OMG, deja vu!
Here are the founders of Stone Lion Capital:
Alan Jay Mintz, CPA, a co-founder of Stone Lion Capital was Co-Head of the Distressed Debt and High Yield trading group at Bear Stearns
Gregory Augustine Hanley, a co-founder of Stone Lion Capital was Co-Head of the Distressed Debt and High Yield trading group at Bear Stearns
from: http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2015-12-12/eerie-echo-2007-it-really-bear-stearns-all-over-again

I started a position in First Eagle Global Income Builder (FEBAX) shortly after it opened 3 1/2 years ago, as a defensive compliment to my largest holding, PRWCX. It's done better than the category average, but not too well risk adjusted or versus the S&P 500. I just think I need to give it more time (like a full market cycle) since it's a global value oriented fund which focuses on capital preservation first - and those haven't performed very well the past few years.

Brilliant marketing by EV.
These exchange traded managed funds (ETMFs) are no more ETFs than ETNs are ETFs. Eaton Vance is barred by the SEC from marketing them as ETFs. But it seems EV can just keep its mouth shut and let the press mislabel this product (see the title of this thread, coming from the Reuters story).
Here's EV's press release:
http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/initial-nextshares-fund-registration-statements-declared-effective-by-us-securities-and-exchange-commission-300191951.html
EV is careful in its PR to point out that your trading price is going to be based on the end-of-day NAV (like an open end fund). Still, it implies that these are ETFs, just improved (unconventional): "Unlike conventional ETFs, NextShares (EV's product) ... "
If this product make sense to you, that's fine. Just don't buy shares thinking you're getting an ETF with real time pricing.

Third Avenue's decision this week to block redemptions and liquidate a fund with $789 million in assets jolted Wall Street and caught the attention of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
Thanks for the link Ted. Junk bonds have a reputation for being highly illiquid. So I'm not surprised. I'll submit that when things are going well they are more often referred to as high yield bonds (or funds). But when things aren't going well, they're more likely to be called junk .
Price closed PRHYX to new investors about 5 years ago. In the past that always seemed to me a pretty good bell-weather of where the high yield market was heading. This time around, however, they proved way too early in the closing - assuming it was based on valuation and froth in the HY markets. (Of course, managers rarely speak that bluntly when closing a fund.)
Not to be alarmist, but the blocking of redemptions by Third Avenue is the type of thing that often leads to panic in other markets as well. Umm ... let's hope it's different this time. But Friday did resemble a bit of a train wreck across many markets.
Regards

Gundlach: "There's never just one cockroach" in any kind of credit meltdown. "People are too long credit and the credit is melting down and the stock market is whistling through the graveyard. It is so similar to 2007, it’s scary."
http://www.reuters.com/article/us-investing-gundlach-idUSKBN0TU2MC20151211#1dKXwTUy8PHwLXoX.97

That's pretty mixed. But so is my own portfolio. Samples:
PRWCX +4.29%
PRASX -8.16%
MSCFX -5.42%
I'm glad to be heavily into PRWCX, rather than something else, to the same extent.

I don't understand what is special about a zero gain. Pick any level of gain, and you're likely to find the market settling in around that number in one year or another. Even this year, the S&P 500 closing price may have oscillated 24 times up and down around a zero gain, but it fluttered much more decisively around a 2% gain.
The S&P ended last year at 2058.90. A 2% gain brings it to just over 2100. The closing S&P 500 crossed that mark 38 times so far this year. (It crossed 2099 42 times.)
Fun with numbers. Hard for me to find more significance, though I'm not a chartist.

Hedge-fund firm Stone Lion Capital Partners L.P. said it has suspended redemptions in its oldest fund this afternoon, after many investors asked for their money back.

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/now-stone-lion-capital-suspends-redemptions-as-junk-bond-market-fears-accelerate-2015-12-11

I did this last year. Here are Goldberg's picks for 2015 w/ YTD performance:
FPACX -1.87%
HLEMX -13.28%
OAKIX -4.34%
PRBLX +2.55%
POGRX/POSKX +5.83%/+2.93%
VDIGX +4.14%

FYI: U.S. junk bond fund managers said on Friday they are shying away from big cash trades after liquidity in the high-yield market took another hit from the meltdown of the Third Avenue Focused Credit Fund.
Regards,
Ted
http://www.reuters.com/article/funds-bonds-highyield-idUSL1N14027N20151211#46by6pC04b1XuZXj.97

Panic in high-yield hits BDCs
Dec 11 2015, 15:40 ET | By: Stephen Alpher, SA News Editor Contact this editor with comments or a news tip
Treasury yields are plunging, but high-yield is headed the other way again as investors mull a big selloff in the major averages and oil's plunge to below $36 per barrel.The pain is widespread, but a panic in credit is particularly painful for BDCs. Hitting the tape a few minutes ago, Jeff Gundlach says "there's never just one cockroach" when credit melts down.http://seekingalpha.com/news/2980206-panic-in-high-yield-hits-bdcs?uprof=46
Gundlach: If Fed met today, it wouldn't hike
Dec 11 2015, 15:30 ET | By: Stephen Alpher, SA News Editor
"There's never just one cockroach" when credit melts down, Jeffrey Gundlach tells Reuters, and investors have been on "credit overload."The best trade at the moment, he says, is to sell the S&P 500 and buy closed-end credit funds (not Third Avenue's!)
http://seekingalpha.com/news/2980186-gundlach-if-fed-met-today-it-wouldnt-hike
More Coal
OPEC piled on the bad news. After last week’s removal of a production target, this week the oil cartel released figures that showed the group collectively produced the most oil in three years in November, ramping up output to 31.7 million barrels per day (mb/d). Iraq accounted for most of the monthly gains, achieving more than 247,000 barrels per day in increases from October.
The bearish news suggests more pain in the offing for U.S. shale. The EIA put out an estimate, expecting U.S. shale to lose 116,000 barrels per day in production in January, with the largest losses once again coming from the Eagle Ford shale (down 77,000 barrels per day).
http://oilprice.com/newsletters/free/opintel12112015

