Great discussion. Have you guys seen anything recent about PRWCX opening to new investors? With the split in Price companies I’m hoping this happens soon. I’ve been waiting for 5 years to get in. Thx

Stillers, Thanks for the feedback - Definitely buying PRWCX regardless...my wife has owned it as her sole holding in her Roth IRA for 15 years.
I'll wait for additional thoughts...

I have owned PRWCX for several years. My highest allocations are to PRWCX and FBALX.
If I only owned two funds they would be these two that just so happen to work pretty damned well in concert with each other.
Cutting to the chase: If I didn't own PRWCX and now had an opportunity to BUY it, I'd sell anything else I own to do so. If it were me, I'd BUY it and HOLD it as long as Giroux is at the helm. It's really that simple (for me at least).
Aside: I have a smallish CD maturing next week. Proceeds are going to PRWCX.

Nice morning update @hank. I think the only significant green I saw yesterday was my gold and silver ETFs. Inflation hedges.
As far as bonds go, I know there are many here that don't feel any change is needed in their portfolio, but I've worked to eliminate most of my categorized bond funds through 2021. I'm holding short and ultra short funds in my safe (withdrawal) bucket but no bond mutual funds of any kind in my main self managed portfolio. I guess after a couple years of the boy calling wolf many think bonds will continue to do just fine. I'm not one of those people.
Good luck. I think 2022 may be a very interesting year.

Not directly related ... But the “talking heads” this morning (Bloomberg) appear to be on steroids. Or maybe caffeine overdose? “Primal screaming” cited by one re yesterday’s trading. LOL
What happened yesterday?
- 30 year treasury bond came to life and bounced significantly higher. But is still under 2%. Interest sensitive intermediate-term (and longer) bond funds took a small hit. Mine were off between .33 & .50%. Looks like the less creditworthy issues held up somewhat better.
- “Dots” not yet connected by the pundits ... with the U.S. bond market closed today, some of the interest rate momentum upward yesterday was in anticipation of not being able to trade today - and with equity markets open.
- The more aggressive equity growth funds seemed to get hit hardest - although TSLA gained 4% following a recent 10% down day. TRBCX dropped 1.4% as one example. Precious metals and miners spiked.
- For once, movement across asset / fund classes in my portfolio was similar - with the moderate growth portion losing .40%, The investment grade paper was off .20%. The 3 alternatives combined fell about .30% in combination.
- HSGFX gained .49% putting it about break-even for the year.(I don’t own it.).
- To the crux of the OP, it’s probably a combination of baked-in inflation and transitory coming from temporary supply / labor shortages. I’m not expecting 6+ % annual “official” inflation over the next few years (using CPI figures). Admittedly, a fool’s errand to try and predict what inflation will be in the next 1-3 years.
- TAIL, which I’ve owned only a few weeks, has around 90% in LT treasuries and most of the remainder in “puts” on selected components of the S&P - if I understand correctly. That’s why it struggled yesterday, losing about a half percent. Time will tell how much of a drag that bond exposure is during major downturns. I view it as a short - intermediate term hedge. Could “screw the pooch” with this one. :)
- TMSRX held its own. Lost a penny or two.
- PRWCX held up remarkably well (-.42%). Giroux’s high cash level and avoidance of long term bonds paid off.
- Miners look hot again today. Up around 2% in pre-markets. Can flip on a dime. The more broadly based miners (like NGLOY) are screaming hot this morning.
- DKNG? / NY State granted it permission to operate in the state along with 5-6 competing outfits. But revenue will be taxed at 51%. I guess the news broke Friday, the same day I unloaded my small spec position. Looks like it’s off between 5-8% since than.

If you do not try to deduct expenses that have no relationship to the purpose of the business, I don't think the IRS cares what you do with it.
The IRS does care. If it regards your business as a mere hobby, e.g. because you've failed to turn a profit for years (along with other factors), then it will disallow expenses regardless of whether they're related to your "business". For example, if you make a few bucks selling photos as a hobby, you will not be able to deduct the cost of making your prints as a business expense.
With recent tax law changes, one cannot even deduct hobby expenses as misc expenses.

