CreditSights I think is a good firm that occasionally comes on Real Yield.
Yes, I recognize the name. But I can't recall the names and faces of PEOPLE connected with that outfit. I'll go look for today's show, now. ...
(15th March. "Beware The Ides of March!")
EDIT to add: I'm not hearing the gloom and doom message. I can --- just as you can--- "hear between the lines:" without some sense of urgency, they would have no show to offer on-air, right? I'm seeing and hearing references to "higher for longer." Big surprise? NO. Rate-cut expectations have been pushed back--- as I thought, myself--- into maybe even 2025. Inflation will be a gigantic "bugger" to try to get it all the way down to 2%. And there have lately been lots of tech layoffs. Is the job market cracking? Retail spending is down. Are we already in a shallow, weak recession? Maybe not, according to the classic definition, but...

My recollection is that 5% is dead average for the 10 year note over the past century. Good news: I recall hearing it from Kai Ryssdal on a Marketplace podcast. Bad news: can't track it down
TheMarketplace piece was actually written by Sabri Ben-Achour, though read by Kai Ryssdal. At the 2:15 mark (or in the text) you'll find:

“You know, actually, historically speaking they’re not that high,” said David Krause, emeritus professor of finance at Marquette University. He pointed out that on average over 100 years, long-term Treasury yields were 5.2%. Close to where they are now.

https://www.marketplace.org/2023/10/23/why-are-bond-yields-so-high-right-now/
I'm still trying to harmonize the second piece mentioned in the OP (by Jon Sindreu) suggesting cash yielding 7%/year over the next two years with the first piece quoting White House economic forecasts for cash (3 mo. Treasuries) averaging 5.1% this year and 4% next year. Even if that forecast is a bit rosy (costing the Treasury less in interest), I don't see how one gets to 7%, not just in the near future (next few months) but sustained over a period of two years.
Reading the 3/14/2024 online version of the WSJ piece I don't find mention of a two year timeframe. It does say that looking at quarters similar to today, " On a one-year performance basis, stocks weren't just riskier, they also returned less on average than bonds and cash." Print version must have more, or is at least different.

Interesting. Morningstar Magazine (never heard of it before) is a quarterly with 75-80 pages with many M* articles, analyst reports and features; and lots of ads. Free to professionals, but unclear how much it costs otherwise (I couldn't find unless I go through all of the subscribing steps).
https://www.morningstar.com/products/magazine
For more info, it says to go to M* Insights, but the articles there aren't by M* Magazine issues.
https://www.morningstar.com/research/blog

From the Wall Street Journal's analysis of the economic assumptions released with the Biden budget:

Economic forecasts released Monday as part of the White House’s 2025 budget proposal assume that three-month Treasury bill rates will average 5.1% this year, the same as in 2023, before declining to 4% next year and 3.3% in 2026.
The White House sees the average 10-year Treasury note yield rising to 4.4% this year from 4.1% last year and then declining gradually to 3.7% by the end of this decade.

My recollection is that 5% is dead average for the 10 year note over the past century. Good news: I recall hearing it from Kai Ryssdal on a Marketplace podcast. Bad news: can't track it down.
Those sort of interest rates remind investors that there is an alternative to stocks, which might well occasion a shift from equities and at least the tiniest bit of discipline on the part of managers (fund and otherwise). Jon Sindreu at the Wall Street Journal published an interesting project that suggests that cash might handily beat stocks over the next 12 years and would be pretty competitive with them over the next couple years. His projection of asset class returns, based on "quarters similar to today," puts the two-year APR for stocks at 7.something percent, cash at about 7% and bonds at over 8%. The dominance of stocks would return unless you had a time horizon of five years or more ("How to Invest? More than ever, it depends on who you are?" Wall Street Journal, 3/15/2024)

We ain't all alone -
McDonald’s hit by ‘technology outage’ in UK, Ireland, Australia, Japan and China
McDonald’s restaurants in multiple countries have been hit by a “technology outage”, with restaurant, drive-through and online orders hit.
For a 90-minute period on Friday they “couldn’t serve anyone”. In Hong Kong, the McDonald’s Facebook page said self-ordering kiosks and mobile phone orders were “not functioning” and asked customers to order at the restaurant counter. A customer in Australia said it was “impossible to buy anything” via drive-through or online.
The company’s global chief information officer, Brian Rice, said the problem was due to an unspecified change to IT systems run by an outside contractor for McDonalds, blaming a “third-party provider during a configuration change”.
(The above are edited excerpts from a current report in The Guardian.)

