"Smarter people" suggest that......

Value stocks outperformed growth for half a year after every presidential election since 1980, according to research by Larry McDonald and his team at the Bear Traps Report.

New administrations often pass a lot of spending bills that rev up the economy. Value stocks typically outperform when growth picks up. One reason is that when there’s more growth around, investors no longer pay up for what was once a narrower swath of growth plays.

https://marketwatch.com/story/value-stocks-are-poised-to-crush-growth-stocks-after-the-presidential-election-2020-10-09

It’s amazing how wide the gap is this year between value and growth. Once upon a time Price’s Equity Income fund PRFDX was their flagship equity offering. It’s one of their oldest funds. For many years it was headed by the very capable Brian Rogers, something of a media celebrity in his day. The fund holds a lot of income producing companies and tilts toward value. It’s off a whopping 12.4% YTD. and has stumbled badly for years now. By contrast, Vanguard’s S&P index fund, VFINX is ahead YTD by 9.11% YTD. That’s a gap of about 21% YTD between the two funds. Even crazier, Price’s Blue Chip TRBCX is up 29.3% this year for a YTD difference of more than 40% between the two funds. Absolutely amazing.
I think this all means something important for us to consider, but I’m not sure what. Smarter people than me can chime in. I got my numbers from Lipper and believe them to be accurate. If you own Price’s diversified income fund, RPSIX, and are wondering why it’s only ahead by 1% YTD, look no further than PRFDX which it holds at generally around a 12% weighting (but it varies).
Disclaimer - I do not own any of the 3 mentioned equity funds and haven’t for at least 5 years. I do, however, own RPSIX.

AMG GW&K International Small Cap Fund filing
https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/720309/000119312520267166/d43311d485apos.htm

Me too regarding hopes for the future. Regarding the recent trend in renewables, I initiated a position in TERP on 12/30/19 and made additional investments during Q1 of 2020. It was merged into BEPC during the summer. The return to date on that investment is 105% plus dividends. That jump will probably not be repeated in the near future, but I have no plans to sell. (The results of the upcoming election will partially shape the investment outlook going forward for the U.S.)

Unfortunately most retirees I know including myself don't want to increase volatility and/or use cash + alternatives. The only choice most have are bond funds.
I have looked for alternative for years and couldn't find any that proved to be a good consistent one for years.
In my case as a trader, I'm at over 99% in bonds most times but trades riskier stuff for hours-days several times annually. The results are much better than my specific goals (making 6% annually, never lose 3% from any last top, SD < 3).
For someone who is not a trader and still want to have bond funds, they may look beyond "simple" bond funds. PIMIX used to be a great one and it's still OK but other funds may be PTIAX,TSIIX(both multi) + MNCPX(Non Trad) + HY Munis(VWALX).
Another good choice is a fund like PRWCX where the manager have been using flexible approach.

I prefer VCORX or BIV over BSV, a bit more volatility but much better returns (chart)

VCOR is not a near cash vehicle. BSV is, and also is inversely correlated to the market, making it a good choice to combine with near cash positions that do better but are correlated to the market (a bit) like GILPX and THIIX. In a balanced basket there is a very low probability of losing significant dollars, and they should materially outperform something like a high yield on line savings account (in the .70%-.80 range these days).

(link) Tom Bowley is one of my favorite technicians.

I remain firmly in the secular bull market theory camp. We're going higher. Forget about politics, civil unrest, the virus, the deficit, the economy, blah, blah, blah. Money flow, the Fed and historically-low interest rates will fuel higher prices. While each of those is extremely important in the performance of U.S. equities, here are the 3 really big reasons why I believe stocks are heading higher.
...
We're in a different market environment. I've been writing about it all year. Stop fighting this bull market. I'm not talking about an advance that lasts the rest of this year....or for 2021. I'm talking about a secular bull market that will last another 10-12 years, into the 2030s.

A bullish assessment of the rebound from the march lows and the prospects for the year ahead...

