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Here's a statement of the obvious: The opinions expressed here are those of the participants, not those of the Mutual Fund Observer. We cannot vouch for the accuracy or appropriateness of any of it, though we do encourage civility and good humor.
  • ⇒ All Things Boeing ... Machinist Union Accepts Latest Boeing Contract Offer
    "...significant concessions from workers."
    Time to pay them back!
    Nurse's Union here is striking again, for a single day. Admin. says anyone who doesn't show up for work will be locked out. They simply refuse to hire enough people to do the work--- though the offered pay increase is legitimately large. The Union is asking for binding arbitration.
    Yes, this is tangential, sorry. But it's all about the same sort of situation:
    https://www.hawaiinewsnow.com/2024/09/13/strike-set-after-negotiations-between-nurses-kapiolani-medical-center-end-without-deal/
  • ⇒ All Things Boeing ... Machinist Union Accepts Latest Boeing Contract Offer
    Some 96 percent of union members voted in favor of the strike, rejecting a proposal that would have boosted pay and benefits even as it fell short of other demands.
    Following are edited excerpts from a current report in The Washington Post.
    SEATTLE — Boeing workers picketed outside the company’s plants in Washington state early Friday morning after voting overwhelmingly to strike. Tens of thousands of machinists voted Thursday to reject a proposed deal between the company and the union that would have significantly boosted pay and benefits even as it fell short of other union demands.
    Some 96 percent of members of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers District 751 voted in favor of the strike — far more than the two-thirds needed to launch the work stoppage.
    The walkout is a stinging rebuke for Boeing and could represent the most disrupting challenge yet for a company that has spent much of this year in damage control as it careened from crisis to crisis.
    The strike risks derailing the aerospace giant’s recovery from ongoing financial and safety challenges and could cost the cash-strapped company an estimated $1 billion per week, according to analysts. The union plays a key role in assembling some of the company’s best-selling aircraft.
    The most direct impact is on Boeing’s assembly plants in Washington, especially in Everett and Renton. An extended work stoppage could also impact Boeing suppliers and possibly shrink its share of the aerospace market.
    Machinists in Seattle said the strike was long coming: “We just want to be treated right and they’re not doing it,” said mechanic Charles Fromong, who has worked for Boeing for more than 37 years. “So I guess we’re going to get it done.”
    Boeing said early Friday that it would return to the bargaining table: “The message was clear that the tentative agreement we reached with IAM leadership was not acceptable to the members,” the company said in a statement. “We remain committed to resetting our relationship with our employees and the union, and we are ready to get back to the table to reach a new agreement.”
    After a string of tense, marathon negotiating sessions over the last several weeks, the IAM and Boeing announced Sunday that they had reached a tentative four-year agreement, including a 25 percent pay increase over four years and enhanced health and retirement benefits. Also significant: If workers had voted to accept the deal before the current contract, Boeing committed to building its next new aircraft in Washington state, a key union demand. Both sides and investors had cheered the deal.
    “Four years is not enough to make up for the last 16,” Boeing worker Roger Ligrano said before he voted. He said he was voting to strike, in part, to give union members more time to understand a deal.
    Harold Ruffalo, who has worked for Boeing for 28 years, said after the vote results were announced that too much corporate greed is impacting the company, and workers need more money to live as inflation hits paychecks.
    The Biden administration was monitoring the situation; acting Labor Secretary Julie Su has been in contact with both sides.
    Leading up to the strike deadline, analysts said they were worried about how long a strike would last. They said that many workers have not forgotten previous rounds of negotiations in which Boeing pushed for concessions — including the end of the traditional pension program — to keep aircraft production in Washington state.
    Michael Bruno, Aviation Week Network’s executive editor for business, said in previous rounds of negotiations Boeing threatened to move airplane production to other states to extract concessions from the union, which soured relations.
    The last time IAM members struck was in 2008, a 57-day day walkout that Moody’s estimated cost Boeing about $1.5 billion a month. Boeing reopened negotiations on that contract twice, in 2011 and in 2013, and won significant concessions from workers.
  • BONDS The week that was.... December 31, 2024..... Bond NAV's...Most positive. FINAL REPORT 2024
    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 September 13, 2024..... NO report, due to having first time COVID
    We're both doing better since Monday and taking prescribed medications.
  • DJT in your portfolio - the first two funds reporting (edited)
    BBG: "Donald Trump says he doesn’t want to sell his Trump Media & Technology Group Corp. shares and that he doesn’t need the money, in remarks at a press conference."
    Uh huh. He's probably hoping that statement can stave off disaster for juuuust another 10 days or so before he dumps them....and besides, he's got enough money coming in from his various other grifts.
    Of course, if he does indeed dump his shares, it'll just further screw his followers who bought it as a way of showing support for him and are already watching their $$$$ melt away each day.
