@openice: Thanks for the info ! What was not to be.
Regards,
Ted
http://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1282693/000089418914004958/baird-greenhouse_485a.htm

MAPOX= .50 cents for 1Q. Inline with expectations. I've got 3 others which pay MONTHLY. (DLFNX, PREMX and PRSNX.) SFGIX pays in June and December, and is making a mini-comeback in the last couple or few days, on its way to $12.00/share. Still some distance to cover, there... And my others pay (hopefully) only at end-of-year: MSCFX, TRAMX, PRWCX, PRASX. Wifey's 403b did pay a "supplemental" tiny dividend in March. NAESX. Looking at their pay-out history, that fund makes a habit of doing that: bigger pay-out in December, then a tiny little something in March. Ted informed us of the March pay-out in 2015, originally, if memory serves me.

I'm always a little unsure about how to think about asset allocation when you read about global market cap numbers. If you use MSCI indices to estimate global market cap the US is more than 50% of global market cap whereas Bloomberg data says the US is only 36%. The difference, I believe, is that MSCI's number only include free-floating market cap whereas others include "everything". For instance, I think that means MSCI excludes China's A shares (so far), and they don't include Saudi Arabia, which Bloomberg includes.
All of that is fine and well, but when we think about our portfolios and asset allocation, should we think about the US being 50+% of global market cap or only 36%? Or would it be better to use GDP numbers?

@Ted,
One good act deserves another.
For those that need some help in finding the faster market currents this site is one that I have often referenced.
And, linked below is his most recent newsletter.
http://investwithanedge.com/newsletter-archives/032515-putting-housing-sales-in-perspective
My best,
Old_Skeet

FYI: (On this one Mark, I think you are dead wrong. From 1990-2014, 18 Aprils have been winners and seven losers.)
Should you sell in April and go away?
It’s an odd question, I admit. Widespread talk of selling usually doesn’t begin until late April, when investors each year are reminded of the famous seasonal pattern “sell in May and go away.”
But it’s precisely because it is so well-known that some followers of this seasonal tendency wonder if they should act sooner rather than later. Waiting until May Day runs the risk of selling at the same time that a large number of other investors are doing the same.
Regards,
Ted
http://www.marketwatch.com/story/for-stocks-the-best-time-to-sell-and-go-away-starts-tomorrow-2015-03-31/print

FYI: Below is an updated look at the current makeup of the global stock market by country. Using Bloomberg data, we’ve constructed a table showing the percentage of global market cap that each country (the largest 25) currently makes up. We also show where the percentages stood at the end of 2014, five years ago, and ten years ago.
In analyzing the table, you’ll see that the US stock market makes up 36% of world market cap. This is down 1.48 percentage points since the start of the year, up 5.6 percentage points over the last five years, and down 5.11 percentage points over the last ten years
Regards,
Ted
https://www.bespokepremium.com/think-big-blog/which-countries-control-the-global-stock-market/

FYI: The Market Leadership Strategy is designed to be a small portion of your overall investment portfolio. Our goal: to provide an easy-to-use investment approach with a potential for powerful returns.
The Market Leadership Strategy indicates a potential to outperform the S&P 500 with less risk. See below how to implement this strategy.
Regards,
Ted
http://investwithanedge.com/leadership-strategy

In this edition Dr. Madell covers:
1) When you should consider making changes to your portfolio.
2) Are bond funds likely to see negative returns for the rest of the year?
3) A disapointing note about Morningstar.com.
Read all about the above and more through the link below.
http://funds-newsletter.com/mar15-newsletter/mar15-new.htm

FYI:
Regards,
Ted
WSJ Slant:
http://www.wsj.com/articles/u-s-stock-futures-rise-1427717939
Bloomberg Slant:
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-03-30/u-s-index-futures-rise-with-stocks-set-for-ninth-quarterly-gain
Reuters Slant;
http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/03/30/us-markets-stocks-us-idUSKBN0MQ13920150330
MarketWatch Slant;
http://www.marketwatch.com/story/us-stocks-futures-rebound-as-bulls-run-with-yellen-chinese-easing-hints-2015-03-30/print
WSJ Markets At A Glance:
http://markets.wsj.com/us
Sector Tracker:
http://www.sectorspdr.com/sectorspdr/tools/sector-tracker
Current Futures:
http://finviz.com/futures.ashx

