Barron’s Funds Quarterly (2023/Q1–April 10, 2023)
https://www.barrons.com/topics/mutual-funds-quarterly
(Performance data quoted in this Supplement are for 2023/Q1 and YTD to 3/31/23)
Pg L3: After lagging for several years, the INTERNATIONAL/GLOBAL funds are relatively cheap (value cheaper than growth) and may outperform. Use risk control strategies – lower SDs, favorable U/D CR, etc. For the US investors in foreign funds, a strong DOLLAR has been a headwind. OEFs: AIVBX, BISAX, FISMX, FMIJX, GQGPX, RNWOX, SGENX, SIGIX, TBGVX; ETFs: ACWV, EFA, EFAV, EFG, EFV, EEM, HDG, HEFA, VIGI. (By @LewisBraham at MFO)
Pg L8: The US-China DECOUPLING will take a while. China has also been tough on its big techs. But small-caps have escaped the watchful eyes of the Chinese government. OEFs: FHKCX, MCDFX, MCHFX, MCSMX, RNWOX, SIGIX, SGOVX; ETFs: ASHR, CHIQ, CNYA, CQQQ, CXSE, EWH, FXI, GXC, KBA, KWEB, MCHI, PGJ. (By @LewisBraham at MFO)
Pg L9: GROWTH funds are rebounding, but be selective. Some former big techs have fallen off the growth wagon and some energy companies have joined. Large-cap growth (IVW, MGK, RPG, SCHG) has been outperforming small/mid-cap growth (IJT, RZG). The OEFs mentioned are HCAIX, TRBCX, VWIGX.
EXTRA: FAITH-BASED funds cover a wide variety and several are rebounding. Vatican published its investment guidelines in November 2022 that also included responsible ESG. Private direct-indexing is a growing area. (By @LewisBraham at MFO)
Fund news from elsewhere in Barron’s (Forthcoming Part 2).
Pg 13, FUNDS. MUNI MONEY-MARKET funds (tax-exempt) with near juicy 4% yields are attractive. This is a tiny area with $130 billion AUM only vs $500 billion AUM pre-GFC-2008, and $5 trillion AUM for taxable money-market funds. These invest in floating-rate munis (VRDNs) that reset rates weekly according to the SIFMA rates. Typically, the SIFMA rates are 40-80% of (taxable) fed fund rates, but they are elevated now due to redemptions to pay taxes (so, these high rates may not last beyond April). These funds partner with BANKS to provide daily and weekly liquidity guarantees. By definition, their DURATION is considered to be the rate reset period regardless of the maturities of the underlying munis (so, don’t get alarmed when looking at their holdings and maturities). Mentioned are FTEXX / FTCXX, SWTXX, VMSXX, VTMXX. (Their overall structure and rate resetting process seem complicated and may have unknown risks)
Pg 24, INCOME INVESTING. Selected REITs are attractive after their recent battering. Their earnings have been cut but the SP5500 earnings remain OK (so, the REITs client companies are doing fine). A FED pause will benefit the REITs, but RECESSION won’t, so it’s time only to nibble in REITs. Attractive REITs are industrial (PLD, ADC, GLPI), residential, self-storage, data-centers. Avoid REITs for offices and malls (big/regional or strip/local). Several publicly traded REITs are more attractive than private real estate (that suffer from lagging mark-to-market; negative news on monthly/quarterly redemption limits for several nontraded-REITs).
Pg L33: In 2023/Q1 (SP500 +7.50%): Among general equity funds, best were LC-growth +13.52%, multi-cap-growth +11.35%, and worst were small-cap-value +0.77%, mid-cap-value +0.84%, equity-income +0.95%; ALL general equity categories were positive AGAIN. Among other equity funds, the best were sc & tech +18.80%, telecom +11.66%, global large-cap-growth +11.10%, and worst were financials -7.77%. Among fixed-income funds, domestic long-term FI +2.55%, world income +2.96%; ALL FI categories were positive too AGAIN (FI isn’t very refined in Lipper mutual fund categories listed in Barron’s). So, good 2022/Q4 (value shined) & 2023/Q1 (LC growth shined).
LINK

Upon examination again you are correct, CME indicated 25 bps hike in May.
Preliminary March CPI data from Kiplinger,

As for the next CPI report, the March inflation figures are slated for release by the BLS on Wednesday, April 12 at 8:30 am Eastern time. The Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland's "Nowcast" (opens in new tab) predicts headline inflation to increase by 5.2% year-over-year. That would represent a slowdown from the 6% increase in prices seen in the February CPI report. On a monthly basis, March inflation is forecast to rise 0.3%, down from a gain of 0.4% in February.

https://kiplinger.com/investing/when-is-the-next-cpi-report
Also read the same data from Reuters. Perhaps this will increase the probability of a small rate hike.

