PowerShares launches a new actively managed commodity ETF
Nov 10 2014, 14:25 ET
The PowerShares DB Optimum Yield Diversified Commodity Strategy Portfolio (NASDAQ:PDBC) offers broad commodity futures contracts through a Cayman Islands-based unit, which allows its investors to avoid K-1 tax forms.
http://seekingalpha.com/news/2112405-powershares-launches-a-new-actively-managed-commodity-etf?uprof=46

@Ron
Sure, it is good to have large distributions in a non-taxable account, like Fidelity's Select Biotechnology Portfolio of $25.31 per share (which I own in a non-taxable account). However, when you own Turner's Emerging Growth Fund in a taxable account with an estimated $21.94 per share payout that is not good (which I also own in a taxable account). I just sold my entire TMCGX position this morning in order to avoid the large distribution payout; the distribution payout would have been larger than my gain for selling all my TMCGX shares. If you look for Turner above, I noted that the estimated distribution amount has increased about a $1 since it was first posted (Turner Small Cap Growth and Turner Midcap Growth Funds are approximately $13.61 and $15.44, respectively) . In speaking with Turner's CSR this morning, she indicated that there have been numerous redemptions due to hefty estimated payouts. I plan to get back into TMCGX once the distribution has been paid.
@Valet
It is a sharp program!

I hope this is an appropriate addition to this thread... (not generally a good start to any message, I realize).
This year looks like it will be a record year for capital gains distributions. After years of thinking about it, I've put together a free website to serve as a one-stop shop for gathering capital gains estimates. My database has 250 firms and already has links to nearly 90 firms' estimates. The information I share is less valuable to the folks that are reviewing this thread, but I do think the site is more accessible and I do provide additonal information. (I'm currently posting links to preliminary information or even 2013 links if that's all that is available.)
The site is CapGainsValet.com. Although the site is free, like MFO, I am asking for financial support. In my case, I'm asking for donations to my favorite charity.
This is the first place I am notifying about the site. I could not think of a better group to reach out to before I try to spread the word. Please let me know your thoughts and recommendations.

Bay,
It is the aggregate numbers that matter more than individual cases, and the last time it was checked Vanguard had one of the worst records of voting for executive compensation and against shareholder proposals to reign that compensation in. But the last time I saw a study on it was for 2011, so maybe that's changed. But because you want examples, here's one: copper miner Freeport-McMoran (FCX)quotes.morningstar.com/stock/s?t=FCX&region=usa&culture=en-US&ownerCountry=USA.
In 2013 CEO Richard Adkerson made $55 million in total compensation:
insiders.morningstar.com/trading/executive-compensation.action?t=FCX&region=usa&culture=en-US
aflcio.org/Corporate-Watch/Paywatch-2014/100-Highest-Paid-CEOs#!/search/FCX
According to Morningstar, Freeport's stock underperformed other copper miner's for every time period. Nor is it a highly profitable time to be a miner in general, a time when responsible executives should be tightening their belts with lower executive compensation. Vanguard's S&P 500 Fund (VFINX) is one of Freeport's largest holders, yet it voted in its latest proxy to ratify Adkerson's compensation:
sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/36405/000093247114006617/indexfunds0040.htm
It also voted against a shareholder proposal to have an independent chairman on Freeport's board. Having a truly independent board is essential to having some control over executive compensation as often the ties of board members are too cozy with that of management and they have conflicts of interest that lead them to overpay their executives. Yet Vanguard often in the past has voted against board independence and for excessive pay packages. And this excessive pay often leads to excessive risk taking by management and stock underperformance studies reveal: papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1572085
Even worse, as a passive index fund investor, it is incumbent on Vanguard to be as vigilant as possible when it comes to corporate governance because the company must buy and hold no matter how flagrant the abuses of corporate governance and executive compensation at a specific holding. John Bogle himself has been very critical of Vanguard for not being more active in this area. I've actually written about this subject in my book on Bogle. The question is has Vanguard changed its ways. I would like to think so, but until there is firm statistical evidence that its voting record has changed, I find it hard to believe.