FYI: Sheldon Jacobs won by not losing. He wasn’t the greatest ever at selecting mutual funds, and he didn’t post breathtaking numbers. He won the race in the style of the tortoise: slow and steady.
Regards,
Ted
http://www.marketwatch.com/story/this-man-proved-that-investing-isnt-a-competition-2015-03-30/print
RIP:
http://www.mutualfundobserver.com/discuss/discussion/19895/mr-no-load-dies-at-84-sheldon-jacobs#latest

FYI:
Regards,
Ted
http://www.ritholtz.com/blog/2015/03/bull-vs-bear-debate-is-biotech-is-in-a-bubble/print/

FYI: Small growth and biotech exposure led, while large value lagged.
Regards,
Ted
http://news.morningstar.com/articlenet/article.aspx?id=690799

@Crash Thanks for the feedback. Looks like we're close to being in the same place on PREMX. I'm just mulling the trim for now; I don't have my finger resting on the button, so to speak. I just checked at TR Price, and apparently they've decided to be a bit more transparent on their holdings, since PREMX's country distributions as of 2/28 were just posted. Still has 6.5-7% in Russia, Venezuela, and (for those who believe in the power of redemption, I guess) Argentina. Notably, Ukraine is absent, so they must have found a buyer and off-loaded the rest of it.
I hope the EM countries do something productive with all the debt they've taken on. Just read that their collective borrowing in 2002 was $2 trillion; now, it's 9 trillion! As you say, there are many things that can tip over the cart for individual EM debt, regardless of credit rating. It still comes with the territory, it's gonna happen.
e.g.
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-03-26/doubleline-stung-by-soda-maker-born-of-peru-s-shining-path-chaos

FYI: The old adage, then, to “Sell in May and go away” has caught on.
Interestingly, it is less important to know if you should sell in May, but rather to understand why you are investing in the stock market and what your goals are.
Regards,
Ted
http://investorplace.com/2015/03/sell-in-may-and-go-away-etfs/print
Busting The Sell In May And Go Away Myth:
http://www.forbes.com/sites/rickferri/2013/04/08/busting-the-sell-in-may-and-go-away-myth/print/

FYI: The first mutual fund giving mom-and-pop investors easy access to the private market for tech startups turned a year old this week, capping a year of big gains and raising the question for would-be buyers: Is this a good deal or a danger?
Regards,
Ted
http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/03/26/us-fundview-sharespost-idUSKBN0MM2VV20150326
Shares Post 100 Fund Website:
http://sharespost.com/sharepost-100-fund/overview/

@MFO Members: Invesco Slant:
Regards,
Ted
http://www.thinkadvisor.com/2015/03/25/ukraines-debt-is-unsustainable-invesco?t=fixed-income&page_all=1

After 5 years of bull market finding value is a real challenge. Growth funds will outperform till we hit bear market. After that value invstment will shine again, as it did during first years of bull market.

@MFO Members: Remember, a value stock many times is undiscovered, and once found becomes a growth stock. On the other hand, many growth stocks became value stocks because of poor earnings. Today's value stock becomes tomorrow's growth stock and vice versa.
Regards,
Ted
Growth vs. Value Investing:
https://www.fidelity.com/learning-center/investment-products/mutual-funds/growth-vs-value-investing
Value funds vs. Growth Funds IBD:
http://news.investors.com/investing-mutual-funds/030615-742276-top-performing-value-funds.htm

