Personally I think ANY system is better than lc, mc, sc, intl / 40, 20, 20, 20 tripe. Another thing it does it make people understand it is not all about comparing your performance against some index and trashing other people's opinions looking at 3 year and 5 year numbers and perpetually chasing "stAr" funds.
There is no price for ones sleep.

"Would seem the same to me."
I think the intent is the same but the way the intent is handled seems different. I see one traditional bucket system set up for time periods, ie 1-5 yrs, 6-10yrs, 11yrs and beyond for example. The sleeve is something new or in this case the management of the sleeves as Old Joe has done with sleeves for different investment strategies. ( cash, fixed income, etc. )

John, if you are interested in what the ownership of MLP's might have done for you should you have ventured to buy them I encourage you to read through the attached M* thread. I have owned them for a number of years with beyond my expectations results.
http://socialize.morningstar.com/NewSocialize/forums/p/340492/3564556.aspx

I continue to see the pop up. Is the above referenced thread locked?

which thread?
this one - http://www.mutualfundobserver.com/discuss/discussion/comment/45042/#Comment_45042
if it doesn't say closed - it isn't locked.

https://www.google.com/?gws_rd=ssl#q=The+New+Frontier+for+MLPs
are these vehicles good for short term 3-5 yrs?

Is this a buying opportunity for VTMSX or the start of a retracement? Seems to me it's running above its longer term channel. One could argue it maybe reestablishing the original channel so by extending the 10 year channel out 15 years VTMSX would have some room to move.
Acknowledment: Charts sometimes fart (don't always work). I just thought this mutual fund made a nice picture!
On the topic of gas...love GASFX 15 year chart!
Thanks for link Ted.
Here's my take:

@MFO Members: What's also interesting to note is how Mid & Small Cap Indexes have outperformed the S&P 500 on average over the 15 year time period.
Regards,
Ted

Wasn't this the fund that was the focus of the Josh Brown article a few months back?
Edited: Yes, it was.
http://www.thereformedbroker.com/2014/05/28/brokers-liquid-alts-and-the-fund-that-never-goes-up/

Looks as though CSRSX would be a good NTF option to your FREAX with it's load and higher ER (.97 vs 1.25).

Hi Skeet and Old Joe - After reading your article, it made me curious of where I was putting my money. Here's my breakdown. My funds are either at Vanguard or TRP. I have never been outside of either those 2 companies. My wife and I are 51, I retired from military in 2008, she works part time and I work full time. I am sure loaded up on International funds, maybe even some of them in the same arena.
1. US Equity Funds: PRWCX, PRSVX, VWELX, VWINX, VTSAX, VMRGX
2. World and EM Funds: PRSNX, TRAOX, TRAMX, VFSVX, VTIAX, VWIGX, TREMX, PRLAX, VEUSX
3. Health Care: PRHSX, VGHCX
4. Real Estate: VGSIX
5. Communication: PRMTX, PRGTX
6. Natural Resources: PRNEX
John

TOLSX is also no load at Schwab with an ER of 1.25%

http://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/52136/000119312514302109/d771285d497.htm
497 1 d771285d497.htm NATIXIS FUNDS TRUST II
ASG DIVERSIFYING STRATEGIES FUND
Supplement dated August 8, 2014 to the ASG Diversifying Strategies Fund Class A, C and Y Prospectus and the Natixis Funds Statement of Additional Information, each dated May 1, 2014, as may be revised and supplemented from time to time.
On August 8, 2014, the ASG Diversifying Strategies Fund (the “Fund”) was liquidated.
The Fund no longer exists, and as a result, shares of the Fund are no longer available for purchase or exchange.

@Old_Joe: This is a sideshow, don't let this deter you from investing.
The 10-year Treasury note 10_YEAR +0.37% yield, which falls as prices rise, was down half a basis point at 2.420%, the lowest close since June 2013. The yield fell as low as 2.350% overnight, according to Tradeweb. It’s down 8.5 basis points in the week.
(Source): MarketWatch
Regards,
Ted

I'm not much of a technical guy, but interested enough to have questions without a lot of answers. The Bespoke guys are looking at a 50 days moving average and Bollinger bands around that. It seems the most typical moving average for Bollinger bands would be a 20 day moving average. Is there any reason one or the other, or something else for that matter, should be a better indicator of what's likely to happen this time?

I have access to the S class shares, which seem to have no load and an expense ratio that gets close to the institutional shares.

I also own TOLSX through my brokerage.

