ADR? Yes, In my experience. TRP took 25% of a dividend, but the explanation was that it was withheld "at the source." Meaning the Norway Tax Authority. b>NHYDY. Yes, a partial or full refund was available. But you'll have to register with the Tax Authority in order to do it. TRP did not charge a fee. But they do not manage their own trades. They "clear" through Pershing.
Schwab tells me a different ADR (HQ in Luxembourg) will have 15% of dividends withheld by the foreign entity. As long as the stock makes me money, I'm willing to eat that much. TS....And I've been advised that the bank which oversees that ADR might charge a fee. We'll see about that, and whether or not it's a deal-breaker.

@BaluBalu, bought at Schwab, yesterday in the A.M. It is not on the list this morning. .

Thanks. Last year I bought a few agencies and all those got called after rates bottomed in Dec / Jan. Fidelity is currently showing 6.1% for a first settlement on 5/15 and maturing in 2029.
Did you always get the new agencies at par or they charged a premium? At Fidelity there is no bid or ask price. So, you only know coupon when you submit an order for a settlement that is 2 weeks away and the order money is tied up until then, at least in MM at Fidelity- not sure if you have to move the order money to cash at Schwab.

Thanks.
I get that the principal policy tool is FF funds rates and not the balance sheet but could you please remind the forum why the Fed chose to reduce QT, rather than drop an equivalent FF rate (may be 0.25%)? They may have discussed this in the last minutes, presser or in some other avenue.
(IMO, the repeated verbal expression of concern for lower economic segment (least afford to weather inflation and economic effects of tighter monetary policy) is a lip service when easing balance sheet and not the FF rate.)

I had VWIAX at VG, but moved it to my existing Schwab account around 2015. I sold it last fall and have no VG holdings. From all the negative comments I hear online, I'll probably never have any again.

Post-Conference Notes by YBB
Rates are maintained - fed funds 5.25-5.50%, bank reserves rate 5.4%, discount rate 5.5%. Rate hike(s) unlikely, but may hold rates as long as necessary. Need more confidence in inflation data before rate cuts. Inflation target remains +2% average.
Treasury QT will be reduced from 6/1/24 to -$25 billion/mo (vs -$60 billion/mo now), but MBS QT will remain at -$35 billion/mo; total QT from 6/1/24 will be -$60 billion/mo (vs -$95 billion/mo now).
The Fed policy is restrictive (despite real rates < inflation rate or GDP growth). Stagflation fears are unreasonable.
Economy is strong. Weak Q1 GDP growth may be a fluke. Some differences between the government and private data are normal as there are leads and lags. For example, the market-rents lead the rolling-rents.
Labor market remains strong, but wage growth has moderated. The labor pool has increased due to higher labor-participation rates and immigration. This has contributed to both supply and demand side.
Consumers see high prices, loan rates and mortgage rates. But significant pain or dislocations aren't expected.
Divergent central bank policies aren't a concern because the economic conditions are different. Also, no turmoil is seen in the EMs. Discussions on Basel III are ongoing.
The FOMC achieves consensus through discussions despite the impression created by many open-mouths of the FOMC.
A customary denial - the Fed doesn't account for politics or elections.
https://ybbpersonalfinance.proboards.com/post/1456/thread

FOMC Statement, 5/1/24
https://www.federalreserve.gov/newsevents/pressreleases/monetary20240501a.htm

MINT sure has done nicely the last year (~6.5%) and ytd. For simplicity, speaking of which, if with slightly lower returns, I use only FZDXX at Fido and FIGXX at ML, the latter of which outperforms there for some reason (with highish ER, no less), ~5-1/4% the last year.

