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Here's a statement of the obvious: The opinions expressed here are those of the participants, not those of the Mutual Fund Observer. We cannot vouch for the accuracy or appropriateness of any of it, though we do encourage civility and good humor.
  • DSENX = Large Value category according to M*
    This chart is CAPE vs DSENX beginning with inception.
    Click onto the the green/red icon at the far left end of the 350 day slider for a bar graph representation of the returns.
  • Josh Brown: The Biggest Mistake Investors Are Making Right Now: Unconstrained Bond Funds
    FYI: We tend to be willing to ignore historical facts when a more convenient promise comes along. In this case, that promise is the rise of the unconstrained bond fund.
    Regards,
    Ted
    http://fortune.com/2015/03/25/unconstrained-bond-funds-risk/
  • intermediate-Bond Funds.. Best?
    Morningstar:
    " intermediate-term bond categories are funds intended to be safer havens--these generally take on less credit risk or less interest-rate risk than peers.
    Last week, we published a checklist for taxable-bond-fund investors. In it, we suggested that investors select intermediate-term bond funds for the core of their fixed-income allocations. By dedicating a sizable chunk of your fixed-income allocation in such funds, your portfolio will be better positioned to withstand bond-market shocks from interest-rate increases or credit-quality scares. Plus, you'll get the diversification benefits that bonds can offer an equity-heavy portfolio(exactly...tb)
    Securities mentioned in this article"
    Ticker
    Price($)
    Change(%) Morningstar Rating Morningstar Analyst Report ...Gold Rated
    DODIX 13.94 -0.14
    FGMNX 11.69 -0.09
    FGOVX 10.62 -0.19
    NERYX 13.15 -0.38
    MWTIX 11.02 -0.18
    LSIIX 11.77 -0.34
    VFIJX 10.86 -0.09
    VBTLX 10.98 -0.27
    FTBFX 10.81 -0.18
  • For holding "cash" - should I keep loading into RPHYX?
    Now that the market is pulling back is a good time to gauge if your chosen cash substitute is performing to your expectations. Remember real cash will function much like a shock absorber for a portfolio in market declines as real cash offers a stable value where valuations for most other assets held follow their respectve market valuations.
    Old_Skeet's overall portfolio allocation is now about 20% cash, 20% income, 50% equity, and 10% other.
  • For holding "cash" - should I keep loading into RPHYX?
    @hank That's a pleasant way of looking at the situation. And it was pleasurable to note I have done pretty much the same thing, for the same reasons--- I just hadn't fully realized why until I read your comment! [I hope you are aware that, with such a temperament, you're gonna need an additional 5-10 yrs of living expenses in your retirement]
  • Biotech’s Rally Fuels Bubble Fears
    @catch22. Ha! I certainly didn't intend that, unless they have finely-sculpted legs, in which case I need not apologize for revealing something attractive on a day like today. Yuk!
    But you are correct about the -5 finish--- the 12% figure is the decline from the biotech sector high made 3d ago, so perhaps slightly smaller negative number on the slope. :)
    After Friday's close, this might be a good weekend to check out our favorite HC funds to see how they fared this week viz-a-vis how much biotech they carry.
  • DSENX = Large Value category according to M*
    DoubleLine fact sheet for DSENX reports as of 2/28 that the average market cap of its equity holdings is 50.6B. I suppose you could call it Large Cap.
  • Biotech’s Rally Fuels Bubble Fears
    Hi @heezsafe
    Don't fully scare the investing pants off of everyone in the bio/healthcare sector........ :)
    Monitoring through the day, the bio sectors kept moving down, and + or - a tenth or so; most finished about -5%; not -12%.
    They'll come back, IMO.
    Take care,
    Catch
  • Biotech’s Rally Fuels Bubble Fears
    Gilead starting to look like the Amgen of 10-15 yrs ago. Maybe better. Nice. Individual companies, for the foreseeable future, are definitely the investment to make.
    As for the rest, well, biotech sector was down -12% today. Now that the Fed has stopped their QE magic tricks, all levitating bodies with phoney $1B+ cap but P/E= N/A will crash to the stage, sooner or later. There will be tears.
    3/25 POAGX %change= -2.78% !
  • An Easy Prediction
    LOL, nice chart!
    A retired friend of mine, who lives many states away and has something over $1M in his portfolio, told me about 6 months ago that he was buying 3D printer stocks. He didn't say how much, but if someone wanted to gamble with 5% - 10%, have at it.
    Eh, good luck, but I'll stick with my stodgy old auto-pilot mutual funds, keeping me properly diversified and allocated. Jumping on bandwagons has never been my style.
  • Biotech’s Rally Fuels Bubble Fears
    @Scott - almost took a toehold at the closing but since it's almost the end of the month (or quarter) and fund managers are playing games with positions and holdings I'm going to let that shake itself off first. GILD has definitely been on the radar though. Do you think they are done splitting shares as has been their MO up to this point?
    I don't see a split any time in the foreseeable future. There is a $15+B buyback in place, as well as a 43c quarterly div starting soon.
    "Gilead Sciences, Inc. (Nasdaq: GILD) announced today that the company’s Board of Directors has authorized a dividend program under which the company intends to pay quarterly dividends of $0.43 per share, beginning in the second quarter of 2015, subject to quarterly declarations by the Board of Directors.
