Dex, you are comparing the charts of two open end funds where dividends accumulate daily and paid out end of month vs an ETF where dividends are handled differently and show as a decline on the charts end of month.

Dex?, OK I'll play. Dan,
I compared HYD with HYG. HYG is beating HYD YTD. But if you look at other time periods, 1, 2, 5 - HYD wins. HYG is slightly ahead in 10 years by 1.75 pct pts. Max HYG is better by less than 9 pct pts.
http://finance.yahoo.com/echarts?s=HYD+Interactive#{"range":"ytd","allowChartStacking":true}

Hi @shipwreckedandalone
Thank you for your thoughts regarding this post. As to the equity mix. With the 35% inside of VWINX and another 25% between the healthcare fund and the individual stock of DPLO, we arrive at about 60% equity exposure, although 25% of total equity exposure is via some form of the health sector.
NOTE: fed talk today indicates a possible rate increase in June, investment grade bonds of all flavors down about .8%. VWINX will not be a happy fund today.
Regards,
Catch

Thanks for sharing your portfolio and thoughts supporting it. VWINX is a great fun. My personal preference would be to go with VBINX or similar w 60% stocks. Why? If interest rates rise the tradeoff between losses in a 60% bond portfolio vs 40% bond portfolio may outweigh the added yield at present that VWINX gives (VWINX 2.62 SEC yield vs VBINX 1.85%). VWINX has longer duration and maturity than VBINX according to Vanguard website. I am a fan of balance funds but wonder how they will fare in a rapid interest rate rising environment particularly among certain funds with mandates on a minimum bond allocation. Even VBINX would struggle in that environment. The balanced fund 15 year returns reflects a favorable bond environment. My 2c worth. good luck.

Good Day to You,
When I was seventeen, it was a very good year.....or so the lyric goes.
Well, 17 was a long time ago for this one. Now to begin to leave one of my active lovers.
If one is of the mind, passion and spirit for investing; the rewards, satisfaction and a form of love may leave a smile upon the face. While 50 ways (reasons) are not needed to leave an investing lover, one will likely determine a few key personal points.
Needless to say, the group here are not one's normal invest monies in a 401k, 403b, 457 or some form of IRA just to build a retirement account. We here tend to "fiddle" with whatever is available to our accounts.
Understanding/knowing the difference between being a passive or active investor is of value; as long as one also understands that he/she is likely active in managing choices which fall into a passive investment vehicle.
The exceptions that come to mind are when one uses an advisor, be it human or robo. But, one has still made an active choice about this, too.
So........the plan for this house for a total portfolio:
---75% VWINX , 65% IG bonds, 35% U.S. stocks, active managed
---15% FSPHX , healthcare, active managed; also included, DPLO (Diplomat Pharma stock)
---10% FRIFX , a different real estate active managed fund with a history of 50/50 stocks/bonds
We have a percentage of all of these now, but will sell other holdings to accommodate the above numbers.
For those interested, the below links present more information (click on the other tabs at the top, aside from these composition links:
--- VWINX , composition
This fund has superior returns for many years. Yes, it is subject to the markets not unlike any other fund.
--- FSPHX , composition
We still remain tilted towards the health sector and the many sectors within health related. Although this sector has been getting the whack during the past 6 or so months; our holdings average total return for the past several years remain most decent.
--- FRIFX , composition
You won't find an easy method for ranking in a category list for real estate, as this fund doesn't fit the normal holdings positions for this category, being about 50% bonds. As normal, we look for total return over a time frame; versus which fund is having the most fun, say, within a 1 or 2 year period.
--- DPLO , A specialty pharmacy. This company IPO'd in October of 2014. We purchased near the IPO price, having been very familiar with the quality of the organization during its 25 years of being private. We continue to hold this stock.
https://eresearch.fidelity.com/eresearch/goto/evaluate/snapshot.jhtml?symbols=DPLO&type=o-NavBar
As we investors are always subject (or should be subject to change) to change, the following holdings will be liquidated; market conditions allowing (no black swans, etc. allowed), from some accounts outside of Fidelity.
---BRUIX , DPRRX , BAGIX , DGCIX , OPBYX , VIIIX , GPROX , PRHSX , HEDJ , FHLC , ITOT
NOTE: all monies are tax sheltered accounts without current tax implications
We'll arrive at a conservative/moderate balanced account holding. As with all individual investors, such mixes are subject to "the eyes of the beholder" function as to how the balance suits their needs and views. The investment mix is mostly biased towards U.S. markets and companies, although at this time; about 20% of the holdings relate to other than U.S. One would also expect these holdings to generate greater than 20% of earnings/yields from sources outside of the U.S. going forward and providing some international exposure by this method.
Lastly, a large core holding in VWINX may be reasonably argued to possibly cause harm to an overall portfolio going forward due to its large percentage holdings in IG bonds. The main argument being that IG bonds have had one heck of a run for much too long. One may suppose that the "odds" factor such an argument. I will note again the phrase "that this time is different" since the market melt of 2008. Of course it is, eh? We live in a most dynamic investing world. At the very least, central banks and related polices operate upon the egos of the members. Who in these groups would want to look bad in the eyes of financial history? I suspect the central banks will continue to surprise many making decisions based upon every available form of data mining to obtain desired outcomes. Our house is still "betting" upon the investment grade bonds. This is no less as scary as the equity markets discovering flaws in the system, not yet known. With VWINX as the example, an investor will reap 35% of the up or down of the given equity holdings and 65% of the up or down of the investment grade bond holdings for a "total" result.
Remain or become fully flexible and adaptable, not just to your perception of the investing marketplace; but more importantly, to and for yourself and those important in your life.
This "personal overview" is likely incomplete; but will suffice for the time being.
Comments welcomed.
Regards,
Catch