Hello, @heezsafe.
I originally entered this fund in a 403b back in 2010. It's in a rollover IRA, now. And a much smaller holding for me than it was in 2012 or so. (PREMX is 14% of portfolio, these days.) Russia and Ukraine together are 8.0% of portfolio. The latest portfolio as per M* shows a REDUCTION in Russian stuff, offering 7.5% on that "stuff." (Fund's portfolio at M* dated New Year's Eve, 2014.)
I'm not able, somehow, to very easily find trade-date records over the past 6-9 months. That stuff must be somewhere. ... The fund's position in "little ol' Serbia" is bigger than its holdings in Ukraine. i can see THAT, anyhow.
Anyhow, uncle Vladimir the THUG is no friend of mine. And Ukraine's bonds? I'm just trying to keep a healthy perspective on this mutual fund. It is, after all, EM bonds. Others here prefer the Fidelity EM bond fund, FNMIX. For convenience, I'll hold my PREMX. It's keeping pace with FNMIX, always just a bit behind the performance of FNMIX.
I guess I'm trying to say that I'm not surprised nor dismayed by what PREMX is holding. The turnover is much lower than average for the category. This is a risky category, with exchange rates and politics. But PREMX holds mostly dollar-denominated stuff. And I sure do like the monthly pay-outs. When I first got in, the monthly div. was over .07 cents per share. It's lower than that, now. But still over .06 cents. I like this one for the long haul. I continue to hold, and reinvest all pay-outs. That's where I am with it. I hope this helps? :)

An alternate possibility: investors won't tolerate real value investing. There are probably two hallmarks of the deep value investor; that is, of the investor who's after the "value premium" found in the academic research. First, they're willing to buy shares of firms that are either disasters or disastrously misunderstood, and then hold them for the 3-5 years that it might take for the corporation to correct its path or for other investors to realize that they'd been misjudging it. Second, they're willing to buy nothing when there's nothing to buy.
Jeremy Grantham calls it "career risk." Value investors tend to get fired before deep value investments play out, so they don't make those investments.
As a result, most value investors are "relative value" guys: fulled invested, often buyers of "the best of a bad lot." Here's a quick test of my guess: I used Morningstar's fund screener to identify all US stock funds in the "value" equity box then looked at (1) where their portfolio centroid - on Morningstar's stylebox grid, it's the black dot representing the placement of the heart of the portfolio from micro to mega and deep value to rocket growth - was and (2) how much cash they had.
574 value funds. I picked the first fund listed on each of the first 15 pages of results. Here they are:
AAM/Bahl & Gaynor Income Growth: value/blend border, 6% cash
American Beacon The London Co Inc Eq: value/blend border, 6% cash
Artisan Small Cap Value: value/blend border, 7% cash
Boston Partners All Cap Value: value/blend border, 0% cash
Columbia Dividend Income: value/blend border, 3% cash
Delaware Mid Cap Value: value/blend border, 0% cash
Dunham Alternative Income: value/blend border, 3% cash
Fidelity Advisor® Value: value/blend border, 5% cash
Franklin Balance Sheet Investment: value/deep value border, 10% cash
Great-West Putnam Equity Income: value/blend border, 2% cash
Hennessy Large Value: middle of the value box, 0% cash
Invesco Exchange: value/blend border, 1% cash
JPMorgan Value Advantage: value/blend border, 8% cash
Manning & Napier Equity Income: middle of the value box, 2% cash
Nationwide US Small Cap Value: value/blend border, 0% cash.
Of a sample of 15 value funds, just one is positioned to invest in the sorts of deep value stocks that most of the research isolates.
There are just two self-proclaimed "deep value" equity options: Towle Deep Value TDVFX (value/deep value border, 2% cash) and Deep Value E T F DVP (solidly deep value, 0% cash). Of the funds we've covered, only Pinnacle Value PVFIX (deep value, 43% cash) strikes me as seriously pursuing the value premium: Mr. Deysher buys only when a stock is at historic lows but the business seems sound, which leaves him with investors' disdain and the best risk ratios (Sortino, Martin and so on) around.
For what thought fodder that offers,
David