https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1413594/000110465924034878/a24-8908_1497.htm
497 1 a24-8908_1497.htm 497
abrdn Funds
(the "Trust")
abrdn Emerging Markets Sustainable Leaders Fund (the "Fund")
Supplement dated March 15, 2024 to the Fund's
Summary Prospectus, Prospectus and Statement of Additional Information (the "SAI"),
each dated February 29, 2024, as supplemented to date
This Supplement updates certain information contained in the Summary Prospectus, Prospectus and SAI for the Fund, a series of the Trust, dated February 29, 2024.
On March 13, 2024, the Board of Trustees of the Trust approved an Agreement and Plan of Reorganization relating to the reorganization (the "Reorganization") of the Fund into the abrdn Emerging Markets ex-China Fund (the "Acquiring Fund"), a series of the Trust.
The Fund's investment adviser, abrdn Inc. ("abrdn"), proposed the Reorganization, in part, because of the Fund's decrease in asset size and increased distribution opportunities available to the Acquiring Fund. abrdn also serves as investment adviser to the Acquiring Fund.
The Reorganization does not require approval by shareholders of the Fund. A combined information statement and prospectus describing the proposed Reorganization in more detail will be mailed to shareholders of the Fund prior to the Reorganization. In the Reorganization, each shareholder of the Fund will become a shareholder of the Acquiring Fund and will receive, on a tax-free basis, shares of the Acquiring Fund with the same aggregate net asset value as their shares of the Fund. Shareholders of each class of the Fund will receive each corresponding class's shares in the Acquiring Fund. A Fund shareholder who does not wish to become a shareholder of the Acquiring Fund may redeem shares of the Fund at any time prior to the Reorganization.
It is expected that the Reorganization will be completed in the second quarter of 2024.
Please retain this Supplement for future reference.

I agree. But FLATX has lived up to it's name !!!
"flat" for the last ten years. COBYX has 50% Latin America and is doing much better

So far, people who started as Bogle's personal assistants have eventually landed at the top.
At 55 and only 6 years at the top, did Tim Buckley quit or was pushed out? He may have perfected the race to the bottom ER at the expense of everything else and possibly damaging the Vanguard brand. If Vanguard wants to move forward in advisory business again (it ditched its old advisory business for the robo-advisors/PAS), it had to change the horse. We may have to wait for juicy details of the drama.
MY IRAs remain at Vanguard, but other accounts are elsewhere.

AAII Sentiment Survey, 3/13/24
BULLISH remained the top sentiment (45.9%; above average) & bearish remained the bottom sentiment (21.9%, low); neutral remained the middle sentiment (32.2%, above average); Bull-Bear Spread was +24.0% (high). Investor concerns: Elections, budget, inflation, economy, the Fed, dollar, Russia-Ukraine (107+ weeks), Israel-Hamas (22+ weeks), geopolitical. For the Survey week (Th-Wed), stocks were up, bonds down, oil up, gold up, dollar down. The 2nd shoe (CREs) fell on regional banks (KRE) without much damage beyond NYCB. #AAII #Sentiment #Markets
https://ybbpersonalfinance.proboards.com/post/1388/thread

