@hank. Your comment on the tomatoes reminds me of the 1973 film Soylent Green where I think one went for $250. Actually over the years my attempt at growing tomatoes in my back yard is similar. After buying the plants, the best soil, the mulch, plant food, I figure each tomato I would get cost at least $25.00. Growing them in the strong New Mexico sun and summerheat not like growing them in my former east coast home.

Careful Skeet.
OJ: A lot of help you are :). Ya know, I stared at those tomatoes for a while - and than passed on them. But to your point - kept thinking about this year's 1% SS "cola" increase or whatever it was. Than things made even less sense.
Of course the experts will point out that food prices are always volatile and that some things, like cell phones and TVs, have been dropping in price keeping inflation low. Still ....seems mighty strange.

Emergent market still down 10+% the past few months...

@ hank,
I continue in building my position in SGGDX.
Will most likely buy a little more tomorrow.
Currently, only have a small position in SGGDX at about 0.5% of the overall portfolio. Looking to build out to about 1.5% to 2.0%.
Sometimes it takes a strong constitution to continue when things are moving against one. However, the buy strategy was to average in over time and price movement. And, my thinking is the best time to add an asset class to a portfolio is when it is out of favor and oversold.
Skeet

Been in and out of gold/precious metals funds over the years. In the wayback years.........well, I better not tell ya.
I don't recall a RSI of 13.6 for much of anything since 2008. A reading of 30 or less is considered a nominal low point for "watching" and a reading of 70 is moving towards the overbought area.
'Course, sometimes these trends have longer legs; not unlike a value stock/fund in a downdraft and the value continues to improve, except for those invested at a higher price.
But, as I posted on Sunday; many sectors in the broad commodity sectors are quite weak. Perhaps the big money is getting ready for an unwind and then a short term profit run.
Ya won't always be bitten by a barking dog; but caution should be observed as shown next, plus or minus a small blip:
NUGT today = -32%
DUST today = +31%
GDX chart, 1 year
Take care,
Catch

Do any of you remember the opening of PBHG Limited back in the late 90's? That was a microcap fund that was open for all of one day and took in roughly $100MM on opening day. The fund never lived up to its hype. Will history repeat itself?

FYI: Investors seem to be wary of the U.S. stocks market as it nears the end of its six year bull run.
That’s according to Morningstar, which released its monthly fund flows update for the month of June. According to data by the research firm, international equity funds received the highest inflows among all Morningstar fund categories, with $22.4 million going overseas.
Regards,
Ted
http://blogs.barrons.com/focusonfunds/2015/07/20/international-equity-funds-receive-22-4-b-in-june-says-morningstar/tab/print/
Morningstar U.S. Asset Flows Update June 2015:
http://corporate.morningstar.com/US/documents/AssetFlows/AssetFlowsJuly2015.pdf

http://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/906352/000093041315003092/c81980_497.htm
497 1 c81980_497.htm
FIRST EAGLE FUNDS
First Eagle Global Fund
First Eagle Overseas Fund
First Eagle U.S. Value Fund
First Eagle Gold Fund
First Eagle Global Income Builder Fund
First Eagle High Yield Fund
First Eagle Fund of America
(the “Funds”)
1345 AVENUE OF THE AMERICAS
NEW YORK, NEW YORK 10105
(800) 334-2143
SUPPLEMENT DATED JULY 20, 2015
TO PROSPECTUS DATED MARCH 1, 2015
On July 20, 2015, First Eagle Investment Management, LLC (the “Adviser”), the investment adviser to the First Eagle Funds, announced a definitive agreement under which a majority investment in the Adviser would be made by private equity funds managed by The Blackstone Group, LP and Corsair Capital LLC as well as clients of the two firms. The investment is being made through the Adviser’s holding company, Arnhold and S. Bleichroeder Holdings, Inc.
The transaction is expected to be completed by the end of the year, subject to customary closing conditions, including obtaining necessary fund and client consents and customary regulatory approvals.
As required under the Investment Company Act of 1940, consummation of the transaction will be deemed an “assignment” of the investment management agreements between the First Eagle Funds and the Adviser, which will result in automatic termination of each agreement. It is anticipated that the Board of Trustees of the First Eagle Funds (the “Board”) will consider new investment management agreements with the Adviser for the Funds. If approved by the Board, the new agreements will be presented to the Funds’ shareholders for approval, and, if so approved by shareholders, will take effect upon consummation of the transaction or such later time as shareholder approval is obtained.
The transaction is not expected to result in any change in the portfolio management of the Funds or in the Funds’ investment objectives or policies.
* * * *
The information in this Supplement modifies the First Eagle Funds’ Prospectus dated March 1, 2015. In particular, and without limitation, the information contained in this Supplement modifies (and if inconsistent, replaces) information contained in the section of the Prospectus entitled “Fund

