https://www.fa-mag.com/news/blackrock-comes-out-as-bullish-on-muni-bonds-heading-into-2019-42334.html
The world’s biggest asset manager is a big bull on the $3.8 trillion municipal-bond market.
Sean Carney, managing director and head of state and local government debt strategy at BlackRock Inc., said in an interview that he expects the securities to return as much as 4 or 5 percent in 2019 if the Federal Reserve moves closer to pausing on interest-rate hikes. That compares with a 0.7 percent return this year, when rising rates weighed on bond prices, according to Bloomberg Barclays indexes.

https://money.usnews.com/investing/funds/slideshows/9-of-the-best-energy-etfs-to-watch?src=usn_invested_nl
These affordable funds give investors many options to tap into the potential for profits
. Energy Select Sector SPDR Fund (ticker: XLE). XLE is the largest energy sector fund as measured by assets under management, with about $15.5 billion in market value at present. It's a simple way to play the sector, and a very liquid ETF that is reasonably priced, with an expense ratio of just 0.13 percent, or $13 annually for every $10,000 invested.
It’s worth noting, however, that the fund is not very diversified. With 30 holdings and roughly 40 percent of the entire portfolio allocated to mega-caps Exxon Mobil Corp. (XOM) and Chevron Corp. (CVX), one big move in either of these stocks can really affect the fund. Still, the fund is popular and widely held.
2. Invesco S&P 500 Equal Weight Energy ETF (RYE). If you don't like putting all your eggs in one basket, you can avoid the overreliance on Exxon and Chevron with this fund. The RYE similarly has about 30 holdings spanning the largest and most influential energy stocks, but uses an equal-weight strategy and rebalancing to ensure each position represents about 3 percent of the portfolio.
That adds diversification, but many large-cap energy stocks on this list like exploration player Occidental Petroleum Corp. (OXY) or oilfield service company Baker Hughes (BHGE) are in many ways subject to the same industry pressures and may not necessarily differ tremendously in their performance. – Jeff Reeves
I likely will add energy etf soon dca or buy more of PBA

The article is of moderate interest though you won't learn anything that increases your net worth except possibly to not pay for macro advice.The problem is if 10 experts make predictions and 3-5 are correct (optimistic but possible)how will you know who to follow.

I was weaned from small cap growth/similars in the dot.com bust. Many of the funds mentioned above had 56-70% MaxDraw during 08-09. They seem to sell off first and hardest. In my mind, that statistic alone negates any other positive metrics... particularly this late in the business cycle. But, we all manage our own hard earned $$$ so to each his own.

@msf: BCSVX is also heavily invested in tech and healthcare, another form of concentration. GISOX has only 15% in small and micro caps, while DRIOX is almost 2/3 in mid caps. It may well be that you'll need two or three funds to do the job.

There are no perfect funds, which is why I asked about thoughts. Tough year or not, BCSVX is turning in (relatively speaking) outstanding performance. I'm trying to remember why I didn't include this fund in my list. Could be the somewhat high fee (1.5%), or the very concentrated nature of the fund (40% in the top ten holdings).
Some people like this - the concentration, obviously not the fees - but the risk concerns me. On the other hand, throw together three concentrated (and non-overlapping) funds, and I could see building a portfolio like that.

It's been a rough ride this year, but I still have faith in BCSVX. Very low turnover reported by M* will result in a total distribution of 4-5 cents. On the other hand, BCSIX will make a much larger distribution this year.

Big hitters managing this CEF: Galley, Sherman, Gundlach. They are promising to distribute 12.5% for the coming calendar year, based on the fund's NAV in late December. Currently trading at an 11% discount, the fund is 25% leveraged, and up to this point in 2018 it has returned 43 cents per share as Return of Capital. (Headache for shareholder at tax time.) This is only the third year of its existence. They can't be accused of offering plain vanilla.