FYI: Franklin Templeton Investments unveiled how much money it will charge investors to own its forthcoming “smart beta” exchange-traded funds in documents filed with regulators late on Tuesday.
Regards,
Ted
http://blogs.barrons.com/focusonfunds/2016/05/17/franklin-templeton-unveils-fees-for-smart-beta-etfs/tab/print/

Hi Guys,
“But a good portfolio can prosper for decades with minimal intervention. A basket of stocks is not a board game with turns and rounds. It's something that should be mostly hands-off. After a proper allocation is set up, one of the biggest strengths of individual investors is what they don't do. They don't trade. They don't fiddle. They don't require daily monitoring.”
This quote is surprising because of its author. It came from The Motley Fool’s cofounder Dave Gardner as reported by the reliable financial writer Morgan Housel.
Housel summarized Gardner’s unexpected conclusion with “But his point is that the game of investing is often won by the investor whose strategy is to "play" as little as possible….”.
Here is the Link to the article:
http://www.fool.com/investing/general/2016/05/13/two-short-stories-to-put-successful-investing-into.aspx
I didn’t expect Gardner’s statement; I see him as a stock-picker. This is yet another instance of how hard it is to characterize anyone with a simple summary. We’re complex by any standard.
I practice what Dave Gardner preaches. It has served me well. It’s easy for me since it’s within my emotional and intellectual wheelhouse of action minimization style. That investment philosophy is not suitable for everyone. That’s good since the frequent traders help to keep the markets fluid and nearly efficient.
Best Regards.

FYI: These funds won't keep you up at night if you're squeamish about exposing the bulk of your assets to the market.
Regards,
Ted
http://news.morningstar.com/articlenet/article.aspx?id=753979

, my downside feel is like 55% at the moment.

A decline of 55%?!!

I think that's probably the right call, but down 5%, 10%, 30%? No one knows. So, how does one know when to get back in? I'm all for taking profits here and there, but unless you're prepared to be out for good there is a great risk you'll buy the shares you sell now at a higher price later. For a small amount, that's the price of insurance. If you're talking going all cash, good luck with that. Also would not be shocked to see a rally from here, my downside feel is like 55% at the moment. Could go either way.

I think, what he means in "I am going for it ..." The door!
But, not me. I am staying with my asset allocation ranges. I'll have ample cash to raise my equity allocation from its low range of 45% towards its high range of 55% when I feel warranted. Besides if investors begin to run for the door when the market (S&P 500 Index) is only off its 52 week high by about 4% I wonder what they might do should there be a 10% pullback, or more. I'll be a buyer in equites somewhere around the 1920 range (S&P 500 Index) should we get there during the summer. I have been adjusting my allocation to equities over the past few years from a high range of 65%+ downward because I felt they were overvalued and somewhat overbought. Once, we get through the fall elections I am looking for a nice late fall stock market rally to develop. Anyway, this is how I am currently positioned and will ramp up my allocation in equities depending on how the investing landscape developes. I am thinking that third and fourth quarter corporate earnings will begin to improve and provide the needed fuel to support the rally. In addition, I am looking for the FOMC to raise interest rates to cool inflation as my rolling twelve month inflation number might surprise you with a reading of better than six percent from May 2015 through April 2016.
I wish all ... "Good Investing."

