And now? FEBRUARY. And they'll return to Earth via SpaceX, not the Boeing Starliner.
https://www.npr.org/2024/08/24/nx-s1-5087892/nasa-starliner-astronaut-return-iss-spacex

I was window shopping last night. Happened upon IGIB. iShares/Black Rock ETF. IG Corps, 5-10 year duration. But the fund doesn't stick its neck out re: duration much, within the frame. Rock bottom ER at .04. Passive.
At or near 52-week high at the moment. Eyeing it as replacement for the bulk of my junk bonds. I am so loathe to pull the trigger and sell my junk. I like my junk. I enjoy my junk. I like the taste of my junk. Great yield on my junk, still. (I better quit. This is a family show.). ...How I hate to see the summer waning.

The Week in Charts (08/23/24)
The most important charts and themes in markets and investing, including:
00:00 Intro
00:19 Free Wealth Path Analysis
01:48 Topics
03:18 From Panic to Euphoria
06:23 Frontrunning the Fed
08:47 Is the Unwinding of the "Carry Trade" Over?
10:59 The Fed's Revisionist History
18:19 Dollar Down, Gold Up
21:02 A Tale of Two Housing Markets
28:14 Q2 Earnings Update
29:38 The Inexorable Rise of E-Commerce
31:13 Lower Gas Prices
Video

Keep in mind that before 403b/401k, 457 and IRAs came along, annuities were the primary tax-deferral vehicles.
Today, if someone has max-ed out on all these (403b/401k, 457, IRAs), then annuities will make sense.
It may not be a good idea to chase fixed-rate annuities. They may offer higher rates than CDs, but one the money is in annuity, it's stuck there - almost captive money. If you withdraw that money before 59.5, there is 10% penalty + tax. You can do 1035 exchanges to switch to another vendor.
VAs operate almost like mutual funds or CITs except for the annuity wrapper restrictions. Many VAs are clones or cousins of mutual funds.

Thank you @msf for your efforts. We've discussed these annuity types in the past; and it is important for some to be aware of these choices to expand their 'tax deferred' investment choices.
For those not familiar, the below link we take you to the Fidelity page of their investment choices. Select the investment type in the 'name' column for details of that particular choice.
FPRA (Fidelity Personal Retirement Annuity) LINK NO login required.

NOTE:

My intention, at this time; is to present the data for the select bond sectors, as listed; through the end of the year (2024). This 'end date' will take us through the U.S. elections period, pending actions/legislation dependent upon the election results, pending Federal Reserve actions and market movers trying to 'guess' future directions of the U.S. economy. As important during this period, are any number of global circumstances that may take a path that is not expected; and/or 'new' circumstances. In the 'cooking pot' we currently have the big ingredients of the middle east and also, how much damage Ukraine may inflict upon Russia and the response.

