GFB: Good to see ya here. All in favor of grousing. However, feel compelled to offer a couple counter points to your otherwise excellent dissertation.
Re: Inserting message being responded to in the new post. While I sometimes performed a simple cut and paste of key words, never understood why the entire prior message appeared again over at FA and generally knocked the old one out before adding some new thoughts. But, to each his own and thank you for the demo for those who feel the need to include it.
Re: Book list, 300 members dont necessarily translate into 300 recommendations. Since David appears to be seeking the best books out there, its likely many have read one or more of these same books. We took book surveys on the old board from time to time and dont think we got near as many well considered responses at any one time as David has elicited. Consider too the age and maturity of the group. Not all of us are still reading investment books as might have done when starting out. Theres a tremendous amount of financial journalism now available through electronic media. I get more delivered to the Kindle every morning than could possibly hope to read in a day. And nowadays, if you wanta check the 20 year performance record, scope the manager, examine current holdings, or read the prospectus and annual reports on a fund your considering, its all just a few clicks away. Wasnt there when I started in the 70s and 80s. Agree these wont substitute for immersion in a thoughtful book on investing, but as I said, its likely many have already identified their favorite on that list. (EOR)

A New Winner on the Mutual Fund Charts
http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/11_18/b4226047177881.htm
top 5 franklin templeton funds to buy now
http://www.investorplace.com/38034/franklin-templeton-401k-mutual-funds-to-buy/
the secret to smart investing
http://money.usnews.com/money/blogs/On-Retirement/2011/04/21/the-secret-to-smart-investing-
several huge dividend payout stocks [ot]
http://www.fool.com/investing/general/2011/04/19/one-huge-dividend-play.aspx
Cali Muni Market commentary [ot]
http://www.leisurecapital.net/links/newsletters/03-2011.pdf
Bond Investors Bound for Shock When Rates Surge, Cohen Says
http://www.businessweek.com/news/2011-04-21/bond-investors-bound-for-shock-when-rates-surge-cohen-says.html
are small cap etf overheating
http://community.nasdaq.com/News/2011-04/are-smallcap-etfs-overheating.aspx?storyid=71801
the power of passive investing
http://www.indexuniverse.com/publications/journalofindexes/joi-articles/9130-the-power-of-passive-investing.html?tmpl=component&print=1&layout=default&page=
investors cashing in on higher food prices
http://www.etfchannel.com/article/201104/investors-cashing-in-on-higher-food-prices-de-mon-pot-adm-moo-jja-dba-fud-food041911.htm/
Don't Let Hidden Costs Gobble Up Your Return
http://news.morningstar.com/articlenet/article.aspx?id=377289
an etf portfolio for cheapskates
http://money.msn.com/exchange-traded-fund/an-etf-portfolio-for-cheapskates-moneyshow.aspx
muni bonds that won't blow up
http://www.wibw.com/nationalnews/headlines/Muni_bonds_that_wont_blow_up__120099699.html
How to Buy Silver At a Bargain Price Using Options
http://www.marketoracle.co.uk/Article27641.html
S&P Downgrade Shows U.S. Debt Crisis Could Have Dire Consequences
http://moneymorning.com/2011/04/19/sp-downgrade-shows-u-s-debt-crisis-could-have-dire-consequences/
defaults unlikely
http://www.bondbuyer.com/issues/120_75/fed-banks-defaults-unlikely-1025733-1.html
fairholme fund weighed down by poorly performing financial stocks
http://www.gurufocus.com/news/129199/fairholme-fund-weighed-down-by-poorly-performing-financial-stocks

Thanks to everybody for your great input. From reading all the other topics, I knew all your input would be helpful and unbiased. Talking to financial people you never know what to believe or if just telling you based on what they sell. I'd appreciate anymore input you have, am looking at starting this in the next 3-6 months. Just trying to get as much info as possible to help in our decision. I am from Illinois and know the 529 gets a bad rap here, one of the reasons looking at Roth. But again still open for any advice. Thank you all again!!!