American consumers almost never disappoint us. I often have observed that when Americans are happy, they spend money and when they are depressed, they spend even more money—because shopping releases dopamine in our brains, which makes us feel good.
The October 2 update of the Atlanta Fed’s GDPNow model showed that Q3’s real GDP is tracking at a record jump of 34.6% (at a seasonally adjusted annual rate, or saar) following the record 31.4% drop during Q2. That’s certainly a V-shaped recovery so far.
...there is still enough “potential” fiscal stimulus left over to provide “kinetic” energy to consumer spending over the next few months, in our opinion.
The pace of the recovery is bound to slow in 2021, and there could be setbacks. However, so far, the recovery has been impressive.

blog.yardeni.com/2020/10/tale-of-two-economies-housing-related.html

Recent Sept/Oct Episodes:

My choices for ONE fund for small IRA.
GAVAX
HSTRX
PRWCX/RPGAX/TMSRX
I own all of them for TRP funds for my MIL.
I do own smattering of VLAAX which I plan to add to after taking tax losses in other funds, however it would not be my 1 fund. When I imagine 1 fund I cannot think "long term". I have to think year over year and the TRP funds are as aggressive as I would get.

You can read my bond thread for ideas (link)
Higher rated bonds (core + core plus) + Munis are not doing well for 1-4 months.
The best bond funds are specializing in securitized/MBS. You can most in the Multi category but also in Non Trad

Mine:
PTIAX dropped measurably at the beginning of the week. Holding even on the last two or three days. PRSNX and RPSIX have risen nicely, this week. For not any reason I can figure out. Particularly given the political turmoil.
27 US stocks
8 foreign stocks
57 bonds of all sorts
PTIAX 7.82 of portf.
PRSNX 20.99
RPSIX 26.51
retired, 66. pretty happy with my funds. Wife has one fund, Trad. IRA: BRUFX.
Everything else is concentrated in 6 funds. PRWCX holds 31.48 % of portf, including BRUFX.

https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/720309/000119312520266471/d46556d497k.htm
AMG Managers Cadence Emerging Companies Fund
Supplement dated October 8, 2020 to the Summary Prospectus, dated October 1, 2020
The following information supplements and supersedes any information to the contrary relating to AMG Managers Cadence Emerging Companies Fund (the “Fund”), a series of AMG Funds III (the “Trust”), contained in the Fund’s Summary Prospectus (the “Summary Prospectus”), dated as noted above.
At a meeting held on October 8, 2020 (the “Meeting”), the Trust’s Board of Trustees (the “Board”) approved the appointment of GW&K Investment Management, LLC (“GW&K” or the “Subadviser”) as the subadviser to the Fund on an interim basis to replace Cadence Capital Management LLC (“Cadence”), effective October 8, 2020 (the “Implementation Date”). The appointment of GW&K was pursuant to an interim subadvisory agreement between AMG Funds LLC (“AMGF”) and GW&K (the “Interim Subadvisory Agreement”), to be effective until the earlier of 150 days after the termination of the former subadvisory agreement between AMGF and Cadence with respect to the Fund (the “Former Subadvisory Agreement”), which occurred on October 8, 2020, or the approval of a new subadvisory agreement between AMGF and GW&K by the Board and Fund shareholders. At the Meeting, the Board also approved the longer-term appointment of GW&K as the subadviser to the Fund, a new subadvisory agreement between AMGF and GW&K (the “New Subadvisory Agreement”), and the submission of the New Subadvisory Agreement to Fund shareholders for approval. The rate of compensation to be received by GW&K under the Interim Subadvisory Agreement approved by the Board is the same rate of compensation that Cadence would have received under the Former Subadvisory Agreement.
In connection with the hiring of GW&K, effective as of the Implementation Date, the Fund (i) changed its name from AMG Managers Cadence Emerging Companies Fund to AMG GW&K International Small Cap Fund, (ii) made changes to its investment objective, principal investment strategies and principal risks, and (iii) replaced its existing benchmark index with the MSCI World ex USA Small Cap Index.
In addition, effective as of the Implementation Date, the Summary Prospectus is amended as follows:
All references to the name of AMG Managers Cadence Emerging Companies Fund shall refer to AMG GW&K International Small Cap Fund.
The section titled “Investment Objective” on page 1 is deleted and replaced with the following:...
Also from AMG website,
https://www.amgfunds.com/products/gwk_international_small_cap_fund_mecax.html
Fund Notice:
Effective October 8, 2020, the subadviser of AMG Managers Cadence Emerging Companies Fund (the “Fund”) changed from Cadence Capital Management LLC to GW&K Investment Management, LLC (“GW&K”). The appointment of GW&K is pursuant to an interim subadvisory agreement in anticipation of shareholder approval of a definitive subadvisory agreement. Also effective October 8, 2020, the Fund changed its name to AMG GW&K International Small Cap Fund and changed its investment objective, principal investment strategies and principal risks. For more information regarding these and other changes to the Fund, please see the Fund’s prospectus.

