@Maurice, maybe its time to jump onboard HSGFX...up 4.31% YTD. Maybe not.
Related topic to your comment:

As the authors stated, “As the size of the fund increases and because the manager’s investment ideas are finite, the new money flows are not able to be put to productive use, which subsequently leads to zero net alpha in equilibrium.”
The authors also stated, “… managers have no ability to generate additional investment ideas when existing opportunities are fully exploited.”
Fund managers cannot “cope with the influx of new money” resulting from the FMOY award, according to the authors.

https://advisorperspectives.com/articles/2017/10/16/should-you-invest-with-the-fund-manager-of-the-year
@JoJo26, Long term - 2 funds are at least 32 years old (PRWCX and FDGRX). PBDZX is 24 years old. Nothing but Long term success.

FYI: U.S. stocks fell on Tuesday, with major indexes retreating from early highs as a rise in bond yields provided another reason for caution at a time when the first-quarter earnings season is failing to excite investors, despite some strong reads from corporate America.
While the earnings season remained in full swing, with results from a number of major firms, the tone was generally negative, with several bellwether stocks slumping despite posting numbers that were ahead of analyst forecasts.
Regards,
Ted
Bloomberg:
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-04-23/yen-drop-to-buoy-japan-stocks-as-dollar-rallies-markets-wrap
Reuters:
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-global-markets/stocks-retreat-as-u-s-10-year-yields-top-3-percent-idUSKBN1HV01Z
MarketWatch:
https://www.marketwatch.com/story/dow-shapes-up-to-break-losing-streak-but-earnings-could-kill-the-buzz-2018-04-24/print
IBD:
https://www.investors.com/market-trend/stock-market-today/stock-market-today-april-24-2018-caterpillar-earnings/
CNBC:
https://www.cnbc.com/2018/04/24/us-stock-futures-dow-data-earnings-tech-and-politics-on-the-agenda.html
AP:
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/F/FINANCIAL_MARKETS?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT
Bonds:
https://www.reuters.com/article/usa-bonds/treasuries-u-s-10-year-yield-hits-3-pct-as-economy-shows-resilience-idUSL1N1S11C1
Currencies:
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-global-forex/dollar-euro-hold-after-u-s-10-year-yield-hits-3-percent-idUSKBN1HV04J
Oil:
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-global-oil/oil-steadies-after-brent-tops-75-on-supply-cuts-iran-sanctions-threat-idUSKBN1HV03J
Gold:
https://www.cnbc.com/2018/04/24/gold-market-dollar-yields-in-focus.html
WSJ: Markets At A Glance:
http://markets.wsj.com/us
SPDR's Sector Tracker:
http://www.sectorspdr.com/sectorspdr/tools/sector-tracker
SPDR's Bloomberg Sector Performance Pie Chart:
https://www.bloomberg.com/markets/sectors
Current Futures: Negative
https://finviz.com/futures.ashx
Quote

@willmatt72 and @expatsp
Info only: BOTZ , managed by Global X........Global X is being acquired. See link below. There is a shareholder vote; but I suspect this is a done deal, and reportedly will not affect Global X and its etf offerings.
https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/global-x-and-mirae-assets-etf-businesses-combine-to-create-a-global-etf-franchise-300598198.html

If you like AI and like Amazon then there is one fund which gives you considerable exposure. Fidelity's Select Retailing (FSRPX) which has a 24.5% weighting to AMZN. The fund manager recently stated she likes AMZN not only for its disruptive business model but also for its commitment to AI. (Disclosure: I own FSRPX)

Have held this fund for at least forty years now. 4.5% of portfolio. Been happy with it all that time.

Funny you should post this, Im looking at its BALFX (another class of same fund) which is available ntf and load waived at Fidelity. I recently added MAPOX to my mix, and thinking I made a mistake. I thought all American Funds were load funds, so did not do enough deep research on balanced funds as I thought. It seems M* had a good thread on it in balanced/allocation funds, and was very surprised at the results I found. Despite the fact that I already paid 2 $49.95 fees to buy it (one in ira, one in roth) Im going to swallow my pride and reverse my decision.

