@WABAC, Think we are on the same page on that. Majority of our bonds are on the shorter end. Our small moves to 5-7 years bonds have been gradually as we monitor the inflation data and employment number. Going to long duration is pre-mature at this point.
What has not been talk about in the press is stagflation. Political pressure is mounting for September FOMC meeting.

Schwab customer service sucks fetid, septic mud. That's been my experience. However, using their chat function often, but not always, produces results.

I’ve had really good luck with the remote account rep I was assigned a couple of years ago. (The local office staff were OK for routine tasks but didn’t seem to have much juice otherwise.) I can easily contact them directly from the website. Even if they can’t help me, they’ve been good about connecting me with someone else at Schwab who can and has helped me out.
Contrast this with Fido which doesn’t even identify (or have a way of contacting them) a named rep on your account page. When one did reach out to us and we asked some basic questions about their services, they ghosted us and were never heard from again. It’s a classic case of where if everyone is responsible then no one is responsible.

@Crash. I gotta disagree with you 100%. I have been a Schwab customer for 30 years and while no business is perfect Schwab is head and shoulders above the rest. Let’s start with the access,,, I always get through to an English speaker quickly, although some are in another country, Westlake, Tx. They don’t always know the answers but they commit to finding out and I get a phone call back in a timely manner. When it comes to customer service I am hard to please and can be demanding but all my encounters with Schwab are positive. My basis of comparison are previous relationships with Vanguard, Fidelity, multiple banks all over the place from my CD PHASE, and dozens of health insurers when I was in the employee benefits business. At Schwab I never have to hang up and hope the next rep speaks English and I never have to ask for a supervisor. What problems are you experiencing?

29 Aug, early Labor Day week-end this year, in 2025:
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/videos/2025-08-29/real-yield-8-29-2025-video
Katie Griefeld hosts.
Priya Misra. George Bory. Winnie Cisar. Jeff Peskind.
Inflation is sticky, a bit short of the Fed's 2% goal. The Fed's independence and credibility are at stake re: Orange One's interference and threats to fire Lisa Cook, but the market did not react strongly to it, as if the markets trust that the guardrails will prevail. Upcoming Labor stats will be key. Generally, markets are mixed.
Rate cut? Crucial element = the pace of cuts. They ought to be very measured.... Junk bond yields are the lowest in 3 years! The spread between Junk and Treasuries/Investment Grade is extremely tight. Some read that as a reason to go with the safer beast; others continue to hold or even grow their Junk, but should keep duration short.

If you are thinking about a longer term CD (say a year or more), you might consider streamlining an IRA transfer by using a 60 day rollover (once per year is the limit).
You could withdraw the IRA money into your taxable Schwab account and on the same day (or perhaps the next day to be safe) initiate a deposit into an outside CD (IRA). That would constitute a 60 day, non-trustee-to-trustee rollover. If you keep to 12 month or longer CDs, you could rinse and repeat fairly easily.

Yep, that is a possibility, but as long as I can get 4.3% SNAXX money market returns in my Schwab IRA, I probably will not do that. I can still move some IRA money out of fixed income and dabble in some bond oefs to a limited extent. I did that for years, and I am willing to do that again for a small part of my IRA investing. There are some very conservative bond oefs, like DHEAX/DHEIX, that I would be willing to use if CDs are no longer attractive.

Thats interesting history. You motivated me to look a little further. American Beacon's acquisition of Sound Point Floating Rate Fund was a true fund adoption. The acquiring fund was "newly created" for this purpose.
https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/809593/000089843215001344/a485bpos.htm
Looking into American Beacon - I knew that it had started out as American AAdvantage Funds before a renaming in 2005. Those funds were an outgrowth in 1987 of American Airlines pension investing. What I didn't realize was that just three years after the rebranding AMR sold American Beacon It was subsequently sold again and rebranded again.
http://www.mfwire.com/fundprofile.asp?fund=19415&bhcp=1
AAdvantage had some decent funds, but American Beacon seems to have gone downhill.
https://www.nytimes.com/2000/01/16/business/investing-buying-airlines-mutual-funds-is-it-the-return-or-the-miles.html
Current fees are high, stars are below par. It is bleeding assets. Over the past twelve months it has lost almost 14% of AUM, down to $18B (per M*). That's down from the $22B it had in 2000, according to the NYTimes article above.
https://www.morningstar.com/asset-management-companies/american-beacon-BN000007X6
I wonder when this decline started - with AMR's sale of the company, with the later sale, or perhaps American Beacon never did as well as the earlier AAdvantage funds.