Investing:
Benjamin Graham, The Intelligent Investor, Collins Business Essentials Edition with commentaries by Jason Zweig and Preface and Appendix by Warren Buffett.
This book is available in a variety of flavors. I found that this edition with the Zweig commentaries made the book more accessible and relevant.
Personal Finance:
Jonathan Pond, Your Money Matters: 21 tips for achieving financial security in the 21st century
I found this book to be a nice, sensible overview. Pond is not particularly quirky or charismatic: he just gives you a good foundation.

Congrats...some thoughts:
1. If you & your wife have an employer who provides a match to your 401k you double each dollar invested...do this first.
2. After you max this out, both of you should contribute to your ROTH.
3. Finally, its a toss up whether you should fund a taxable accounts (think emergency fund, rental property, land, art, collectibles) in your names or a college plan in your children's name. My experience is that your family will be better served if you first provide for your retirement...not college. College will take care of itself with grants, scholarships, work study and student loans. After all of these student based opportunities are realized you may very well assist your kids with your money. But, when you designate your money early on in their names (529 Plans) formulas like (FAFSA) change dramatically. You actually hinder your son or daughter chances at these need based college financial programs because you sacrificed your retirement plan. Later, will they resent the fact that you are broke in old age and you need their help? The best gift we can give our kids is often our own financial health.

Thanks for your comments, Old Joe. If I could wave a magic wand and immediately find an estate lawyer and financial advisor that I liked and trusted completely, I would be delighted. I just think it would be far more likely that I would go through a bunch of initial meetings without finding the right match for me. Perhaps I'm too picky.
Since this particular transaction is only a transfer of an existing trust, once I can verify no tax liabilities, I feel comfortable waiting for at least a couple of months when the rest of my life calms down (hopefully) to start this process.
Your memory is correct about the previous sister blocking changes problem. Fortunately, however, she seems to be ok with this. Facts never mattered to her before, but perhaps she is more agreeable since the Trust I have been managing for Mom since Aug has gained more than double what the Trust she is managing for Mom starting at the same time (the same amount which she has USB manage). Even better for my confidence is that both trusts are invested conservatively, so both have decent protection against future crashes (as much as anything can these days).

Thanks so much for your follow-up, mclaugh. It sounds like it's definitely worth a triple-check re the tax situation in the transfer. I have contacted my CPA and will wait to hear from him. I would think that, if Scottrade can just take over this Trust without USB selling the stocks or mutual funds investments, there would be no tax liability.
The only estate lawyer I've dealt with I'm just not comfortable with continuing that relationship. I have considered finding a financial advisor, but I really feel comfortable with continuing (at least for now) in managing my Mom's investments myself. I've been very pleased with the results I've had so far managing one of Mom's trusts I've been handling since last August. I've learned so much from people in this Forum (and from lots and lots of book, link, etc. reading) that I now can determine fairly accurately how each portfolio will fare after any investment day - which, so far, has helped assure me that my diversification of investments as a whole are performing exactly what I expected of them (with a couple exceptions).
I appreciate your advice of caution, especially hearing your tale of one of the trusts tax problem. Though I don't find any clauses in the Agreement that would indicate a tax problem, it's always better to be safe than sorry. Thanks!

CathyG,
I've done two trust transfers involving my parents' living trusts. One was straightforward; the other was complex, owing to some of the language in the former broker's custodian agreement which made the transfer a taxable event (this arose from a stipulation in the former broker's custodian agreement, not the trust documents): something that the new broker's agent didn't pick up on, and which could have cost my parents a SIGNIFICANT amount of money. Fortunately, my lawyer DID catch it, and worked with the new broker to draw out the transfer over the course of a year so that, on paper, it produced a net capital loss for tax purposes.
The best advice I can give you is to say, before you do anything, please have YOUR lawyer and/or financial advisor review ALL relevant documents (assuming you haven't already) to clarify any and all legal and financial (tax) issues that may arise from the transfer.
A friend of mine who's a lawyer signs all her message board posts, "Don't take advice from a lawyer over the Internet. I'm a lawyer, but I'm not YOUR lawyer." Her point being that the devil is in the details, so without knowing the specific details of a poster's situation, the best she (or any lawyer) can do is offer general comments of what is likely to be the case assuming that the inquirer has not overlooked or omitted any relevant information that may invalidate her analysis.
While there are many knowledgeable posters, including financial and legal professionals, here on MFO, unless they have the chance to review all the relevant documents, they're pretty much shooting from the hip.