T Rowe Price/TROW has bought the retirement income software firm Retiree Inc. This Software can take into account a variety of household accounts to come up with retirement solutions to meet various goals (optimize income, bequest value, etc). BTW, several firms offer retirement income calculator that may have limited capabilities.
News: https://www.thinkadvisor.com/2023/03/30/t-rowe-price-to-buy-income-planning-software-maker/
Websites
https://www.retireeincome.com/
https://incomestrategy.com/
Founders: https://incomestrategy.com/about-us-2/
Initial Source: Kitces at TwitterLink

It looks like the instructions are the same, aside from Yogi's edit warning to check a box (either savings or checking) rather than leave it blank.
Reiterating my prior warning - it looks like refund money that is sent electronically will be applied against your annual $10K limit for buying electronic Series I savings bonds. It won't up your limit to $15K:
Providing these instructions in the "refund" area on your tax return will direct your refund to the Zero-Percent C of I in your TreasuryDirect account where it will be available to fund the purchase of one or more Treasury securities.
Same as if the cash had come from your bank.
If your sole objective is to get cash into Treasury Direct in order to buy savings bonds, you could just transfer $2500 from your bank account now instead of waiting for the $2500 from your tax refund to hit TD. That way, you'll be able to control when you purchase savings bonds (the rates change at the end of this month).

See https://treasurydirect.gov/research-center/
"Using Your Tax Refund for TreasuryDirect
Do you know you can have your tax refund directed to your TreasuryDirect account to use for Treasury security purchases?
TreasuryDirect offers flexible options for all your security purchases. One option to fund your account is to use your tax refund.
You can request the IRS or your state tax department to deposit your tax return directly into your TreasuryDirect account where you can use the funds to purchase savings bonds or marketable Treasury securities. All you need to do is provide TreasuryDirect's routing number and your TreasuryDirect account number in the refund instructions on your tax return.
On your tax return, enter:
the TreasuryDirect routing number, 051736158, in the “Routing number” field.
your TreasuryDirect account number in the “Account number” field.
“Savings” as the account type.
Providing these instructions in the "refund" area on your tax return will direct your refund to the Zero-Percent C of I in your TreasuryDirect account where it will be available to fund the purchase of one or more Treasury securities."
Edit/Add: Instructions about "Savings" may be important. One year, I forgot to checkmark "Checking" for my bank checking a/c and I got a paper check. The IRS couldn't figure out whether it was checking or savings although I had used that checking account previously.

Can we assume the instructions for having IRS send your refund to your TD account instead of your Bank account are the same as TD instructions to have employer send in money directly
"To have your employer send the money
You will fill out a direct deposit form that needs this information:
The "receiving bank name": TREASURYDIRECT (all capitals, no space)
The routing number for TreasuryDirect: 051736158
Your 10-digit TreasuryDirect account number, no hyphens, with a P at the end
(Example: A123456789P)
How much money you want to have your employer send from each paycheck
Where the form asks if this is a savings account (22) or a checking account (23), you can choose either. That doesn't matter to our system."
The form 8888 instructions say
An account can be a checking, savings,
or other account such as an IRA, HSA,
Archer MSA, ESA, or TreasuryDirect®
online account.
IT would probably work, but I am not sure I want to risk my $2500 refund. Still the form 8888 instructions say if the electronic account rejects your refund, they will issue paper check.
Anybody tried this?
I have to file on paper this year so who knows how long it will take for me to find out.

Jobs report today, Good Friday was within expectations. Futures and cryptos aren't showing any reaction.
Of course, the next BIG news will be CPI on Wednesday that will also nearly determine the next I-Bond rate on May 1 (expected 3-4% only vs current 6.89%).
Edit/Add: The CME FedWatch indications for May 3 rate hike also firmed up.

I just compared the top holdings as of 12/31/2022 with the holdings as of 3/31/2023 per Fidelity website. Totally different-so much that I thought I was comparing 2 different funds-AAPL XOM BRK and MSFT currently among top holdings.