https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/225322/000119312524066591/d782193d497.htm
497 1 d782193d497.htm FIDELITY GLOBAL HIGH INCOME FUND
Supplement to the
Fidelity® Global High Income Fund
June 29, 2023
Prospectus
Reorganization. The Board of Trustees of Fidelity Summer Street Trust has unanimously approved an Agreement and Plan of Reorganization (“Agreement”) between Fidelity® Global High Income Fund and Fidelity® High Income Fund.
Each fund seeks a high level of current income. Growth of capital may also be considered.
As a result of the proposed Reorganization, shareholders of each class of Fidelity® Global High Income Fund would receive shares of the corresponding class of Fidelity® High Income Fund.
The Agreement provides for the transfer of all of the assets of Fidelity® Global High Income Fund in exchange for corresponding shares of Fidelity® High Income Fund equal in value to the net assets of Fidelity® Global High Income Fund and the assumption by Fidelity® High Income Fund of all of the liabilities of Fidelity® Global High Income Fund. After the exchange, Fidelity® Global High Income Fund will distribute the Fidelity® High Income Fund shares to its shareholders pro rata, in liquidation of Fidelity® Global High Income Fund. As a result, shareholders of Fidelity® Global High Income Fund will become shareholders of Fidelity® High Income Fund (these transactions are collectively referred to as the “Reorganization”).
Shareholders of Fidelity® Global High Income Fund will receive a combined information statement and prospectus containing more information with respect to the Reorganization, and a summary of the Board’s considerations in approving the Agreement.
The Reorganization, which does not require shareholder approval, is expected to take place on or about September 13, 2024. The Reorganization is expected to be a tax-free transaction. This means that neither Fidelity® Global High Income Fund nor its shareholders will recognize any gain or loss as a direct result of the Reorganization.
Effective the close of business on March 22, 2024, new positions in Fidelity® Global High Income Fund (the fund) may no longer be opened. Shareholders of the fund on that date may continue to add to their fund positions existing on that date. Investors who did not own shares of the fund on March 22, 2024, generally will not be allowed to buy shares of the fund except that new fund positions may be opened: 1) by participants in most group employer
retirement plans (and their successor plans) if a qualifying fund is already established as an investment option under the plans (or under another plan sponsored by the same employer), 2) by participants in a 401(a) plan covered by a master record keeping services agreement between Fidelity and a national federation of employers that included a qualifying fund as a core investment option, 3) for accounts managed on a discretionary basis by certain registered investment advisers that have discretionary assets of at least $500 million invested in mutual funds and already included the fund in their discretionary account program, 4) by a mutual fund or a qualified tuition program for which Fidelity serves as investment manager, 5) by a portfolio manager of the fund, 6) by a fee deferral plan offered to trustees of certain Fidelity® funds, if the fund is an investment option under the plan, and 7) by qualified intermediaries to facilitate in-kind redemption activity when deemed by the Adviser to be in the best interests of the fund, and 8) by certain asset pools associated with an organization that already offers a qualifying fund as an investment option in its retirement plan(s). These restrictions generally will apply to investments made directly with Fidelity and investments made through intermediaries. Investors may be required to demonstrate eligibility to buy shares of the fund before an investment is accepted.
Effective after the close of business on May 20, 2024, new positions in the fund may no longer be opened. Existing shareholders may continue to hold their shares and purchase additional shares through the reinvestment of dividend and capital gain distributions until the fund’s liquidation.
In connection with the Reorganization, an information statement/prospectus that will be included in a registration statement on Form N-14 will be filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. After the registration statement is filed with the SEC, it may be amended or withdrawn and the information statement/prospectus will not be distributed to shareholders of Fidelity® Global High Income Fund unless and until the registration statement becomes effective. Shareholders should read the information statement/prospectus, which contains important information about the Reorganization, when it becomes available. For a free copy of the information statement/prospectus, please contact Fidelity at 1-800-544-8544. The information statement/prospectus will also be available on the Securities and Exchange Commission’s website (www.sec.gov).
For more detailed information, please contact Fidelity at 1-800-544-8544...