    The Board of Directors also approved the repurchase of up to an additional $15.0 billion of the company’s common stock. This new program is in addition to the currently authorized three-year $5.0 billion repurchase program (authorized in May 2014). As of December 31, 2014, approximately $3 billion remained in the May 2014 program. The new program will expire 5 years after the completion of the May 2014 program. Purchases may be made in the open market or in privately negotiated transactions from time to time, as determined by Gilead’s management and in accordance with the requirements of the Securities and Exchange Commission"
    http://www.gilead.com/news/press-releases/2015/2/gilead-sciences-announces-43-cents-quarterly-dividend-program-and-15-billion-share-buyback-program
  • DSENX = Large Value category according to M*
    At market close today I added to DSENX and now have 35-40% of our nut in it, so I wonder if there is any accuracy whatsoever to M*'s characterization of it as like a 50-50 balanced fund.
  • For holding "cash" - should I keep loading into RPHYX?
    Great stuff from everyone.
    Cash seems to have widely varying definitions and widely varying purposes among investors. And it's natural to climb the ladder a little in search of something better than 0%. Even 2 or 3% on RPHYX looks good by comparison. No objection to that. But, it's not "cash" in the most basic traditional sense of the word.
    I'm not sure one's definition of cash (or "enhanced cash" as someone put it) really matters a whole lot. I guess if you're running your household budget under really tight constraints, or meeting a weekly business payroll, or running a tax-funded government entity, than precise dollar amounts are critical to the operation and you best keep the necessary money in insured deposits or TBills.
    For most of us however, fluxuations of 2, 3 or even 5% on our short term reserves (cash and cash substitutes) really isn't all that worrisome. We can take a bit more risk and accept those fluxuations. MSF makes a good point about some of the ultra-shorts that took a big hit during the '08 meltdown. Yes, they didn't appear all that risky before the crisis imploded. I have no answer to that one. A valid point.
    I earn 0% on my Prime Reserve fund at Price and 0% on a couple checking accounts. But wait a second ... I'm actually receiving compensation through a wide range of services. These include free check-writing and electronic fund transfers. Free 24-hour online access from any device. Free phone numbers and live agents able to respond to account related questions or provide guidance. Also, live tellers at their branches, convenient credit cards and debit cards linked to these accounts and many other free or discounted services. That's a lot of "free" stuff available to me to in return for those cash deposits.
    In the case of Price, keeping cash with them allows free and immediate access to any of their 100+ quality funds at literally the touch of a keypad. And exchanges between these great funds and my Prime Reserve account are conveniently exempted from their excessive trading restrictions. If I need some of the cash, they quickly transfer it to to my bank of record. Again at no fee. So, besides the higher stability of these low yielding cash accounts, I'm actually receiving quite a bit in return.
    Advice to the original poster. Don't put all your eggs in one basket. As compelling as RPHYX may appear, spread your short term holdings (assuming they are significant) around a little.
  • Vanguard Wellington Fund closes to third party intermediaries
    http://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/105563/000093247115005798/ps21_022013.htm
    497 1 ps21_022013.htm CLOSED FUND SUPPLEMENT
    Vanguard Wellington™ Fund
    Supplement to the Prospectus and Summary Prospectus
    Important Note Regarding Vanguard Wellington Fund
    Vanguard Wellington Fund will be closed to all prospective financial advisory, institutional, and intermediary clients (other than clients who invest through a Vanguard brokerage account).
    The Fund will remain closed until further notice and there is no specific time frame for when the Fund will reopen. During the Fund’s closed period, all current shareholders may continue to purchase, exchange, or redeem shares of the Fund online, by telephone, or by mail.
    The Fund may modify these transaction policies at any time and without prior notice to shareholders. You may call Vanguard for more detailed information about the Fund’s transaction policies. Participants in employer-sponsored plans may call Vanguard Participant Services at 800-523-1188. Investors in nonretirement accounts and IRAs may call Vanguard’s Investor Information Department at 800-662-7447.
    © 2013 The Vanguard Group, Inc. All rights reserved.
    Vanguard Marketing Corporation, Distributor. PS 21 022013
  • For holding "cash" - should I keep loading into RPHYX?
    I just looked at RPHYX's chart on M*. It's performing exactly as advertised: a very gentle but nearly straight line up, delivering a bit more than 3% better than MMFs, which are delivering just about zero. The only time it ever had a negative quarter was Q3 2011, when it fell only 0.07% and made up for it the following quarter.
    Unless the manager is having trouble finding investments, and the 3.5% cash stake does not indicate that, why look elsewhere?
    But I'm not putting all my cash here. I like to have a chunk of cash that is truly cash, with a government guarantee if possible.

    I've always stayed away from this one because despite what I've heard here, it *is* dependent upon the performance and health of the junk bond market. Thus, since its inception has never been tested. As expatsp mentions above, its worst performance was Q3 2011 which just happens to correspond to the worst performance of junk bonds since its last bear market in 2008. Then again, bear markets in junk bonds are few and far between.
    I agree with Expatsp. So far as I can tell, the fund has done exactly what the manager said it would do. This "money good" stuff, so far as I understand it, means that even if the bond issuing company goes bankrupt, the manager is confident that the bonds held by RPHYX will be paid in full as a result of the bankruptcy proceedings. The general state of the junk bond market would have only a temporary effect on the fund's NAV.
    It's not a true cash substitute since you are dependent upon the manager's judgment that these holdings really are "money good" (and there is that temporary effect on the fund's NAV from the junk bond market even if things work out as planned), but I believe that the manager has always made this clear.
  • The Breakfast Briefing: U.S. Kraft & Heinz Merger
    I have owned brk for 25 years never paid a cap gain tax yet nothing but net!!!