The itemized deduction for hobby expenses is completely eliminated under the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act.

https://www.nolo.com/legal-encyclopedia/can-you-deduct-your-expenses-from-hobby.html
LLCs are strictly state entities. At the federal level they're treated as sole proprietorships (if they have one member) or partnerships (with more than one member), unless they elect to be taxed as a corporation.
https://www.irs.gov/businesses/small-businesses-self-employed/single-member-limited-liability-companies
So again I suggest that there's no point in going through the process of setting up an LLC in order to get an EIN to invest in additional savings bonds. The sole proprietorship (or partnership) serves this purpose just as well without the state law/process overlay of an LLC.
I would probably ask an accountant or lawyer before I set up a sole prop for the sole purpose of buying I bonds.
At the federal level, a single member LLC is a sole proprietorship, so the same recommendation should apply to LLCs.

Thanks for all the input and interesting ideas.
I missed the M* article, but I have dropped a lot of their stuff as it is all nonsense.
How can you take a firm that claims to be aimed at individual investors seriously, when it includes funds (GCCHX) with $5,000,000 minimums?

M* started out as a firm focused on individual investors.
Their focus has shifted more towards advisors and asset managers in recent years.
I find value in M* Fund Analyst Reports, FundInvestor newsletters, Portfolio X-Ray, The Long View podcasts, and various articles.
However, not all of their content is high-quality.
Some M* content doesn't quite measure up.

"The good news is that if you believe that innovation in climate technology is set to take off, the investment industry has introduced a raft of new funds globally. The bad news is that many are unproven and much more volatile than diversified equity funds. Twelve of the 29 funds exhibited below were introduced in the last three years. Climate tech funds with at least a three-year track record have an average three-year standard deviation of 29.5 versus 18.4 for the Vanguard 500 fund."
"In addition, investment funds must own publicly traded companies. But there are very few of these, relative to privately held companies, and they are concentrated in competitive industries such as solar-panel manufacturing and mining commodities such as lithium."
Link

I don't plan on putting more than 10% into these funds altogether.
I excluded CNRG from my final list because of its youth, the nearly 5% stake in Tesla, and a nearly 8% weight in China. Its three year return has been superior to the funds I chose above. OTOH, I am specifically interested in a more diverse global lineup than CNRG provides.

Musk has a tax bill coming because the strike price on shares he was awarded a few years back is $6!

Thanks for the reply @stillers. Most importantly, yes the Bills now have me very worried with NE starting to play consistently well. The Bills O-line was down 2 starters and they were the #1 reason for the loss against Jax. Allen was under siege on every play and when that happens he starts making bone-head plays. The 2 remaining games against the Patriots will be pivotal for who wins the division. Hence, my 2nd favorite team next weekend will be the Browns!
Yes, I noticed the big opening spikes FDRV has had. Once bought (w/a limit order of course) the technology is obviously a long term holding, so buying at 28, 29 or even 30 probably won't matter much in 5 years.

For those not familiar, and those who will soon wish they were not.
That was NOT a serious question. Rather...
FD1000 is a constant troll of mine who is Living in the Past (Thanks, Jethro!) , desperately trying to discredit me wherever he goes, with whatever vague, twisted memory he might still retain from years of our joint posting activity on several forums.
He appears to have no life other than his inherently flawed and underperforming Yugo Racing Scheme, while trying to sell his wares on whatever forum allows his continued participation. Sadly he somehow still however finds the time for daily trolling of my posts. If he would have just done what he daily tells "Average Joe Investor" to do, buy and hold an S&P index fund, he'd likely have twice the net worth he currently has. A tall glass of FOMO juice would have served him well. It's truly sad.
FWIW, I currently have a smallish 5-yr CD ladder yanking down 3.35% APY. All proceeds from maturing CDs over the past several years have been rolled into stocks. The ladder was started after early retirement at age 56 to bridge the Red Zone divide. It's done its job exactly as meticulously planned and has been being liquidated for several years.
For 30+ years I was 99% stocks. That dropped to ~60/40 in the coupla years prior to retirement. Since retirement I have always maintained an acceptable % in stocks but increased that to a significant % since the 2020 crash. I've posted all that several times on several forums, but somehow selective memory and ill intent can get in the way of some posters.