Declining stock market = lower highs, lower lows
http://finance.yahoo.com/echarts?s=^GSPC+Interactive#{"range":"2y","allowChartStacking":true}
http://finance.yahoo.com/echarts?s=^IXIC+Interactive#{"range":"2y","allowChartStacking":true}
http://finance.yahoo.com/echarts?s=^RUT+Interactive#{"range":"2y","allowChartStacking":true}

https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1013881/000119312516592561/d187587d497.htm
497 1 d187587d497.htm NUVEEN INVESTMENT TRUST
Supplement Dated May 17, 2016
To the Prospectus and Summary Prospectuses Dated November 30, 2015
for
Nuveen Tradewinds Global All-Cap Fund
Nuveen Tradewinds International Value Fund
Nuveen Tradewinds Japan Fund
And to the Prospectus and Summary Prospectus Dated October 30, 2015
for
Nuveen Tradewinds Value Opportunities Fund
Nuveen Fund Advisors, LLC (“NFAL”), the Funds’ investment adviser, intends to propose that the Board of Trustees of the Funds (the “Board”) approve the reorganizations of Nuveen Tradewinds Global All-Cap Fund and Nuveen Tradewinds Value Opportunities Fund into Nuveen NWQ Global Equity Income Fund (“Global Equity Income Fund”). Global Equity Income Fund is advised by NFAL and sub-advised by its affiliate, NWQ Asset Management, LLC (“NWQ”). NFAL expects to make this proposal at a Board meeting currently scheduled for late May. If the Board approves the proposal, the reorganization of each Tradewinds Fund will be subject to approval of the Fund’s shareholders.
At the same meeting, Nuveen also intends to propose that the Board approve the transfer of the sub-advisory agreements for Nuveen Tradewinds International Value Fund and Nuveen Tradewinds Japan Fund from Tradewinds Global Investors, LLC to NWQ. Peter Boardman is expected to become an employee of NWQ and to continue to serve as the Funds’ portfolio manager following the proposed transfer.
Additional information on these proposals will be provided to Fund shareholders following the late May Board meeting.
PLEASE KEEP THIS WITH YOUR
FUND’S PROSPECTUS AND/OR SUMMARY PROSPECTUS
FOR FUTURE REFERENCE

Maybe Warren Buffet to the rescue?
Warren Buffet-Backed Group In Bid For Yahoo
http://money.cnn.com/2016/05/14/technology/yahoo-sale-buffett/

By James Picerno | May 16, 2016 at 06:16 am EDT http://www.capitalspectator.com
Year-over-year returns are still battling with red-ink syndrome. The handful of winners for trailing 12-month column are led by US REITs, which are ahead by a solid 10% via Vanguard REIT E T F (VNQ), based on the past 252 trading days. But the majority of funds post declines. Note, however, that the worst performer for the trailing one-year period is emerging-market stocks. For the first time in recent memory, commodities are no longer dead last—a distinction that now goes to Vanguard FTSE Emerging Markets (VWO).

http://www.capitalspectator.com/commodities-last-weeks-asset-class-leader/
Asian shares off 2 month lows
Asian shares recovered from two-month lows on Tuesday after a rebound in technology giant Apple Corp and oil price gains boosted Wall Street.
Yet concerns about a slowdown in the Chinese economy could weigh on Asian shares after investment, factory output and retail sales all grew more slowly than expected in April, in data published on Saturday.
In the past month, shares in Greater China are among the worst performers globally, with Hong Kong, Taiwan and Shanghai shares all registering fall of around 7 percent.
http://www.reuters.com/article/us-global-markets-idUSKCN0Y8017

FYI: Since peaking out at 2,130.82 (on a closing basis) last May, the S&P 500 has seen its share of volatility. Despite the big swings, though, the index is currently within 3% of that all-time closing high from one year ago. Come this weekend, though, the S&P 500 will have gone a year without making a new 52-week high. While that may not sound like much, given that 2014 saw the fifth most daily closes at an all-time high on record, it has been a bit of an adjustment period for investors.
Regards,
Ted
https://www.bespokepremium.com/big-tips/b-i-g-tips-sp-500-treading-water/