FYI: Just like the Energizer Bunny PFF, one of my largest positions, just keep ticking along, and pays a dividend monthly. Bought in 3/09, you do the math.
The little-known securities split the difference between bonds and equities.
Regards,
Ted
http://www.marketwatch.com/story/3-preferred-stock-etfs-with-dividends-of-at-least-5-2014-11-10/print

Hello,
It is now 9:00 AM EST as I write ...
I phone M* at about 8:45 AM EST and went through the prompts. Aflter being on hold for about ten minutes without being able to speak with someone I terminated the call.
Part of good service is timely pricing updates along with being able handle inbound customer service calls in a timely manner. This did not happen. Their star rating in now under review.
Old_Skeet

It is about 7:15 AM EST as I write.
In checking the price of SGGDX on its fund report and in portfolio manager it has now been updated as of it's Friday closing price.
At about 7:10 AM EST I called M* and got a recording that their office hours were from 7AM to 7PM ... I'll try again as they might be in a different time zone?
M* could have run updates early Saturday morning and in doing this their reports would not have reflected stale pricing over the weekend.
Old_Skeet

FYI: Commodities are an outlier at a time of record or near-record prices for other major asset classes, such as stocks, bonds and real estate.
Regards,
Ted
http://online.wsj.com/articles/its-time-to-consider-commodities-1415495805?tesla=y&mg=reno64-wsj&url=http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10630045880067773408604580260661565673950.html&fpid=2,7,121,122,201,401,641,1009

Add-on, @catch22:
>>>>>"Not sure what you mean by "We'll do our SERIOUS investing elsewhere."
Does this mean that monies that are not invested in the workplace 403b are instead invested in a trad. or ROTH IRA?
One aspect of workplace retirement accounts is reducing gross taxable income during the tax year, which some folks consider a benefit to saving by this method."
**********
By "serious" investing, I just meant that we won't be putting our OWN money into the 403b. We get the deduction from our IRAs, still. We've not even begun to withdraw from our IRAs, and are still adding to them. Traditional. (Wife still is working, though lately cut to part-time.) There were a couple of years in which I inherited more than the $6,500.00 Trad. IRA maximum and so we bought a couple of funds as taxable investment accounts, but they remain quite small: SFGIX and DLFNX. Whether taxable or not, I think they were solid choices. :) Thank you for your concern, which I know is genuine. Typo above: we own NAESX Vang. Small-cap, not NEASX.

Hey. it only took three days, but M* status of my 1 star fund is now current...

Although I would have thought Friday's jump should have earned it a 2nd star...

A side note for those who care (perhaps too much) about who got caught in the 2003ish mutual fund scandal.
Here's a settlement notice from Columbia that pays shareholders of (among other funds) Acorn International, Acorn Select, and funds coming from Stein Roe, Newport, Wanger, and others whose lineage I don't care to track down.
I do recall that one of the more egregious offenders was Nations Bank (which later got merged into Columbia Funds).
I'm not going to sort out which funds were involved; just point out that the scandal appears to have come into present day Columbia from two distinct lines - Nations Bank and Fleet Boston (which bought Liberty which bought Acorn among others). So there were scoundrels on both sides of the "family".

This is not one of NYTimes better articles. It strongly implies that this is a vanilla case of excessive fees for 401(k) services. But that's not what's going on here.
Observe that the trial court awarded $37M. The appeals court reversed the $1.7M judgment against Fidelity, and affirmed $13.4M to be paid by ABB. Notice anything missing, like, say, $22M (actually $21.8M)?
That $22M amount was ruled speculative and excessive (ABB, when it swapped in a series of target date funds to the 401(k) plan, swapped out Wellington, for which the trial court penalized ABB). I believe it was sent back down (remanded) to the trial court for a better analysis.
The only award that was affirmed was the $13.4M. This was not the "usual" high-fees issue. What ABB and Fidelity did here went beyond the pale (IMHO). They agreed that Fidelity would charge above market rates (so the issue is not that prevailing market rates were excessive), and in exchange, Fidelity would not charge ABB fees for other services that Fidelity was providing that had nothing to do with the 401(k) plan.
(Specifically, Fidelity was providing some payroll and record keeping services.)
In short, when the numbers don't add up (literally), it's best to do some fact checking. Here's the appellate ruling, for anyone interested.

Thanks Charles.
Regarding the Sears bonds, are these senior bonds? If so, I wouldn't be as worried. In bankruptcy the senior bonds are ahead of unsecured bonds and common stock.

The bonds in the ridiculously complex rights offering are unsecured. Lampert has secured and I'm not sure what Fairholme currently has (I'm guessing secured?)
http://www.bloombergview.com/articles/2014-10-30/sears-has-a-deal-to-offer-its-shareholders
Get a $500 bond (five-year maturity, 8 percent coupon, senior unsecured at Sears Holdings)

Ted, thanks for posting.
I think the article makes some good points.
This is the very reason I recently just opened a starter position in SGGDX as I plan to position cost average this into a full position, over time, within the specialty sleeve of my portfolio.
In review of a recent portfolio Instant Xray analysis I am currently holding about a 5% allocation in the materials sector. In checking some of my reference sites, I am finding that the two most oversold sectors currently are the energy and the materials sectors. Combined these two sectors currently account for about 15% of my equity allocation ... and, in compairing this to the weightings found in the S&P 500 Index (13%) this puts me currently at about a 15% overweight to these two sectors. If I add only one more percent then this will put me at about a 25% overweight to these two sectors when combined.
For long term oriented investors like myself I feel it is better to buy when things are out of favor. So look for me to do a little more buying in funds that have a good weighting in these two sectors. One fund that I own PGUAX has about a 30% weighting to the energy sector and is kicking off about a 4.25% dividend yield and another fund SGGDX is heavly exposed to the materials sector by holding about 70% of its assets in the miners.
I wish all ... "Good Investing."
Old_Skeet