W/E August 23, 2024..... Swings, but ending with + NAV's
Bond NAV's had many price swings through the week, with many having a decent recovery pricing on Friday; allowing for a positive pricing week. A few numbers for your viewing pleasure.
FIRST:
*** UST yields chart, 6 month - 30 year. This chart is active and will display a 6 month time frame going forward to a future date. Place/hover the mouse pointer anywhere on a line to display the date and yield for that date. The percent to the right side is the percentage change in the yield from the chart beginning date for a particular item. You may also 'right click' on the 126 days at the chart bottom to change a 'time frame' from a drop down menu. Hopefully, the line graph also lets you view the 'yield curve' in a different fashion, for the longer duration issues, at this time. Save the page to your own device for future reference. NOTE: take a peek at the right side of this graph to find the yield swings of the past week, and for the current yields for the last business day.
For the WEEK/YTD, NAV price changes, August 19 - August 23, 2024
***** This week (Friday), FZDXX, MMKT yield continues to move with Fed funds/repo/SOFR rates; and ended the week at 5.15% yield. MMKT's yields were basically unchanged from last week. Fidelity's MMKT's continue to maintain decent yields, as is presumed with other vendors similar MMKT's.
--- AGG = +.65% / +3.71% (I-Shares Core bond), a benchmark, (AAA-BBB holdings)
--- MINT = +.10% / +3.87% (PIMCO Enhanced short maturity, AAA-BBB rated)
--- SHY = +.33% / +3.21% (UST 1-3 yr bills)
--- IEI = +.56% / +3.49% (UST 3-7 yr notes/bonds)
--- IEF = +.74% / +3.50% (UST 7-10 yr bonds)
--- TIP = +.9% / +3.77% (UST Tips, 3-10 yrs duration, some 20+ yr duration)
--- VTIP = +.41% / +3.83% (Vanguard Short-Term Infl-Prot Secs ETF)
--- STPZ = +.53% / +3.83% (UST, short duration TIPs bonds, PIMCO)
--- LTPZ = +1.78% / +3.62% (UST, long duration TIPs bonds, PIMCO)
--- TLT = +.97% / +1.82% (I Shares 20+ Yr UST Bond
--- EDV = +1.23% / +.66% (UST Vanguard extended duration bonds)
--- ZROZ = +1.15% / -.82% (UST., AAA, long duration zero coupon bonds, PIMCO
--- TBT = -1.8% / +1.6% (ProShares UltraShort 20+ Year Treasury (about 23 holdings)
--- TMF = +2.66% / -7.37% (Direxion Daily 20+ Yr Trsy Bull 3X ETF (about a 2x version of EDV etf)
*** Additional important bond sectors, for reference:
--- BAGIX = +.60% / +4.05% Baird Aggregate Bond Fund (active managed, plain vanilla, high quality bond fund)
--- LQD = +.88% / +4.01% (I Shares IG, corp. bonds)
--- BKLN = +.21% / +4.53% (Invesco Senior Loan, Corp. rated BB & lower)
--- HYG = +.71% / +4.37% (high yield bonds, proxy ETF)
--- HYD = +.67%/+4.55% (VanEck HY Muni)
--- MUB = +.31% /+1.47% (I Shares, National Muni Bond)
--- EMB = +1.08%/+6.99% (I Shares, USD, Emerging Markets Bond)
--- CWB = +1.42% / +3.79% (SPDR Bloomberg Convertible Securities)
--- PFF = +1.26% / +6.51% (I Shares, Preferred & Income Securities)
--- FZDXX = 5.15% yield (7 day), Fidelity Premium MMKT fund
*** FZDXX yield was .11%, April,2022. (For reference to current date)
Comments and corrections, please.
Remain curious,
Catch

August 24 episode:
Are we experiencing a "Quality Bubble"?

How to handle signs of a bubble in quality stocks with influential newsletter editor Whitney Tilson.

I looked into the Monument Annuity years ago. It looked like an interesting idea. Then it was sold to Nationwide and as I recall it became difficult to buy without an advisor. Glad to see one can buy it direct again.
All in costs are comparable to other low cost VAs. When one invests in DFA or Vanguard funds with Monument, there's an extra 0.35%/year. (look for Low Cost Platform in the prospectus.) The share class of Fidelity funds that are available include a 0.25% 12b-1 fee. For example, here's the Monument page for Fidelity VIP Balanced (0.69% net), and the page for Fidelity VIP Balanced through Fidelity (0.51% net).
The tickers I gave, despite their cryptic look, work on M*. You can add them to a portfolio. You can use them in a chart (pull up another fund and add the VA fund in the compare box). You can even do a search on these tickers in the "new" Morningstar.
What you can't do is pull up a page on most of these funds. The search box will find the fund and translate the name to English; it won't give you a link to a fund page.