@chang Would they really have no yearly fee for this plan of yours?. If not how long will it last? I closed my 40 plus year Vanguard account to E-trade last year because of all the nardly issues previously noted on the board. So that move was timely and saved me the $100. What really got my gourd was the $25/ yearly fee I paid for mailed statements even with a multi 6 figure account. I have no regrets at all and the customer service is now much ,much better

It looks like the fee starts in July, unless you have $5,000,000 in funds there
Better get out while the getting is good
This might be the final nail in the Vanguard coffin for me

Good timing. Sold CEFS & bought FOF yesterday in my core account. Head swimming from all the recent reading. Not easy creatures to fathom or to value. And, I’m not particularly optimistic about the new acquisition. But it does serve purpose of providing broader portfolio diversification which I value.
A note on CEFS: This one is actually an ETF that invests in CEFs and is run by run by hedge fund manager Boaz Weinstein, an activist. While its near 5% fee looks daunting, most of that is in acquired fund fees and borrowing costs. Uses leverage (on top of the leverage in the CEFS owned). Actual management fee is around 1%. Not recommending it. As noted, I no longer own.
Calimos’ brand new CCEF (also an ETF) is also worth a look for folks wanting exposure to a broad basket of CEFs.

Another market neutral fund, VMNFX (down -.14% today) has actually outperformed QDSNX by approx. 3% annualized over the past 3 years (15.6% vs. 12.6%) with same SD (7.3). Looks like Vanguard had changed up the Portfolio Mgr around 3 years ago.
Happy with QDSNX, it has performed admirably. One of these funds feels like enough.

QDSNX has shown itself again to be quite a steady performer, even on days like today when the market turned ugly.
For example:
QDSNX +0.1%
VWELX -1.1
PRWCX -1.1
S&P 500 -1.6
So far, so good.
Fred

Bloomberg reports:
”The Federal Open Market Committee will hold the target range for its benchmark rate at 5.25% to 5.5% - a two-decade high first reached in July - at the conclusion of its two-day policy meeting Wednesday. The rate decision, and possibly an announcement on the pace of its balance-sheet reduction program, will be released at 2 p.m. in Washington. Chair Jerome Powell will hold a press conference 30 minutes later.”https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2024-04-30/fed-to-hold-interest-rates-powell-to-set-tone-for-cuts-in-2024
Separately, Bloomberg (citing data from Citibank) is reporting: ”The options market is more concerned about a potentially big move in the S&P 500 Index (SPX) off of the Federal Reserve's interest-rate decision Wednesday than it's been at any point in almost a year.”
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2024-04-30/traders-expect-biggest-fed-day-move-in-s-p-since-2023-citi-says

if Marcus offers a different term (not 20 mo) RBCD at a higher rate after one invests in a RBCD, can one still request a bump in rate or does the term of the newer RBCD have to be the same as the RBCD initially invest in?
You wrote: "'Prior to maturity, you may request a one-time rate increase to the highest APY and interest rate we offer for the same Rate Bump CD term as of the day of your request.' [bold added]"
I think you answered your own question.
If in doubt, read the terms of the account. Especially section IV paragraph 5.
https://www.marcus.com/content/dam/marcus/us/en/pdfs/Marcus_Deposit_Account_Agreement.pdf
It looks like this particular product has a relatively uncommon feature - the ability to add to the CD at the time you increase the rate.
In a brokerage account, there are more choices. Call protected brokered CDs from GS have much higher yields
Rate bump CDs nearly always have lower starting rates than fixed rate CDs of the same term. It couldn't be otherwise, else the rate bump option would be free, and no one would choose the fixed rate CD. A better comparison would be between a GS brokered CD and a Marcus Bank fixed rate CD of the same term.
For brokered, non-callable GS CDs, I see a 1 year offered at 5.1%, slightly better than the 1 year Marcus Bank CD offered at 5.0%. Not quite an apples-to-apples comparison, but close. One difference is that one risks a substantial haircut in taking an early withdrawal from a brokered CD, while the Marcus CD has a predetermined penalty of 1.25% (90 days simple interest).
If you are intrigued by bump up CDs, Flatwater Bank in Nebraska offers a 15 month product with an initial fixed rate (APY) of 5.3%. Its bump rate is calculated as the starting rate (here 5.3%) plus "the difference of the Federal Funds Rate on the date of purchase of your CD and the current Federal Funds Rate on the date of bump up".
https://flatwater.bank/personal/bumpup