  • BONDS The week that was.... December 31, 2024..... Bond NAV's...Most positive. FINAL REPORT 2024
    $$$ I'm babysitting for a fellow is in a TRP acct, limited to TRP funds. If/when the time comes, I'll move him from junk TUHYX into global multi-sector PRSNX. Good performance history, there. We've both owned it in the past, too. I'm hoping to be able to just sit with my junk. There's been no crisis--- yet.
    PRSNX is at the front side of the belly, 4.46 years. Yield is up to 5.04%, even as the fund has risen YTD by +4.63%.
    Compare TUHYX: domestic junk. YTD +6.04%, but in the bottom half of category... Yield = 7.41%. Scrumptious.
    https://www.morningstar.com/funds/xnas/prsnx/quote
    https://www.morningstar.com/funds/XNAS/TUHYX/quote
  • Natixis Loomis Sayles Short Duration Income ETF will be liquidated
    Have you considered an alternative like NEAR?
    Better YTD, 1,3,5 year returns, lower expenses, nearly identical average duration, a positive Sharpe ratio (rare for this type of fund), nearly identical SEC yield, same average credit rating (AA- per M*).
    Here's a comparison at Fidelity along with three shorter term funds (FCNVX, ICSH, JPST) that look good if you want something more cash like (e.g. lower volatility, lower return).
  • TCW Funds/TCW Metropolitan West Funds liquidates funds
    "Both this fund and PSTKX go to show that building a better mousetrap with derivatives is relatively costly,
    often tax-inefficient, and at the end of the day doesn't come out any better than old, boring vanilla."

    MWATX and PSTKX returns lagged VFIAX returns over the trailing 3 Yr and 5 Yr periods.
    PSTKX returns lagged VFIAX returns by 52 bps over the 10 Yr trailing period
    and the fund experienced a greater max drawdown.
    MWATX returns exceeded VFIAX returns by 26 bps over the 10 Yr trailing period
    albeit with a greater max drawdown and lower Sharpe/Sortino Ratios.
  • Preparing your Portfolio for Rate Cuts
    1 yr Treasuries down to 4%. A bit faster than I expected. Bond yields want Fed to go 50 bps on Wednesday. Should we expect a violent reaction to a 25 bps FF rate cut?
    Mr. Market always overreacts. I've got a limit order in, to buy some regional bank BHB. I knew it would not go through today. I bet it will, on the 18th or 19th, after the rate-cut announcement, because Mr. Market will not have been given everything he wanted. We shall see.
  • WFC Wells... big surprise.
    Sept. 12, 2024:
    "Citi analyst Keith Horowitz calls Wells Fargo’s formal agreement with the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency related to deficiencies concerning its financial crimes risk management as a “step back.” However, this is not a consent order and does not include a monetary civil penalty, the analyst tells investors in a research note. As a result, the firm does not expect a meaningful change to the expense outlook and it notes Wells reiterated its outlook as recently as this week. The stock traded down 4% on the news, which “seems strong” but reflects the overhang from existing consent orders, contends Citi. It keeps a Neutral rating on the shares with a $63 price target."
    ****************
    Sept. 13, 2024:
    "JPMorgan says that in a “significant new negative development” for Wells Fargo, the bank’s anti-money laundering issue is back with the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency announcing an enforcement agreement for anti-money laundering and financial crimes “on an enterprise-wide basis, not just a particular business area.” The news is very surprising given that Wells had resolved a consent order for anti-money laundering in January 2021 after many years of work and expense, the analyst tells investors in a research note. JPMorgan says fixing this will likely add to operating expenses and much of the expense will likely be ongoing. It will also slow the bank’s growth and expansion, the firm contends. JPMorgan keeps a Neutral rating on Wells Fargo."
    Source: The Fly.
  • TCW Funds/TCW Metropolitan West Funds liquidates funds
    TCW MetWest AlphaTrak 500 Fund (M class)
    This fund served as a competitor to PSTKX while being slightly cheaper and performing slightly better. It even bested VFIAX over the past decade by a hair, though hugely tax inefficient. But unlike PSTKX ($2.6B AUM) it didn't get much love ($30M AUM).

    Portfolio Visualizer comparison

    Both this fund and PSTKX go to show that building a better mousetrap with derivatives is relatively costly, often tax-inefficient, and at the end of the day doesn't come out any better than old, boring vanilla.
  • Comparing APYs
    There are two different figures here, and they may be getting mixed up.
    One is interest rate (not yield) assuming daily compounding. The other is total annual return. The former is indeed lower than the stated rate of a T-bill, though the latter is higher than the T-bill's stated rate.
    Consider bank accounts at two banks. One bank compounds interest monthly, one compounds daily. For simplicity I'll work with 30 day months and 360 day years. It doesn't change the reasoning, it just makes the numbers easier to follow.