Fund					Class	ER	Ticker		M* 	Lipper	Annuity
Taxable Bonds
Bank Loans						
Fidelity VIP Floating Rate High Inc.	Inv.	0.79%	0P00011U4F	5	5/4/5/3	Fidelity
High Yield
Fidelity VIP High Income		Inv.	0.86%	0P00003ESA	2	1/1/2/4	Fidelity
Vanguard VIF High Yield Bond Port.		0.24%	0P00003DCW	3	3/3/3/5	TIAA
Western Asset Variable Gl HY Bond	Cl. I	0.83%	QLMYIX		1	5/5/1/3	TIAA
Inflation-Protected
PIMCO VIT Real Return Portfolio		Inst.	0.69%	0P00003E0V	4	5/5/4/5	TIAA
PIMCO VIT Real Return Portfolio		Admin.	0.84%	0P00003CE4	3	4/4/4/3	Fidelity
Intermediate Term Core
Fidelity VIP Bond Index			Init.	0.14%	FVIOX		2	2/2/3/5	Fidelity
Fidelity VIP Investment Grade Bond	Inv.	0.42%	0P00003ESB	5	5/5/3/4	Fidelity
Vanguard VIF Global Bond Index Port.		0.13%	0P0001ANO2	3	3/3/4/5	TIAA
Vanguard VIF Total Bond Mkt Index		0.14%	0P00003BSD	3	3/3/3/5	TIAA
Intermediate Term Core Plus
LVIP Macquarie Diversified Income	Std.	0.54%	0P00003E8R	3	4/4/2/4	TIAA
Nuveen Life Core Bond Fund			0.35%	TLBDX		3	5/5/4/5	TIAA
PIMCO VIT Total Return			Admin.	0.75%	0P00003C9R	3	3/3/3/3	Fidelity
Intermediate Term Government
Franklin U.S. Gov Securities VIP	Cl. 2	0.77%	0P00003CI6	3	2/2/4/2	Fidelity
Multisector
Fidelity VIP Strategic Income		Inv.	0.68%	0P00003ESI	4	5/5/4/4	Fidelity
Short Term
Matson Money Fixed Income VI Port.		0.86%	FMVFX		1	4/4/5/3	TIAA
PIMCO VIT Low Duration Portfolio	Admin.	0.69%	0P00003CIY	2	1/1/5/3	Fidelity
T Rowe Price Limited-Term Bond Port.		0.50%	0P00003CWU	3	3/3/5/4	TIAA
Ultrashort Term
DFA VA Short-Term Fixed Port.		Inst.	0.12%	0P00003C66	2	4/4/5/5	TIAA
Emerging Market Bonds
Morgan Stanley VIF Emrg. Mkts Debt	Cl. I	1.10%	MEMNX		3	3/3/1/2	Fidelity
PIMCO VIT Emerging Mkts Bond Port.	Inst.	1.12%	0P00005YP4	3	5/5/1/4	TIAA
Global
PIMCO VIT Global Bond Opp. Unhedged	Inst.	0.86%	0P00003EXS	4	3/4/1/3	TIAA
Templeton Global Bond VIP Fund		Cl. 2	0.75%	0P00003C9Z	2	1/1/1/4	Fidelity
