@MikeM
A bit over five years ago. He was a one man investment firm. I am sure he charged the usual 1.25% of assets or so and may have still used mutual funds with sig fees

”He was a nice enough guy but I didn't see why my investment dollars had to pay for the frequent all expense paid luxury trips he was always going on to American Fund events.”
About 15-20 years ago I followed a fella off a plane at Key West airport. Dressed to kill & carrying a briefcase labeled “T. Rowe Price” with a blinking red or green light on it. Looked like it was getting ready to blow. And the attire was definitely out of sync with the atmosphere & climate there … :)

CGDV and CGGO are on my watchlists and would be the ones I would move into if/when needed. Knowing what I know now, I would go with ETFs versus their OEFs with loads and 12-b-1 fees.
CGDV performing similar to the American Fund that my 403(b) is in, fwiw saying --- no worries!

PFE is cheap enough to be on my "throw some $$$ and forget about it" mental map @ the moment, but I've not pulled the trigger....also, the div payout ratio is 116% so that's a red flag when 'analysts' and pundits say to buy it for the fat dividend and wait for recovery.
(I already have some BMY.)

for baird :
how can they justify triple the ER when solid quasi-active bond fund\etfs from vanguard do just as well on most/all long term metrics? (and have looked deeply into muni)
they have very low I-shares minimums for all bond funds, but is there any benefit for becoming a large (50k,100k,250k) fundholder?

I can't agree with you, with exception to the ER. I invest in a few Baird and Vanguard municipal bond funds. Two are BMQIX and VWIUX which I consider similar. Over any time period since BMQIX has existed, it's returns have been superior to VWIUX. I have no problem paying 30 basis points for BMQIX vs 9 for VWIUX.

@sma3
1000% !
maybe not remind 'em its still there ?!?

for baird :
how can they justify triple the ER when solid quasi-active bond fund\etfs from vanguard do just as well on most/all long term metrics? (and have looked deeply into muni)
they have very low I-shares minimums for all bond funds, but is there any benefit for becoming a large (50k,100k,250k) fundholder?
for m* :
why do they think the new screeners are better? still missing some useful old feature, such as date of most recent analyst report.
given their long&regular history with technical problems, suggest they go very carefully into adding onerous login complexity.

Yes, also had a transient problem earlier this morning.
Once logged in, my Vanguard saga continued ...
Interest (< $10) from Cash Plus account was credited yesterday (Mon) but didn't appear until today. Website said I could withdraw the cash. But I could not transfer it to an external account (same stupid error message as before - about having purchased "shares" too recently). Instead, I "withdrew" it to the new Vanguard brokerage account.
That balance shows as able to trade but not withdraw. Will withdraw tomorrow and call Vanguard to close accounts.

M* is dumping its TAMP business for RIAs. There goes its reach for financial advisors.
It will stick to its own knitting - rating stuff (funds, stocks, bonds), making lots of money from its advise-platforms, managing assets in-house. Oh, and that ESG by Sustainalytics turned out to be another mistimed dud.
https://riabiz.com/a/2024/6/24/morningstars-sale-of-tamps-12-billion-book-of-business-to-assetmark-ends-two-year-run-that-fell-short-on-growth-whether-rias-stick-or-flee-will-determine-fate-of-deal

I'd be curious what Choi from Parnassus has to say - I've always liked their Equity Income Fund despite the WFC issue some years ago. I bailed out a few years ago when the fund was getting more growthy than I wanted. (Would be nice if they made an ETF of PRBLX/PRILX.) Maybe see how they're doing post their assimilation by AMG?
Interestingly, the Centre Global Infrastructure reads a *lot* like my Schwab income portfolio, though it's doing better and without the 1.57 ER, so yay me.

M* JR Defends Standard Deviation (SD)
The notion of SD is so ancient (and independent of the MPT) that many write it off too easily. M* JR offers 3 points in the defense of SD:
1. JR's own comparative study of Downside Capture and SD concluded that both provide quite similar information. But the SD is much easier to calculate.
2. Don't blame SD for missing hidden risks, black swans, etc. Only deep fundamental analysis can detect those, if at all. Anyway, TR misses that too, so what?
3. SDs moderate over long periods of time. So, 15-yr SD should be lower than 3-yr SD. This is useful in portfolio design.
So, JR seems to be saying that there are more positives than negatives for SD, so quit complaining.
Finally, JR is implicitly referring to the SD of returns, not of prices (used for Bollinger Bands, BBW, etc).
https://www.morningstar.com/columns/rekenthaler-report/standard-deviation-is-an-imperfect-measure-not-useless

Another day, another disclosure....
I saw the writing on the wall 15 years ago -- very glad I'm not in operational cybersecurity anymore!

