I have owned brk for 25 years never paid a cap gain tax yet nothing but net!!!

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.

As for performance, Wellesley beats at least 95% of other conservative allocation funds for 3-, 5- and 10-year returns.
For one of the best-managed conservative funds you can buy, it’s hard to beat the cheap expense ratio of 0.25%.
The minimum initial investment for VWINX is $3,000.
Super Star conservative...tb

FYI: Today's chart illustrates how it currently takes a touch more than 15 ounces of gold to 'buy the Dow' (i.e. the Dow / gold ratio) -- well off the 44.8 ounces it took back at its peak in 1999.
Regards,
Ted
http://www.chartoftheday.com/20150325.htm?H

FYI: Kraft Foods Group and H.J. Heinz Company have agreed to merge in a deal that will create the fifth largest food and beverage company in the world, and the third largest in America. Kraft shares were up 24% in pre-market trading.
The firms released a statement confirming the deal on Wednesday morning, following a report in The Wall Street Journal on Tuesday that the two were in talks with a deal likely to top $40 billion. Brazilian private equity firm 3G Capital and Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc., which teamed up in 2013 to buy Heinz for $23 billion, will invest $10 billion in the new company. Kraft will add well-known food brands, including Kraft Singles, Maxwell House, Kool-Aid, and Kraft Mac & Cheese to 3G’s food-focused portfolio.
The new company will be called the The Kraft Heinz Company and will be co-headquartered in Pittsburgh and the Chicago area, with revenues of approximately $28 billion, eight $1 billion+ brands and five brands between $500 million and $1 billion. Kraft shareholders will own 49% of the new company, and receive a special cash dividend of $16.50 per share. The cash dividend payment represents 27% of Kraft’s closing price as of Tuesday, according to the statement.
The relentlessly ambitious 3G is already considered the envy of the food world and activist investors due to its near-singular focus on costs and its list of rich co-investors, among other things. But in the private equity world, it’s also changing the rules of fundraising in a way that’s gotten its rivals — in particular New York-based Blackstone Group — eager to do the same
Regards,
Ted
http://blogs.wsj.com/moneybeat/2015/03/25/morning-moneybeat-on-a-stair-stepper-rally-and-a-blockbuster-deal-for-kraft/tab/print/
Current Futures:
http://finviz.com/futures.ashx

Hi all you good folk:
As we all scramble for yield … I guess … perhaps some are willing to broaden their definition for cash and what it’s equal might be. For me, real cash would be US currency, FDIC bank deposits, savings accounts and some cd’s along with short term treasuries. At one time I included brokerage and fund company money market accounts; but, no more unless they are FDIC insured.
Even though gold and silver might be a store of value and offer barter capacity ... for me ... they are not cash.
So, when Old_Skeet says he has fifteen percent in cash … He really does.
Additional Note 1:
One of the things I have done to make my cash productive is to open and close special spiff investment positions form time-to-time.
My last spiff was opened around October of 2014 with an average cost on the spiff with a cost reading on the S&P 500 Index at 1905. Thru March 20th of 2015 this position is now up about 10.4%. Since, I am currently at about 15% in cash as I write I have left the spiff open and will most likely close it out as we approach summer and before if stocks go soft as we approach 1Q2015 earning reporting season.
When the spiff is fully closed out, this will raise my cash allocation to about 20% and reduce my equity allocation to about 50%. From a tax strategy stand point this spiff strategy is usually done in my self directed ira account thus avoiding capital gains taxes that would be due on the gains if done in a taxable account.
Come late summer or early fall, I will usually start another special equity spiff position in this seasonal strategy and fund it from the cash area of the portfolio rather than utilizing margin based funding that would eat into profits. And, if done on margin that would put the action in the taxable account and make the gains taxable.
Additional Note 2:
Booked profit in special spiff today with the market headed downwards on economic data and news. And, I am not to hopeful 1Q2015 earnings are going to be all that good. Profit over about a six month holding period was 8.2% plus dividends.
Old_Skeet