Global - Hedged
DFA VA Global Bond Portfolio		Inst.	0.21%	0P00003D94	4	4/4/5/5	TIAA
Sector Funds
Communications			
Fidelity VIP Communications Services	Inv.	0.70%	0P000087RM	5	2/2/3/4	Fidelity
Consumer Cyclical
Fidelity VIP Consumer Discretionary	Inv.	0.69%	0P00003EST	3	4/4/2/4	Fidelity
Consumer Defensive
Fidelity VIP Consumer Staples		Inv.	0.69%	0P000087RI	3	3/2/5/3	Fidelity
Energy
Fidelity VIP Energy			Inv.	0.69%	0P00003ESD	4	5/5/2/4	Fidelity
Financials
Fidelity VIP Financials			Inv.	0.71%	0P00003ESV	4	5/5/2/4	Fidelity
Health
Fidelity VIP Health Care		Inv.	0.67%	0P00003ES9	3	1/1/4/5	Fidelity
T. Rowe Price Health Sciences Port.	Cl. I	0.86%	0P00003DWN	4	4/4/4/4	TIAA
Industrials
Fidelity VIP Industrials		Inv.	0.70%	0P00003ESW	4	5/4/3/3	Fidelity
Natural Resources
Fidelity VIP Materials			Inv.	0.72%	0P00008PZG	3	4/1/1/4	Fidelity
PSF Natural Resources Portfolio		Cl. II	0.91%	0P00003EKJ	3	3/4/2/3	TIAA
Real Estate
Fidelity VIP Real Estate		Inv.	0.68%	0P00003ESG	2	1/1/1/5	Fidelity
Nuveen Real Estate Select Securities		0.57%	TLRSX		4	3/2/1/5	TIAA
Vanguard VIF Real Estate Index			0.26%	0P00003D31	3	2/2/1/5	TIAA
Global Real Estate
VY CBRE Global Real Estate Port		Cl. I	0.90%	IRGIX		4	5/5/1/5	TIAA
Technology
Fidelity VIP Technology			Inv.	0.67%	0P00003ESJ	4	5/5/2/5	Fidelity
Utilities
Fidelity VIP Utilities			Inv.	0.69%	0P00003ESL	5	5/5/4/4	Fidelity
MFS VIT Utilities			Init.	0.79%	0P00003D2Y	3	2/2/4/3	TIAA
Commodities Funds
Broad Basket				
Credit Suisse Comm Return Strategy	(base)	1.04%	CCRSX		2	1/1/4/2	TIAA
PIMCO VIT Comm Real Return Strat.	Inst.	1.33%	0P00003ERD	2	3/3/3/5	TIAA
PIMCO VIT Comm Real Return Strat.	Admin.	1.48%	0P00003EG0	2	2/3/3/3	Fidelity
Taxable Money Market Funds
Government Money Market Funds
Fidelity VIP Government MM		Inv.	0.30%	0P00003ESE	-	-	Fidelity
Prime Money Market Funds
Nuveen Life Money Market Fund			15.00%	TLMXX		-	-	TIAA