FYI: Rock-bottom fees, strong equity selection, and a recently improved fixed-income effort support American Funds American Balanced's Morningstar Analyst Rating of Silver.
Regards,
Ted
http://www.morningstar.com/articles/860449/this-big-balanced-fund-is-getting-better.html
Lipper Snapshot ABALX:
https://www.marketwatch.com/investing/fund/abalx
ABALX Is Ranked #6 In The (50%-70% E) Fund Category By U.S. News & World Report:
https://money.usnews.com/funds/mutual-funds/allocation-50-to-70-equity/american-funds-american-balanced-fund/abalx

FYI: Kenny Feng is president and CEO of Alerian, a leading provider of MLP indexes. About $18 billion is tied to the Alerian Index Series, including the $9.5 billion Alerian MLP ETF (AMLP) and the $3.1 billion J.P. Morgan Alerian MLP ETN (AMJ). ETF.com spoke with Feng to discuss the latest outlook for MLPs after recent share price declines, and what the Republican tax cuts mean for MLP ETFs.
Regards,
Ted
http://www.etf.com/sections/features-and-news/what-do-about-mlps-after-turmoil

I was just debating fixing up the old reliable 13-year old GMC pickup for somewhere between $3,000 and $5,000 or buying a brand new one. Took a look. Sticker prices of $40,000 - $80,000 convinced me to fix up the old one. (What inflation?)

That is the reason we drive a minivan as a family car. SUVs are expensive! We rent one recently not by choice (only ones left in the lot) and had less than satisfactory experience with it comparing to our minivan. Next time we will walk over to another rental shop at the airport.

All I'm saying is that one can't infer that bank loans are harder to price than treasuries from the fact that the former are classified as level 2. Certainly pricing them is more difficult, just as investment grade corporates are harder to price than Treasuries. But you won't get that from their pricing level. Right conclusion, wrong evidence.
Quoting from the Vanguard report: "Various inputs may be used to determine the value of the fund’s investments. These inputs are summarized in three broad levels for financial statement purposes. The inputs or methodologies used to value securities are not necessarily an indication of the risk associated with investing in those securities."
You say you don't like Vanguard; you say it's too conservative. Have I got a deal for you :-)
How about Fidelity? The annual report for its Limited Term Government Fund classifies all its holdings (again excluding cash equivalents) as level 2, including both US and foreign government and government agency obligations, US government agency mortgage securities, CMOs, commercial mortgage securities, and purchased "swaptions".
Or let's get wild and crazy, and check out PIMCO. In PIMIX's semiannual report we finally find some level 1 bonds. But they're not treasuries - all the US government obligations and treasuries are level 2.
0.01% of banking and finance bonds are level 1, while 11% are level 3, showing that sometimes bank loans are rated at level 3. (All the financial stocks held by the fund are also rated level 3.)
0.3% of corporate industrial bonds are level 1, while 0.14% are level 3.
There are a variety of other categories of bonds and stocks with some rated level 3.
JP Morgan gives a clue as to why all these bonds show up as level 2 or lower:
"J.P. Morgan has reserved the definition of ‘quoted prices in active markets’ to strictly be applied to exchange trade equity and derivative securities. Fixed income prices provided by a vendor or broker/dealer are classified as a Level 2. This decision is based on our analysis which found that most fixed income securities are priced using an evaluated price provided by an independent pricing vendor or broker/dealer."

@willmatt72
Cost of some industrial robotics, not unlike other "new" in many areas; will be a part of all of this, too. The pros and cons, the needs and the wants, will get worked out.
https://www.digitaltrends.com/cool-tech/sam-bricklaying-robot-6x-faster-than-you-can/
You've probably already searched videos, but this link is a good overview for some robotics. ALSO, while at YouTube, if interested; search Boston Dynamics robots. This company is an example of a private company purchased by Google several years ago and then sold to Softbank of Japan. The CEO of this company is on the ball/forward looking and has built a large empire of technology.
@Old_Joe, I know you'll likely enjoy the video links in the below link. Start with the 3rd down.....8 Amazing Robots
https://www.google.com/search?biw=1404&bih=659&tbm=vid&ei=kkbdWoaaJouHjwT0t56wBg&q=robots&oq=robots&gs_l=psy-ab.12..0l10.37093.41458.0.46343.16.9.0.0.0.0.132.726.8j1.9.0....0...1c.1.64.psy-ab..11.5.429...0i7i30k1j0i8i7i30k1j0i13k1.0.JbiOidGth-A
Just the above robotics is the one area; which still leaves machine learning, other A.I., manufacturing, chip makers/engineering and all of the areas these will become involved.
Take care,
Catch