I find "D" shares at pimco and "N" shares at Janus and TCW and "Z" shares at Columbia are all investor share often NTF.
Some funds have both NTF share class and a TF share class...I will sometimes consider TF shares class if I plan on holding the position for a longer time frame.
Also TRP and Fidelity offer Advisor shares that are often NTF, but with a higher ER than the non-advisor shares (say for instance PRWCX vs PACLX).
It always has to do with costs...either Loads, Expense Ratios, 12-1 fees, early redemption fees, etc.
Some brokerage houses only offers the load or TF share class of a particular fund while some have FUNDX.lw (load waive) versions. These often are the institutional classes.
Very confusing isn't it?
I'm sure I missed something...lots to know when it comes to the slicing and dicing the mutual fund world.

Thanks for that observation, Ted. I have been watchful, but not panicking---particularly through the global mayhem involving airplanes shot down and the Russian Penis ---oops, I mean Putin--- causing such a stink, and so many deaths in Ukraine. (Why is it improper any longer to refer to THE Ukraine? I just read that, elsewhere.) Portfolio is down from an all-time high level just more than 2% through all of this. If things manage to "bounce" in the days to come, I'll be glad. My european fund PRESX does not like what's happening at all. I bought that fund last November, mid-month. It's dipped below 15% of portfolio, today.

Hey there Skeet- well, as you can see I don't break it down to the degree of granularity that you do- I just grouped the whole mess into those four general areas. I'm thinking that if I break it down even further I'll spend more time than it's worth worrying about the whole thing.
As life turned out, with both of us retired for some ten years now our combined pension and SS income is more than enough to meet our needs. We have a very large cash "reserve" of about 50% of our NW, which is in addition to the portfolio given above. The portfolio constitutes about 25% of our NW, and is structured so as to provide enough income/appreciation to offset the inflation which is eating away at the non-invested cash. Also, the portfolio is designed to provide approximately half of the volatility of the S&P, limiting both it's potential upside and downside swings.
The remaining 25% of our NW is the conservative resale value of our weekend home. The value of our home in SF is not included in any of these calculations. Both properties are mortgage free, and we have no debt of any kind. Very conservative, but we have no problem sleeping at night.
OJ

FYI: As shown below, the S&P 500 closed yesterday at the very bottom of oversold territory in our trading range chart, meaning it is two standard deviations below its 50-day. It has gotten down to this level once over the past year (back in February), and it bounced nicely then. As you can see in the chart below, while the index has taken a dip recently, it is still trading within its long-term uptrend. Obviously trading over the next week or so will be key.
Regards,
Ted
http://www.bespokeinvest.com/thinkbig/2014/8/7/oversold-everywhere.html?printerFriendly=true

Reply to davidmoran:
No. Reposting neither understands nor "misunderstands". :-). I think it's clear from his above comment about "intention" that there's something missing in Ted's view of copyright. It's much more complex than simple "intention" as the preponderance of views here (including those of the site moderator and the author in question) have made clear. Tigerman3 linked a whole series of court decisions as well. To try to boil it down to "intention" is a gross oversimplification of copyright law. (I know first hand that telling a police officer I didn't "intend" to exceed the speed limit or run through a red light doesn't get me very far.)
I'm at a disadvantage here. Hadn't been following the board very closely before all this blew up. Hadn't seen the Braham post in question. I assume it was taken down or modified after Mr. Braham protested. Davidmoran: Could you clarify a few things here for me?
Three questions.
(1) Did Ted cut and copy all or the majority of the Braham piece?
(2) Did Ted include a link back to the original Braham source?
(3) Did Ted name the author somewhere in all of this?
Here's what I think most reasonable folks with a basic understanding of copyright would say.
#1 Republishing verbatim (as on a public website) more than 50% of an article exceeds any normal definition of "excerpting" for educational purposes, which the law allows. It is instead wholesale copying. While the laws are somewhat ambiguous. such wholesale copying carries a much higher risk of civil litigation than merely excerpting short portions would.
#2 Republishing verbatim without providing full attribution (internet link in this case) is wrong and runs the risk of civil litigation.
#3 Failure to name the author wold be intellectually dishonest and may also be a violation of copyright.
Davidmoran: Your experience in the publishing industry makes you uniquely qualified to address this. Actually, I was hoping to hear more from you. Thanks for any thoughts.
Yep - my tirade was delayed because I didn't want to criticize Ted while he was away from the board. I waited until he had returned. I hope he continues to post. It's clear many find his links of value.