@BenWP, @JD_co to be fair had I been thinking right I suppose I should have compared OMFL to a more appropriate benchmark i.e. the Russell 1000 index. Those comparisons are a bit mixed but still reflect well on the fund. Attached is a link to the fund's Fact Sheet.
OMFL Fact Sheet
@BenWP - regarding the funds distributions that was my assumption as well.

Started a position in OMFL. No good reason other than it has beaten the S&P500 for total return over the last 5 years.

Interesting...OMFL has beaten the S&P 500 in each 1 of those 5 calendar years.

Year OMFL S&P 500
2018 -2.57% -4.52%
2019 35.58% 31.33%
2020 20.96% 18.25%
2021 28.96% 28.53%
2022 -13.97% -18.23%
2023 (YTD) 8.78% 7.46%

Does sentiment have anything to do with the extent to which cable networks like Bloomberg cover the markets? More and more Bloomberg’s evening programing consists of taped interviews or hour-long paid commercials. Sometimes that’s the major portion of what appears after market close up until 1:00 AM when they pick up on Asian markets. (I realize not everyone finds the talking heads all that useful or even worth watching. But ISTM that’s a separate issue.)
Just wondering if the recent diminished coverage is because fewer retail investors tune in anymore since they’re discouraged by recent market losses and are seemingly all herding into 5% money market funds, CDs or short-term T-Bills? It may be that to attract a large audience, prosper and provide 24 hour market coverage there needs to be a bull market going in U.S. equities … Of course, all broadcast news has deteriorated markedly of late (excluding PBS). Remember the “hey-days” of the late 90s when cable financial news soared in popularity along with the stock markets? And Rukeyser? Would anyone even watch him in today’s age?
It seems some came to expect 15-25% market returns every year. It ain’t that way folks. :)

https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1511699/000089418923002492/aquixsupplement-liquidation.htm
(I can see the one liners with this one)
97 1 aquixsupplement-liquidation.htm 497
Ecofin Sustainable Water Fund
Supplement dated April 6, 2023 to the Fund’s
Summary Prospectus, Prospectus and Statement of Additional Information (“SAI”),
each dated March 31, 2023, as amended
Based upon a recommendation by Tortoise Capital Advisors, L.L.C. (the “Adviser”), the Board of Trustees (the “Board”) of Managed Portfolio Series (the “Trust”) has approved a plan of liquidation for the Ecofin Sustainable Water Fund (the “Fund”), a series of the Trust, pursuant to which the Fund will be liquidated on or around April 21, 2023 (the “Liquidation” or the “Liquidation Date”). The Adviser has determined that the Fund has limited prospects for meaningful growth. As a result, the Adviser and the Board believe that the Liquidation of the Fund is in the best interests of its shareholders.
In anticipation of the Liquidation, effective as of the close of trading on the New York Stock Exchange (“close of business”) on April 11, 2023, the Fund is closed to new investments. In addition, effective immediately, the Adviser may begin an orderly transition of the Fund’s portfolio securities to cash and cash equivalents and the Fund will cease investing its assets in accordance with its investment objective and policies.
Shareholders may voluntarily redeem shares of the Fund, as described in the Fund’s Prospectus, before the Liquidation Date. Shareholders remaining in the Fund until the Liquidation Date may bear increased transaction fees in connection with the disposition of the Fund’s portfolio holdings. If the Fund has not received your redemption request or other instruction prior to the close of business on April 21, 2023, your shares will be automatically redeemed on the Liquidation Date.
Prior to the Liquidation Date, the Fund may declare one or more dividends to all holders of record as of a date or dates to be determined consisting of any undistributed income and capital gains (net of available capital loss carryovers) of the Fund.
Prior notice of any such dividends will be posted to the following website: https://etp.ecofininvest.com.
If you take no action prior to the Liquidation Date, your shares will be automatically redeemed on the Liquidation Date. Remaining shareholders as of the Liquidation Date will receive a liquidating distribution in an amount equal to the net asset value of their Fund shares, less any required withholding. For shareholders that hold their shares in a taxable account, the redemption of Fund shares will generally be treated as any other redemption of shares (i.e., a sale that may result in a gain or loss for federal income tax purposes).
If you hold your shares in an individual retirement account (an “IRA”), you have 60 days from the date you receive your proceeds to reinvest or “rollover” your proceeds into another IRA and maintain their tax-deferred status. You must notify the Fund’s transfer agent at 855-TCA-FUND (855-822-3863) prior to April 21, 2023 of your intent to rollover your IRA account to avoid withholding deductions from your proceeds.
If the redeemed shares are held in a qualified retirement account such as an IRA, the redemption proceeds may not be subject to current income taxation. You should consult with your tax advisor on the consequences of this redemption to you. Liquidation proceeds will be issued to all shareholders of record as of the close of business on the Liquidation Date.
Please retain this supplement for future reference.