https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/744822/000119312524066633/d797845d497.htm
497 1 d797845d497.htm FIDELITY INVESTMENT TRUST
Supplement to the
Fidelity’s Targeted International Equity Funds®
December 30, 2023
Prospectus
Proposed Reorganization. The Board of Trustees of Fidelity Investment Trust has unanimously approved an Agreement and Plan of Reorganization (“Agreement”) between Fidelity® Latin America Fund and Fidelity® Emerging Markets Fund pursuant to which Fidelity® Latin America Fund would be reorganized on a tax-free basis with and into Fidelity® Emerging Markets Fund.
As a result of the proposed Reorganization, shareholders of each class of Fidelity® Latin America Fund would receive shares of the corresponding class of Fidelity® Emerging Markets Fund.
The Agreement provides for the transfer of all of the assets of Fidelity® Latin America Fund in exchange for corresponding shares of Fidelity® Emerging Markets Fund equal in value to the net assets of Fidelity® Latin America Fund and the assumption by Fidelity® Emerging Markets Fund of all of the liabilities of Fidelity® Latin America Fund. After the exchange, Fidelity® Latin America Fund will distribute the Fidelity® Emerging Markets Fund shares to its shareholders pro rata, in liquidation of Fidelity® Latin America Fund. As a result, shareholders of Fidelity® Latin America Fund will become shareholders of Fidelity® Emerging Markets Fund (these transactions are collectively referred to as the “Reorganization”).
A Special Meeting (the “Meeting”) of the Shareholders of Fidelity® Latin America Fund is expected to be held during the third quarter of 2024 and approval of the Agreement will be voted on at that time. A combined proxy statement and prospectus containing more information with respect to the Reorganization will be provided to shareholders of record of Fidelity® Latin America Fund in advance of the meeting.
If the Agreement is approved at the Meeting and certain conditions required by the Agreement are satisfied, the Reorganization is expected to take place on or about September 13, 2024. If shareholder approval of the Agreement is delayed due to failure to meet a quorum or otherwise (an “Adjournment”), the Reorganization will become effective, if approved, as soon as practicable thereafter.
In connection with seeking shareholder approval of the Agreement, effective the close of business on March 22, 2024, new positions in Fidelity® Latin America Fund (the fund) may no longer be opened. Shareholders of the fund on that date may continue to add to their fund positions existing on that date. Investors who did not own shares of the fund on March 22, 2024, generally will not be allowed to buy shares of the fund except that new fund positions may be opened: 1) by participants in most group employer retirement plans (and their successor plans) if a qualifying fund is already established as an investment option under the plans (or under another plan sponsored by the same employer), 2) by participants in a 401(a) plan covered by a master record keeping services agreement between Fidelity and a national federation of employers that included a qualifying fund as a core investment option, 3) for accounts managed on a discretionary basis by certain registered investment advisers that have discretionary assets of at least $500 million invested in mutual funds and already included the fund in their discretionary account program, 4) by a mutual fund or a qualified tuition program for which Fidelity serves as investment manager, 5) by a portfolio manager of the fund, 6) by a fee deferral plan offered to trustees of certain Fidelity® funds, if the fund is an investment option under the plan, and 7) by qualified intermediaries to facilitate in-kind redemption activity when deemed by the Adviser to be in the best interests of the fund, and 8) by certain asset pools associated with an organization that already offers a qualifying fund as an investment option in its retirement plan(s). These restrictions generally will apply to investments made directly with Fidelity and investments made through intermediaries. Investors may be required to demonstrate eligibility to buy shares of the fund before an investment is accepted.
If shareholder approval of the Agreement cannot be achieved, the Board of Trustees has approved a plan of liquidation for Fidelity® Latin America Fund. Prior to such liquidation the fund’s assets will be managed to provide for sufficient liquidity to meet redemptions prior to liquidation. In this event, effective after the close of business on
July 16, 2024 (or such later date as may be required in connection with an Adjournment), the fund will no longer permit new positions in the fund to be opened. Existing shareholders will be permitted to continue to hold their shares and purchase additional shares through the reinvestment of dividend and capital gain distributions until the fund’s liquidation on or about September 13, 2024 or as soon as practicable thereafter in the event of an Adjournment...

@BaluBalu, I am now at around 70% equity in the IRA after living at 75% for years. The main change has been switching cash to bonds. I haven't noticed any major change since last October. I suppose some part of it must have to do with increased returns on cash and floating rate funds since last summer,
I added JAAA to my bond watch list. But I doubt I'll get into anything to do with CLO's.

BTW, you can also create a ladder of US Treasuries extending out 10-20 years that now yields well over 4%. Treasuries are call-protected, and you can easily sell them if you need cash sooner than maturity dates. Treasury income is exempt from state and local taxes, further boosting yields if held in taxable accounts. They also are available as floating rate notes and TIPS.
None of the many bond funds (including intermediate and multisector) that I track have returns exceeding 4% over the past 5 and 10 years, and very few over 15 years.
Furthermore, 4% is often cited as a sustainable annual withdrawal rate for a retirement portfolio. So, you can now achieve that rate with Treasuries for at least the bond portion of a portfolio, presumably using stocks to account for inflation.

@MikeM - You seem to be missing the point about CDs. I don’t recall anyone advocating investing all of your money in CDs, or even a substantial portion. The great thing about CDs right now are the relatively high yields with predictable, stable returns. I have highly rated bond funds that have lost money over the past 3 years, with pitiful returns over the past 5, 10 years.
Now that I am approaching the age for required minimum distributions, it’s nice to know that I can put a portion of my portfolio in an investment with a guaranteed return. Using a ladder, I can create a guaranteed income stream up to 5 years or longer. My CD ladders are yielding 5% plus. Who knows what bond funds will return over the next 1, 3, 5 years? Nobody. BTW, I still own bond funds, and their returns still suck despite the dead-cat bounce in late 2023.