@Hank - This board is used to talk about investments, bounce ideas around and discuss investment topics. People talk about their own investments on a daily basis. I don't need a financial advisor as I've been successful at investing on my own for 25 years. Maybe you missed the part where I wrote, "I'm going to do some further research based on your links as well as some digging on my own." If you don't like the thread, move on.

> But a lot can go wrong especially when investors think they are in a “sure thing”.
In a nutshell, that's what concerns me about bonds other than vanilla bonds (investment grade corporate, treasuries). They are fine, often for long periods of time (increasing the belief that they're "sure things"), until they're not. Then declines can come fast and steep. These are not your father's bond funds.
@Junkster, thanks for the link. A lot to unpack.
Speaking of your father's bond funds, it's worth taking a look at Vanguard bond funds to better understand what Level 2 means.
Virtually every bond whether it is a AAA rated corporate or a junk rated bank loan is level 2 or below. That's because unlike stocks, unique bonds usually don't trade that frequently. So instead of pricing from actual market trades, estimates may done by "comps" as in real estate. That's level 2.
Here's the latest Vanguard bond index fund semiannual report. Excluding cash equivalents and futures contracts, the breakdown of the Vanguard funds by level are:
Short Term Treasury (p 22) - US Government Obligations: 100% level 2
Intermediate Term Treasury (p 36) - US Government Obligations: 100% level 2
Long Term Treasury (p 51) - US Government Obligations: 100% level 2
Short Term Corporate (p 67) -
US Government Obligations: 100% level 2
Corporate Bonds: 99.9% level 2, 0.1% level 3
Taxable Munis: 100% level 2

Intermediate Term Corporate (p. 83) -
US Government Obligations: 100% level 2
Corporate Bonds: 99.9% level 2, 0.1% level 3

Long Term Corporate (p 100) -
Corporate Bonds: 99.97% level 2, 0.03% level 3
Taxable Munis: 100% level 2
Mortgage Backed Securities (p 116) -
US Government and Agency Obligations: 100% level 2

https://www.guggenheimpartners.com/perspectives/sector-views/q2-2018-high-yield-and-bank-loan-outlook
I have tried to stay out of this one. We have discussed ad nauseum this sector on the Morningstar forums. Everyone and their mother is camped out in this category and for good reasons - rising short term/3 month Libor rates. It has been one of the few beacons in Bondland in 2018. But a lot can go wrong especially when investors think they are in a “sure thing”.
For example a serious rout in stocks much more than what we saw this past February would also lead to a rout in junk corporates. That would bleed over to floating rates as after all, they are junk credits. Check out August 2015 through early February for a preview. I doubt in my lifetime there will be another credit crisis but in that crisis floating rates performed even worse than junk corporates with somevfubdscdown over 30%. Another threat would be the Fed pausing on rate hikes if stocks have a major decline and/or there is some unexpected decline in the growth of the economy.
The above link is a report from a well respected firm for those into fundamentals. Haven’t read the entire report but the default rate for floating rate is already rising albeit below historical norms. It is actually higher than the high yield default rate. Covenant lite issuance is at record highs, not good whenever this long running post credit crisis cycle turns, Still, my largest % holding is in this category with EIFAX which I have mentioned here over the past many months. But my eyes are wide open. The time to have been a player here was 2016 when many floating rate funds had double digit returns and beat the S&P. You can check the archives for my activity there then.
I always wonder why so many suddenly see the light years after the fact. Entry now while maybe not the worse bond investment out there is certainly more in the late innings than the early. You better hope for continued economic vigor and in turn the Fed continuing aggressive.

