@WABAC FWIW: The correlation between MRFOX and SPGP is .87 (So it's not really an alternative); MRFOX LT APR is 16.4%; SPGP is 14.4%; STDEV MRFOX 13.2; SPGP 16.4; MRFOX = Great Owl; SPGP No. Also, SPGP has underperformed the SP500 YTD, 1yr.; 3yr.; and 5yr.; but outperformed for 10yr. by .83%. Perhaps this information is helpful. Best.

I would have been surprised if it was an alternative. If I knew what went into M*'s definition of quality I'ld be surprised if those factors weren't in MFO Premium. I spent many years working with data, among other things, so running screens is my idea of fun.
The rest explains why it's not turning up in my screens these days, and why it's not in the IRA. :) It's not a purchase I rue; but I wouldn't recommend it to anyone else either.

For @msf and others interested in CC travel insurance, just came across this:
Credit Card Travel Insurance Study
In summary, according to their metrics, out of 98 cards top 3 are:
1. Chase Sapphire Reserve - best for Travel Accident Insurance
2. Bank of America Premium Rewards Elite - best for Luggage Insurance
3. Chase Sapphire Preferred - best for Trip Delay / Cancellation Insurance
Best Overall Travel Insurance Coverage: Chase Sapphire Reserve

@WABAC FWIW: The correlation between MRFOX and SPGP is .87 (So it's not really an alternative); MRFOX LT APR is 16.4%; SPGP is 14.4%; STDEV MRFOX 13.2; SPGP 16.4; MRFOX = Great Owl; SPGP No. Also, SPGP has underperformed the SP500 YTD, 1yr.; 3yr.; and 5yr.; but outperformed for 10yr. by .83%. Perhaps this information is helpful. Best.

Wage increase of +38% over 4 years means +8.385% annualized.
$12K ratification bonus for 33K machinists means $396 million.
Boeing raised $23.5 billion in stock and convertible preferreds to shore up its finances - amounts reported vary ($21.1-24.3 billion) because of several elements such as stock, preferred, line of credits, additional allotment to be sold. The underwriters got $300 million.
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/boeing-raises-21-billion-capital-051740350.html
https://theedgemalaysia.com/node/732514
https://www.reuters.com/business/aerospace-defense/boeing-launches-offering-90-mln-common-shares-5-bln-depositary-shares-2024-10-28/

And the strike is ended.
https://thehill.com/business/4970584-boeing-machinists-vote-to-end-strike-after-53-days/

The reorganization of the fund may have to do with the departure of the portfolio manager.
https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/923184/000119312524209927/d814315d497.htm

I wonder if it has anything to do with the recent (<5-yr) performance tracking differences between the two funds.

I use SPY as a symbol for S&P 500. Fewer letters to type on the phone. I will try to use SPX (not as popular a symbol) going forward.

update:
https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/923184/000119312524250488/d793596d497.htm
497 1 d793596d497.htm FORM 497
MATTHEWS INTERNATIONAL FUNDS
dba MATTHEWS ASIA FUNDS
Supplement dated November 4, 2024
to the Prospectus dated April 29, 2024, as supplemented
For all existing and prospective shareholders of the Matthews Asian Growth and Income Fund – Institutional Class (MICSX) and Investor Class (MACSX):
As previously announced, the Board of Trustees (the “Board”) of Matthews Asia Funds (the “Trust” or the “Funds”) has approved the tax-free reorganization (the “Reorganization”) of the Matthews Asian Growth and Income Fund, a series of the Trust (the “Target Fund”), into the Matthews Emerging Markets Equity Fund, a series of the Trust (the “Acquiring Fund”).
On October 31, 2024, the Board approved calling a special meeting of the shareholders of the Target Fund to consider and vote on the proposed Reorganization. That special meeting of shareholders is expected to occur in late January 2025. If the Target Fund’s shareholders approve the Reorganization at the special meeting, the Reorganization is expected to close in mid-February 2025. If shareholder approval is delayed due to failure to meet a quorum or otherwise, the Reorganization will become effective, if approved, as soon as practicable thereafter.
Effective on or about January 10, 2025, shares of the Target Fund will no longer be offered to new shareholders, and shareholders holding shares of any other series of the Trust will not be able to exchange their shares for shares of the Target Fund.
The Trust will send a combined proxy statement/prospectus to shareholders of the Target Fund with information about the Reorganization and the special meeting of shareholders when those materials become available.
If you do not want to participate in the Reorganization, you may redeem your shares of the Target Fund until the last business day before the closing of the Reorganization if it is approved by shareholders at the special meeting.
In connection with the Reorganization, a registration statement on Form N-14 has been filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”). The registration statement may be amended or withdrawn and the proxy statement/prospectus it contains will not be distributed to Target Fund shareholders until the registration statement is effective. Investors are urged to read the materials and any other relevant documents when they become available because they will contain important information about the Reorganization. After they are filed, free copies of the materials will be available on the SEC’s web site at www.sec.gov.
This communication is for informational purposes only and does not constitute an offer of any securities for sale. No offer of securities will be made except pursuant to a prospectus meeting the requirements of Section 10 of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended.
Investors should carefully consider the investment objectives, risks, fees and expenses of the Funds.
Please retain this Supplement for future reference.