@msf,
When I ran across this filing, I thought of the Bridgeway Large Cap Growth and Large Cap Value funds also.
I used to have the Sound Point Floating Rate Income fund (SPFRX which is now as American Beacon DoubleLine Floating Rate Income fund) for many years, even after it was acquired by American Beacon. I unloaded it last year as the fund has not performed like it used to as well as undergoing significant asset erosion under management.
Tocqueville International Value fund was also acquired by American Beacon.
Sound Point Floating Rate Income fund acquisition by American Beacon:
https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1261788/000089418915005215/sndpt-tap_497e.htm
Name change of Sound Point Floating Rate Income fund:
https://www.sec.gov/ix?doc=/Archives/edgar/data/809593/000113322822008078/abspfrif-html5857_497.htm
Sound Point Floating Rate Income fund investor class converted into A class:
https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/809593/000113322823006031/abfeacfrif-html6974_497.htm

People say it's rare BUT .. every downturn I've seen over the last 30-40 years BOTH bonds and stocks go down at the same time. Yes, bonds go down less than stocks but both go in the same direction up or down.

Completion of the proposed Transaction, often called a “fund adoption,” is subject to, among other things, approval by the shareholders of the Fund.
This does not appear to be a typical fund adoption.
(WSJ article from a dozen years ago, subscription required, on fund adoptions).
In a typical fund adoption, the adopting fund company creates a shell fund and the old (acquired) fund is merged into it. For example (this is given in the WSJ piece), Bridgeway Large Cap Value was adopted by American Beacon by merging it into the then shell fund BRLVX (at the time called American Beacon Bridgeway Large Cap Value).
https://www.mutualfundobserver.com/discuss/discussion/1561/bridgeway-large-cap-value-fund-reorganized-into-american-beacon-bridgeway-large-cap-value-fund
But here, the acquiring American Beacon fund exists and already has around $63M AUM.
https://www.americanbeaconfunds.com/mutual_funds/FEACFloatingRateIncome.aspx
Until June 20, this fund was called the American Beacon FEAC Floating Rate Income Fund and was subadvised by First Eagle Alternative Credit, LLC (FEAC). American Beacon changed the subadvisor of this existing fund to DoubleLine. Since DoubleLine charges more than FEAC for its services, American Beacon reduced its management fee so that the total (its fee plus the subadviser's fee) remained the same.
I can't tell exactly what the effect will be on shareholders of DBFRX / DLFRX because a fund with I and N shares is being acquired by a fund with R5, Investor, Y, A, and C shares. They don't align. But it looks very possible that the DoubleLine shareholders' fees will go up.
It's easy to see why American Beacon wants this acquisition. Its fund is a small 1* fund. It is buying assets, reputation (" beneficial publicity" as stated in its filing; see link above) and better management.
What's in it for the shareholders of the larger ($112M AUM) DoubleLine fund?

Gold has had a good run over the last couple of years and I have so far partaken in this via mutual funds and ETFs. But after the latest episodes of the 'tariff saga' and inflation continuing to creep upward, I am thinking that I need some direct gold stock exposure in my portfolio.
Are there any value plays in the sector still available?
Any tips would be much appreciated!

@TheShadow : Thanks for that info. Will the investors receive any damages? Heck I'm still waiting for damages for Vanguards screw up with TDF a few years back.
Enjoy your weekend, Derf

Someone (apologies for forgetting who yugo) mentioned Sallie Mae Bank. It currently has a a top rate of 4.40% APY for a 15 month CD. It also has 4% CDs out to 3 and 5 years,
These are direct from Sallie herself.
https://www.salliemae.com/banking/certificates-of-deposit/
If you go through Raisin, the rates are lower (perhaps analogous to getting lower rates through Schwab).
https://www.raisin.com/en-us/cd-accounts

We've had a good discussion of the subject on the Moneymarket Rate Creep thread.
Unfortunately, the 14 months No-Penalty Sally Mae Bank CD is down to 3.95% APY.
However, there are still some appealing options:
1. On raisin.com one can get $1000 on a $100K+ investment though September 30, 2025. This is an extra 4% annualized @ $100K investment on top whatever CD or other bank product one may get from them over 3 months. One can also get smaller bonuses for smaller investments.
This is the offer I would have taken advantage of if I did not have the funds locked up elsewhere on a somewhat better deal, alas, no longer available. (Note: I have never invested with Raisin before but have heard good things about the platform.)

Only funds deposited within 14 days of the initial deposit date and maintained with partner banks on the Raisin platform for 90 days will be eligible for this bonus. Bonus cash will be deposited by Raisin into the customer’s linked external bank account within 30 days of meeting all qualifying terms.