Good Firm to maintain your portfolio with:
Article Highlights:
We're permanent shareholders," good times and bad, McNabb said. So Vanguard, the Malvern-based mutual fund giant that manages $3 trillion in assets, feels obliged to pressure bosses to help "create as much wealth for our investors as we can."
McNabb said that earlier this year Vanguard sent messages to 350 companies saying, "Here's something we don't like."......
About 80 companies "have already made the changes" at Vanguard's request this year, McNabb said. "A bunch more are under discussion," he added.
That's my boys....tb

FYI: Less than 10 percent of 401(k) accounts administered by Fidelity Investments were invested entirely in stocks last quarter. It's the latest step in a yearslong march toward more balanced nest eggs. Fidelity keeps records for 13.1 million 401(k) participants, and its figures reach back to 2001, when the dot-com bubble was deflating and 33 percent of 401(k) plans were entirely in stocks. The percentage has dropped every year since then.
Regards,
Ted
http://bigstory.ap.org/article/3d7de4a5cb98423a944a345cde175e95/investors-find-better-balance-their-401ks

FYI: From hot to not and back again, Japanese stocks have been a confusing lot the last couple years.
Japan's stock market is flying after the Bank of Japan surprised the world last week by increasing its bond-buying stimulus program. The Nikkei 225 index jumped nearly 5 percent the day of the announcement, and it's back in the black for the year. In the spring, it was down nearly 15 percent. That follows a stellar 2013, where the Nikkei soared nearly 60 percent.
Underlying all the market moves is investor confidence in whether Japan can jumpstart its economy's too-weak inflation. Japanese shoppers and companies have grown accustomed to prices staying the same, which encourages them to delay purchases and investments. That weighs on consumer spending and restricts the economy.
To raise its inflation rate and jolt Japan, the country's central bank is pushing stimulus. Last week's surprise move caused the value of the yen to drop. That serves to make imported goods more expensive for Japanese shoppers and also boosts revenue for Japanese exporters.
Even after the big jump for Japanese stocks, they remain cheaper than their U.S. counterparts, says Taizo Ishida. He is the lead manager of the Matthews Japan fund, whose $683 million in assets makes it one of the biggest to focus solely on Japan. He recently discussed what U.S. investors can expect from the market. Answers have been edited for clarity.
Regards,
Ted
http://bigstory.ap.org/article/039ca5a0a61e457397f041c017b307fd/what-japans-stimulus-jolt-means-investors
M* Snapshot Of MJFOX: http://quotes.morningstar.com/fund/f?t=MJFOX&region=usa&culture=en-US
Lipper Snapshot Of MJFOX; http://www.marketwatch.com/investing/Fund/MJFOX?countrycode=US
MJFOX Is Rank #3 In The (JS) Fund Category By U.S. News & World Report:

"The fund also ranks in the top 1% of its short-term category for the one-, three-and five-year periods. While those results are impressive, the comparison is a bit misleading. The short-term categorization from Morningstar is merely a reflection of the fund’s current portfolio, which has an average effective duration of about three years." (Barron's profile, my emphasis)
FATRX is not a ST bond fund, and neither is THOPX (as some MFOers recently characterized it in another thread); they are total return bond funds which, for now, have chosen to keep their durations short enough, for long enough, that M* has thrown them into the ST bond category (resulting, IMO, in some pretty serious distortions in relative performance and purpose).
Nonetheless, I checked out FATRX awhile back and thought Elswick could become a good one. His core plus portfolio has been and is presently somewhat different than standard fare. Too bad it comes with a FEL=2.25%; just such a turnoff for me

Hello,
As of Sunday October 9, 2014 @ 2:45 AM EST ... SGGDX has yet to update with Friday's closing price in both the M* fund report and their portfolio manager system.
So you can see this with your own eyes I have provided a link to the fund report. Notice it is showing pricing and performance information as of market close of Thursday 10/06/2014.
http://quotes.morningstar.com/fund/f?t=SGGDX&region=USA
If there was something broke at my old firm we would have wanted to know ... and, with this I plan to extend this courtesy and call them on Monday. Thanks rjb112 for providing contact numbers.
I'll post an update about this on Monday.
I am thinking ... This is not good. Hopefully, they will have a fix soon?