These are two of the least expensive and most flexible VAs around. Fidelity charges 0.25% and 0.10% for over $1M in the VA. TIAA charges anywhere from 0.50% (under $100K) to 0.35% (up to $500K) and 0.25% (over $500K). But all those go down to 0.10% independent of value after ten years.
Fidelity tends to include the second cheapest share class of VA portfolios (think "retail") while TIAA tends to include the cheapest share class (think "institutional"). All in, the two have similar costs for the first ten years, then TIAA becomes much cheaper.
The real question, though, is how their underlying portfolios perform. I've looked up (via Financial Times search) all the portfolios open to new investors. Below is the table I built for myself (slightly edited for formatting here). Note: the M* ratings are for the portfolios themselves.
On the VAs' websites you'll find different ratings. That's because what you're seeing are there the ratings of the funds including the annuity fees. Since the annuity fees of both of these VAs are so low, those star ratings tend to be mostly 4s and 5s. The ratings of the funds themselves, included here, give a better picture of the funds' performance.
Since there are so many funds, I've split the table into two posts - broad equity in the first, sectors and fixed income in the second.

Fund					Class	ER	Ticker		M* 	Lipper	Annuity
Allocation Portfolios
Conservative Allocation
Fidelity VIP FundsManager 20		Inv.	0.55%	0P00003EYS	4	3/2/5/5	Fidelity
Fidelity VIP FundsManager 30		Inv.	0.57%	0P0001Q617	-	-	Fidelity
Moderately Conservative Allocation
Fidelity VIP FundsManager 40		Inv.	0.62%	0P0001Q618	-	-	Fidelity
Franklin Income VIP			Cl 1	0.46%	0P00003BNK	5	4/3/4/5	TIAA
Nuveen Life Funds Balanced			0.51%	TLBAX		5	4/4/4/5	TIAA
Vanguard VIF Conservative Alloc.		0.13%	0P0000TNLX	4	5/5/5/5	TIAA
Moderate Allocation
Fidelity VIP Asset Manager		Inv.	0.61%	0P00003ESQ	2	3/3/4/4	Fidelity
Fidelity VIP Balanced			Inv.	0.51%	0P00003ESS	5	5/5/2/5	Fidelity
Fidelity VIP FundsManager 50		Inv.	0.70%	0P00003EYT	3	4/3/4/4	Fidelity
Fidelity VIP FundsManager 60		Inv.	0.71%	0P00008YBH	3	2/2/3/4	Fidelity
Vanguard VIF Balanced Portfolio			0.21%	0P00003BRZ	4	5/5/3/5	TIAA
Vanguard VIF Moderate Alloc.			0.13%	0P0000TNLY	3	4/4/3/5	TIAA
Moderately Aggressive Allocation
Fidelity VIP Asset Manager: Growth	Inv.	0.72%	0P00003ESP	3	3/3/2/4	Fidelity
Fidelity VIP FundsManager 70		Inv.	0.74%	0P00003EYU	3	4/4/2/4	Fidelity
Aggressive Allocation
Fidelity VIP FundsManager 85		Inv.	0.78%	0P00003EYW	4	4/4/1/4	Fidelity
Target Date
Fidelity VIP Investor Freedom 2010		0.44%	0P00003ET2	3	x/x/5/x	Fidelity