@MFO Members: With today's negative numbers, the S&P 500 just flipped back to negative for 2015. This makes the 25th time the index has flipped from positive to negative in 2015.
Regards,
Ted

FYI: The junk bond market is looking more and more like the boogeyman for stock market investors.
The iShares iBoxx $ High Yield Corporate Bond exchange-traded fund HYG, -2.55% tumbled 2.4% in midday trade Friday, putting the ETF (HYG) on course for the lowest close since July 2009. Volume as of 12 p.m. Eastern was already more than double the full-day average, according to FactSet.
Regards,
Ted
http://www.marketwatch.com/story/why-the-junk-bond-selloff-is-getting-very-scary-2015-12-11/print

FYI: The Linkster agrees !
Regards,
Ted
http://video.cnbc.com/gallery/?video=3000465115&play=1

FYI: Do you put money in a Health Savings Account every month without investing it? You may as well shove your hard-earned dollars under a mattress.
A $2,000 balance in the HSA gives you a measly buck in yearly interest.
But investing your tax-advantaged HSA funds allows you to build a bigger and better retirement nest egg. The less you pay in administration fees to a mutual fund company, the more that is available to be invested.
Regards,
Ted
http://license.icopyright.net/user/viewFreeUse.act?fuid=MjExMTI5NDQ=
Enlarged Graphic:
http://news.investors.com/photopopup.aspx?path=WEBlv121115.gif&docId=784945&xmpSource=&width=1000&height=1027&caption=&id=784950

What the heck does "Templeton Global Bond ($100bn in total, $59bn in mutual funds)" mean? That Templeton Global Bond has $100B AUM, of which $59B are invested in other funds? I doubt that.
The $100b is not Franklin Templeton's AUM (Wiki reports $844B - even if this is stale data, it shows that F-T has a lot more than $100B).
Maybe it's talking about total AUM that the Global Bond team is managing, of which $59B are in mutual funds (the rest being in SMAs, collective trusts, etc.) It then goes on to talk about retail outflows - does retail mean "mutual funds" (including institutional share classes), or what?
That outflow ($7.6B YTD) is then reported to be 13% annualized. But it looks like the 13% came from dividing $7.6B by $59B (12.9%). Problem is that this would represent 13% pulled out YTD, which would mean an annualized rate of 14% or so.
It says that the fund is underperforming its benchmark by 4.6% YTD. The prospectus says that its benchmark is Citigroup World Government Bond Index (Citi WBGI USD). M* reports the fund is outperforming its benchmark by almost 3.5% YTD.
Okay, so the numbers (whether this is a quote of Goldman, or zerohedge's creative accounting) are suspect. The fact remains that Templeton Global Bond has likely had sizeable outflows. Zacks, citing M*, claims $6B in fund outflows between Aug 2014 and Aug 2015.
But so what? M* also reports that TPINX/TGBAX is roughly 50% cash. (To M*, cash includes debt that matures in under a year.) That means that the fund could sustain a massive stampede without having to dip into illiquid securities. Nor does ZeroHedge discuss the fund's holdings, or what percentage is high yield. It just mentions this EM fund next to HY funds, and expects you to jump to conclusions.
What I see is an EM fund that is still performing above its peers (43rd percentile YTD). People who are fleeing the sector would jump from whatever fund they owned (so shouldn't the blog be looking at EM funds with less liquid holdings?). People who might flee weaker funds (but not the sector) will be hanging around.

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2015-12-11/goldman-takes-aim-superstar-bond-manager-hinting-he-could-be-next-third-avenue
"
Amongst our coverage, BEN (Sell) is most exposed with 30% of fixed income holdings in high yield securities per eVestment, and with 37% of fixed income exposed to emerging market debt in particular. Importantly, Templeton Global Bond ($100bn in total; $59bn in mutual funds) – BEN’s largest fixed income fund – has seen meaningful outflows YTD (-$7.6bn from retail; -13% annualized rate) and could persist given the deterioration in excess performance (-460bps vs. benchmark YTD)."

Doubleline Total Return fund has been shorten the duration of its holding in the past 12 months. With an AUM over $50B, it is a much more difficult task than $50M.
I think the hike will be small (25 base points) and incremental afterward. If the market cannot handle this level of rate hike, what does it says about the market itself?

FYI: The environment is in the spotlight, with the Paris climate talks in full swing. But investors in “green” exchange-traded funds have learned from experience that these funds have yet to establish a long-term footing.
There are all sorts of ETFs in this sector. Some focus on individual green technologies or market segments, while others take a broader view. As a group, however, they have mainly had a tough year. So far in 2015, through Nov. 30, some in the group were trading 15% to 22% lower.
Regards,
Ted
http://www.wsj.com/articles/green-etfs-struggle-thanks-to-fall-in-oil-price-1449460370