Emerging Markets Small Cap Fund is open to direct purchases to new investors through Wasatch only.
http://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/806633/000119312515103112/d896282d497.htm
497 1 d896282d497.htm WASATCH FUNDS TRUST
WASATCH FUNDS TRUST
Supplement dated March 24, 2015 to the
Statement of Additional Information dated January 31, 2015
Investor Class
Wasatch Core Growth Fund® — Investor Class (WGROX)
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Wasatch Emerging Markets Small Cap Fund® — Investor Class (WAEMX)
Wasatch Frontier Emerging Small Countries Fund® — Investor Class (WAFMX)
Wasatch Global Opportunities Fund® — Investor Class (WAGOX)
Wasatch Heritage Growth Fund® — Investor Class (WAHGX)
Wasatch International Growth Fund® — Investor Class (WAIGX)
Wasatch International Opportunities Fund® — Investor Class (WAIOX)
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Wasatch Long/Short Fund® — Investor Class (FMLSX)
Wasatch Micro Cap Fund® — Investor Class (WMICX)
Wasatch Micro Cap Value Fund® — Investor Class (WAMVX)
Wasatch Small Cap Growth Fund® — Investor Class (WAAEX)
Wasatch Small Cap Value Fund® — Investor Class (WMCVX)
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Wasatch Ultra Growth Fund® — Investor Class (WAMCX)
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This Supplement updates certain information contained in the Wasatch Funds Statement of Additional Information for Investor Class shares, dated January 31, 2015. You should retain this Supplement and the Statement of Additional Information for future reference. Additional copies of the Statement of Additional Information may be obtained free of charge by visiting our web site at www.WasatchFunds.com or calling us at 800.551.1700.
The last paragraph in the section entitled “General Information and History” in the SAI is hereby deleted in its entirety and replaced with the following:
The Emerging Markets Small Cap Fund, Frontier Emerging Small Countries Fund, International Growth Fund and Small Cap Growth Fund are each closed to new investors with the exception of: (1) investors who purchase shares directly from Wasatch Funds; (2) clients of all investment advisors with discretionary investment allocation programs where such advisors and programs had investments in the Fund prior to the Fund’s closing date; and (3) retirement plans and their participants where such plans had investments in the Fund prior to the Fund’s closing date.
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I'll keep buying GILD with a forward p/e under 10, a dividend coming up shortly and a company that had 12.8 billion in operating cash flow last year. The funny thing is that I don't think any of the biotech majors are richly valued and Gilead is quite reasonable. It's the smaller companies that I think are expensive.
Gilead's CEO being named "CEO of the Year" by Morningstar last year was a little concerning, but I'll continue to own it as a large position.
http://www.investopedia.com/stock-analysis/032315/could-gileads-dividend-have-additional-upside-gild.aspx

FYI: (Click On Article Title At Top Of Google Search)
Nasdaq bubble fears are back. But this time around, the biggest dangers may not involve technology stocks.
Instead, some investors are looking askance at biotechnology stocks, a sector that wasn’t nearly as developed when the Nasdaq Composite Index set its record close in 2000 of 5048.62.
The Nasdaq Biotech Index is up about 240% since the beginning of 2012. That dwarfs the 82% gain logged by the Nasdaq-100 tech index of the largest technology companies listed on the exchange operated by Nasdaq OMX Group Inc.
Regards,
Ted
https://www.google.com/search?newwindow=1&site=&source=hp&q=Biotech’s+Rally+Fuels+Bubble+Fears+wsj&oq=Biotech’s+Rally+Fuels+Bubble+Fears+wsj&gs_l=hp.3...5282.8945.0.9437.5.5.0.0.0.0.80.346.5.5.0.msedr...0...1c.1.62.hp..4.1.80.hylaCH7RCb4

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.

FYI: Year-to-date, mid-cap growth stock funds are up approximately 7%, whereas the S&P 500 is up around 2.4%. The reason why mid-cap stocks can be good now and in the near-term, as opposed to small-caps and large-caps, is that small-caps have more market risk and large-caps may get hit by a strong dollar.
Regards,
Ted
http://investorplace.com/2015/03/3-best-mid-cap-growth-mutual-funds-nicsx-vmgix-jaenx/print

FYI: My recent articles on performance generated considerable reader feedback, with lots of people wanting help with applying the facts to their portfolios.
Below, I'll answer four questions that came up.
Regards,
Ted
http://www.marketwatch.com/story/when-going-all-in-on-small-cap-value-might-be-a-winner-2015-03-25/print

FYI: Vanguard funds are ideal investment choices for retirees because they arguably have the best lineup of low-cost funds that provide an unmatched combination of low relative risk and high relative return.
Regards,
Ted
http://investorplace.com/2015/03/3-best-vanguard-funds-conservative-retirees-vscgx-vwinx-vpgdx/print

The holy grail that you're looking for used to be called "enhanced cash". The idea was to go a very little up the risk ladder (not conform to Rule 2a-7), but be pretty steady in price (albeit floating). They differentiated themselves from MMFs in both not complying with the MMF SEC rule, and in making clear that they were not MMFs. At least they were supposed to make that latter point clear.
Part of the problem with them was overzealous marketing - TDAmeritrade settled a suit because it had marketed Reserve Yield Plus as a MMF, which it was not. Part of the problem was miserable risk management by some of these funds. From Kiplinger, Are Money-Market Funds as Good as Cash (a prescient article from March 2008):

Many sponsors, analysts and investors used to think that ultra-short bond funds and short-term floating bank-loan funds were nearly as [safe as] money-market funds, but that thinking is in shreds after big losses at such funds as Fidelity Ultra-Short Bond (FUSFX) and Schwab Yield Plus (SWYPX).