Hi newgirl.
They are there.
Probably best to adjust screen to show all 672 GOs by selecting Rows 1000.
Or, just search symbol like PISIX or BUFIX on the GO page.
Let me know if this help resolve.
Thank you!

Safest Ally 11mo no penalty cd. Also consider ultra short bond funds. GSY, ICSH, JPST,TRBUX,VUSFX. I own all of the above.

Safest. Ally 11mo no penalty cd. Also consider ultra short bond funds. GSY, ICSH, JPST,TRBUX,VUSFX. I own all of the above. Sorry goofed and posted twice accidentally.

solid analysis, imo
https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2020/10/wall-street-got-what-it-wanted-from-trump-ready-for-biden.html

In the current interest rate environment, I would require "near cash" to:
(a) be only slightly volatile - the more volatile a fund is, the longer one might have to wait to cash out even accepting a modest loss;
(b) have relatively small max drawdowns - it could take "forever" to recover from a significant drop
Bonds are more predictable than stocks in the sense that one can say, given a particular condition, how a particular bond will behave. If one bond with basic attributes (maturity, duration, credit quality) similar to another pays more, there's a reason.
Even (and perhaps especially) if a fund has never exhibited a risk, if it is yielding more, there's a risk there somewhere. The rule of thumb I follow is that the less obvious the risk and the less likely it is to happen, the more catastrophic it will be if the risk is realized.
I think one objective for "near cash" is to reduce the likelihood, however small, of such a catastrophic event. "Near cash" is not an investment one is planning to hold for many years. It does not have the time to prove its long term mettle.
VCORX has 2&frac12; times the volatility of BSV (3.67% vs 1.51% over three years). It has a duration of 6.4 years (per Vanguard). No wonder it (and BIV) took off since March 20th. But do you really expect interest rates to drop again just as much? That would be a drop to 0.0%. (Between March 18th and October 8th, 7 year treasury rates dropped from 1.08% to 0.54%; another 0.54% drop would take them down to 0.0%.)
Regarding BSV, this still carries some interest rate risk, some volatility, some credit risk. Its 30 day SEC yield is 0.34%. These don't compare favorably with no-penalty CDs from Ally Bank (11 month, 0.60% - 0.65%), and Marcus Bank (7 month, 0.55%). Though the ETF does have the advantage of finer granularity (you don't have to cash out everything) and ETFs can be easier to invest in than CDs with an IRA.
As to bonds in general, I substantially agree with one of the quotes in the Barron's article that @hank cited in another thread: "Rieder recommends more stocks and, in the bond portfolio, only half in traditional fixed income, with the other half split between alternatives and cash."
Personally, I'm not into alternatives, but increasing equity and using cash rather than bonds to protect against sequence of return risk makes sense to me. Especially since one doesn't do much better with bonds these days than with cash unless one is taking outsized risks.

And, it will undoubtedly go up more from here....for better or worse...

The Treasury Department won't put out final numbers for fiscal year 2020 until later this month. But if the CBO's estimates are on the mark, the country's total debt owed to investors -- which is essentially the sum of annual deficits that have accrued over the years -- will have outpaced the size of the economy, coming in at nearly 102% of GDP, according to calculations from the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget.
The debt hasn't been that high since 1946, when the federal debt was 106.1% of GDP.

https://cnn.com/2020/10/08/economy/deficit-debt-pandemic-cbo/index.html

Looks like the 10-year has shot up about 10 basis points in recent weeks to around 0.77% this morning. The media gurus are all over the story, so I took a look.
- PBDIX up 7.14% YTD / down 0.44% past 4 weeks
- DODLX up 6.6% YTD / no change past 4 weeks
- RPSIX up 1.07% YTD / up 0.12% past 4 weeks
Any good ideas where to put money for a little extra return beyond cash with minimal potential loss of principal over 2-3 year periods? Short term bonds vs intermediate? AAA rated vs. sub-investment grade?