US REIT sector is one of the brighter sector this year. YTD return of VNQ is up 16.8%.

@MFO Members: After briefly touching bear market territory earlier in the session, crude oil prices have caught a bounce intraday, taking WTI out of bear market territory (20% decline from closing high of $51.23). Despite the bounce, though, crude oil is still down 19.5% from its 2016 high, so it’s still very close to entering a new bear.
Regards,
Ted
Crude Catches A Bounce Out Of Bear Territory:
https://www.bespokepremium.com/think-big-blog/crude-catches-a-bounce-out-of-bear-territory/

Quite happy with GASFX in the energy sector:
Returns: 1/3/5/10 yrs:
+9.87% +11.80% +12.91% +10.58%
YTD:
23%

@JohnChisum, Like you I am facing the same issues with bonds. Perhaps I am a bit early, I reallocated high yield and emerging market debts to US investment grade bonds, intermediate term. Also I am keeping some in Vanguard Total Bond Index In my 401(K). I also notice that some balanced fund such as TRP Capital Appreciation, PRCWX, has reduced bond allocation while holding double digit in cash. Are they telling us something?

Hi @Old-Joe
How about ACITX ? This equals gov't. or either of the American's offer a short term gov't. bond fund? Fido has a short duration gov't. bond fund that has a YTD of +1.9%.
And no, the TIPS fund is not because of inflation, but is getting the action because of investors moving into U.S. gov't. related; as is part of the action for such a fund type.
My no fee, no guarantee of continued positive movement in something like TIPS funds remains unchanged. Please sign below to trigger the hold-harmless agreement:
____________________________
Have a pleasant time at the river, if you two are traveling that direction.
Catch

@msf & MFO Members Here are the numbers from ICI.
Regards,
Ted
https://www.ici.org/research/stats/mmf/mm_07_28_16

The quote above talks about generic "investors" pulling cash from MMFs, but the article goes on to write about corporate investors.
It would be interesting to know whether a disproportionate amount of outflows are coming from the institutional side. Funds open to institutional investors must either be limited to government securities such as Treasuries, or must have a floating NAV. One means low returns, the other means risk of loss.
In contrast, individual investors ("natural persons") can continue investing in retail MMFs which invest in other securities and still have a fixed $1 NAV. (The gotcha is that in times of stress, they're allowed to impose a redemption fee and/or hold your cash for ten days.)
The outflow is causing yields to rise (as noted in the article), which is beneficial to individuals, especially in brokerage IRAs. One typically has at best a choice between a bank sweep account paying virtually nothing or in-house MMFs. With yields rising, at least one can now get at least a few cents on a captive sawbuck.

FYI: Real estate securities continue to shore up their popularity with ETF investors, with demand for these income-producing assets accelerating in recent months.
Vanguard REIT (VNQ) saw $860.4 million net inflow in the month ended July 25 to take its asset haul this year to $4.12 billion, according to analytics firm XTF.com. Investors have poured fresh money into VNQ every month since the February stock market pullback, including $1.33 billion in June alone.
Regards,
Ted
http://www.investors.com/etfs-and-funds/etfs/with-yields-as-high-as-10-real-estate-funds-drum-up-assets-and-appeal/
M* Snapshot VNQ:
http://www.morningstar.com/etfs/arcx/vnq/quote.html
VNQ Is Unranked In The (RE) ETF Category By U.S. News & World Report:
http://money.usnews.com/funds/etfs/real-estate/vanguard-reit-etf/vnq

FYI: Several years ago, I interviewed C. Thomas Howard of AthenaInvest to learn more about his firm’s unique implementation of behavioral finance. This turned out to be one of the best performing pieces of content Enterprising Investor has ever run. But it isn’t just AthenaInvest’s originality that’s so compelling, so too is its strong performance.
Howard also has an interesting pedigree as a recovering and almost lifelong finance professor turned practitioner. Recently he has focused his attention on another problem: determining whether or not active management is dead. In addition, he is dedicated to uncovering ways active managers can improve their performance — and he has the academic chops to back up his story.
Regards,
Ted
https://blogs.cfainstitute.org/investor/2016/07/26/is-active-management-dead-not-even-close/

FYI: (This is a follow-up article).
Assets in money market funds that invest in short-term corporate debt securities have fallen to 17-year lows, according to new data from the Investment Company Institute, a fund industry trade group. Investors are pulling their money from the investment vehicles ahead of money market fund reform due to take effect in October.
Regards,
Ted
http://blogs.wsj.com/moneybeat/2016/07/28/investors-pulling-money-out-of-prime-money-funds/

@rjb112: I was awaken by the sound of the word "Pilgrim" !
Regards,
Ted
Pilgrim:

@MFO Members: He's back, but still don't know where he lives. Welcome back !
Regards,
Ted
Welcome Back Duke:

I Think He Lives Somewhere In Asia:
https://www.google.com/search?q=pictures+of+john+wayne&biw=1067&bih=487&tbm=isch&imgil=BGi__AMfYc3YRM%3A%3ByJ0iFqT4anYlBM%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Fwww.nndb.com%252Fpeople%252F605%252F000023536%252F&source=iu&pf=m&fir=BGi__AMfYc3YRM%3A%2CyJ0iFqT4anYlBM%2C_&usg=__G7Yu3YEfIkVctN4iMWxjI_QaSy4=&ved=0ahUKEwj0wZSlm5jOAhWG0iYKHWf5DXwQyjcIOQ&ei=Jg6bV_SWB4almwHn8rfgBw#imgrc=ByXoqHFZzMBTFM:

I own a couple of these funds and I like them for holdings I keep before they go into a straight cash account. ie, For 3 years cash eq, I have 1 yr in cash and 2 yrs in MAIFs.

You might put the Aston/Pictet International Fund on your watch list. It would be more similar to the Harbor fund than others mentioned so far.

The fund is rather similar to Harbor Int'l. But with all due respect, I think you'll find LZIEX to be just as similar ...

APINX is only two years old, but it has demonstrated good defensive properties since the dust-up started in Europe last year. Low turnover so far. Measured as a LC blend fund, it has a median cap of around 5B. It has some size (currently around $1B, almost entirely institutional money).

LZIEX has a somewhat lower turnover rate (23.6% compared to 53%), and a somewhat larger weighted market cap ($50.1B compared to $43B or Harbor's $67B). AUM are close, with LZIEX having $1.2B, of which 90% is institutional, and APINX having $0.9B AUM. Sector weightings are likewise similar.
In fact, APINX and LZIEX may resemble each other more closely than they resemble Harbor.

When international is on a tear, I can't recall a Pictet fund that hasn't done well (although my memory stops about 10 yrs ago on this, so take that with some salt, so to speak).

Your memory is better than mine. The only Pictet fund I (or apparently VintageFreak) could remember offered in the US was Pictet Global Water. While Pictet is a significant presence in funds offered outside the US, it seems that their US-sold funds folded over a decade ago.
In particular, there was a Pictet International Equity fund. Whether that bears any resemblance to the Aston fund, I don't know. Here's the Bloomberg profile (stating that it existed from August 25, 2000 to Sept 8, 2003), the SEC filing to shut it down (along with Global Water), and the 2002 prospectus (showing six Pictet funds).
http://www.bloomberg.com/research/stocks/private/snapshot.asp?privcapId=28148103
(shutdown) https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/containers/fix048/945774/0000940400-03-000487.txt
(2002 Prospectus) https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/945774/000093506902000363/0000935069-02-000363.txt

Annaly (NLY) is always interesting and has had hot streaks for sure, up almost 28% this year if you reinvested divs. Oddly, if you can back 19y, to its beginning, you've done only a bit better than if you'd stuck with the smoother and broader FREAX.

@Mark & MFO Members: Two of my core holdings, NLY and CIM are up 22.8% & 31.84% YTD, yielding 8.59% & 11.66%

I don't know much about this topic (but that's never stopped me from chiming in).
What I think I know:
1. REIT funds been on a roll for several years. When I was looking for a few "Hail Mary" investments at Oppenheimer during a rough patch in September 2015, I dribbled a bit (equal amounts) into 3 new funds: Real Estate (OREAX), gold and EM bonds. All were beaten up, but OREAX not as much as the other two. To my surprise OREAX rebounded very nicely and has held up well since than.
2. Over the past few months the fund has been nicely non-correlated with equities, sometimes moving in the opposite direction. However, I do not think this is always the case. I recall long periods in the past where they were not so inversely correlated but quite closely correlated.
3. These funds tend to be very concentrated. TRRIX (mentioned in the OP) has a 50% concentration in its top 10 holdings. I've found the one I own, OREAX, to be similarily concentrated.
Hope this helps. FWIW

@ron & MFO Members: It appears the oil patch is headed for if not a train wreck, at least a derailment, as WTI crude heads towards under $40.
Regards,
Ted
Oil Futures:
http://www.marketwatch.com/investing/future/clu6
$35 Crude:
http://www.marketwatch.com/story/heres-the-key-factor-pushing-oil-prices-toward-35-a-barrel-2016-07-27/print

@Crash & MFO Members: The real thanks should be given to David Snowball, who first brought SFGIX to the attention of MFO Members back in 2013
Regards,
Ted
http://www.mutualfundobserver.com/2015/05/seafarer-overseas-growth-income-sfgixsigix-may-2015/

https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/734383/000093247116013843/ps_57072016.htm
497 1 ps_57072016.htm VANGUARD DIVIDEND GROWTH FUND
Vanguard Dividend Growth Fund
Supplement to the Prospectus and Summary Prospectus
Important Note Regarding Vanguard Dividend Growth Fund
Vanguard Dividend Growth Fund is closed to all new investors (with the
exception of (1) investors who are added and invest in the Fund only through
technology-driven model portfolios and (2) participants who invest in the Fund
only through defined contribution plans that offer the Fund as an existing option).
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.