Fidelity VIP Investor Freedom 2015		0.48%	0P00003ET4	4	x/x/5/x	Fidelity
Fidelity VIP Investor Freedom 2020		0.51%	0P00003ET3	5	4/4/4/4	Fidelity
Fidelity VIP Investor Freedom 2025		0.54%	0P00003ET5	5	5/5/3/4	Fidelity
Fidelity VIP Investor Freedom 2030		0.58%	0P00003ET6	5	5/5/2/4	Fidelity
Fidelity VIP Investor Freedom 2035		0.63%	0P0001OWHR	-	-	Fidelity
Fidelity VIP Investor Freedom 2040		0.68%	0P0001OWHT	-	-	Fidelity
Fidelity VIP Investor Freedom 2045		0.69%	0P0001OWHU	-	-	Fidelity
Fidelity VIP Investor Freedom 2050		0.69%	0P0001OWHV	-	-	Fidelity
Fidelity VIP Investor Freedom Inc.		0.40%	0P00003ET8	3	2/2/5/5	Fidelity
Tactical Allocation
Morgan Stanley VIF Global Strat.	Cl. I	0.90%	MIMPX		3	2/2/2/3	Fidelity
PIMCO VIT All Asset Portfolio		Inst.	2.04%	0P00003EXR	3	3/4/4/1	TIAA
Global Allocation
BlackRock Global Allocation VI 		Cl. 2	0.92%	0P00003E89	4	3/3/3/3	Fidelity
DFA VA Global Moderate Allocation	Inst.	0.28%	0P0000XY87	5	5/5/4/5	TIAA
US Equity Portfolios
Large Cap Blend					
ClearBridge Variable Growth Port.	Cl. I	0.85%	QLMGOX		1	1/2/2/3	TIAA
DFA Equity Allocation			Inst.	0.32%	0P00019RXP	2	5/5/4/5	TIAA
Fidelity VIP Growth & Income		Inv.	0.57%	0P00003ES4	4	5/5/5/4	Fidelity
Fidelity VIP Index 500			Init.	0.09%	0P00003BWH	4	5/5/5/5	Fidelity
Fidelity VIP Total Market Index		Init.	0.11%	FVIDX		3	4/4/4/5	Fidelity
Nuveen Life Core Equity Fund			0.52%	TLGWX		4	5/5/4/5	TIAA
Nuveen Life Large Cap Resp. Equity		0.22%	TLCHX		3	3/3/4/5	TIAA
Nuveen Life Stock Index Fund			0.08%	TLSTX		3	4/5/4/5	TIAA
Vanguard VIF Capital Growth Port.		0.34%	0P00003DVM	4	4/4/5/5	TIAA
Vanguard VIF Equity Index			0.14%	0P00003BS4	4	5/5/5/5	TIAA
Vanguard VIF Total Stock Mkt Index		0.13%	0P00003DVK	3	4/4/4/5	TIAA
Large Cap Growth
Fidelity VIP Contrafund			Inv.	0.64%	0P00003ESR	4	4/4/4/4	Fidelity
Fidelity VIP Dynamic Cap Apprec.	Inv.	0.70%	0P00003ESX	4	4/4/4/4	Fidelity
Fidelity VIP Growth			Inv.	0.65%	0P00003ES7	5	5/5/4/5	Fidelity
Fidelity VIP Growth Opportunities	Inv.	0.67%	0P00003ES3	4	5/5/1/5	Fidelity
Janus Henderson VIT Forty Port.		Inst.	0.55%	JACAX		3	3/4/3/5	TIAA
MFS VIT Mass. Inv. Growth Stock Port.	Init.	0.73%	0P00003CPY	3	3/3/4/4	TIAA
Nuveen Life Growth Equity Fund			0.52%	TLGQX		3	2/3/3/5	TIAA
PSF PGIM Jennison Blend Portfolio	Cl. II	0.86%	0P00003CBD	3	2/1/4/2	TIAA
Large Cap Value
DFA VA Large Value Portfolio		Inst.	0.21%	0P00003CUU	2	2/2/3/5	TIAA
Fidelity VIP Equity-Income		Inv.	0.55%	0P00003ESO	4	4/5/5/5	Fidelity
Franklin Mutual Shares VIP		Cl. 1	0.68%	0P00003CBB	1	1/1/4/4	TIAA
Nuveen Life Large Cap Value Fund		0.52%	TLLVX		4	4/4/4/5	TIAA
PSF PGIM Jennison Value Portfolio	Cl. II	0.82%	0P00003DP6	3	3/4/5/2	TIAA
PVC Equity Income Account		Cl. 1	0.49%	0P00003CN9	3	3/2/4/5	TIAA
