What is the secret sauce? Wonder if the YTD of 11% is up to day?

"In one of his famous “memos,” which was released on March 31, Howard Marks (Trades, Portfolio), co-chairman of multibillion-dollar asset management firm Oaktree Capital, shared his updated thoughts on the state of the market currently as the coronavirus pandemic and oil price war continue on."
Full Memo Here

+1 @MikeM

Speaking of things budgetary, I just found this article in this morning's Chron. Edited for brevity:

The staggering economic fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic is expected to create a budget deficit in San Francisco of from $1.1 billion to $1.7 billion over the next two fiscal years, city officials said Tuesday.
The grim projections accompanied an announcement that San Francisco’s budget-setting process would be delayed for two months to buy the city’s financial experts time to readjust their spending plans in light of stark revenue losses.
In December, the projected budget shortfall over the next two fiscal years was pegged at around $420 million. That gap between the city’s spending plans and available revenue has roughly quadrupled. Last year’s budget, the largest in the city’s history, was $12.3 billion.
“The coronavirus pandemic is an immediate threat to our public health, and we’re doing everything we can to slow its spread and save lives, but we know that it is also having a major impact on our economy and our city’s revenue,” Breed said in a statement.
The city has already sustained substantial losses brought on by the threat of the coronavirus and its attendant impact on the economy. The estimated losses reflect evaporated revenue the city otherwise would have expected to receive.
Over the next three months, city officials expect a shortfall of from $167 million to $288 million, driven primarily by losses in hotel and real estate-transfer taxes. The 2020-21 fiscal year is shaping up to be worse, according to the projections, with $330 million to $581 million in revenue drained away. Losses in the 2021-22 fiscal year are estimated at between $214 million and $382 million.

That is one of the reason I have an allocation <1% from rebalancing in late 2019. The transportation sector is also heavily impacted with few traveling. Most will spend time in their home during this spring break.

Taking a long term view helps to avoid to sell at the bottom. I own a small position in VNQ and no intention to sell. This sector will recover eventually when the infection rate stabilizes in the next quarter or two - assuming the hospital capacity is maintained and expanded to handle the current situation.
This week Wuhan, China tries to restart their business after a week of no new COVID-19 cases (we hope the # is accurate). It is a slow process as everyone are wearing masks and gloves while shopping and resume their daily life. Some factories are starting up. Think we are several months away from that.

Perhaps another day, then; versus March 31.
Hi @MikeW @MikeM and Charles
Gentlemen. From the tweet link, and the actions of $HYD chart; what is causing you'all to have angst? The data is for junk bonds, yes?....or should say, what might become junk.
Thank you.
Catch

The Russell 2000 much more indicative of the breath of hemorrhage than the SPY. Former now down from February peak 37% vs 27% for latter, intra-day 1 April. SPY heavy info/tech ... companies expected to fare better with CV-19 crisis.

For those who invested in REITs. this sector has been declining rapidly to match that of S&P500. Shopping malls such as Simon Property are sizable components in most REIT funds. Many are having problem of paying their bills due to the lockdown across the country.

The biggest U.S. mall owner, Simon Property Group, has furloughed about 30% of its workforce, CNBC has learned, as the company copes with all of its properties being temporarily shut because of the coronavirus pandemic.

https://msn.com/en-us/money/companies/largest-us-mall-owner-furloughs-nearly-a-third-of-its-workforce/ar-BB11Y4jU?ocid=iehp&li=BBnbfcN

It paid dividend of .05 on 3/31. Same as per last 12 months.
Derf

I think we ended the month -19.7% from previous peak. Should I call it?

Certainly it is not a cute teddy bear but rather a hungry bear who just woke up from a long hibernation.

@VF - yeah I was thinking 1700 but your 1600 has a 50-50 chance of being right also.