The Fed released its 6-month risk assessment yesterday. Here’s a short excerpt from the story in today’s (11/9) Wall Street Journal. The note on some types of money market mutual funds / cash management vehicles / bond and bank loan mutual funds is interesting. I’m wondering if that’s primarily in the institutional variety or whether there’s concern at the retail level?
Article - “Fed Says U.S. Public Health Among Biggest Near -Term Risks to Financial System”
“Asset prices may be vulnerable to significant declines should risk appetite fall, progress on containing the virus disappoint, or the recovery stall,” the central bank said in its semiannual Financial Stability Report. Still, other parts of the financial system appear resilient. Banks remain well capitalized, the central bank said, and key measures of vulnerability from business and household debt have largely returned to pre-pandemic levels. “Little evidence exists of widespread erosion in mortgage underwriting standards or speculative practices,” the report said. “However, with valuations at high levels, house prices could be particularly sensitive to shocks.” he Fed also warned that structural vulnerabilities persist in some types of money-market mutual funds and other cash-management vehicles, as well as in bond and bank loan mutual funds. The vulnerabilities could amplify shocks to the financial system in times of stress, as they have in prior crises, the central bank said. Fed officials monitor asset prices to gauge risks that a sudden, sharp decline might pose to the broader financial system.
Personal note: I recall that decades back some government bond funds experienced serious stress after making bets on interest rates that didn’t materialize, Recently (according to another WSJ article) some hedge funds have experienced big losses after betting that long term rates would rise when in fact those longer rates (out to 30 years) have been falling (here and abroad) in recent weeks.

@stillers - thanks for the response. I DID buy MSSMX at the high this year but have no issue holding on to it and it's volatility. It's delivered over the LT. I was just looking for more color as to why MFO rated it so low for 1 year when the returns were so high etc.
Really like the performance of DMCRX but its closed to investors and I prefer my two over ARTSX and BUFSX. So, I'm certainly inclined to let them ride for a while. But always curious and open to learn about alternate opinions on funds.
Edit Add: WAMVX looks like an interesting one to look closer at. High ER but remarkable returns over the years. Wish I could view my WAMCX in Fidelity Research but not anymore as its N/A to retail. Never saw a notice on it.

Agreed, a distinct TIN (EIN/SSN) would seem to be sufficient.
No need to go through the process of creating an LLC. An EIN can be assigned to any business. I have an EIN as a sole proprietor - it's required to have an individual 401(k).
https://www.nolo.com/legal-encyclopedia/when-does-sole-proprietor-need-ein.html
That said, my sole proprietorship is legitimate - in random years I collect a bit of income (1099-MISC) doing consulting work. There are issues in declaring oneself a business without attempting to make a profit - see hobby vs. business. I don't know whether one similarly needs to be running a real business to use its EIN.