Current Raisin offerings include:
OptimumBank 5 months No-Penalty CD @ 4.20% APY (30-day hold)
Western Alliance Bank 5-months CD @ 4.36% APY (90-day simple interest penalty)
ADDED: Blue Federal Credit Union 9 month No-Penalty Certificate @ 4.15% APY (30-day hold, NCUA-insured)
[while offering the same rate as and shorter term than Marcus' offer (below) this product can be combined with Raisin's $1000 promo on larger deposits for a significantly higher yield]
2. Outside of Raisin, there are still a number of smaller FDIC-insured banks offering conventional longer-term CDs at > 4.30% APY. Here is one example:
FinWise Bank 12 months CD @ 4.40% APY (90-day simple interest penalty)
3. Also, Marcus' original longer-duration No Penalty offer is still available (as first highlighted by @msf):
Marcus 13 month No-Penalty CD @ 4.15% APY (7-day hold)
4. ADDING for cataloguing purposes:
(as pointed out by @msf below) Sallie Mae Bank has a range of conventional CDs > 4.00% APY. The highest-yielding one:
Sally Mae Bank 15 months CD @ 4.40% APY (180-day simple interest penalty)
[Note, when bought directly from Sallie Mae Bank, these are assessed:
90-days simple interest penalty if CD has a maturity of 12 months or less, and
180-days simple interest penalty if CD has a maturity greater than 12 months.]
(as pointed out by @larryB below) Marcus has a range of conventional CDs > 4.00% APY up to 6 years out. The highest-yielding ones:
Marcus 6/9/12/18 months CD @ 4.40%/4.30%/4.20%/4.00% APY (90/90/90/180-day simple interest penalty)
[Note, when bought directly from Marcus, these are assessed:
90-days simple interest penalty if CD has a maturity of 12 months or less,
180-days simple interest penalty if CD has a maturity greater than 12 months but less than 5 years, and
270-days simple interest penalty if CD has a maturity greater than 5 years.]

Being retired at age of 77, I have enjoyed the last few years of finding CDs which pay at least 4% interest. I looked at Schwab this week, and it is almost impossible to find a noncallable CD paying 4% interest. I have been getting over 4% from Schwab Money Market accounts, but I would like to have some CDs to replace those maturing, and retain some FDIC protections. In my Taxable Schwab account, I have chosen to increase my investments in private banks and credit unitions. I just bought a 100k CD at Capital One for 4.2%, and have started looking at other banks for some of my Schwab holdings.

Mutual fund AUM has been flat even with capital growth. ETF AUM has doubled in like 4 years. Mutual funds hold 22 trillion dollars. ETF's 10 trillion (what 5 trillion in 2021).
OAKMX in 2015 had 18 billion in AUM. if flows were even over the past 10 years, its theoretical growth would be 65 billion in AUM. HOWEVER, its only today 23 billion in AUM. which is almost 1/3 of what it should be.
So I think they see the writing on the wall. its time to play ball.

And only 20 years after 32 bit computers were available. One wonders what the difference would have been if AI of today were available to adjust to capabilities. I guess, though, the AI would need to "want" to "see" improvements. I wonder what the track of interoperability of investment data feeds was, time-wise.

@mskursh- Having used American Funds primarily for almost fifty years to build our retirement position we now have simplified to MMKT, CD, and Treasury holdings at Schwab. Having used many different American Funds over the years, I'm curious as to which one that you've chosen for your simplification situation.
Thanks- OJ

It was between American Fund Retirement Income Enhanced - FCFWX or simply Balanced Fund of America - BALFX
The distinction is the international exposure in the end. FCFWX is an allocation and BALFX isn't. We decided on FCFWX. its slightly less risky than the balanced fund. 60/40 as opposed to 65/35 and it had more international stocks.
My parents hold 2 years of cash in a money market fund, have a small annuity, and modest SS payments.

Well, one fund doesn't make sense, but 2-5 funds do.
It's been part of my system since 2000, when I started with 5 funds.
I invested based on markets.
1995-2000 = 90+% in VTI, the rest in growth
2000-2010 = SGIIX/SGENX, FAIRX, OAKBX for 8 years; the other 2 funds were traded more often. I beat the SP500 by 10% annually.
2010-2017 = stocks: all US LC and the rest mostly in PIMIX
2017-current = changed to only 2-3 funds, all in bonds.
Hint: when US LC do well, invest only in them. When they don't, diversify.
Both SGIIX + TIBIX have done well = easy choice.
While VG have great indexes, it's much easier to find better managed funds in other categories than LC. See (https://schrts.co/ffZKvugI)

@Sven…. You are correct. This is about capital appreciation,,, or inflation protection or for sport. No income need. The last few years we have been fine with CD’s and money market but really that bucket is just risk off. My one fund is the risk bucket. But as I am realizing one fund is just not any fun.

@mskursh- Having used American Funds primarily for almost fifty years to build our retirement position we now have simplified to MMKT, CD, and Treasury holdings at Schwab. Having used many different American Funds over the years, I'm curious as to which one that you've chosen for your simplification situation.
Thanks- OJ