Thanks for the thoughts.
I agree (with slick) that it usually takes some time for a new manager to put his own imprint on a fund. Not infrequently the old fund does at least as well as the new fund even after that. A too easy example is PIMCO/Bill Gross. Sometimes, both funds do well (TCW/Gundlach). Wait and see sounds reasonable.
It looks like DRIOX is open (though it is closed at some brokerages, e.g. Vanguard). It's TF at Schwab and Fidelity, and NTF at Merrill Edge. A quick glance shows performance, asset mix (small, growth oriented; fair smattering of EM), and cost 1.23% all adding up to a reasonable candidate. But what is going on with 143% turnover? I haven't looked closely into this yet. The other funds you (shadow) have are closer to 25% turnover.
I do have access to the other two funds (maintaining a small toehold for just such a use), so that's not a concern for me. Though I checked with T. Rowe Price and they will not move a holding in kind from an IRA to a taxable account. So if one is planning to gain access that way, be forewarned.
Out of curiosity, what's your thinking in holding a few different funds in the same space? Personally, I find that if there are two (I try to keep it down to that number) or three that I really can't decide between, I'll put money into all of them. After a few years, either I feel more comfortable with one of them and stick with that one, or still don't find much difference. In that case, I'll say what the heck and just pick one since the choice among them doesn't seem to make a difference.

FYI: RiverNorth/DoubleLine Strategic Opportunity Fund, Inc. (the “Fund”) (NYSE: OPP) announced that its Board of Directors (the “Board”) has approved a new level distribution policy effective January 1, 2019. The Fund is also maintaining its previously declared monthly distribution for December 2018. More information follows below.
Regards,
Ted
https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20181211005662/en/RiverNorthDoubleLine-Strategic-Opportunity-Fund-Announces-Approval-12.5
M* Snapshot OPP:
https://www.morningstar.com/cefs/XNYS/OPP/quote.html

@msf: I have held OSMAX for about 5 years, and am watching both ARTJX and OSMAX to see when to switch over to Artisan, likely after first of year. It usually takes a while for the new portfolios to appear. Following Kanovich, as I like what he did at Oppenheimer. They are held in tax deferred accounts, so not concerned over capital gains as each fund sells some of portfolio in favor of their own picks.

A couple of years ago, OSMAX raised its fees and the fund was closed. Since then, its manager (and analysts) left suddenly. Here's the thread on the former:
https://mutualfundobserver.com/discuss/discussion/comment/75482
The fund continues to perform admirably, and the replacement manager is excellent. Nevertheless, he is 70, there's no succession plan, and there's still that matter of fees on what is for the space, a jumbo fund. With that in mind, I came up with some alternatives, and thought I'd just toss them out for comments.
Interestingly, a couple of Fidelity funds popped up, and I'm especially curious what people think about them. The management seems stable (Fidelity seems to be improving here).
GISOX (Grandeur Peak seems to be a favorite at MFO), MIDAX (I mentioned in that older post), PRIDX (another seeming favorite here, though closed to new investors), QUSIX (a value fund, unlike the others), and the two Fidelity funds FISMX (blend) and FSCOX (growth). Finally, there is ARTJX, which is where OSMAX's manager Kanovich landed, along with even higher fees.

@john
I didn't find where the author stated that these 3 reits were a buy in case of a market crash. Where does this statement arrive from ???
ADD: nice to view that you changed the subject line to remove the "market crash" aspect (Dec., 2011).
The 3 stocks noted in article, 20 year cycle. The returns are impressive since the market melt, but also have quite the up/down cycle, for the faint of investment hearted. I'll have to review further, these indicated % returns. https://stockcharts.com/freecharts/perf.php?AIV,EPR,WELL&p=6&O=011000
Below link is for about 2.5 years, being Nov., 2007 - March, 2011 (which allows for a 2 year period after the market bottom). This chart suggests these are not appropriate holds for a down market, IMHO, yes???
https://stockcharts.com/freecharts/perf.php?AIV,EPR,WELL&l=2221&r=3062&O=011000

@JohnN: Please stop stepping on my toes, steel toed shoes are expensive !
Regards,
Ted :)
Regards,
Ted
https://www.mutualfundobserver.com/discuss/discussion/46056/u-s-stock-funds-seek-another-up-year-but-it-will-be-close#latest

FYI: It is time to position your portfolio to survive a volatile 2019.
Most veteran market observers agree than an array of factors, from trade disputes to rising interest rates, will create more turbulence as an aging bull market becomes more vulnerable to emotion-driven selloffs. Adding to the uncertainty is the fact that market strategists seem to have an array of forecasts for the markets in 2019—both positive and negative.
Regards,
Ted
https://www.wsj.com/articles/where-to-put-your-money-in-2019-1544411580