Great post that IMO should be required reading for all of the CD detractors on this forum.
We have maintained a CD ladder for ~15 years. But when CD rates crossed over our % hurdle in 2022, we SOLD all of our remaining dedicated bond funds that weren't SOLD when the great bond crash occurred.
We did NOT reduce our stock exposure, we only reduced our bond exposure which currently (and happily!) sits at its lowest point since retiring in 2012. (Our only bond exposure is via PRWCX and FBALX. Period.) We effectively replaced our bond sleeve with a larger CD ladder sleeve and are enjoying every minute of it.
It's really all about a couple of pretty simple questions:
What does an investor (NOT a trader) expect as LT, annual TRs on bond OEFs?
If your answer to that question is ~4%-5% or lower, then why in the freaking world would you NOT instead have invested those monies in a fixed rate, Call Protected, FDIC'd CD that GUARANTEES that same or better rate? (Aside: If it's higher than that, please pass me what you're smokin'!)
FWIW, ridding ourselves of the nuisances of owning bond funds and managing a bond portfolio allowed us SO much more time to concentrate on our stock portfolio and take on MORE RISK given the elimination of bond fund related risk. And since that transition our stock portfolio performance has significantly improved.

@MikeM - You seem to be missing the point about CDs. I don’t recall anyone advocating investing all of your money in CDs, or even a substantial portion. The great thing about CDs right now are the relatively high yields with predictable, stable returns. I have highly rated bond funds that have lost money over the past 3 years, with pitiful returns over the past 5, 10 years.
Now that I am approaching the age for required minimum distributions, it’s nice to know that I can put a portion of my portfolio in an investment with a guaranteed return. Using a ladder, I can create a guaranteed income stream up to 5 years or longer. My CD ladders are yielding 5% plus. Who knows what bond funds will return over the next 1, 3, 5 years? Nobody. BTW, I still own bond funds, and their returns still suck despite the dead-cat bounce in late 2023.

Fund industry trade association ICI also has features on this "100th Anniversary Year" for mutual funds/OEFs.
https://www.ici.org/news-release/24-news-mf100
https://twitter.com/ICI/status/1752367498039566341
https://twitter.com/ICI/status/1765746727003320432
More
MITTX https://twitter.com/DividendGrowth/status/1752526427042238817
Keep in mind that CEFs are older and go back to 1850s. They were complex then, as they are now. OEFs developed in response to CEFs. Then in 1990s, ETFs developed as a further improvement. CEFs didn't sit still and came up with things like Interval-Funds (like Roach Motels, easy to get in, but hard to get out), new term-structure CEFs with definite 12.0-13.5 life.

Sold ETRN for a 15% gain in 45 days on news EQT is buying them back.
It's been trending higher in recent days and I didn't get the huge pop I was expecting on the news, but I primarily bought it for a 'trade' on the possibility of a sale. (I was hoping it would've been bought by WMB, which I also own.)
On the upside I could use the gains to offset some losses anyway, so it's still a win-win for me, just not a WIN-win. :)

I am surprised no material change from Friday closing price. currently trading at $11.30 while the implied acquisition price is $12.5 (of course, it is an all equity transaction).
You may be right in bailing as today the price is lower than yesterday when I thought may be there will be delayed positive reaction.
I have a poor sell discipline and so took your cue and sold at $11.30.
(I had some distractions and did not follow through after the initial buy. But Thanks for bringing this to my attention and I count all positive trades.)

I'll second what @sma3 said -- I hate dealing with Vanguard. I have actively invested elsewhere because I don't want to deal with their nonsense. Their argument is that "they're saving shareholders money...". Honestly you can add that extra .0015 points to the ER and actually give me the service I need and mail me a statement once in a while.
Separate point -- they use sampling in their indexing, which I'm sure could set us up for a index bubble (but I should think through that statement a bit more before....the explosion of index funds does seem worrying, however).

Sold ETRN for a 15% gain in 45 days on news EQT is buying them back.
It's been trending higher in recent days and I didn't get the huge pop I was expecting on the news, but I primarily bought it for a 'trade' on the possibility of a sale. (I was hoping it would've been bought by WMB, which I also own.)
On the upside I could use the gains to offset some losses anyway, so it's still a win-win for me, just not a WIN-win. :)