@yogibearbull -
I don’t dispute your historical data on gold or gold miners. (Silver actually peaked sometime in the 70s at double where it is today.) However, in the context of the broader markets, gold’s surge in 2020 wasn’t as remarkable / noteworthy as today, The prior year, 2019, the S&P 500 had risen 29%. And in 2020 it gained another 16%. As your investor sentiment on the stock market shows predominately bearish sentiment today, it might be enlightening to look at sentiment numbers during 2020. Suspect they were higher.
So I believe gold’s advance back then was somewhat overshadowed by the big gains in equities and bullish sentiment among investors. That is far from the case today following a series of rapid Fed rate hikes coupled with a poor prior year (2022) for both stocks and bonds.

Both gold-miners (majors GDX, majors/minors GDXJ) and gold bullion (GLD, lower ER IAU) peaked in July 2020; another attempt was in early-2022.
Now, gold is approaching those highs, but gold-miners are still far from those highs. Chart shows GDX and GLD (bottom panel) for 1-yr (default) - can change timeframes.
https://stockcharts.com/h-sc/ui?s=GDX&p=D&yr=1&mn=0&dy=0&id=p53247840045

As they say it’s “a market of stocks” rather than a “stock market”. Always opportunity somewhere if you can find it. There’s an important jobs report out tomorrow which is Good Friday. The stock market will be closed so traders will need to wait until Monday to react. May account for some of the turbulence today. Gold finally broke through the $2,000 barrier on the upside but has backtracked today. Silver, of course, has been hotter - but has a reputation for higher volatility.
The major market indexes (ie “the market”) have really confounded a lot of prognosticators I follow. Few foresaw the nice advance in the major indexes since the first of the year. I pulled in my risk exposure slightly last week (as mentioned in the BS thread). But would add to equities after any significant sell off. Bonds don’t excite me with the 10-year under 3.5%. However, if we get into a really serious recession rates will likely decline even further.
Added: From a recent issue of the F/T: “Retail trading reached record levels earlier this year, accounting for almost a quarter of all market activity on some days in late January according to JPMorgan analysts.”

For the week ending on 4/5/23, bearish remained the top sentiment (35.0%; above average) & neutral became the bottom sentiment (31.6%; average); bullish became the middle sentiment (33.3%; below average); Bull-Bear Spread was -1.7% (below average). Investor concerns: Inflation (moderating but high); economy; the Fed; dollar; cryptos; market volatility (VIX, VXN, MOVE); Russia-Ukraine war (58+ weeks, 2/24/22- ); geopolitical. For the Survey week (Th-Wed), stocks were up, bonds up, oil up strongly (OPEC cut production), gold up, dollar down. A huge improvement in the Sentiment this week, possibly a trend change? #AAII #Sentiment #Markets
https://ybbpersonalfinance.proboards.com/thread/141/aaii-sentiment-survey-weekly?page=9&scrollTo=1002

https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1140157/000027677623000068/ghy040523reorgsupp.htm
497 1 ghy040523reorgsupp.htm SUPPLEMENT FOR GHY REORG
April 5, 2023
Pioneer Global High Fund
Supplement to the Summary Prospectus, Prospectus
and Statement of Additional Information
each dated March 1, 2023
The Board of Trustees of Pioneer Global High Yield Fund has approved the reorganization of the fund with and into Pioneer High Yield Fund (the “Reorganization”). Each fund is managed by Amundi Asset Management US, Inc. (“Amundi US”). The Reorganization, which does not require shareholder approval, is subject to the satisfaction of certain conditions, and is expected to be completed in the third quarter of 2023...

+1. BHB ended the day up a bit.

”Certainly a lot of talk and excitement for this ETF, but do we know when it is scheduled to come to market?”

I’m hearing July 4 to coincide with fireworks displays nationwide. Plans are for a brilliant laser light show featuring Giroux’s larger-than-life image. I can’t wait either.
Image: Giroux pontificating at a Barron’s Rountable

(Notice the diminutive Abby Joseph Cohen seated nearby.)