Speaking of the US $$$..
Jeffery Gundlach in Tue's Webcast did not "pound the table" predicting a higher US $$$$ but stated it would not surprise him to see 120 in the next two years...Also,"don't over analyse" and "keep your seatbelts fastened" Earlier he said he was not interested in becoming US Treasurer.in effect saying " I want to remain brutally honest and politicians are seldom if ever that. ." Closed End Fund Webcast Nov 8th https://event.webcasts.com/viewer/event.jsp?ei=1085775
BUSINESS NEWS | Thu Nov 17, 2016 | 10:56pm EST By Hideyuki Sano | TOKYO Reuters
Rising U.S. yields help dollar to 13-1/2 year high
..rising U.S. bond yields carried the dollar to a more than 13-1/2 year high against a
basket of major currencies, fueled by expectations that President-elect Donald Trump's policies will lead to higher interest rates.
The dollar's index against a basket of six major currencies rose above its "double top" touched in March and December of 2015. The index now stands at its highest level since April 2003. "Double top" is a technical analysis term describing a currency (or other liquid asset) rising to a high, falling, and then rising again to the same level. Breaking the double top is often seen as a bullish sign by technical analysts.
A rising dollar is particularly a problem for some emerging economies that could see capital outflows if investors shift more funds to the United States.
http://www.reuters.com/article/us-global-markets-idUSKBN13D040?feedType=RSS&feedName=businessNews&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed:+reuters/businessNews+(Business+News)

http://cdn.tradingeconomics.com/charts/united-states-currency.png?s=dxy&v=201611180455r&d1=20110101&d2=20161231
http://www.tradingeconomics.com/united-states/currency

Keep waiting for PTIAX to post 3rd Q commentary .Maybe they're going the way of less monthly and/or quarterly comment?Here's snippets from just released Annual Report dated August 31,2016
The past year saw very big
changes for both the Fund and for fixed-income markets. Fund assets grew more than four times going from $164.37
million to $688.60 million during the year. Managing that growth and maintaining desired allocations occupied most of the
management team’s time and attention
As this is being written, we still believe the tax-exempt market is attractive, but that can change quickly, and good
opportunities can be difficult to find even when we like the market. Thus, it is difficult to say whether allocations to tax exempts
will increase or decrease.
Our current allocation to commercial mortgage-backed securities (CMBS) (8.40%) was put in place after bringing on a
Commercial Real Estate Credit specialist with fifteen years of experience.
As a total return bond fund, we seek to position ourselves in the most undervalued fixed-income securities we can find
consistent with the need for proper diversification and liquidity. To identify such opportunities, we find scenario analysis
(over roughly a three-year investment horizon) to be more valuable than rate or market forecasting
http://ptiafunds.com/documents/ptam-annual-report.pdf

mcmarasco says: "I was caught off-guard a little bit by the accelerated rise in the 10-year."
You're not the only one. Suspect T. Rowe got caught a bit flat-footed. I own several of their conservative funds which have dramatically underperformed relative to my funds at Dodge & Cox and Oakmark the past week. Suspect T. Rowe was positioned for something different than what occurred. Three of their lower-risk funds (which I own) have underperformed noticeably since Nov. 8: PRWCX, RPGAX and TRRIX.
Some of this relates to bond holdings. (RPGAX in particular is global). More generally, I suspect T. Rowe has been expecting slower growth and constrained government spending and was so positioned in these funds. By comparison, Dodge & Cox (DODBX) is heavily weighted towards financials which have benefitted from the prospect of higher rates and inflation (and likely repeal of Dodd-Frank). And - just a guess - OAKBX probably benefitted from its long-time toe in the water exposure to drillers and energy. Also - they shed most long-term government bonds 2-3 years ago and have remained largely short-duration.
Sorry: No advice here. But folks have served-up some good ideas. Concur with you that the reaction is probably overdone - but that long-term the trend in rates is higher. FWIW: I'd be very surprised if Yellen is still Fed Chair a year from now. Anything's possible. (Maybe Rudi - if he doesn't take the Secretary of State job? ... :))