Mid Cap Blend
Fidelity VIP Mid Cap			Inv.	0.65%	0P00003ESF	4	5/5/3/5	Fidelity
Vanguard VIF Mid-Cap Index			0.17%	0P00003C89	3	3/2/3/5	TIAA
Mid Cap Growth
Franklin Small-Mid Cap Growth VIP	Cl. 1	0.83%	0P00003DB4	3	2/3/1/4	TIAA
PVC MidCap Account			Cl. 1	0.55%	0P00003BO4	5	5/3/3/5	TIAA
Wanger Acorn					0.95%	WUSAX		2	1/1/1/3	TIAA
Mid Cap Value
Fidelity VIP Value			Inv.	0.68%	0P00003ESN	4	5/5/3/4	Fidelity
Fidelity VIP Value Strategies		Inv.	0.67%	0P00003ESM	4	5/5/2/4	Fidelity
Janus Henderson VIT Mid-Cap Value	Inst.	0.68%	JAMVX		3	3/2/4/5	TIAA
Matson Money U.S. Equity VI Port.		0.98%	FMVUX		4	4/4/3/1	TIAA
N-B AMT Mid Cap Intrinsic Value		Cl. I	1.02%	0P00003CPW	1	1/1/2/3	TIAA
Small Cap Blend
Fidelity VIP Disciplined  Small Cap 	Inv.	0.40%	0P00003EWG	3	5/5/2/5	Fidelity
Fidelity VIP Extended Market Index	Init.	0.12%	FVIJX		3	3/3/1/5	Fidelity
Nuveen Life Small Cap Equity Fund		0.53%	TLEQX		4	5/5/2/5	TIAA
Small Cap Growth
ClearBridge Variable Small Cap Gr	Cl. I	0.80%	QLMSIX		2	1/1/1/5	TIAA
Small Cap Value
DFA VA U.S. Targeted Value Port.	Inst.	0.29%	0P00003D0Y	4	5/5/1/5	TIAA
Macquarie VIP Small Cap Value Ser.	Std.	0.78%	0P00003C1W	3	3/2/1/4	TIAA
Royce Capital Fund - Sm Cap Port.	Inv.	1.15%	RCPFX		3	3/3/1/1	TIAA
International Equity
Diversified Emerging Markets						
Fidelity VIP Emerging Markets		Inv.	0.97%	0P0000A9FS	4	5/5/2/4	Fidelity
John Hancock Emerg Mkts Val Trust	NAV	1.03%	JHVTX		3	4/4/4/4	TIAA
Lazard Retir. Emerging Markets Port.	Inv.	1.15%	0P00005XR9	3	4/2/3/3	Fidelity
Morgan Stanley VIF Emerg. Mkts Eq.	Cl. I	1.25%	MEMEX		3	4/4/2/2	Fidelity
Templeton Developing Mkts VIP Fund	Cl. 1	1.10%	0P00003CRI	3	4/4/2/3	TIAA
Foreign Large Blend	
Fidelity VIP International Index	Init.	0.16%	FVIGX		3	3/4/4/5	Fidelity
Nuveen Life International Equity		0.60%	TLINX		3	4/3/3/4	TIAA
Vanguard VIF Total Intl Stk Mkt Indx		0.11%	0P0001ANO3	3	3/3/4/5	TIAA
Foreign Large Growth
Fidelity VIP International Cap Ap	Inv.	0.86%	0P00003ESC	5	5/5/3/3	Fidelity
Fidelity VIP Overseas			Inv.	0.81%	0P00003ESH	4	5/5/3/5	Fidelity
Vanguard VIF International Port.		0.33%	0P00003CRA	3	4/2/1/5	TIAA
Foreign Large Value
DFA VA International Value Port.	Inst.	0.27%	0P00003CY8	4	5/5/3/5	TIAA
Foreign Small/Mid Blend
DFA VA International Small Port.	Inst.	0.40%	0P00003CN3	4	x/x/2/x	TIAA
Foreign Small/Mid Growth
Wanger International				1.14%	WSCAX		2	x/x/1/x	TIAA
Foreign Small/Mid Value
Matson Money Int'l Equity VI Port.		1.14%	FMVIX		3	3/3/3/1	TIAA
Global Large Cap Blend
Invesco V.I. Global Core Equity		Ser. I	0.98%	0P00003CZL	2	2/2/3/2	Fidelity
MFS VIT Global Equities Series		Init.	0.92%	0P00003D4V	2	2/2/3/3	TIAA