    The monthly one says that it has an APR (not compounded yield) of 6%. Each month, it pays 1/2% interest. Its APY (compounding 12 times) is 6.17%.
    The daily one says that it has an APR of 5.9855%. Each day, it pays 0.001663% (1/360th of the APR). With daily compounding that comes out to 1/2% each month and an APY of 6.17%. Same as the other bank.
    Now instead of bank accounts, think of a T-bill with a one month maturity. (It's hypothetical, real T-bills mature in 4 weeks.) Let's say that like these banks, at maturity (in one month) you get back 1/2% more than you invested.
    The stated yield on the T-bill would be 1/2% annualized, i.e. 12 x 1/2% = 6%. Assuming you reinvest each month in a T-bill with the same terms, you'd have 6.17% more than you started with at the end of the year because of monthly compounding. That's higher than the stated yield.
    But if we hypothesize that the T-bill is actually compounding on a daily basis for a month, then it would be like the bank that compounds daily. Its daily APR would be 5.9855%. That's lower than the stated yield of 6% and lower still than the 6.17% you would get by reinvesting these T-bills for a year.
    This is how one can come up with both a lower rate (assuming daily compounding) and a higher total return (by reinvesting over the course of a year) than the stated rate of a T-bill.
  • Natixis Loomis Sayles Short Duration Income ETF will be liquidated
    https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1526787/000119312524217981/d863235d497.htm
    497 1 d863235d497.htm NATIXIS ETF TRUST - 497
    Supplement dated September 12, 2024 to the Natixis Loomis Sayles Short Duration Income ETF’s Summary Prospectus, Prospectus and Statement of Additional Information, each dated May 1, 2024, as may be revised or supplemented from time to time.
    Natixis Loomis Sayles Short Duration Income ETF
    On September 12, 2024, the Board of Trustees of Natixis ETF Trust (the “Trust”), on behalf of the Natixis Loomis Sayles Short Duration Income ETF (the “Fund”), upon the recommendation of the Fund’s adviser, Natixis Advisors, LLC (“Natixis Advisors”) approved a Plan of Liquidation for the Fund pursuant to which the Fund will be liquidated (the “Liquidation”) on or about September 30, 2024 (“Liquidation Date”). Any shares of the Fund outstanding on the Liquidation Date will be automatically redeemed on that date.
    Effective at the close of business on September 16, 2024, the Fund will no longer accept orders for the purchase of Creation Units. It is expected that September 25, 2024 will be the Fund’s last full day of trading on NYSE Arca, Inc. (“NYSE Arca”). Pursuant to this schedule, NYSE Arca is expected to halt trading in shares of the Fund after the market close on September 25, 2024.
    Beginning when the Fund commences liquidation of its portfolio (expected on or around September 13, 2024), the Fund may not pursue its investment objective or engage in normal business activities, except for the purposes of winding up its business and affairs, preserving the value of its assets, paying its liabilities, and distributing its remaining assets to shareholders. During the time between market close on September 25, 2024 and the Liquidation Date, because the Fund’s shares will not be traded on NYSE Arca, there can be no assurance that there will be a market for the purchase or sale of the Fund’s shares.
    In connection with the Liquidation, any shares of the Fund outstanding on the Liquidation Date will be automatically redeemed as of the close of business on the Liquidation Date. The proceeds of any such redemption will be equal to the net asset value of such shares after the Fund has paid or provided for all of its charges, taxes, expenses and liabilities, including certain operational costs of liquidating the Fund. The distribution to shareholders of these liquidation proceeds will occur as soon as practicable, and will be made to all Fund shareholders at the time of the Liquidation. Additionally, the Fund may declare and distribute to shareholders any realized capital gains and all net investment income no later than or in connection with the final Liquidation distribution. Natixis Advisors, investment manager to the Fund, may or may not, depending on the circumstances, distribute substantially all of the Fund’s net investment income and any net realized capital gains prior to the date of Liquidation.
    Shareholders of the Fund may sell their shares of the Fund on NYSE Arca until the market close on September 25, 2024, and may incur customary transaction fees from their broker-dealer. Prior to the Liquidation Date, Authorized Participants may continue to submit orders to the Fund for the redemption of Creation Units. See “Buying and Selling Shares” in the Prospectus.
    Although the Liquidation is not expected to be a taxable event for the Fund, for taxable shareholders, the automatic redemption of shares of the Fund on the Liquidation Date will generally be treated as a sale that may result in a gain or loss for federal income tax purposes. Instead of waiting until the Liquidation Date, a shareholder may voluntarily sell his or her shares on NYSE Arca until the market close on September 25, 2024, and Authorized Participants may voluntarily redeem Creation Units prior to the Liquidation Date, to the extent that the shareholder wishes to realize any such gains or losses prior thereto. See “Taxation” in the Prospectus. Shareholders should consult their tax advisers regarding the tax treatment of the Liquidation.