One question is always how fast rates will rise. For example, GIBLX, with an SEC yield around 4% and a modified average duration of 4+ years might be expected to return a tad south of 2% if rates rose 1/2% in the next year (lose 2% on price, gain 4% on interest). Not great, but not a disaster.
Bank loan funds have their own risks. Often the loans they invest in have floor rates of 1%, and are keyed to 3 month LIBOR. That's currently at 0.88%. Until it rises above 1%, the interest rates on these loans won't rise (since they are already above LIBOR). So these don't float - yet (it's close). So they still have a bit of interest rate risk.
http://www.schwab.com/public/schwab/nn/articles/Is-it-Time-to-Consider-Bank-Loan-Funds (August report)
They also have credit risk. The debt they own has low credit ratings (around B). Consequently the debt behaves more like stocks and is sensitive to the economy. If rising rates depress stocks, these funds may start experiencing defaults. The good news is that since they hold senior loans, they would likely recover more of their principal than would typical junk bond funds. Still, there's a real risk of default and getting less than 100 cents on the dollar.
I'm inclined to think that the market has overreacted, but things are so volatile that in the short term anything could happen. It might make sense to move some money into one of these bank loan funds, but I wouldn't bet the farm on them.

Thanks Ted,
From the article:

O’Neil said that he likes Treasury Inflation-Protected Securities, leveraged loans and corporate credit, both high yield and investment grade.
Fidelity Total Bond gained 6.1 percent this year, better than 88 percent of peers, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Over five years the fund topped 78 percent of rivals.

@Ted. Thank you for the link.
My biggest take away from some of the words related to some of the pension funds is that; let us (pension fund managers) blame the sad state of affairs of gains since the market melt 9 years ago on low yields. The pension funds are going to run out of money and/or be forced to reduce future benefits or BOTH. Hell yes, they are and will. Guess that underfunding doesn't help much either, eh?
From the article:
Government-bond yields have risen since Donald Trump was elected U.S. president, though few investors expect a prolonged climb. Regardless, the ultralow bond yields of recent years have already hindered the most straightforward way for retirement funds to recover—through investment gains.
>>> So, no investment gains from price appreciation that many bond types have had over the past nine years??? Ya, right! If these managers have not made money from bonds in past years, they need to find new work. Losses in other investment areas have likely offset bond price gains.
From the article:
Pension officials and government leaders are left with vexing choices. As investors, they have to stash away more than they did before or pile into riskier bets in hedge funds, private equity or commodities. Countries, states and cities must decide whether to reduce benefits for existing workers, cut back public services or raise taxes to pay for the bulging obligations.
>>>Prior discussions and links here at MFO have indicated performance problems with many large pension funds. Perhaps that should have invested in something like VWINX and/or a simple 50/50 equity/bond mix with 4 holdings.
Educated, smart folks; who are not the sharpest tools in the investment world shed! Perhaps hire a few more hedge fund managers.......oh, wait; these managers are being fired by numerous funds!
10 year annualized returns sampler on the simple side of investment life:
--- IEF = 5.5%
--- TLT = 6.7%
--- LQD = 5.5%
--- TIP = 4.1% (even the lowly regarded TIP is far above this percentage using simple moving averages for buys and sells)
--- VTI = 7.1%
--- SPY = 6.8%
--- IWM = 6.7%
--- QQQ = 11.4%
--- VWINX = 6.7%
Pick any 4 of the above and one still finds an average of about 6.2% annualized over 10 years. Yes, I know; not much diworsifiers in the above choices. Build your own pension fund and post here, eh?
Problems with the future of many pension funds and survival are real. Problems with this also result from the skill set of much of the management(s).
Other than these, all is well with the world.
...etf ticker highlight test IEF QQQ
Take care,
Catch

"If you have a time horizon of 5 years or longer, you should actually hope for a rising rate environment. You’ll be better off for it in the end."
I think that would depend a lot on what kinds of bonds you own right now. If you own bonds with a relatively short maturities, rising rates could provide an opportunity to reinvest for greater investment income. If your bonds have very long term maturities, rising rates could mean (a) waiting a very long time to reinvest at higher interest rates, and/or (b) having to sell the long term bonds at a loss in order to reinvest at higher interest rates.
Nick de Peyster
http://undervaluedstocks.info/