Though a bit shorter than usual (six stories instead of seven or eight) because I suspect it will be a bit hard to be heard above the clamor of the election. Just finished reading a story on coping with election anxiety which made good points even if it's a bit hard to chill out.
Devesh, as I note in the publisher's letter, has been called back to active service in the world o' finance. I will miss his voice even though I cheer for his opportunities.
Lynn continues to humble and inspire me with the breadth of his post-retirement vision and engagement. That continues this money with his advice on living paycheck-to-paycheck and his work with a group that helps folks facing that exact challenge.
The unifying theme on the three fund specific pieces might be "a redemption story." AlphaCentric has been mightily troubled, into which CrossingBridge might bring an island of calm and strong performance. David Sherman is very sure that "approach with caution" is good advice for folks interested in AlphaCentric Real Income. His team is working to create a smooth portfolio transition and a valuable tool for you, but both with take time.
Bridgeway is one of those groups whose culture is utterly admirable (from capping executive comp to donating half of their earnings to charity to have the senior people answer the phone when you call) but whose performance is streaky. Back in the days of Brill's MFI we used to have portfolio contests judged on monthly performance. If you wanted to use, toggle Bridgeway Ultra-Small with Bridgeway Ultra-Large and a soupcon of Technology Value was nearly unbeatable. For a long while Aggressive Investor (and not-quite-as Aggressive Investor II) were golden. Then ... In any case, they think they've found a powerful tool in their Intangible Capital Intensity metric, they've been running private money successfully with it and the lead manager built a $15 billion practice at QMA using a similar discipline.
Even Tweedy, Browne has elements of redemption. They're 100 years old now, deeply committed to value and famously authors of What Has Worked in Investing. Except that it hasn't worked quite as it used to which has led Tweedy in the direction of "value in a new century" research. High dividend was one move, insider alignment (along with value) is the next. They rarely take impulsive steps, so I'll be curious to see how things play out.
And The Shadow is chronicling a lot of active ETF from mutual fund guys and fund-to-ETF conversions, signs of a reorienting industry.
Finally, you'll note our podcasting foray. Let me know if there's any gain there, and we can try using the tech on investing-specific articles. In theory it's just "upload and stand back." In practice, it takes five or six sets of revise-and-resubmit to get the "podcast hosts" to catch our meaning and direction. That said, if it works for folks, we'll do it.
Cheers.

