, CBLDX, HOSIX

Not with this guy and the evil he inflicts. I’ll gladly and publicly acknowledge that I strongly wish for his death sooner than later. Where are you with abducting people on the street and no due process and flown to foreign concentration camps? Where are you with illegal redistricting? Illegal tariffs? And all of the other crucially important illegal actions?
You seem a reasonable guy sometimes, so you must know that the courts rule against him regularly, almost every other day in fact.

So typical, immature, dangerous, and can't accept the election results.
Get used to this 3+ years to do.

You didn’t answer any of the questions about due process and all that good stuff

DT:I am now considering adding some very low risk bond oefs

No fund achieved lower loss than 1.5% in 2020 + 2022 + performance over 4% since
1/1/2020.
Even RPHIX lost more than 3% in Q1/2020.
Since 2023, I no longer hold more volatile funds for months. Only short term for 1-2 weeks trades. Think ICMUX,PIMIX,RCTIX.
I have been holding funds with low SD with good performance.
Of course, I add timing and always near the exit.
Since early 2023 bond OEFS had one of the best performances for 2 years; several had very low SD and made 20% in 2 years. Think HOSIX, CLOZ which I held for many months.
ICMUX made more than HOSIX in these 2 years by 1%, but I preferred HOSIX.
chart (https://schrts.co/pMytFkvN)
2025 proved again that volatility can show up any time. The only way was to be out.
Since mid-April bond OEFs did great.
Bottom line: there are no funds with very low SD (under 1-1.5% loss any time) with good LT results that you can hold for years.
But, bond OEFs should perform well in the next 1-1.5 years.
So, looking at the last 3 years...
HOSIX would be a good choice with dist close to 6%. The manager, whom I spoke with, is about low SD.
SEMIX/SEMRX and DHEAX are also good and similar. SEMIX has lower SD per the chart.
Chart (https://schrts.co/CuANzpzj)
BUBIX looks good, but I prefer funds that can make 1-2, maybe 3% more annually.
Just YTD, the 3 funds I mentioned lost about 0.5%, but are 1-2% ahead of BUBIX.
Someone who is very risk averse and holds mostly bonds, would love to make another 2% more annually.
Disclaimer: currently, I don't own any of the funds above.

I'm not a big fan of ETFs, feeling that they have as many downsides as upsides. Still, trading high volume ultrashort ETFs seems to be much easier than trading most ETFs. Narrow spreads (a point or two) and good intraday price stability. So even market orders can get you fair prices. Just in case that is a concern of yours (it is for me).
A reason one might want to consider ETFs is that they open up a wider range of fund types. IG floating rate funds like FLOT and FLRN. (OEF floating rate funds are typically below IG.) AAA CLOs (I'm still on the fence with these and want to see how they react if/when the Fed drops rates) like PAAA.
Still thinking about what could replace CDs, you might also consider fixed annuities. They yield more than CDs. So they're reasonable substitutes in IRAs even though you don't get "extra" tax sheltering with them.
As yogi posted, TIAA's IRA annuity is currently yielding 4.0% and is liquid.
If you're looking to lock in rates for a few years, fixed rate annuities can get you rates north of 4% for 3+ years. See, e.g. Fidelity's rates. Fidelity sticks with sold rated issuers. You can get better rates by looking at less sound issuers, but that's taking on more risk.
Here are Schwab's rates. The first set of offerings, from Midland National, are somewhat higher. But Midland National is rated only A+ by all the ratings agencies, vs AA range or better for the other insurers.
The major downside of these fixed annuities is that you're locking in the investment for a period of years (3+ with Fidelity's offerings). Onerous penalties to get out early.

Here are a few other "low risk" bond oefs that I have retained on my M* Watchlists. You should remember that the M* risk numbers, noted by msf, are relative to the category the fund is in:
DBLSX, short term bond, Risk Score 5
BSBIX, short term bond, Risk Score 6
LALDX short term bond, Risk Score 9
FPFIX, nontraditional, Risk Score 9
HOSIX, Multisector, Risk Score 10
RSIIX, High Yield, Risk Score 8
WDHYX, High Yield, Risk Score 12
Ultra Short Term Bond funds are in a very low risk category, but I wonder if their total returns will start decreasing and fall below my 4% TR threshold, much like fixed income categories like CDs, due to their high usage of treasuries and investment grade bonds. If you subscribe to the falling interest rate scenarios, then maybe junkier bond oefs will benefit due to their higher correlation to equities. The M* risk numbers largely shadow Standard Deviation scores over past 3 years, but some of the riskier categories have some standout funds that handled risk much better than others.

Yep, I am very familiar with DHEAX, having owned it for years. I am also very familiar with SEMMX, also having owned it in the past, but dumped it after its terrible performance in the 2020 crash. I have not looked at it since Medalist took it over

Just to be clear, I'm not suggesting SEMMX/SEMPX, but the other, investment grade fund for the reasons I mentioned.

You mentioned DHEAX in an earlier post, @dt, and I think it is right up your alley. SEMRX, the IG cousin of SEMPX/SEMMX, has tracked DHEAX closely since a management change in 2023, when Semper and a group called Medalist merged. In the last year, the DHEAX and SEMRX charts are practically indistinguishable, with barely a blip during the April swoon.
Might be worth a look for another holding in the DHEAX ballpark, if only to spread the risk a bit in what's been and may well continue to be an attractive space.

Yep, I am very familiar with DHEAX, having owned it for years. I am also very familiar with SEMMX, also having owned it in the past, but dumped it after its terrible performance in the 2020 crash. I have not looked at it since Medalist took it over

Sept 6 Episode:

Financial legend Charlie Munger praised William Green’s “Richer, Wiser, Happier” as “one of the best investment books ever written.” In it, Green distills the shared qualities of more than 40 great investors he has interviewed over the years.

You might want to take a look at a new etf IBTM. Came across it today. According to James Stack, “The fund provides access to a portfolio of U.S. Treasury bonds that mature between January and December of 2032 (and) combines the defined maturity and characteristics of a bond with the benefits of ETF tradability.“ Perhaps more volatile than what you want at 6-7 years out on the curve. They might offer something similar in shorter maturities …
Also - have read good things about Fidelity’s FSEC

I have been using CDs and MMs for the past several years in my retirement IRA portfolio. As those CDs mature, I am now considering adding some very low risk bond oefs, which can produce at least 4% total return. I am interested in low volatility funds, which have done well in down markets, and would be interested if other investors have some favorites they would recommend. Thanks in advance for your bond oef ideas.

People with working class retirement income get the ability to deduct $1K worth of charitable deductions without itemizing (starting in 2026). Only matters if their income is greater than the standard deduction.
Since their tax brackets are lower than the those of the wealthy, this deduction is of less value to them than to high earners. IMHO a fairer break would have been to give a tax credit of, say, 50% of the amount contributed, up to a $500 credit (50% of $1K).
With an increased standard deduction and an extra $6K "senior deduction", people with working class retirement income get the ability to convert more of their IRA tax free. That is, they can generate more income from conversions while still staying under the (now increased) standard deduction amount. This in turn gives them more flexibility in future years as the amount they must take from their T-IRA (RMD) is reduced.
Their tax bracket (assuming they are subject to taxes) is locked in at 10% or 12%. Without this legislation, roughly speaking the 12% bracket would have reverted to 15%.
https://smartasset.com/taxes/trump-tax-brackets
Chickenfeed. But slightly above zero. Perhaps.