In general I like the primecap funds; we've owned POAGX - Primecap Odyssey Aggressive Growth since 7/2013. It has underperformed for the last few years, but we're continuing to hold it. (By 'underperform' I mean it has still made money, just not as much as if we had instead invested in a broad-based market index fund, such as VTSAX or VRTTX.)
I have to disagree with the statement that VPMCX has underperformed since 2006. According to my analysis it has underperformed since 6/2018, but it outperformed prior to that.

"was just on with a chat agent, not a phone call. Easier to do, without the 16 identity questions."
Any time I call, Schwab asks 2 questions and then to repeat an easy statement and I'm fully verified.
But why complain so much, please close the account and transfer to VG. Why torture yourself?

Reading about the customer service issues right here at MFO with VG makes me definitely want to have nothing to do with them.
@BaluBalu When I made an initial PHONE call the next day, following the distribution, I asked how these new, reinvested shares could possibly have been purchased at such a high per-share price. I was told that automatically reinvested shares are bought at the average cost per share based on that day's trading in the Market.
I was polite, but even if they did it that way, $16.40 is still way out of line. In this regard, I recall something an old friend had expressed to someone else:
"....OK. Let me think about that... (Moments later:) OK, I'm done thinking about that. You know what I think about that? I think you're LYING to me!"
Ya. I had a short chat follow-up today. She assured me that if a shareholder-wide error is going on, then all shareholders will be made good. But that still doesn't get us to the answer we need: is this an ever-present glitch? A system screw-up? Will Schwab's methodology cause this same junk to happen with ALL OTHER reinvested equity shares?
I am simply unable to say. Maybe you might choose to move the ball forward? ALL of us would love to get a specific response about that. I appreciate what you've offered on this thread!

"was just on with a chat agent, not a phone call. Easier to do, without the 16 identity questions."
Any time I call, Schwab asks 2 questions and then to repeat an easy statement and I'm fully verified.
But why complain so much, please close the account and transfer to VG. Why torture yourself?

Is this discrepancy only for ET or a result of Schwab reinvests dividends such that it effects all trading widgets enrolled in div reinvestment? Is it a systems and process issue?
I never paid attention to Schwab before but after migration from TD 4 mo ago, my Schwab account is now 10 times bigger and any leakage because of systems and processes can be 100 times costlier. Now the account is mostly ETPs; whereas, it was predominantly mutual funds.

I found the site about a week ago. Seemed reasonably good. Was planning to poke around a bit more before mentioning it.
Regarding VPM[AC]X - Finormal says "The suggested benchmark for VPMAX is the Russell 3000." That's reasonable since Primecap is more of an all cap fund. Its median market cap (per M*) is $188B, while R3K's is around $190B.
Here's Finominal's comparison of VPMAX and VRTTX (institutional R3K index fund) since the latter's inception in 2010. (Finominal says it is comparing the past 14.1 years which is quite a trick since VRTTX's inception was Nov 1, 2010 per prospectus.)
https://finominal.com/securities-analyzer-analyze/US/VPMAX/VRTTX
VPMAX looks a little better - 1.5% better annualized return, similar (slightly worse) std dev (17.91 vs. 17.43), slightly smaller max drawdown, slightly better Sharpe ratio (0.83 vs. 0.77).
And it has done that with a healthy dose of foreign equity. 13% per Finominal (11% + 2% EM).

Finominal (2017- ) is a UK-based fintech committed to independent and free financial information (don't they all start that way?).
https://finominal.com/AboutUs?country=US

Finominal.com Review of VPMCX
- Focuses on U.S. large-cap growth stocks
- Impressive long-term track record, but has not outperformed since 2006
- Unfavorable style characteristics compared to its peers
https://finominal.com/

No moves. Just a serious case of whiplash. NSRGY lost over 5.5% yesterday down to $99.50 only to rise 6% today (as of 11:00 AM) to $105.50. My DCA cost was around $103. Nuts is all I can say.

He emphasized inflation "expectations" several times - it's monitoring or anchoring.
I see 2 common quantitative measures for "expectations":
1. Inflation-"expectation" = Nominal Treasury yield - TIPS yield.
FRED has data for 1, 2, 5, 10, 20+ years; chart below is for 5 years.
https://fred.stlouisfed.org/graph/?g=1t0dr
2. Fed fund futures rate "expectations" that are based on trader's expectations as indicated by futures quoted around future FOMC Meetings. In the link below, click on Probabilities on the side panel.
https://www.cmegroup.com/markets/interest-rates/cme-fedwatch-tool.html
Then there are lots of opinions floating around - I don't pay much attention to those.

+1 @PRESSmUP
I’m never opposed to reaping short term profits, especially in a volatile and risky area like EM. Glad this worked out for you.