FYI: Sometimes an ETF isn’t exactly an ETF.
As investors, the media and regulators put more focus on exchange-traded funds, it's worth asking what exactly an ETF is.
Regards,
Ted
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-05-16/why-the-etf-acronym-can-be-misleading

Wow, thanks for this, MSF, I'd naively assumed that the 0.25% 12b fee was all that NTF funds paid on Schwab. But it seems like the transaction fee funds have the same ER whether on Schwab or directly at the company, so I guess the fund company is swallowing Schwab's fee.

The 2015 Annual Report gave an explanation for the deal as "a plan that aims to assist in [the funds'] continued growth and success, beyond [CEO Robert Killen's] retirement" - which will apparently be in 2018. Other than that paragraph in the report and subsequent proxy materials, communication with shareholders has been nearly nonexistent. The Berwyn Funds website made no reference to the acquisition; one day a Chartwell link showed up at the bottom of the page, and Chartwell showed up as the listed advisor. This month, I got transaction confirmations for the exchange of shares in the Berwyn Funds for shares in the (Chartwell) Berwyn Funds.
It's difficult to see what we get out of the deal other than a vague sense of a succession plan that had to go outside the fund advisor. Chartwell has agreed to waive fees above the ERs that Berwyn charged - until 2018. They have a different distributor and do not offer online access to our accounts. From what I can tell, what we gained was less service, the threat of higher expenses in a couple years, and new branding on our statements (which we can't get online).

FYI: Cramer’s Action Alerts Plus portfolio has underperformed the S&P 500 index SPX, -0.85% in terms of total cumulative returns since its 2001 inception, according to a working paper released Friday by Jonathan Hartley and Matthew Olson, researchers from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania.
Regards,
Ted
http://www.marketwatch.com/story/jim-cramer-doesnt-beat-the-market-2016-05-13/print
CXO Adivsory: Jim Cramer Deconstructed:
http://www.cxoadvisory.com/2809/individual-gurus/jim-cramer/

Few here will remember that this fund made a lot of money for investors in the early part of the new millennia (roughly 1999-2005). I enjoyed double digit returns during some of those years as oil slowly climbed towards the $100 range. I bought the Class A shares in 1997 shortly after Oppenheimer received approval from the SEC, seeking to diversify. It was an early forerunner in the commodities mutual fund area - possibly the first such fund.
Actually, the fund did not hold pork bellies, lumber or barrels of crude, but invested in the commodities futures markets using derrivitives which allowed most of the fund's assets to sit in T-Bills or cash, earning additional income. A black box? Yes - for certain. But something happened in roughly the 2003-2005 period when they temporarily closed (to all new money) what had been a successful fund. Investors received a letter stating that Oppenheimer had uncovered structural weaknesses in how the fund was being operated which might cause significant losses and that it would be restructured over the coming months to reduce these risks. (I'm relying here on best recollections.)
When the fund reopened to new money, it wasn't the same fund. It became a perineal looser. As Ted's article mentions, the fund was clobbered by the worst commodities bear market in recent history. But it wasn't managed well either and also carried close to a 2% ER on Class A shares.
I took a gamble in early 2015 and converted my entire holding with Oppenheimer (5-10% of assets) to Roth. All was in this fund. It was a calculated risk that the fund would bounce sharply. But it never did and dropped another 15-20%. What saved my skin, so to speak, was that in early September '15 I split that money 4-ways. 25% remained in QRAAX. 25% each went into OPGSX (gold), OREAX (Real Estate) and OEMAX (EM bonds). All three of the new funds experienced sharp rebounds after that point. The Roth is now back to break-even. Even QRAAX has had a pretty good year so far (up 6.6%).
As noted earlier, I have little money with these guys. Looks to me like the quality of many of their funds has fallen during the 2 decades since I purchased shares. Since it appeared they were planning on returning the $$ from the liquidation directly to investors rather than reinvesting it automatically (which would have tax repercussions), I moved the money myself to their Capital Income Fund (OPPEX) for the time being. This amounts to moving from one black box into another. However, the new black box appears better managed.
:)
Added note: Really appreciate the Shadow's heads-up on this pending fund liquidation. Nice to be informed early.