@ron
Appears that Sunday and other evenings begin futures trading at 6pm, EST.
"Unless otherwise noted, all of the above futures products trade during the specified times beginning Sunday night for the Monday trade date and ending on Friday afternoon. Open on Sunday night at 5:00pm CT/6:00pm ET.Nov 16, 2018"
This site is of some interest, that I do view; although not a futures trader, but curious to what the world is doing.
https://www.investing.com/indices/indices-futures

FYI: Yesterday the US Attorney's Office of the Southern District of New York released a sentencing memorandum for Michael Cohen. We'll leave the political implications to our colleagues in the DC bureau, but one paragraph in particular jumped out at us (emphasis ours):
The largest source of undisclosed income was more than $2.4 million that Cohen received from a series of personal loans that he made to a taxi operator... for a total principal of $6 million. Each of these loans carried an interest rate in excess of 12 percent. Cohen funded the majority of these loans with a line of credit with an interest rate of less than 5 percent (such that Cohen was earning a substantial spread on the difference between the two loan rates)... In total, Cohen received more than $2.4 million in interest payments from Taxi Operator-1 between 2012 and 2016.
Regards,
Ted
https://ftalphaville.ft.com/2018/12/08/1544280108000/Michael-Cohen-is-an-amazing-banker/

Huh? There was broad and slight decline before 9/08, sure, but Monday 9/15/08 is the point of the gulping, newsmaking drop. Some of us remember it vividly.
For SP500, breakeven was achieved toward the end of 4/10, as I said. ~20mo.
Further breakeven selling opps presented a half-year later, and since then, well, mostly rock'n'roll.
I suggest using M* 10k-growth charting, always.

"These reforms require prime institutional money market funds to “float their NAV” (no longer maintain a stable price) and provide non-government money market fund boards with new tools — liquidity fees and redemption gates — to address runs. These changes took effect on October 14, 2016."
https://www.sec.gov/spotlight/money-market.shtml
From the FNSXX prospectus:
"The fund is a retail money market fund. Shares of the fund are available only to accounts beneficially owned by natural persons."
It is not offered for sale to institutions, except to the extent that they are buying shares for (the benefit of) their customers (e.g. brokers may buy shares to be held in street name for their clients).
This is why I tried to clarify the distinction between institutional MMFs (a legal term of art) and institutional class shares (a fuzzy term generally meaning a share class of a retail fund with a high minimum, whatever high may mean).
Here's a good page by Vanguard with both chart and text explaining the differences between government, retail, and institutional MMFs:
https://institutional.vanguard.com/VGApp/iip/site/institutional/investments/MoneyMarketReform
(Note that the Vanguard page is wrong in saying that government MMFs cannot use gates. None will, but they are allowed to opt in, with adequate notice to investors. See https://www.sec.gov/oiea/investor-alerts-bulletins/investor-alerts-mmf-investoralerthtm.html )

That fund (OPCHX) no longer exists. A search (as I did) of current funds that did badly a decade ago will miss the ones that died off.
But another issue with that particular fund is that it was heavily leveraged. Again I question the wisdom (sanity?) of anyone who rode a leveraged fund all the way down in 2008.
Though in fairness to the poor suckers investors stuck with this fund,

The 2008 prospectus for the Champion fund didn’t adequately disclose the fund’s practice of assuming substantial leverage in using derivative instruments. ...
The SEC’s investigation found that the Champion fund’s 2008 prospectus was materially misleading in describing the fund’s “main” investments in high-yield bonds without adequately disclosing the fund’s practice of assuming substantial leverage on top of those investments. While the prospectus disclosed that the fund “invested” in “swaps” and other derivatives “to try to enhance income or to try to manage investment risk,” it did not adequately disclose that the fund could use derivatives to such an extent that the fund’s total investment exposure could far exceed the value of its portfolio securities and, therefore, that its investment returns could depend primarily upon the performance of bonds that it did not own.

Hence a $35M settlement payment to the SEC.
https://www.sec.gov/news/press-release/2012-2012-110htm
More important for the investors was a $52.5M payment to settle the investors' class action suit.
https://www.labaton.com/cases/oppenheimer-champion