Let me know if there's anything you'd like Charles or me to pursue.
Tuesday night: media reception with, it seems, some reflections by Jason Zweig and perhaps wine with Charles.
Wednesday: 7:00 a.m. - 7:00 p.m. sort of day, with storms. The whole shebang is that the Navy Pier. Requested attire is "business casual" with a recommendation that sport coats would be appropriate. (Insert "eye roll" about here. College professors don't own summer-weight sport coats because we're not in the classroom in summer. Sorry, Morningstar, schedule something during tweed season.) Meeting with Andrew Choi (Parnassus Core Equity) and Greg Stitt (Centre Global Infrastructure). Q&A / press conference sorts of things with Doug Kass, formerly of the head of "go-to-market" (??) with OpenAI, and Savita Subramanian, managing director at BoA.
Thursday. 7:00 a.m. - gettin' out of Dodge before the Rush Hour arrives day, cooler and pleasant. Breakfast with Brad Barrie of Dynamic Wealth Group, an MFO reader. Interviews with two major bond investors, Mary Ellen Stanek of Baird and Alice Rilling of AllSpring. Interviews with two Morningstar folks, Amy Arnott (author of their latest asset allocation research) and Adam Fleck of Sustainalytics (their ESG arm). Short chat with one of the founders of Boston Partners.
The shape of the conference is pretty clear. Smaller venue. Fewer managers. Fewer fund firms exhibiting (heck, not even Ariel, their long-term fave). $1200 admission for the hoi polloi. More and more panels that earn CFP continuing ed credit, more and more "how to build and manage your advisory business" ones. Not even sure that I'll see Hurricane Chuck there.
I'll keep you updated! And thanks to all the folks whose support makes it possible!

Yup, can't log into VG 6/25/24 @ 10:15am ADD: working now 10:22am

Just posted all ratings to MFO Premium site through May, which includes month to date performance through Friday, 21 June.

Ouch, just got my insurance policies
auto +5%
home +28%
umbrella +3%
28%!!!! WTH!!! I did have a roofing claim a couple years ago. I had a local broker research all my policies about 5 years ago. Saved me about 1k/yr. I think next year it's time to review all policies again.

Reports are from multiple sources.
https://x.com/BitcoinNewsCom/status/1805282196082597917
https://www.scmagazine.com/news/lockbit-claims-ransom-negotiations-with-the-fed-over-33tb-of-stolen-data
https://securityaffairs.com/164873/cyber-crime/lockbit-claims-hacked-us-federal-reserve.html

It is odd that a company like Boeing could fall apart while others like Toyota can continue to build very reliable products, but I think it is due to a common factor GREED
The same ongoing disasters are very common in health care where the bean counters and private equity have been allowed to take over, putting profits as their only priority
Barron's article on HCA is a good example, but even non profit hospitals have thrown the professionals out of the window and make decisions based on margins only also
Doctors are told what to do, how many patients to see, what medical devices to use or not use based on economics.
Occasionally they object and get fired. But this whistleblower won.
https://www.capecodtimes.com/story/news/2024/05/16/cardiac-procedure-medicare-claims-cape-cod-hospital-richard-zelman-tavr/73721900007/
Patients ( ie customers) suffer
My wife and I are going nuts tying to ensure our daughter's procedure at a major Medical Center is authorized and paid for. It has been almost a month and we are both experienced health care professionals and know what to ask.
And the CEOs of these crappy places make thousands of times more than the workers

An 18% failure rate on those thrusters, evidently due to faulty valves. Well, it's Boeing, after all...

Similar to @Mark, I’m “comfy” where I am. Never been one to play around in the S&P index funds or much in tech. Nice that people have made a ton there - just not for me. Very diversified. Just 1 stock. That one’s in the consumers staples area that I view as a defensive holding likely to hold its own or even rise when the high-fliers fall to earth (but not true of the broader sector).
I’m a bit high on cash. Nearly put a bit to work this morning on GHC which I sold late last year for $685-$690. Currently back down to $700. Naw. Not worth the gamble.
Thanks @MikeM and @Tarwheel for the beer suggestions. Will give ‘em a try. Still searching for the perfect scotch. Both the Glenfiddich 12 I’m working on now and the Glenlevit 12 that preceded it are pretty decent. But not sold on either. Tried JWB Double-Black once and couldn’t see that it’s any better than their regular. But I’ve noticed another JWB on the shelves that’s more expensive than Double Black. May give it a try next.