Investors' points are well-taken however. Commodities are the "asset class du jour", ergo you can't put it beyond financial firms to throw together something that sounds really cool, but is really an overpriced version of a more basic product. The use of the term "Dynamic" and "Plus" in a fund name is usually a give away, as well.
With that said, I did a bit of due diligence and feel pretty certain that this is a product which will differ from indexed products. I also tend to think if the Highbridge fund was merely an index fund, there wouldn't be such a rush to close it to new investors after one quarter.
I do miss the income that the PIMCO analogues would generate, and of course regret the higher fees of the Highbridge fund, but am willing to act on the assumption (for the moment) that this product offers a genuinely different way to play commodities.
Haven't made a decision yet for my Roth account, but may go with the PIMCO products there.

Others here are much more skilled than I am in terms of tracking and reading momentum, and even market timing. What I'm learning in this market along the lines of your question is:
(1) I probably shouldn't buy anything that doesn't have a substantial downside risk component to it -- I'm sure if it was all left to my own devices, I'd panic and buy/sell at the wrong time. That includes me not selling some dogs when I should have (just last week panicked and did not sell a few banking stocks and small cap energy names before earnings season, for example). So, I use AA funds as the core of my portfolio; I let value-focused, risk-adverse managers decide when valuations should lead them out of the market (which in my mind is not the same as market timing). In taxable, the core of my portfolio is First Eagle and IVA's worldwide funds.
(2) In the non-AA portion of my portfolio, I should have paid more attention to risk tolerance from the get-go (everyone's a hero when the market is going up), and been rebalancing more often -- not enough to feed my obsessive compulsive tendencies, but enough so that I'm sure to capture my winnings and not let the portfolio drift toward a risk profile I'm not comfortable with.
My wife played it smart from the get-go: she understood that wealth is built as much by not losing money as it is by "taking chances". Whenever we discussed our portfolios and financial future, she consistently opted for less risk-adverse funds. Maybe inflation will eat her alive in the coming years; but she's had a much easier ride than I have since 2007, and has been much less likely to adopt a reflexive, foolish posture when the market does something odd for a week or so.
FYI.

http://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1217286/000119312511100451/d497.htm
Supplement dated April 18, 2011 to the Prospectuses dated February 28, 2011
Effective May 2, 2011, the Highbridge Dynamic Commodities Strategy Fund (the “Fund”) will be publicly offered on a limited basis. Investors will not be eligible to purchase shares of the Fund, except as described below:
Shareholders of record of the Fund as of May 2, 2011 are able to continue to purchase additional shares in their existing Fund accounts either through J.P. Morgan Funds Services or a Financial Intermediary and may continue to reinvest dividends or capital gains distributions from shares owned in such Fund;
Shareholders of record of the Fund as of May 2, 2011 are able to add to their accounts through exchanges from other J.P. Morgan Funds;
Group employer retirement plans including 401(k), 403(b) and 457 plans (and their successor plans), which have the Fund available to participants on or before April 18, 2011, may continue to open Fund accounts for new participants and purchase additional shares in existing participant accounts. Group employer retirement plans including 401(k), 403(b) and 457 plans (and their successor plans) may also establish new accounts with the Fund, provided the group employer retirement plan has been accepted for investment by the Fund and its distributor on or before May 2, 2011. Additionally, certain fee-based advisory programs may purchase shares of the Fund for new and existing accounts. These particular programs were accepted for continued investment by the Fund and its distributor on or before May 2, 2011;
Ÿ Current and future JPMorgan SmartRetirement Funds and such other J.P. Morgan Funds as are designated by the J.P. Morgan Funds Board of Trustees will be able to purchase shares of the Fund.
If all shares of the Fund in an existing shareholder’s account are voluntarily redeemed or involuntarily redeemed (due to instances when a shareholder does not meet aggregate account balance minimums or when participants in Systematic Investment Plans do not meet minimum investment requirements), then the shareholder’s account will be closed. Such former Fund shareholders will not be able to buy additional Fund shares or reopen their accounts in the Fund. The foregoing restrictions, however, do not apply to participants in eligible employer retirement plans.
If the Fund receives a purchase order directly from an investor who is not eligible to purchase shares of the Fund, after the limited offering dates outlined above, J.P. Morgan Funds Services will attempt to contact the investor to determine whether he or she would like to purchase shares of another J.P. Morgan Fund or would prefer that the investment be refunded. If J.P. Morgan Funds Services cannot contact the investor within 30 days, the entire investment will be refunded.