Here is an excerpt from GP's letter to avoid any potential misunderstandings:
Rondure Global Advisors
Perhaps the most exciting announcement is the formation of a new joint venture with industry veteran Laura Geritz (CFA, MA). We worked with Laura for a number of years at Wasatch Advisors. She announced her departure from Wasatch earlier this year. When we learned of her decision to leave Wasatch we jumped at the chance to talk with her about the possibility of working together again. Just last week we jointly formed a new investment firm named Rondure Global Advisors.
Laura has a strong track record of performance for her clients. She played a key role as a lead portfolio manager on the Wasatch Emerging Markets Small Cap Fund, the Wasatch International Opportunities Fund, and as the founding PM on the Wasatch Frontier Emerging Small Countries Fund. Laura is a skilled investor who shares many of the same investment philosophies with us. She’s a bottom-up stock picker doing fundamental analysis focused on quality companies. She’s globally minded and is known for her killer travel schedule because she believes she can understand a company after seeing it on its home turf.
Laura will be the CEO of Rondure Global Advisors and will launch her own products under that name. She will also hire her own research and client team. Grandeur Peak will provide the back-office and trading support. Rondure will be co-located in the same office with Grandeur Peak, where we will sit side-by-side and work collaboratively. Rondure’s products will be more complementary than competitive with our existing products. I would describe Rondure’s investment focus as more “core” as compared to Grandeur Peak’s “growth” bent, and Rondure will not impact our liquidity constrained products as the new firm will focus on companies above $1.5 billion market-cap.
Grandeur Peak’s research team will remain focused on our own mission with minimal disruption, while benefitting from the wisdom and experience of a great investor. We’re thrilled to have Laura sitting with us and traveling with us. She brings a perspective that will help us see macro issues better, but what we’re most excited about is simply talking about individual companies with Laura and her team.
*******My question is she going to start/oversee another frontier market fund as I still own Wasatch's Frontier Emerging Small Countries Fund.

@Ted, think Christie actually wrote the song "Bridge over trouble water"
It is the uncertainty moving forward particularly with the troublesome global instability. We may able muddle through domestically with increasing debts. Perhaps another draft is coming up to the 40 years old as we had during WWII.

I wish Chuck Akre was 20 years younger. I've invested with him since the 90's. In my opinion he doesn't get the credit he deserves.

FYI: (Click On Article Title At Top Of Google Search)
You heard it here first: Jeffrey Gundlach, CEO of DoubleLine Capital and one of the world’s most successful bond investors, predicted in January at the Barron’s Roundtable that Donald J. Trump would be the country’s next president, noting, “The populist momentum is unstoppable.”
Now that the New York businessman has shocked much of the world by vanquishing rival Hillary Clinton, Gundlach sees something else unstoppable: a rise in bond yields that could lift the yield on the 10-year Treasury note to 6% in the next four or five years.
Regards,
Ted
https://www.google.com/#q=Gundlach:+Bond+Yields+Could+Hit+6%+in+Five+Years+Barron's

The dem party is inclusive unless you are white with no college. Perhaps that mentality is part if the problem?
Meanwhile, the television shows adults crying and lying on the ground not unlike a 4 year old throwing a tantrum. Life is not fair but they haven't been taught that in the government schools.
The divisive society we see now along many lines besides race is a product of the eight years of 0bama. Hopefully now we can start working together but I suspect that will be difficult for some.
My only comment on this.

And eight more years later
'Atlas Shrugged': From Fiction to Fact in 52 Years
By Stephen Moore
Updated Jan. 9, 2009 11:59 p.m. ET
Ultimately, "Atlas Shrugged" is a celebration of the entrepreneur, the risk taker and the cultivator of wealth through human intellect. Critics dismissed the novel as simple-minded, and even some of Rand's political admirers complained that she lacked compassion. Yet one pertinent warning resounds throughout the book: When profits and wealth and creativity are denigrated in society, they start to disappear -- leaving everyone the poorer.
One memorable moment in "Atlas" occurs near the very end, when the economy has been rendered comatose by all the great economic minds in Washington. Finally, and out of desperation, the politicians come to the heroic businessman John Galt (who has resisted their assault on capitalism) and beg him to help them get the economy back on track. The discussion sounds much like what would happen today:
Galt: "You want me to be Economic Dictator?"
Mr. Thompson: "Yes!"
"And you'll obey any order I give?"
"Implicitly!"
"Then start by abolishing all income taxes."
"Oh no!" screamed Mr. Thompson, leaping to his feet. "We couldn't do that . . . How would we pay government employees?"
"Fire your government employees."
"Oh, no!"
http://www.wsj.com/articles/SB123146363567166677

Predicted 16 years ago:

Here is Ms Abramowicz Full article from Bloomberg Gadfly/Gundlach Webcast Info
Gundlach Takes a Moral Victory Lap
By Lisa Abramowicz
...This just shows how difficult it will be to win big over the next few months, even if a money manager gets a few big bets right. Opportunities will abound, but so will the risk of failures (see the Mexican peso, 30-year bonds and emerging-market debt.) Mutual-fund investors have made a clear statement since the crisis -- they don't want to lose a ton of money again. Investment managers are tasked with balancing out risks and hedging against being wrong, even at a significant cost.
https://www.bloomberg.com/gadfly/articles/2016-11-11/doubleline-s-gundlach-called-trump-s-victory-but-played-it-safe
No Gloating Allowed ? Gundlach to host his first post election webcast Tue November 15th
DoubleLine Asset Allocation - Core Fixed Income & Flexible Income Live Webcast
hosted by Jeffrey Gundlach
Tuesday, November 15, 2016 1:15 pm PT / 4:15 pm ET / 3:15 pm CT
Register here:
https://event.webcasts.com/starthere.jsp?ei=1085785
CHART OF THE WEEK
30-YEAR US TREASURY YIELDS "TRUMPED" BY US ELECTION

https://www.payden.com/
Here's another rare event,although much more predictable.
Supermoon Forecast: The Moon Hasn't Been This Close (to Earth ) in Almost 69 Years
By Joe Rao, SPACE.com Skywatching Columnist | November 11, 2016 07:00am ET
On Monday (Nov. 14) at 6:15 a.m. EST, the moon will arrive at its closest point to the Earth in 2016: a distance of 221,524 miles (356,508 kilometers) away. This distance, which is measured from the center of the Earth to the center of the moon, is within 85 miles (137 km) of the moon's closest possible approach to Earth; to be sure, this is an extreme perigee.
Supermoons can appear 30 percent brighter and up to 14 percent larger than typical full moons.

http://www.space.com/21693-supermoon-full-moon-2013-stargazers-photos.html
http://www.space.com/34660-closest-supermoon-full-moon-in-69-years-forecast.html
http://www.timeanddate.com/moon/usa/madison

Hank, I'm actually going to free up some money today to move back into PRPFX. Haven't owned it for about 5 years, but with how things have played out this week I think PRPFX with it's gold and Swiss Frank allotment plus the commodities sector may be some what of a safe haven. Anyway, thanks for the reminder on this fund.

I agree with msf assessment. Historically Pimco's strength is in the debt area and the backroom (analysts) support is significant to run a wide range of strategies. Because of that that small shop in Newport, CA grew to one of the largest firm over the last two decades. With that level of support, it also allowed him to be the spokesman for Pimco. Toward the end of Gross tenure at Pimco, the problem of large asset base finally caught up with him.
Janus, on the other hand, is the opposite to Pimco where they are mostly known for equity investment. The under-performance of Gross fund to its benchmark is due to lack of support. It is highly unlikely for Gross to build a support equivalent to Pimco in less than 10 years. So it should be surprise the Unconstrained fund is not so well even with much smaller asset base.

Looking back, Wednesday reveals the widest divergence I can recall in recent years between bonds and equities. Bonds of nearly every shape and color (long duration, short duration, corporate, government and international) got clocked. Real Estate fell in tandem. Yet domestic equities had a great day along with most commodities.
Was the day an outlier (of little significance), or was it an early sign of some important changes in market direction - likely based on where the new administration may lead? While it doesn't matter much to me - being pretty widely diversified (deworseified) - it could matter to some.

Until this decade, Lipper said that a fund that fell within the top quintile was in the first quintile. Apparently too many people thought that quintiles were the same as stars, and concluded that first quintile performance was lousy. So Lipper inverted its rankings a few years ago.
Also, Lipper's rankings are linearly distributed (1/5 in the top quintile, duh), while M*'s are more bell shaped (10% get 1 or 5 stars, 22.5% get 2 or 4 stars, and 35% get 3 stars).
None of this speaks to the methodology, just the scoring.

y0ungmoney.blogspot.com/2014/11/kill-your-investing-gurus-jim-rogers.html

In the long run, Jim Rogers has been about as wrong as any guru out there on just about every asset class under the sun. Reminds me of the ex-resident stock picker on this forum now vanished whose stock picks were among the worst I had ever seen in my 50 years in this game. Sadly many here fell for his spiel and are now holding severely underwater stocks. Bottom line is be fiercely independent as an investor or trader and don't buy/sell based on the opinions/advice of others.