Just a BA in Economics here ... I'm thinking that the S&P 500 Index trades between a near term range of 2,000 to 2,400. This is based upon TTM earings for the Index being in the range of $100.00 to $120.00 with an earnings yield of 5%. Currently, S&P list the 500 Index with projected March TTM earnings at $140.00. I'm expecting this to change as companies report March results.
For me, since cash is a big part of my asset allocation this market turmoil presents a long term buying opportunity. I'm sure there are others that think differently. But, this is what makes a market. The different perspectives and views.
I am, Old_Skeet

https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/747546/000168386320001575/f2978d1.htm
497 1 f2978d1.htm 497
PARNASSUS FUNDS
PARNASSUS INCOME FUNDS
Parnassus FundSM
Investor Shares: PARNX | Institutional Shares: PFPRX
April 1, 2020
Supplement dated April 1, 2020 to the
Summary Prospectus and Statutory Prospectus, each dated May 1, 2019, as amended and restated March 17, 2020
Name Change and Strategy Change
Effective as of May 1, 2020, the name of the Parnassus Fund will change to the Parnassus Mid Cap Growth Fund, and all references in the Prospectus are hereby changed to the new name as of that date. As of that same date, the Fund will move from being a "multi-cap" fund to a fund that primarily invests in mid-sized growth companies. So, while the Fund currently invests materially in mid-sized growth companies, effective as of May 1, 2020, this will be its primary focus, and effective as of that date, the Fund's "Principal Investment Strategies" disclosure is amended and restated as set forth below. In connection with this change, the Fund's investment objective will remain the same and the Fund may continue to hold any company that it has previously purchased regardless of changes to its market capitalization.
The Parnassus Mid Cap Growth Fund seeks capital appreciation through investing primarily (normally at least 80% of its net assets) in mid-sized growth companies. The Fund considers a mid-sized company to be one that has a market capitalization between that of the smallest and largest constituents of the Russell Midcap® Growth Index (which was between $1 billion and $33.7 billion as of May 31, 2019) measured at the time of purchase. The Fund will not automatically sell or cease to purchase stock of a company it already owns just because the company's market capitalization grows or falls outside the ranges of the Russell Midcap® Growth Index, which are subject to change. The Fund may normally invest up to 20% of its net assets in smaller- and larger-capitalization companies. A growth company is a company that the Adviser believes has a superior and pragmatic growth strategy and the potential for above-average revenue and earnings growth. The Fund invests mainly in domestic stocks of companies that are financially sound and have good prospects for the future, and to a lesser extent may also invest in foreign securities of similar companies. The Fund may purchase foreign securities directly on foreign markets. The Fund is fossil-fuel free, as it does not invest in companies that derive significant revenues from the extraction, exploration, production or refining of fossil fuels; the Fund may invest in companies that use fossil fuel-based energy to power their operations or for other purposes. To determine a company's prospects, the Adviser reviews the company's income statement, cash flow statement and balance sheet, and analyzes the company's sustainable strategic advantage and management team. The Adviser also takes environmental, social and governance ("ESG") factors into account in making investment decisions. The Fund will sell a security if the Adviser believes a company's fundamentals will deteriorate, if it believes a company's stock has little potential for appreciation or if the company no longer meets the Adviser's ESG criteria.
And the following risk factor is added to the "Principal Risks" disclosure, effective as of May 1, 2020:
Growth Investing Risk. The Adviser may be wrong in its assessment of a company's potential for growth and the growth stocks the Fund holds may not grow as the Adviser anticipates. Finally, there are periods when investing in growth stocks falls out of favor with investors and these stocks may underperform.
The following risk factor has been modified as shown below to fit the revised investment strategy of the Fund, effective as of May 1, 2020:
Small- and Mid-Capitalization Company Risk. The Fund invests primarily in mid-capitalization companies, and may also invest in small-capitalization companies, both of which can be particularly sensitive to changing economic conditions since they do not have the financial resources or the well- established businesses of large-capitalization companies. Relative to the stocks of large-capitalization companies, the stocks of small- and mid-capitalization companies are often thinly traded, and purchases and sales may result in higher transaction costs. Also, small-capitalization companies tend to perform poorly during times of economic stress.
The paragraph with the heading "Large-Capitalization Company Risk" is removed from the "Principal Risk" disclosure, effective as of May 1, 2020.
In the "Selection Process for Equity Securities" section, the paragraph with the heading "Parnassus Fund" has been replaced with the following, effective as of May 1, 2020:
Parnassus Mid Cap Growth Fund
The Parnassus Mid Cap Growth Fund seeks capital appreciation through investing primarily (normally at least 80% of its net assets) in mid-sized growth companies. The Fund considers a mid-sized company to be one that has a market capitalization between that of the smallest and largest constituents of the Russell Midcap® Growth Index (which was between $1 billion and $33.7 billion as of May 31, 2019) measured at the time of purchase. A growth company is a company that the Adviser believes has a superior and pragmatic growth strategy and the potential for above-average revenue and earnings growth. While mid- capitalization companies can be riskier than larger companies, they can also possess more potential for future growth.
A significant portion of the securities held by the Fund may be disposed of in connection with the change in investment strategy to align the securities portfolio of the Fund with the mandate that the Fund invest primarily (normally at least 80% of its net assets) in mid-sized growth companies. Any realignment could result in additional portfolio transaction costs to the Fund.
******
Please Read Carefully and Keep for Future Reference