If you are going to highlight the most highly recommended books,
these won’t make that list… but for years I’ve recommended these to students
of my investment classes and they have always been well received.
For new investors -
The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Making Money on Wall Street
By Christy Heady – financial journalist for The Wall Street Journal
This is a true beginner’s book. It starts with everyday economics and creating
a financial battle plan, and then carries through with strategies for stocks,
mutual funds, bonds, futures and options.
If you are forever wondering when to get in and if you should consider getting out
of stocks, funds or the overall market -
Stikky Stock Charts (yes, two k’s)
This is not an ordinary book. As stated on the cover – “Learn the 8 major patterns
used by professional and how to interpret them to trade smart – in one hour, guaranteed.”
When they say “trade”, they mean long-tern trading using trend lines as a guide.

HDCCX is a long-biased commodity fund that is actively managed, and unique in that it is actively managed (most such funds are passively managed.) HDCCX can short, but again, it is long-biased. RYMFX is a trend-following fund that follows a set of commodities and a set of financial assets (a group of developed market currencies and US treasuries.) and goes long or short based upon the trend each month. If there is not a consistent trend, then these funds will underperform; RYMFX did very well in 2008, but not in 2009 or 2010. My view, however, is that, these days, a month is a long time in very active financial and commodity markets, and rebalancing only once per month may just not be nimble enough over the long haul. Managed Futures will have good or not so good years, but I just wonder if a passively managed fund with rebalancing once per month can keep up over the longer-term. Again, Rydex has announced a sort of "second generation" of this fund, which is not available yet. Hopefully this will be an improvement.
I personally like FPACX in terms of a US-based allocation fund more, as that's a bit more flexible in that it can take in some distressed assets and can short lightly to hedge.

Scott, thanks for your input. I agree with you on RYFOX. It is unfortunate that such a fund with diverse alternative strategies that is available to the retail investor has disappointing returns. I might look into their managed futures fund. Would this be too similar to HDCCX, which long and shorts commodities, and holds financial commodities (which I am assuming means currencies)? Interesting though is it looks like Rydex will not short energy, whereas I believe Highbridge will.
I have been dissapointed with GRSPX. I may be replacing apples to oranges as you say, but I would be using that money for the function of downside protection not correlated to the markets (which GRSPX did in 2008, but it seems recently it does not fare any better than a fund like FPACX or even PRWCX on some down days...it's small and mid-cap exposure should have made up at least a little bit for it's lower equity allocation since small and midcaps have outperfromed this year), with better upside performance than GRSPX (yes, I'm wishing for a perfect world). Just looking for a fund that might offer protection and possibly nimble and opportunistic in different asset classes if/when the debt goes out of hand.
I agree, with all those great funds, I would think NCHPX should be performing better.
Still, I'm seriously considering it.
Sorry if this went a little off topic from original post.