FYI: Which fund families had the best and worst fund flows in June?
Vanguard topped the list, with net inflows of $18.2 billion for the months, but iShares, JP Morgan (JPM) and WisdomTree (WETF) also fared well.
Pacific Investment Management Co., a unit of Allianz (AZSEY), however, suffered another month of net outflows totaling $7.12 billion, Pimco Total Return Fund (PTTRX) continuing the experience redemptions totaling $3.4 billion in June
Regards,
Ted
http://blogs.barrons.com/focusonfunds/2015/07/20/which-funds-posted-the-biggest-inflows-outflows-in-june-pimco-tops-both-lists/tab/print/

Investments into the Global Micro-Cap fund will be capped at $100,000.00 per investor. The institutional minimum will be waived to $2,000.00.

Hi @Ted
I am attempting to imagine the Bespoke graphic in March or June or September 1 of 2008.
I still recall many of the "buy" reports from the "educated" writers, advisors and/or economists during these time periods I referenced.
One other note for some etf's regards those with "options" availability; as well as the growing use of etf's by hedge funds and private equity groups.
Tis a pretty tough crowd we are running with.....
Thanks for the link.
Catch

One of the things I've been pondering over the past few weeks is how my foreign holdings could be impacted by the suspension on the Chinese exchanges.
Not to be overlooked in the GP letter is this:
"It’s worth noting that while trading of about 21% of the market cap of the Shanghai and
Shenzhen stock exchanges has been halted, none of our holdings trade on those exchanges nor have been halted".
Interesting.
press

Yeah, I've already asked about the standing order. I wanted to open an account, put money in it and invest on the first day Global Micro Cap becomes available. They won't do it and they said I'd have to fax my application on day 1 and they would give me the day 1 price even though the money might not arrive on day 1. Like others, all my investments so far have been through my broker.

@little5bee: The doctor is in the house ! I hope everyone who has been on the MFO Discussion Board for any length of time owns a health care fund. If they don't, they've lost a lot of money !
Regards,
Ted
The Principles Of Faith-Based Investing
Finny Kurvilla, Manager , Eventide Healthcare & Life Sciences
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/videos/2015-07-08/the-principles-behind-faith-based-investing

@Charles: "adviser may receive compensation from the fund company for selling its products. " Why do you think American Funds are #1.
Regards,
Ted

Some more factoids, from Felix Salmon (no longer at Reuters), re. the Puerto Rican situation:
http://fusion.net/story/159325/the-tragedy-of-puerto-rico-americas-very-own-greece/
@msf Yes, it looks like your initial assessment, differentiating lenders' exposures (currently, and recent past), still looks pretty solid.

Here's another pretty biting commentary on EJ from Motely Fool...
Can Your Edward Jones Financial Advisor Really Serve Your Best Interests?
But the worst of EJ remains here:
Edward Jones Saga

Latest commentary on 2Q results and discussion on upcoming funds.
Global Micro Cap will have a capacity of $25M. It sounds like it will close on its first day of business which will be by the end of year. Fund will focus on companies between $50M - $350M. Fund will be offered to existing GP fundholders first. Maybe they ought to implement a lottery system to purchase fund shares on its first day of trading :)
http://www.grandeurpeakglobal.com/documents/pdfs/grandeurpeakglobalfunds-comm-20150630.pdf

