http://funds-newsletter.com/sept20-newsletter/sept20.htm
Portfolio Maintenance 101: Seven Critical Questions
By Tom Madell
Many people have contacted me for help in arriving at and maintaining an appropriate fund portfolio during the last several months. Each investor, of course, has a different set of circumstances which means that merely recommending the identical "cookie cutter" portfolio for everyone doesn't make sense. Compounding the difficulty is that we are now operating under a situation, namely the coronavirus, that has never been experienced before, and for which there are still far too many questions than answers.
Dr Madell asks important/ intuitive questions regarding management of your portfolio that you consider doing frequently. His readings are interesting to me. Anyone have experience with him free-reviews and feedback of your portfolio?. Enjoy

I'd like to see the board move away from politics ... and, hopefully open more discussion on investing topics.
The big question for me is whether this market can keep up the momentum? Below is what one expert thinks.
“Obviously these things are difficult to pinpoint, but a 2%-3% decline sometime in the next couple of weeks wouldn’t be at all surprising to me. I continue to believe that the SPX SPX, -0.21% [S&P 500] can reach 3,700 (+14.5%) by year-end, but probably not without three or four small pullbacks along the way,” he told MarketWatch in an interview and follow-up email.
Read more about this by clicking the provided link; https://www.marketwatch.com/story/heres-what-could-trigger-more-stock-market-pullbacks-this-year-says-schwab-trading-expert-2020-09-01

The bull "market" is extremely narrow. The equal weight S&P 500 index ETF (RSP) is still down on the year. What's leading the market higher is tech, especially large cap tech. ...

I have been tracking, and find appealing, EQAL. You?
But then, you know, I look at VONE (forget VONG).

https://www.marketwatch.com/news/story.asp?guid={21004575-02D4-D4B5-4572-D283723A90B1}&siteid=rss&rss=1
U.S. corporate debt soars to record $10.5 trillion
Published: Aug. 31, 2020 at 8:58 p.m. ET
By Joy Wiltermuth
Who owns U.S. company debt? Everyone...
Anyone concerned about total Usa Corp debt...will bubble burst soon. Think as long as fed keep pouring kool-aid the party will continue!? Jnk and LOQ Kept rising

“Growing uncertainty surging through global financial markets is helping to shine a spotlight on the gold market as more generalist investors and funds look for safe-haven assets.According to media reports, the Ohio Police & Fire Pension Fund (OP&F) approved a 5% allocation into gold in a move to diversify its portfolio and hedge against the risk of inflation. The fund currently holds about $16 billion in assets under management. The gold recommendation was made by the fund's investment consultant, Wilshire Associates,”
Story

Investing for the niece and nephew in BIAWX. HEAVY in tech, Nasdaq. But they're only 19 and 14. Long way to go, through ups and downs. It's been several months since I added to it. Riding high, just now.

Wellstrade ( Wells Fargo) sent me a letter last month discontinuing the free 100 yearly trades of TF funds ,promised ,when I opened the account 13 years ago. So that kept me in their fold even with all the shenanagans going on, which never affected me. Now all TF fund buys and sells will be $35. Their platform of NTF funds is small compared to the other big guys. So now they get the finger and my account which is very, very large is going to Firstrade in which ALL trades and ALL 11,000 funds are traded FREE. This includes all Vanguard funds including Admiral class. I hope someone at Wellstrade sees this. The customer service is ok if you get a USA based CSR.. The site is easy to work and trade on. The company and management stinks as most know, by now. This is not a time that a brokerage should be reneging on its promises with all the competition out there. But from Wells Fargo not unexpected. Good riddance to Wellstrade!!

Big fan of firstrade. Website is simple but it works fine. Also, once in a while you can snag institutional shares of mutual funds at low minimums and NTF.

Hi @Derf my top year-to-date performers, with better than a 20% return, through 8/28 are SPECX +33.16% ... AOFAX +29.82 ... FISCX +27.24 ... AGTHX +22.86 ... and, CTFAX +22.25%. Overall (year to date) I'm up about 4.3% with a portfolio yield of about 3.3%. So, I am now currently north of my yield.

Much better than all of my others: PRIDX but it's just 6.7% of my total. And it's closed, these days. +19.26% YTD. So that one could be added to the list.

Wellstrade has one of the highest closeout fee around, $95. So it's a good thing that Firstrade covers those fees up to $200. I got so fed up with Wellstrade that, free trades and all, I left them years ago.
Remember Scottrade? Or before that Scudder Retirement Plus? Like Wellstrade, for a number of years they let you trade all funds without fees. I expect Firstrade to drop this feature also at some point, though that could be a decade or more off.
OTOH, I expect Vanguard Flagship level ($1M+) to keep free mutual fund trades around indefinitely. Vanguard has deeper pockets and its program is different. To qualify, customers must invest a large amount of money in Vanguard funds. That gives Vanguard a revenue stream that Firstrade doesn't get when you invest through them in third party funds.
Vanguard has not only maintained this perk, but has increased its value over time. Originally you received 8 free trades per year, counting not only TF fund trades but equity trades. Vanguard raised the number to 25. Then early this year it eliminated commissions on equity trades, ensuring that all 25 free trades were applied to your TF fund transactions.
There's a lot I'll criticize Vanguard for, and I have, but investing in funds (not stocks, not ETFs) on its brokerage platform is not one of them. The platform is bare bones, but simple to use for this basic task. Now if you want to talk customer service, trading tools, etc., that's a whole 'nother kettle of fish.