A Random Walk Down Wall Street: The Time-Tested Strategy for Successful Investing
by Burton G. Malkiel
http://www.amazon.com/Random-Walk-Down-Wall-Street/dp/0393081435
I recommend this book because it covers a lot of ground for beginner investor and this is 10th edition of book which even long time investors can find something for themselves. I strongly believe this should be one of the first set of books an investor should read. If I had to pick only one book, I would pick this one.
All About Asset Allocation, Second Edition
by Richard Ferri
http://www.amazon.com/All-About-Asset-Allocation-Second/dp/0071700781
This book covers in good detail the act of building a portfolio that incorporates different asset classes. There are many books in this category which I could recommend, but this one is easily digested by an beginning investor.
Common Sense on Mutual Funds: Fully Updated 10th Anniversary Edition
by John Bogle
http://www.amazon.com/Common-Sense-Mutual-Funds-Anniversary/dp/0470138130
This is updated version of Bogle's 1999 book. He actually left the original text in and updated data, charts and provided comments of what happened in the 10 years, what worked and what didn't. As the title indicates, it is geared towards mutual funds and mutual fund investors.
Unconventional Success: A Fundamental Approach to Personal Investment
by David F. Swensen
http://www.amazon.com/Unconventional-Success-Fundamental-Approach-Investment/dp/0743228383
This book, written by Yale Endowment Manager David Swensen, has useful discussions regarding asset classes and which ones to use in a portfolio, the conflicts of interests in the industry and some model portfolios.
Your Money and Your Brain: How the New Science of Neuroeconomics Can Help Make You Rich
by Jason Zweig
http://www.amazon.com/Your-Money-Brain-Science-Neuroeconomics/dp/0743276698
This book might help an investor avoid common behavioral mistakes in investing which most everyone (beginners and seasoned alike) fall from time to time. By understanding what happens when we feel emotions like Greed, Fear, Regret, and Confidence we might (hopefully) avoid some of the costly mistakes. The earlier an investors is aware of these behavioral shortcomings, the better.
The Intelligent Portfolio: Practical Wisdom on Personal Investing from Financial Engines
by Christopher L. Jones
http://www.amazon.com/Intelligent-Portfolio-Practical-Investing-Financial/dp/0470228040
FinancialEngines.com is a company that Nobel Laureate William Sharpe has founded. This book explains the use of Monte-Carlo portfolio simulation techniques to determine the likelihood of reaching goals (retirement etc.) and success rate. Armed with this knowledge an investor can be better prepared for the future (adjust savings level, portfolio risk, lifestyle etc.)
Peter L. Bernstein Classics Boxed Set : Capital Ideas, Against the Gods, The Power of Gold
by Peter Bernstein
http://www.amazon.com/Peter-Bernstein-Classics-Boxed-Set/dp/0471736252
A classic from Financial Historian, late Peter Bernstein. This is probably not a beginner set. But, this 3-book set is important to understand how financial theories evolved and portfolio construction and management changed from complete ad-hoc to what it is today.
Note: Hard to pick a best investment book of all times. It is probably yet to be written.