With respect to insurance deductibles, consider why a deductible of, say, 5k vs 100k likely isn't going to change the policy rate that much.
A home is insured for $1 million. If that home is destroyed by fire:
• At 5k, the insurance company is on the hook for $995,000
• At 100k, the insurance company is on still the hook for $900,000
It's that big number that's controlling this relationship, not the small one. From the insurance company's perspective the only benefit for the deductible is to relieve them from the processing of potential nickel-and-dime claims.
Add:
It's a different animal with earthquake- unlike a fire, which can easily total a structure, an earthquake, depending on the structure and many other variables such as EQ intensity, the ground conditions under the structure, etc. can cause greatly varying damage to a structure, which many times is repairable, though expensive. Here, it makes sense to have a large deductible, as the insurance may greatly limit it's exposure that way.

update:
https://www.sec.gov/ix?doc=/Archives/edgar/data/1579881/000110465924055004/tm245814d13_497.htm
File No. 333-191151
CALAMOS ETF TRUST
(the “Trust”)
Calamos S&P 500 Structured Alt Protection ETF – May
(the “Fund”)
Supplement dated April 30, 2024
to the Fund’s Prospectus dated May 1, 2024
This supplement updates certain information contained in the Fund’s prospectus and should be attached to the prospectus and retained for future reference.
Capitalized terms not defined herein have the same meaning as in the Fund’s prospectus.
As described in the Fund’s prospectus, an investment in shares of the Fund is subject to an upside return cap (the “Cap”) that represents the maximum percentage return an investor can achieve from an investment in the Fund for the Outcome Period of approximately one year. The Fund’s initial Outcome Period will begin on May 1, 2024 and end on April 30, 2025. The Fund’s Cap for the Outcome Period beginning on May 1, 2024 is set forth below.
9.81%
(9.12% after taking into account the Fund’s management fees)
The Fund’s return will be further reduced by brokerage commissions, trading fees, taxes and non-routine or extraordinary expenses not included in the Fund’s management fee, as described in the prospectus.
The Fund’s prospectus is amended to revise all references to the Cap to reflect the Cap for the initial Outcome Period, as set forth above.

Not sure where you live but I'm guessing you had to Google that info yourself.
Half right. Yes, I searched for this, but not because I had to. Rather, I searched because I often check data before I post. My recollection is that I was offered a policy with a 25% deductible. But that was long enough ago that I wasn't sure about the figure and I don't have records going back that far.
The deductibles in California are generally 15%, 20%, and 25%.
https://www.earthquakeauthority.com/california-earthquake-insurance-policies/homeowners/coverages-and-deductibles
They don't depend on risk. You get to choose. "For the best choice of CEA earthquake home insurance policies, select deductibles from 5%-25%."
https://www.earthquakeauthority.com/california-earthquake-insurance-policies/how-to-buy-earthquake-insurance-california

@BaluBalu, minimum is $10,000
CUSIP: 3130B13H8
Security Type: Government Agencies
Issuer Name: Federal Home Loan Bks
Maturity Date: 05/03/2029
Coupon Rate: 6.250%

Thanks. I was going to buy it at Fidelity. The first settlement for this is May 14. It is not in the new issue inventory, which means the issuer is done accepting offers (bids) from Fidelity. I could not find it in the secondary list either but I was able to pull it up by the CUSIP # but it shows no bids and asks. Agencies bought in secondary market attract transaction fees (0.1% or $100 fees for 100K face amount?).
When and at which brokerage did you buy it?

@BaluBalu, minimum is $10,000
CUSIP: 3130B13H8
Security Type: Government Agencies
Issuer Name: Federal Home Loan Bks
Maturity Date: 05/03/2029
Coupon Rate: 6.250%