After falling like a stone, IOFIX slowly but steadily rises up again. This may not mean much because the outbreak is far from over, and panic selling may lead to the same problem for the managers. Or maybe the worst is behind them, because it was once in a century storm?
The copy of the letter from IOFIX placed to the Fund Discussions by davfor on March 21 ends by the words: "If you would like to schedule a call with one of the portfolio managers, we are happy to schedule it." Perhaps this was a part of a separate message, because I do not see it in the pdf file that I downloaded from their website, or maybe they changed the text. But I wonder whether someone already tried to contact the managers, or everybody gave up on the fund?

What a whopping day is was in HY Munis where many funds lost 0.8-1%
I sold everything again and now at 99+% in Gov MM.
Basically, I gave back about 50% of what I made last week. Life goes on :-)
Don't know what happened to Munis today but this (link) has an explanation.
But it’s important to note that bonds issued by states and localities are only part of the muni market. About two-thirds of the market is “revenue” bonds — those issued by everything from hospitals to transportation providers to colleges and universities, all of which are about to take a serious hit from a shuddering economy.
“You could draw a dotted line from the economic impact of coronavirus to any facet of muni finance,” Kazatsky said.
“Investors have to brace for systemic downgrades across states, cities, hospitals, transportation, even essential service utilities,” Fabian said. “You can think some pretty grim things these days. The economic data is going to turn terrible.”
What does that mean? The municipal market is wary of sweeping predictions, like the one in 2010 by banking analyst Meredith Whitney, who warned of “a spate of municipal bond defaults,” as if state and local governments had never confronted an economic downturn before.

Let's make predictions. After all there is no rule you have to have an MBA from Harvard and work at GS. I predict S&P 500 goes to 1600.

@TheShadow. Thanks! Useful. However I do believe WHEN you buy being more important than WHAT you buy. GP was started at the perfect time IMO. Not discounting the fact GP folks are competent, merely pointing out they haven't really been tested in bear market fully.
GPGCX and GPMCX are institutional only and will never be NTF. So I will pass on them. I plan to "reach" out to the all the "stalwarts" in my taxable account. I plan to exercise the "opportunity" to buy in my IRA. However, I'm not rushing out and buying. If they start to close NTF again, I'll get my foot in and wait if I'm still not ready to commit.
By the way for those who are GP fans don't forget GUSYX which you also have to buy direct. Once again, notice their timing. Start date is 3/19/20 and fund already up 10%. Everyone is not so lucky or has opportunity. Keep in mind while comparing with other funds.

@VintageFreak
Here is copy of Grandeur Peak Chairman's letter I posted in February.
https://www.grandeurpeakglobal.com/documents/grandeurpeakglobal-is-20200131.pdf