  • TCW MetWest Investment Grade Credit Fund will be reorganized
    https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1028621/000182912624006249/tcwmetwestinv_497.htm
    497 1 tcwmetwestinv_497.htm 497
    TCW METROPOLITAN WEST FUNDS
    TCW MetWest Investment Grade Credit Fund (the “Fund”)
    (I Share: MWIGX; M Share: MWISX)
    Supplement dated September 12, 2024 to the Prospectus and
    the Summary Prospectus, each dated July 29, 2024, and
    the Registration Statement on Form N-14 dated July 12, 2024
    This supplement provides new and additional information beyond that contained in the Prospectus and the Summary Prospectus and any previous supplements and to the Prospectus/Information Statement pertaining to the Reorganization (as defined below). It should be retained and read in conjunction with the Prospectus and the Summary Prospectus and any previous supplements and the Prospectus/Information Statement.
    As previously announced, on April 8, 2024, the Board of Trustees of the Fund approved a form of Agreement and Plan of Reorganization to reorganize the Fund with and into TCW Investment Grade Credit ETF, a series of TCW ETF Trust (the “Reorganization”). After further consideration and upon the recommendation of the Fund’s investment adviser, on September 9, 2024, the Board of Trustees of the Fund determined that proceeding with the Reorganization is no longer in the best interests of the Fund and its shareholders. Accordingly, the Board approved the termination of the Agreement and Plan of Reorganization for the Reorganization and the Reorganization will not occur. The Fund is expected to continue to operate as a series of TCW Metropolitan West Funds.
    Shareholders should retain this Supplement for future reference.
  • TCW MetWest Corporate Bond Fund will be reorganized
    https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1028621/000182912624006250/tcwmetro_497.htm
    497 1 tcwmetro_497.htm 497
    TCW METROPOLITAN WEST FUNDS
    TCW MetWest Corporate Bond Fund (the “Fund”)
    (I Share: MWCBX; M Share: MWCSX)
    Supplement dated September 12, 2024 to the Prospectus and
    the Summary Prospectus, each dated July 29, 2024, as supplemented
    This supplement provides new and additional information beyond that contained in the Prospectus and the Summary Prospectus and any previous supplements. It should be retained and read in conjunction with the Prospectus and the Summary Prospectus and any previous supplements.
    On September 9, 2024, the Board of Trustees of the Fund, having determined that a reorganization of the Fund would be in the best interest of the Fund and its shareholders, voted to approve a form of Agreement and Plan of Reorganization (the “Plan”) to reorganize the Fund with and into TCW Corporate Bond ETF, a newly-created exchange-traded fund (“ETF”) (the “Acquiring Fund”), which will be a series of TCW ETF Trust (the “Reorganization”). Accordingly, the Fund will stop accepting purchase orders for Class M shares of the Fund prior to the Reorganization on or about October 28, 2024. In accordance with the Plan, Class M shares of the Fund will be converted into Class I shares of the Fund prior to the Reorganization on or about November 4, 2024.
    Pursuant to applicable law (including the Investment Company Act of 1940) the Reorganization may be implemented without shareholder approval. The Reorganization is expected to occur in the fourth quarter of 2024 and is expected to be a tax-free reorganization for U.S. federal income tax purposes. Additional information about the Reorganization will be made available to shareholders in a combined information statement/prospectus prior to the Reorganization date.
    The foregoing is not an offer to sell, nor a solicitation of an offer to buy, shares of the Acquiring Fund, nor is it a solicitation of any proxy. Because the Fund is expected to reorganize into the Acquiring Fund on its reorganization date, you should consider the appropriateness of making a new or subsequent investment in the Fund prior to its reorganization date. You should consider the investment objectives, risks, strategies, fees and expenses of the Acquiring Fund and/or the Fund carefully before investing.
    Prior to the Reorganization date, a combined information statement/prospectus will be included in a registration statement on Form N-14 that will be filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”). After the registration statement is filed with the SEC, it may be amended or withdrawn and the combined information statement/prospectus will not be distributed to shareholders unless and until the registration statement becomes effective. Investors are urged to read the materials and any other relevant documents when they become available because they will contain important information about the Reorganization. After the materials are filed, free copies of the materials will be available on the SEC’s web site at www.sec.gov. These materials also will be available at https://www.tcw.com and a paper copy can be obtained at no charge by calling 1-877-829-4768.
    Shareholders should retain this Supplement for future reference.
  • Preparing your Portfolio for Rate Cuts
    1 yr Treasuries down to 4%. A bit faster than I expected. Bond yields want Fed to go 50 bps on Wednesday. Should we expect a violent reaction to a 25 bps FF rate cut?