Alternatively, one could get a BofA Customized Cash Rewards, put $100K into BofA/Merrill - I agree on the latter being "passable" - and have an actual cash back rate of 5.25% Travel / 3.5% Grocery & Club / 1.75% Others up to $2,500 / quarter w no annual fee. No trip cancellation/interruption insurance, though.
And you get to change your 5.25% category once per calendar month even though the $2500 combined limit (for chosen category + groceries + club) resets just quarterly.
A problem with using a card with a spend cap on bonus cash back (here $2.5K) is that it doesn't work well with "lumpy" categories like travel. In any given quarter one may likely spend much more (esp. for a family) on trips or much less. It's hard to control travel expenses to maximize the card's value.
(On the plus side, at BofA "travel" is very broad and includes "transit" - local commuter stuff like busses and cabs - that Citi excludes from "travel".)
IMHO this card is better suited for the online spending category, for a few reasons. Online spending includes cable/internet/streaming; it's easier to bunch smaller, frequent online purchases to get close to the spending cap; and these days we purchase so much stuff online (but services like taxes and doctors don't count).
If one is limiting travel charges to around $2K, one can find other cards with good travel cash back that cover trip cancellation/interruption. US Bank's Altitude Connect (mentioned above) covers up to $2K per person (though with "just" 4x points unless you book through its "portal" for 5x).
Side note: The old 2% Schwab Visa card gradually(?) evolved into the BofA Customized Cash Rewards card after Schwab got rid of it. So there is another connection between this card and a brokerage.

Retirement plans COLA adjustments for 2025:
2025-cost-living-adjustments-retirement-plans

P.S. If you happen to live in Green Bay or thereabouts, apparently, you can get a 5% cash back on everything card up to $1000 / mo - no annual fee.

CapitalOne gives 5x on travel you book through them with their Venture cards, not their Quicksilver cards. Since much of our spending these days has been on travel, I've been willing to look at cards biased toward travel expenses.

Makes more sense now. I thought you were referencing @BenWP and there was a Venture card I'd missed with 1.5% flat cashback rate and not air travel points.

Still with CapitalOne at 1.5% for everything, no fee
CapitalOne seems to have an excellent reputation, and as I noted above, price matches on its travel "portal", making its Venture cards more valuable than other banks' for travelers.

Venture cards - particularly, Venture X - do look pretty good if you travel a lot: spend more than ~ $10,400 per year on travel + are willing to go through the hassle of first booking via CapitalOne Travel and then calling in price matches. Else, if I understood the terms correctly, one can only get $0.005 per mile so effective cash back rate drops to 2.5% Air / 5% Hotels & Car Rental / 1% Other.
Alternatively, one could get a BofA Customized Cash Rewards, put $100K into BofA/Merrill - I agree on the latter being "passable" - and have an actual cash back rate of 5.25% Travel / 3.5% Grocery & Club / 1.75% Others up to $2,500 / quarter w no annual fee. No trip cancellation/interruption insurance, though.

does MAGA realize the judicial system is a tax-funded public good that can also be the target of wasteful litigation? and some citizens have initiated many hundreds of frivilous cases? sure, it will keep him out of prison, but what will trump do for entertainment when project2025 defunds it?
should we just go the scotus route and slowly\effectively privatize?

It's not *their* money (so to speak) so they don't care. And yes, they are all about the entertainment value of his political antics and feeling like they're part of the spectacle.
Interestingly, today one of their young podcast 'influencers' (Fuentes, I think) came out calling MAGA a 'cult' and essentially slamming the movement's followers who engage in blind-faith idiocy in the presence of their dear leader.

Stock market seasonality did not work the past 6 months. SPY was up 15% during this time. We just started the strong seasonal period. What to expect?

does MAGA realize the judicial system is a tax-funded public good that can also be the target of wasteful litigation? and some citizens have initiated many hundreds of frivilous cases? sure, it will keep him out of prison, but what will trump do for entertainment when project2025 defunds it?
should we just go the scotus route and slowly\effectively privatize?

Cut my position in MRFOX by 50% down to 40K with proceeds going into CPAI, FCLCX, and SPMO.

You were way more involved than me with MRFOX. By that standard I own too much. I am a lousy seller. Thanks for posting your sell.
Are any of the buys new to your portfolio?
First time hearing about CPAI. How did you decide on it? Thanks

Cut my position in MRFOX by 50% down to 40K with proceeds going into CPAI, FCLCX, and SPMO.

@FD1000. You probably mean Penfed ( Pentagon Federal CC). I have the 5% gas rebate card which is a great money saver!