When I have been asked about various investment products or vendors, I always attempt to get these "folks" to do their own work/research, too.
Too many friends/relatives I have talked with over the years are too lazy; in spite of the fact that they were good enough to have saved monies to invest and that expressing to them that you worked hard for this money and this money should work hard for you going forward, they don't even want to ask some simple questions about how much of their invested monies with vendor "x" would be their NET return.
A recent example is brothers (beneficiaries) whose mother passed away and the account was evenly split into active accounts from this money for the brothers. None of the investment holdings were changed; the "advisor" only sent letters showing the investments and values once each month. The advisor never sent an introduction letter explaining his fees or methods for "deciding" what would be proper investment areas.
Four of the 5 brothers have kept their accounts in place. One asked for the account to be closed and the monies be moved into a credit union account to be used or invested as desired. I asked about the management fee and what discussion had taken place as to whether the investments for the remaining 4 brothers was suitable to and for them.
They, of course; didn't know. Apparently the advisor fee is 1% of total account value, transaction fees(?) and they're not sure how to decide about investment areas and remain at the "whim" of the advisor. Two of these folks are very "tight" with their spending habits (stuff on sale, coupons for grocery shopping, etc.), but won't take the time and the infomation offered via the internet to get an "idea" of what to do. Guessing their time is limited after clipping coupons.
Example two is for 2 young men (25-30 y.o.) I encountered a few years ago. They worked for an insurance company and were selling their products and approached me. They briefly explained this and that. I asked about a variable annuity (no life insurance frills, etc.) offering and whether they had a cost/fee schedule in plain wording. Well, no........but............ I explained (all I knew about from the top of my head) that I was aware of a variable annuity product from Fidelity that allowed for investments in 57 active managed mutual funds and that my cost would be the E.R. of the mutual fund, plus an annual fee of .25%. How do your similar products measure against this? Well, they were not able to provide any data of value. I am sure they wanted their foot inside my money door to "help" me with their products. But, for every one of me; there will be 99 others with few questions and these 2 salesmen likely will sell something to a few of them.
Lastly, one could hope for a "plain black on white", 1 page form of all expenses one will encounter doing business with person "x" for investment product "y".
One hopes that enough folks with needs and help in this area happen to have a decent person hold their hand through an investment process. I do not begrude anyone "making a living" with helping folks with their investments. It is indeed a special area of knowledge that too few folks have any clue.
I suspect many here field questions about investments, from friends and family.
I/we, at this house, are glad we are a tiny bit smart in this area; and have the "devil's advocate" questions at the ready. One can not expect the proper answer without the proper question.
Just my inflation adjusted 2 cents worth of jabber.
Catch

The only way I can see the figures in the article adding up is if these families own a huge amount of zeros. That's because it says the two families own a combined $10.8B in face amount, currently valued at $4.1B = $2.6B (Oppenheimer) + $1.5B (Franklin) (graphic).
That's under 40% of par value. My spot check on EMMA shows just a few interest bearing bonds trading at below 40% of par (around 35%). More typical was 50%-60% for the lowest grade bonds traded in the past week (confirming the article saying much of the debt is trading at 50-70% of par), with some in the 90%-100% range.
So they must be holding an awful lot of zeros. (Doesn't seem like a way that bond funds would spike current yield, though.)
The article says that "Calif.-based Franklin managed to cut its holdings by 35% to $3.4 billion from $5.2 billion [since June 2013]." It says that Oppenheimer stood pat at roughly $7.4B face value. (So Oppenheimer holds 70% face value of their combined $10.8B holdings. Franklin is at best a baby elephant in the room.)
Bloomberg seems to think differently, at least over the past 15 months (Feb 2014 to May 2015). It confirms that Franklin has been paring its holdings (as have most major holders), but Oppenheimer increased its holdings by about $1B (market value), i.e. 20%, over that period.
Bloomberg also reports that the market value of Oppenheimer's holdings as of May 2015 (vs. March 2015 for WSJ) is $5.5B (vs. WSJ figure of $2.6B). If you believe everyone's figures, then Oppenheimer has doubled down over the past two months.
Call it confirmation bias, but I'm inclined to believe Bloomberg. It confirms what I have been writing - there's a big difference between Oppenheimer and Franklin. Only one of them has been reckless.