http://www.uptilt.com/content/6433/MuniMktFocus_0411NF Final.pdf
current municipal market updates
can index fund beat market
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703841904576257022915075508.html
should you insure your muni bonds?
http://www.marketwatch.com/story/should-you-insure-your-muni-bonds-1302818282808
high oil prices are here to stay
http://www.thestreet.com/story/11078800/1/why-high-oil-prices-are-here-to-stay.html
Loomis's Fuss Sides With Pimco's Gross: Treasury Prices To Fall
http://online.wsj.com/article/BT-CO-20110414-704948.html
can google search article
Muni bonds that won't blow up
http://money.cnn.com/2011/04/14/markets/bondcenter/municipal_bonds/?section=money_latest
top 5 fidelity funds to buy now
http://www.investorplace.com/37092/5-top-fidelity-funds-to-buy-now/
As Oakmark Grows, Investors Loom Large
http://news.morningstar.com/articlenet/article.aspx?id=376719
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-04-13/pimco-is-large-overweight-on-china-sees-profit-growth-after-tightening.html
will china overheat
http://www.usfunds.com/investor-resources/investor-alert/
top 100 CFA [OT]
http://online.barrons.com/report/top-financial-advisors/100
time for commodities?
http://online.barrons.com/article/SB50001424052970204702304576257081823516392.html?mod=djembwr_h
or
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&source=hp&q=Time+for+Commodities?+&btnG=Google+Search&aq=f&aqi=&aql=f&oq=
wallst bully commentary 4/15
http://www.successful-investment.com/newsletter.php?recordID=2232
ETF bully - This week, we covered the following:
successful-investment.com
"ETFs On A Wild Ride"
"FSB Is Worried About ETFs—Should You Be Concerned Too?”
"ETF/No Load Fund Tracker updated through 4/14/2011"
"Weekly StatSheet For The ETF/No Load Fund Tracker—Updated Through 4/14/2011”
"High Volume ETFs On The Cutline—Updated Through 4/13/2011"
"5 ETF Model Portfolios You Can Use"
“Major Market ETFs Sink On Weak Economic Outlook”
“Mutual Funds On The Cutline—Helping You To Better Manage your 401k”
“A New Corporate Bond ETF (CBND)”
“ETFs On The Cutline—Updated through 4/8/2011”
lazy portfolio battles 11 newcomers
http://www.marketwatch.com/story/lazy-portfolio-winners-battle-11-newcomers-2011-04-12?siteid=nwhfunds
kiplinger 25 favorite no load MFs
http://www.kiplinger.com/columns/fundwatch/archive/kiplinger-25-our-favorite-no-load-mutual-funds-2011.html
http://blogs.wsj.com/financial-adviser/2011/04/14/index-based-target-date-funds-prove-popular/?mod=google_news_blog
http://www.onwallstreet.com/news/retail-bonds-bonddesk-2672654-1.html
advisor warns against absolute return
http://www.mfwire.com/article.asp?template=article&storyID=36542&wire=MFWire&wireID=2&bhcp=1
Silver Investing Strategies: The Outlook for the "Other" Precious Metal
http://moneymorning.com/2011/04/13/silver-investing-strategies-the-outlook-for-the-other-precious-metal/
Buffett's Growing Energy Portfolio
http://www.thestreet.com/story/11083194/1/buffetts-growing-energy-portfolio.html?cm_ven=GOOGLEN
mutual fund give etf runs for their $$
http://news.morningstar.com/articlenet/article.aspx?id=376809
em market make big come back
http://money.cnn.com/2011/04/15/news/international/thebuzz/?section=money_latest

Wednesday's count: 9 responses, 21 books or book sets, and no overlaps! You folks have some really cool recommendations. Here's the mid-week title list. The original call for suggestions appears just below it.
Montier, The Little Book of Behavioral Investing: How not to be your own worst enemy
Hobbes (remember "the war of all, against all"?) or Machiavelli ("a prince never lacks legitimate reasons to break his promise")
Mutual Funds for Dummies
Malkiel, A Random Walk Down Wall Street: The Time-Tested Strategy for Successful Investing
Bogle, Common Sense on Mutual Funds: Fully Updated 10th Anniversary Edition
Ferri, All About Asset Allocation, Second Edition
Swensen (the Yale manager), Unconventional Success: A Fundamental Approach to Personal Investment
Faber and Richardson, Ivy Portfolio: How to Invest Like the Top Endowments and Avoid Bear Markets
Zweig, Your Money and Your Brain: How the New Science of Neuroeconomics Can Help Make You Rich
Jones, The Intelligent Portfolio: Practical Wisdom on Personal Investing from Financial Engines
Peter L. Bernstein Classics Boxed Set : Capital Ideas, Against the Gods, The Power of Gold
Graham, The Intelligent Investor
McGrath, The Asylum: The Renegades Who Hijacked the World's Oil Markets, largely about NYMEX traders
Olson, Zero Sum Game: The Rise of the World's Largest Derivatives Market, about the Chicago Exchanges
Lewis, The Big Short: Inside The Doomsday Machine
Morgan, Market Forces, "a futuristic novel"
Elton, Modern Portfolio Theory and Investment Analysis
Heady, The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Making Money on Wall Street
Stikky Stock Charts (yes, two k’s)
Bach, The Automatic Millionaire: A Powerful One-Step Plan to Live and Finish Rich
Clayson, The Richest Man in Babylon
Pond, Your Money Matters: 21 Tips for Achieving Financial Security in the 21st Century
---------------
I would like to help extend the reach of your expertise. Collectively, you've got a lot of wisdom and I'd like to make it a bit more accessible to new visitors and old friends alike. One plan for doing that is to create two new pages dedicated to your recommendations.
The first page will focus on books. I'd like to solicit nominations for books in two categories: the one best investing book that every new investor (perhaps, every investor?) should read. The other is the one best personal finance book (that is, the one that covers the "bigger picture" stuff) that every one should read.
The rules are simple: pick a book that you've read and that others might plausibly read. And explain in a sentence or two what the book argues and why it's good.
I'll collate your recommendations and our crack technical team will create a page highlighting the top offerings (three? five? don't yet know) in each category, with a survey of comments and a link to Amazon.
Chuck Jaffe of MarketWatch called Friday, with a recommendation for a second reader-inspired page that he's been hoping for for quite a while. Once we have a good start to the book discussion, I'll raise Chuck's suggestion and offer up a second survey.
Thanks, as ever, for your time, patience and good spirits. They help a lot!
David