Announced today.
https://www.grandeurpeakglobal.com/documents/grandeurpeakglobal-pr-20200831.pdf
She’s been with the team since 2013.

Wellstrade ( Wells Fargo) sent me a letter last month discontinuing the free 100 yearly trades of TF funds ,promised ,when I opened the account 13 years ago. So that kept me in their fold even with all the shenanagans going on, which never affected me. Now all TF fund buys and sells will be $35. Their platform of NTF funds is small compared to the other big guys. So now they get the finger and my account which is very, very large is going to Firstrade in which ALL trades and ALL 11,000 funds are traded FREE. This includes all Vanguard funds including Admiral class. I hope someone at Wellstrade sees this. The customer service is ok if you get a USA based CSR.. The site is easy to work and trade on. The company and management stinks as most know, by now. This is not a time that a brokerage should be reneging on its promises with all the competition out there. But from Wells Fargo not unexpected. Good riddance to Wellstrade!!

I thought you could only get Admiral Class shares at Vanguard.

follow-up
https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1005020/000110465920100855/tm2029720d5_497.htm
497 1 tm2029720d5_497.htm VIRTUS FORT TREND FUND
Virtus Rampart Equity Trend Fund,
a series of Virtus Opportunities Trust
Supplement dated August 31, 2020 to the
Statutory Prospectus and Statement of Additional Information (“SAI”),
each dated January 28, 2020, as supplemented
IMPORTANT NOTICE TO INVESTORS
The statutory prospectus and SAI for Virtus Opportunities Trust have been updated to reflect changes to Virtus Rampart Equity Trend Fund, including a name change.
Effective August 31, 2020, the Virtus Rampart Equity Trend Fund’s name has been changed to Virtus FORT Trend Fund (the “Fund”). The disclosure for Virtus Rampart Equity Trend Fund in the Virtus Opportunities Trust statutory prospectus and SAI is no longer valid. Please see the Fund’s separate statutory prospectus, summary prospectus and SAI for additional disclosure regarding these changes.
Investors should retain this amendment with the
Prospectuses and SAI for future reference.
VOT 8020 RampartEquityTrendFORTChanges (8/2020)

Wellstrade ( Wells Fargo) sent me a letter last month discontinuing the free 100 yearly trades of TF funds ,promised ,when I opened the account 13 years ago. So that kept me in their fold even with all the shenanagans going on, which never affected me. Now all TF fund buys and sells will be $35. Their platform of NTF funds is small compared to the other big guys. So now they get the finger and my account which is very, very large is going to Firstrade in which ALL trades and ALL 11,000 funds are traded FREE. This includes all Vanguard funds including Admiral class. I hope someone at Wellstrade sees this. The customer service is ok if you get a USA based CSR.. The site is easy to work and trade on. The company and management stinks as most know, by now. This is not a time that a brokerage should be reneging on its promises with all the competition out there. But from Wells Fargo not unexpected. Good riddance to Wellstrade!!

IOFIX short term fee of 1% within 180 days was canceled.

@Old_Skeet: I was looking at (Trailing Returns (%) Vs. Benchmarks
Return). Not enough coffee ! I double checked with Chuck & they agreed with 33.16 %
Derf

https://www.foxbusiness.com/markets/us-stocks-aug-31-2020
S&P 500 fights for best 5-month stretch since 1938 as Apple, Tesla split
U.S. equity markets were little changed on Monday and on track to wrap up their best month since April. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 52 points, or 0.18%, while the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq Composite were higher by 0.01% and 0.16%, respectively. All three of the major averages look to be on track for a fifth straight month of gains and are looking at their best five-month stretch in years
We are +7.4% YTD...glad did not pull out completely in March 20
Will trend continue at end summer/fall, nobody know

Hi @Derf, Boy there sure is a big difference in what Yahoo reflects and what M* reflects. I rechecked SPECX in M* Portfolio Manager ... YTD +33.16%. And, according to the Alger fund site +33.16% as of 8/28. Seems Yahoo ... let you down!

@Old_Skeet: Yahoo shows (SPECX) around 12% ytd. So I'm thinking you added a sizable amount to this fund during the down turn to come up with +33 %
As for myself ytd I'm at 0-1 %. With Aug. statement coming up , that % should move up.
Stay Safe, Derf

Hi @Derf my top year-to-date performers, with better than a 20% return, through 8/28 are SPECX +33.16% ... AOFAX +29.82 ... FISCX +27.24 ... AGTHX +22.86 ... and, CTFAX +22.25%. Overall (year to date) I'm up about 4.3% with a portfolio yield of about 3.3%. So, I am now currently north of my yield.