@stillers
Sorry for the slow response. I have looked at several managed futures over the years, including AHLPX AQMNX AMFAX CSAAX, but not PQTAX.
AHLPX is the clear winner with better performance ( 42% vs -3% 26% and 25% with better risk metrics than my previous choices, although PQTAX is running about equal. PTQAX has only recently caught up ( last year outperformed by 5%) by a significant outpreformance in 2021
M* still has a "human" analysis of AHLPX
"Man AHL (this strategy’s subadvisor) predominantly uses a systematic momentum-based approach that aims to profit from trends in prices across various markets and provide uncorrelated returns. The approach looks for trends across a two-month timeframe, on average, which is shorter than the typical peer in the managed futures Morningstar Category. That can reduce the strategy’s drawdowns in fast-moving markets relative to peers that are slower to adjust. The strategy’s responsiveness was on display during the first quarter of 2020, for instance, when markets took a sharp turn. It returned a healthy 7.8% during the quarter, outperforming the category average return by nearly 7 percentage points."
It is hard to determine how they differ in portfolio, and I haven't delved into that much, as up-to-date data is hard to find, and they change positions frequently.
In the past I have read that the usual reasons for these funds performance is if they guess the trend in interest rates properly.
Both seem to be better diversifiers than TMRSX as the latter fund has not delivered much with a correlation to the SP500 of .61, while managed futures are both - 0.15

I agree opt out programs significantly increase participation rates above that of opt in programs. They may be the most effective way of boosting participation. However there is the danger of unintended consequences for lower income workers that tax credits or some other form of subsidy could mitigate.
From the same report, pp. 24-25:

Authorize Automatic IRAs at the Federal Level
...
Advocates of automatic IRA efforts cite that the coverage gap between workers with and without pension coverage will decrease and that increased savings will reduce the burden on future social assistance programs. In addition, some researchers found that automatic IRAs implemented early on in individuals’ careers could increase retirement income for between two-thirds and one-half of individuals in the lowest quarter of the income distribution at age 70.
Others caution that automatically enrolling lower-income individuals into savings plans may have unintended consequences. For example, increased savings could result in decreased standards of living during working years and could result in disqualification from means-tested governments programs (e.g., losing Medicaid eligibility due to mandatory withdrawals in retirement). One study found that automatic enrollment in retirement accounts may cause increases in auto loans and first lien mortgage balances. Another found that automatic enrollment may not necessarily have large impacts on household net worth over time.

Its too soon for me to be certain its different this time. But, the global central banks have been astute and activist enough in recent years to keep investors engaged and satisfied -- garden variety stock market corrections excepted. Accommodative global fiscal policies also made important contributions to this outcome during the past couple of years. Current and projected economic conditions suggest this recent trend could continue through 2022. That said, I suspect any future stock market gains through 2022 will be more modest and will be more interrupted along the way than they have thus far been in 2021.

@lynnbolin2021,
Looking forward to your next MFO article..should be interesting as always....
Curious as to your thoughts for addition in the "all-weather" approach regarding funds such as:
PVCMX Palm Valley Capital Fund. Invests generally in small cap value co's, high quality, strong balance sheets, strong free cash flow, profitable co's. Not afraid to hold cash in market bubbles (whatever that means anymore) Absolute return focused.
TANDX (Castle Tandem Fund) Invests in Large cap, growing dividend payers, that are capable of growing earning regardless of economic conditions, not afraid to hold cash if need be, does not make market call to go to cash, only if can't find the appropriate value in a stock
Trying to look forward as to what may come rather than backwards look at performance, data etc.
Very intrigued by BLNDX/REMIX as mentioned by Prof David, have initiated starter position.
If you would, please define your interpretation of what "all weather" means from your viewpoint.
Is it a marketing term, maybe overused like ESG, maybe nebulous terminology or maybe not?
Mine is of a fund that you could have significant holdings of your wealth and hold thru a 30-40% drawdown in the markets, while sleeping well and having the confidence that the fund mgmt will make the right decisions over the next few years. Also, do like funds that have a succession planning in place...no funds with the boomer aged guru with no protege learning and next in line etc.
I also define as all weather fund as a fund that could compete when compared with a 45% SPY/55 SCHO ETF backwards look performance wise...most can't, no?
Best to all, I enjoy your postings, makes me think...
Baseball Fan

I have been looking at TUHYX for high yield corporate exposure. I've been following TRP for nearly 20 years but casually monitoring their fixed income products. I had forgotten that they brought in the team for TUHYX and have 2 HY offerings. Also, looking at PYHRX and PBHAX.