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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.
  • Anybody Investing in bond funds?
    I remember someone mentioning that online orders for FRN auctions are not possible, so one may have to call the trading desk.
    FR/BL are the best for rising or steady rate environment, so they should be good for a while. But get out of them once the rates start to fall, as they will sometime in 2024-25; then, FR/BL will act just like ST-HY.
  • Month Ending May MFO Ratings Posted!
    @Sven, one indication of breadth is % of stocks above 50-dMA. On Wednesday, that was only 30.00% (low), but on Friday, it was 52.40% (OK). So, you may want to look at your favorite breadth measures again post-debt-ceiling.
    https://stockcharts.com/h-sc/ui?s=$SPXA50R&p=D&b=5&g=0&id=p31929595409
  • Anybody Investing in bond funds?
    @Sven. I have learned that I don't have the appetite to trade individual securities. So I haven't looked into buying from the Treasury.
    USFR and TFLO are the two etf's I know of that only deal in floating rate T-Bills. They both charge the same. There does seem to be some minor differences in SEC yield and total return over time. Anyway, both at about 5.2 SEC yield per M* this afternoon.
    BTW, aside from my aversion to bonds in general, I have held on to FFRHX in the IRA. I'll take a look to see if FLOT is similar, or better. Thanks.
  • Month Ending May MFO Ratings Posted!
    @Charles, if the breath of the S&P 500 rally is more broad-based, I would be cheering with you. It is only a handful of large tech stock and AI stocks are advancing, the remaining stocks are flat. So I am concern.
  • California Insurance Coverage: First- State Farm, now Allstate also quits California
    Homeowners may choose to simply go bare.
    https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna17692537
    That has long been the pattern with one natural disaster, earthquakes:
    The top three markets in the country — California, Washington and Missouri — highlight how unprepared the nation is.
    • Despite experiencing 90% of the country’s earthquakes, only 10% of California’s residents have earthquake insurance.
    • Only 11.3% of Washington’s residents were covered in 2017 despite having the second-largest market in the seismic space.
    • Missouri’s New Madrid area is a lesson in what skyrocketing premiums can do to the insurance market. In 2000, 60% of its residents had coverage. As of 2021, that number has declined to 11.4%.
    https://www.fema.gov/emergency-managers/risk-management/earthquake/insurance
  • Anybody Investing in bond funds?
    @WABAC, what is the best way to invest in US floating rate treasury bills?
    2 yrs FR bills are auction only 4 times a year. iShares floating rate bond ETF, FLOT, has a 0.15% ER with a 30 days SEC yield, 5.75%.
    https://digital.fidelity.com/prgw/digital/research/quote/dashboard/summary?symbol=FLOT
    The 1, 3 and 5 years total returns are ~2.5% due to the low interest rate.
    I tend to invest in T bills (less than one year), and ST- and IT-treasury bond funds.
  • Month Ending May MFO Ratings Posted!
    The S&P 500 has been generally climbing since October or 8 months ago. Month ending data only has us still 2% shy of new bull market. But if you include MTD, the S&P is up 21%. Yay!
  • State Farm halts new home policies in California due to wildfire risk, rising costs
    Here's some edited excerpts from a current report in the San Francisco Chronicle:
    Home buyers are likely to encounter rising insurance premiums, with coverage more difficult to find, in the wake of news that State Farm and Allstate have stopped writing new homeowner policies in California.
    But the potential impact on home prices is difficult to determine, particularly in fire prone areas, according to real estate agents in the Santa Cruz mountains and Santa Rosa region, who noted that inventory remains low while demand has stayed high.
    “We thought with the increase in interest rates, momentum would slow down,” said Logan Francavilla, a real estate agent with the Santa Rosa-based Prosper Real Estate Team. “But we’re still seeing multiple offers and above-asking prices.”
    Homeowners insurance isn’t required by law in California, but most mortgages require it as a condition of the loan.
    In Santa Rosa, where the Tubbs Fire caused devastation in 2017, it hasn’t been too hard to find an insurer willing to cover most homes, though new homeowners now may have to do more searching and be willing to pay higher premiums without State Farm and Allstate as an option, Francavilla said.
    In the Santa Cruz mountains, however, realtors are more nervous about the potential impacts, especially given the continued risk of wildfire.
    By and large, State Farm and Farmers Insurance have been the only two brand-name insurance companies that are still offering policies for mountain homes — with only the former offering conventional plans that cover fire insurance, said Tim Huxley, a real estate agent with Room Real Estate, which is based in Santa Cruz County.
    Farmers Insurance often requires Santa Cruz mountain home buyers to purchase the state-offered FAIR Plan for fire insurance, Huxley said. The FAIR plan is an “insurer of last resort” and is generally more expensive because it covers high-risk fire areas other insurers refuse to cover.
    Farmers Insurance was not immediately available to comment on its approach to fire coverage.
    For a million dollar house in the Santa Cruz mountains, a conventional policy including fire insurance is usually $150 a month, whereas the FAIR Plan can be up to $600 a month, Huxley estimated. Without State Farm as an option for new homeowners, “moving forward, everything is going to have to be FAIR Plan up in the mountains,” Huxley said.