@Wxman123
Read pages 28-30 of the semiannual report:
prospectus-express.newriver.com/summary.asp?doctype=semi&clientid=ambeacpdfll&fundid=024525313
Floating rate loans are similar in their pricing to the subprime debt for the IOFAX fund discussed in another thread. They are mainly Level 2 securities so pricing can be tricky and involves what is known as a fair value system based on other inputs such as how other similar securities might be trading that day. During periods of stress, these kinds of securities can become much more difficult to price.

I was just debating fixing up the old reliable 13-year old GMC pickup for somewhere between $3,000 and $5,000 or buying a brand new one. Took a look. Sticker prices of $40,000 - $80,000 convinced me to fix up the old one. (What inflation?)
BTW - When I was a kid in the 50s, pickup trucks were what some of the poorer folks drove. Cost less than full sized cars. How that changed!

What are your thoughts on this one? I'm always skeptical of anything to good to be true...but this fund has an exceptionally narrow 52-week trading range of 10.29 to 10.36, yields 4.63%, a long and successful run before the Sound Point Fund was picked up by American Beacon, and is up 1.83% YTD. Floaters are usually fairly volatile but this fund is run to be low vol, and has lived up to that promise. With rising rate expectations, this would appear to be a holy grail, but alas there are few such beasts. Where does the danger lurk...or should we be buying with both fists.
PS. Pimco Income has been my go to for years and is still my mainstay in the bond space, but I just can't believe that its significant out performance won't mean revert at some point and so I will not increase my already full position.

Ted, they are much more prevalent in states like Utah and Colorado because of their off road prowess. They come in handy for me here in KY, TN, and NC because of some of the iffy dirt and rocky roads I have to navigate on my hiking destinations. But more importantly my original Xterra, a 2008, has been the most maintenance free vehicle I have ever owned. Having the oil changed regularly and new tires every 45,000 miles have been about the only expenses. Although it is certainly no status vehicle, it’s nice to drive something you don’t see very often in my neck of the woods. In my neck of the woods it is almost all pick up trucks.

@Junkster: Glad you enjoyed the article. I must admit I didn't know what a Xterras was, had to look it up. For those of you ,like myself, who are car challenged, here is a little info on the Xterras
Regards,
Ted
The Nissan Xterra is a truck that was manufactured and marketed by Nissan Motors across two generations, sharing its platform with the Nissan Frontier pickup. Both generations of the Xterra featured a two-box design with a raised rear roofline to enable stadium seating—as well as a bump on the rearmost door expressing
In 2015 Nissan Xterra Discontinued in U.S. ... The Xterra, which competes against the Jeep Wrangler, is being discontinued for regulatory reasons. Nissan would have had to invest in upgraded safety and emissions equipment for what is a fairly limited audience.
https://www.google.com/search?q=Xterras+image&tbm=isch&source=iu&ictx=1&fir=HSA_PIqL7ohHHM%3A%2C6XUI7TOndHinRM%2C_&usg=__Mf3ENnwEfZ-Hs4fR1uRycFVBOQU=&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwi6oMevkM7aAhWN94MKHZ9qBgwQ9QEILTAB#imgrc=HSA_PIqL7ohHHM:

One of the best articles I have read. Thanks @Ted. One I will actually be printing out. So many bullet points that are applicable to my situation. I have some work to do still in the spending department but finally have been begun to loosen the purse strings. Recently purchased two low mileage Xterras to go along with my older one. They quit making them in 2015. I hope to be driving them until the day I pass. I love Xterras!
One point mentioned in the article and something I have harped on before is we that we all tend to overestimate our longevity. It’s a natural tendency so I can understand. When younger we all had friends who seemed to go by the motto to live each day as if it is your last. Strangely enough, at least among my friends, those seemed to be the ones who ( A) never made it to old age due to poor health habits or (B) now live hand to mouth in retirement from overspending in their youth. . My point is, it’s not so much when we are young that we should live as if each day is our last, but more so when we are old - and especially those of us who have been blessed in old age with money and good health. Health in old age can change in the blink of an eye so you better live each day to the fullest enjoying whatever your passions may be.