Despite the notoriety that Reserve got (much of it deserved, for the way it went after Lehman bonds), I'm one of the very few who feel that Reserve Yield Plus was a fine fund, likely the best enhanced cash fund. It maintained an extremely stable NAV (unlike ultra short bond funds), and provided decent return. Exactly what an enhanced cash fund should do.
When the fund collapsed, its NAV dropped only 3% - compare that to the above named ultra short funds from Fidelity and Schwab. And even that was in part due to a foolish (IMHO) run on the fund by investors. As mentioned above, TDA had sold this fund as a MMF-equivalent, thus when its sibling Reserve Prime, a true MMF broke a buck, people panicked.
Despite its holdings in Lehman, despite the demise of this fund, I think it shows that enhanced cash funds can work (if not oversold to people expecting MMFs). For the most part, this type of fund doesn't seem to exist any more. RPHYX might be considered a version 2.0. But I think it is unique, and as OJ commented, not reproducible (limited supply). I'll offer thoughts on a couple of other alternatives in another post tomorrow or Thurs.

" A fund carrying only 27% in equities is mis-categorized when labeled as "LV." That's my point."
One finds bond houses try to mimic equity funds by use of bonds and derivatives. The concept is not unique. The bond houses are simply leveraging their expertise in bonds. Such funds do get classified in the same group as the equity funds they're mimicking.
For example, Met West AlphaTrack 500 (MWATX) - you can guess what this fund is mimicking. Classified Large Cap Blend (M*) and Large Cap Core (Lipper). 70% bond, 30% cash. From its prospectus

The Fund is an enhanced S&P 500 Index fund that combines non-leveraged investments in the S&P 500 with a fixed-income portfolio. The Adviser actively manages the fixed-income portfolio in an effort to produce an investment return that, when combined with the Fund’s return on the S&P 500 Index futures, will exceed the total return of the S&P 500 Index.

Or you may be more familiar with PIMCO StocksPlus (PSPDX among a zillion other tickers). M* writes:

While the fund uses futures and swaps to mimic the S&P 500, the cash left over after collateral is posted is invested in bonds

Same as MetWest.

Some Vanguard mutual funds carries a modest purchase charge (<0.5%) to gain access to the Investor shares whereas the equivalent ETFs sport lower ERs similar to those of Admiral shares. Also buying/selling these ETFs are commission-free at Vanguard brokerage. I use ETFs and index funds in taxable accounts, and many of the active managed funds in tax deferred accounts.

Thanks --- I know! At Fido the min for is way higher, 100k, I believe, which I would meet, but you still have to pay $50, which totally and immaturely irrationally sticks in my craw. (I could run the numbers.) I just want to be able to bail in a year if need be (the strategy blows up somehow) and go crawling back to the Yackts and PRBLX, with GLRBX for shorter-term.
I was late to the party also, but learned about it here and dove in, or slowly slid in.

davidrmoran- if you have an IRA with Vanguard or Fido ( maybe others) , you can buy the institutional share class DSEEX for $5000 minimum and save on yearly expenses even after the transaction fee. I can't decide if this enhanced fund should be a core holding. (Not sure about counter party risk issues or how it will react when all sectors are relatively overvalued) I admire your courage. I've enjoyed the ride but was a couple of months late to the launch.

Well, with RPHYX I'm up some $5600 over my basis. I can't give actual percentage gains because I've added to that account a number of different times, and while I do know the methodology to approximate the percentage gain it's just more trouble than I want to go to, so I just keep the YTD data.
RSIVX is up 1.3% YTD, not too bad, but it's also a different animal than RPHYX.
One reason that I like those two is that they're NTF at Schwab, so easy to get into and out of cheaply.

I have parked cash in RPHYX and RSIVX for about the last 15 months. My basis is actually more than the market values of these funds given the reinvested dividends and paltry increases in NAV. The money seems safe, but I almost feel as though I'm paying someone a parking fee. Like Whakamole, I would never have known about these funds without MFO.