    It’s possible that high insurance premiums will mean fewer offers for homes in the mountains, though, putting some downward pressure on price, said Bri Steel, owner of real estate agency Live Love Santa Cruz.
    But Mike Scherer, broker and owner of Cruz Mountains Real Estate, said he thinks the real estate market will remain strong: “Our median price home is around $1.4 million. $5-6,000 a year for insurance is not going to be much of a factor."
    With the additional cost of insurance, especially as more homeowners get on the FAIR Plan, people may not be able to buy the house of their dreams, said Jennifer Watson, president of the Santa Cruz County Association of Realtors.
    With the lack of supply and steady high demand, Watson also said she doesn’t see home prices or sales changing much, even with the added expense of higher insurance: "There’s always going to be somebody that can pay that.”
    By the way, our house in Guerneville is about 20 minutes to the west of Santa Rosa, mentioned in the above article.
  • TDA to Schwab Transfers
    Are you referring to TF mutual funds trading fees? See (from 2011):
    https://www.onlinebrokerrev.com/2011/02/broker-mutual-fund-fees.html
    Often when an old fee schedule is grandfathered, the entire fee schedule is preserved. When TDA grandfathered thinkorswim customers, did it preserve all the TOS fees? That would have included three free TF trades per month. OTOH, that would also have meant charging fees for selling as well as for buying TF funds.
    Likewise, is Schwab keeping your whole fee schedule, or just the $15 TF charge? (There may not be any other difference in the schedule, so this question may be moot.)
  • Fitch Puts the US AAA Rating on a Negative Watch
    Only Fitch knows. But it would be a foolish thing to do now.
    See https://community.morningstar.com/s/question/0D53o00006bukgrCAA/us-credit-rating-to-stay-on-fitchs-negative-watch-despite-debt-limit-deal
    yogibearbull (Customer)
    2 days ago
    Well, I can see the headline - Fitch, a unit of the publisher of magazines such as Cosmopolitan and Seventeen, downgrades the US debt after the fact.
    It should keep in mind how harshly McGraw-Hill was treated when it also downgraded the US after the fact in 2011. Don't bother looking for its ticker as it is now a small co called McGraw Hill Education. Its old rating unit does trade as SPGI.
    I agree that Fitch is now looking for some publicity.
  • TDA to Schwab Transfers
    Whenever a trading fee ($49.95?) would be applied, it would become $15 instead.
  • TDA to Schwab Transfers
    FWIW, Schwab has indicated to me that they will honor the $15 trading fee originating from ThinkorSwim (then to TDA); if anyone else falls into that category. I'm not sure yet if that will be automatic, or you'll have to ask for it.
    Could explain the trading fee in more detail?
  • TDA to Schwab Transfers
    FWIW, Schwab has indicated to me that they will honor the $15 trading fee originating from ThinkorSwim (then to TDA); if anyone else falls into that category. I'm not sure yet if that will be automatic, or you'll have to ask for it.
  • Bank Safety Ratings from Weiss Ratings,,,, Lots of Down Arrows
    Hi @larryB The data still indicates March 31, 2023. I'll presume the data will not be fresh until the end of June (quarterly?). Perhaps this is only if one does not have a login account with Weiss. Being a subscriber indicates timely updates.
    Sample: Huntington Bank
    Remain curious,
    Catch
  • Funds in Barron's This Week, 6/5/23
    There are several funds related items in Barron's this week, 6/5/23 - too many to include the excerpts here.
    https://ybbpersonalfinance.proboards.com/thread/453/barron-june-5-2023-2
  • New to brokered CD's
    "Schwab Brokerage CDs are paying 5.3%"
    @dtconroe- Did you mean various bank CDs available through Schwab Brokerage, or Schwab Bank CDs, which are also available at Schwab Brokerage? As far as I know, brokerages themselves cannot offer CDs, at least not CDs insured by the FDIC.
    Various bank CDs through Schwab Brokerage
  • New to brokered CD's
    "Schwab Brokerage CDs are paying 5.3%"
    @dtconroe- Did you mean various bank CDs available through Schwab Brokerage, or Schwab Bank CDs, which are also available at Schwab Brokerage? As far as I know, brokerages themselves cannot offer CDs, at least not CDs insured by the FDIC.
  • New to brokered CD's
    Now that the debt/default crisis is over, I am starting to look at CDs again. I have some cash in MMs, because of the debt/default fiasco, that I looking to invest in higher yielding options. I have also got 2 large CDs maturing in a few weeks,and will be looking for options there. Schwab Brokerage CDs are paying 5.3%, but I think they may bump a little higher in a few days. For a retired person, looking for easy money, CDs over 5% look pretty appealing to me.
  • Done Deal !
    Really kind of bipolar markets data etc....first you hear of layoffs increasing then you get this jobs report... I'd hate to be a macro kind of investor right now...how could you trust your quote signals?
    Do know that a ton of tech workers were let go but also know that other industries have seen reductions of staff too ..
    Still crazy expensive at the grocery store...
    Kinda understand folks who buy indexes and why they do it..also kinda like what the fellas at the bretton fund do ..solid companies that they know will do well looking out five years etc .
    Do still like that 5% plus tbills CD you can get out there ..
    Good luck to All
    Baseball fan