Catch,
Just saying that posters who are saying we should revert back to the FA format should give it a chance for a little while first. I wasn't enamored with the FA format the first time I visited the site. And then it took some getting used to. Truth be told, I wasn't too sure about the MFO site at first either. But DS and team have been very receptive to comments and have been improving the site. So, my little quip really should have read something like this: Let's try to limit our feedback to constructive criticism only, because lots of hard work (for no financial gain) has been put in by the MFO team and they are continuing to try to make improvements (seemingly for the sole purpose of making us happy).
All the best,
BY

Just 'cuz I'm in a cantankerous mood due to finishing my income taxes:
> Sector weighting is data that speaks for itself
That's a highly debatable proposition.
Data do not speak for or against anything. It is the observer's SELECTION and INTERPRETATION of data that speak for or against a given proposition or set of propositions. So even the decision to assign a company to a given sector is an editorial judgment that reflects the biases of the individual(s) making that judgment.
Obvious example: M* slots Berkshire Hathaway into the Financial sector, even though the majority of BRK's holdings are in consumer cyclical, healthcare, and industrial goods and services, and--at least based on BRK's recent filings--a strong, if not compelling case, could be made that BRK belongs in the "consumer cyclical," rather than "financial" sector. So, at the very least, assigning the entire value of fund's BRK holdings to a single sector rather than parsing its value out among the various sectors in which BRK is invested (or, better yet, dropping it into M*'s "miscellaneous" sector) has the potential to (and in some cases, does) massively skew the snapshot of the fund's sector distribution.
So the sector weighting isn't data that speaks for itself (no matter how much M* want you to think it is); it's M*'s subjective--and sometimes overly simplistic--presentation of the data.

Hi Andy,
If you feel we're facing a time of uncertainty, you need to get defensive. That historically meant healthy and consumer staples, underweight equities to bonds and whatnot.
Today, I don't really see that as sufficient - largely because of the potential problems we're facing. And, just for the record, I see the chances of some sort of financial meltdown as being in the 15-25% range. However, while very low, the consequences of some sort of meltdown are sufficiently severe that taking some precautions is prudent.
Now, in this environment of a dollar that's losing value - you want to minimize your exposure to US bonds, particularly longer term. Stick with corporates and international including emerging mkts. You want to own stocks in solid companies that pay a dividend. You want to minimize your exposure to the dollar - you can buy foreign currency ETFs like FXA or FXC. For internation exposure, you want to be with countries that have natural resources and hopefully a better banking system. Canada and Australia jump out but there are others. I am of course extremely bullish on gold and silver and I also like Perm Port PRPFX.
Pay down your debt, get some ready cash available but this might include precious metals, swiss francs, etc.
peace,
rono