Once the economy picks back up inflation may as well. We are already seeing price inflation in real estate prices as a result of low interest rates (fed policy). Short duration TIPS seems like a way to hedge Inflation for the cash-like part of one's portfolio. Short Term TIPS have performed very well this year. VTIPX is up 7.45% YTD. VTIPX had a Max DD of about 1.57% that began in March and ended in May. In it's short history, Nov 2012, most of its gains have occurred in 2020.

This article discusses some of what needs our attention during the transformation in the economy now underway.

Jobs are fully back for the highest wage earners, but fewer than half the jobs lost this spring have returned for those making less than $20 an hour, according to a new labor data analysis by John Friedman, an economics professor at Brown University and co-director of Opportunity Insights. Though recessions almost always hit lower-wage workers the hardest, the pandemic is causing especially large gaps between rich and poor, and between White and minority households. It is also widening the gap between big and small businesses.
Some economists have started to call this a “K-shaped” recovery because of the diverging prospects for the rich and poor, and they say policy failures in Washington are exacerbating the problems.
“The stock market continues to reflect big businesses increasing their market share during #COVID19. If a small business closes, a larger business fills the void. We need to contemplate what this means for Main Street USA going forward. Is this really the future we want?” Cohn tweeted.

https://washingtonpost.com/business/2020/08/13/recession-is-over-rich-working-class-is-far-recovered/

Rebalanced my 401(k) yesterday. Sold some VG 500 Index CIT shares and added to existing Dodge & Cox Income (DODIX) shares. Increased DODIX allocation 4.3% within 401(k).

I just got a letter from Vanguard indicating they'll be asking shareholders to vote to change several funds to "non-diversified". One of the funds is US Growth. I don't own it, but it strikes me as not a good idea. I'd like to know what you think about it.
The "diversified" restriction is to have less than 25% of fund assets invested in securities that account for more than 5% of total fund assets or to own more than 10% of a single issuer's outstanding voting securities. Those don't strike me as particularly restrictive. If I owned this fund, one of my goals would be diversification. Vanguard claims going to "non-diversified" "can lead to potentially better performance outcome for investors." But it sounds more like allowing the portfolio manager to turn it into a "focus" fund.

actually this is giving me confidence in the fund. It's got more than half in cash, a heckuva bond mgr, and it's giving you 4.4%. This might be the "new" RPHYX

2 completely different funds.
RPHYX made 2.1% average annually in the last 3 years. Why would I want to own this fund? The only reason maybe cash "sub" since many bond funds I own made a lot more. RPHYX is mostly short term duration HY bonds + cash & Equivalents.
MWFSX is a Multi sector fund. Please find me more bond funds with over 50% in cash. It made only 0.42% in the last month. That is at the bottom 2% in its category. For 3 months it is at the bottom 12%.
The only confidence I have is when I see performance but maybe they are right and why rates started to go up in the last several days :-)

Here is the problem with the GMO team. They are wrong for years. The SP500 made over 10% more than what they predicted at the end of 2010 for the next 7 years. It is not that clear but the first green bar says that US large cap will do 0.4% + 2.5% inflation = 2.9% average annually in the next 7 years...or...EM will do 4.1+2.5=6.6 but they lagged US LC. GMO have been saying that EM will be better than US for 10 years already.
You can see in this (link) what SPY did vs EEM from 12-31-2010 in the next 7 years.
(image)
But they are not alone. Arnott models didn't work either and why PAUIX made under 2% annually for 10 years.
Gundlach, the bond king, predicted in 2018 that the 10 year Treasury will be at 6% in 2021.
And it's not the only thing: over the last 10 years we heard that
inflation must be high.
Valuations are ridiculous.
Inverted yield means recession.
So, what is the reason why markets are up and the prediction are off? When the Fed interfere models, history and prediction can be off by years?
Sure, one day some predictions will true, after all, if you predict things for years, eventually you will be right.

Hi @Old_Joe
Those statements 'bout cover most of the bases.
And all of the smallest ramifications that continue to tweak and alter daily events for many people.
My list is smaller than many; but I and family encounter little road blocks in many places several times a week.
I.E. : Should one's 95 year old, very healthy mother skip a 6 month dental cleaning; wondering and hoping no one in the office unknowingly has Covid.
Yes, DAMN; it is !!!

I agree, Bobby. Half in cash ready to deploy on opportunity with a current 4.4% yield AND low volatility, that’s appealing to me. Not for a huge section of my portfolio, but 5 to 10% for sure.

Howdy folks,
Mid Michigan but am not having any trouble in the stores like Meijers and Horrocks. 99% of peeps wearing masks. I do avoid busy times of day and crowds. Geez, you want to go early to any inside space before too many people have been. None of the heating nor a/c units are built to bring in outside air other than the air makeup units over restaurant cooking areas. Retrofitting is costly. Until then you want to go early to minimize your load exposure.
Jobs. Wow. So much disruption that's harmful. So much opportunity that's exciting. So much positive reallocation of resources - hopefully. Problem is getting through the next 12 - 18 months or so.
So many jobs are completely gone. Look at the industries that are obsolete. My niece is one the finest restaurant minds I've ever encountered owning three kickass sports bars. She had to sell one just to give herself a half ass chance. Doesn't matter how good you are at making buggy whips in 1915.
This is what is happening to whole industries. Much of this was slowly taking place but the virus is bringing change - at warp speed. Virtual life? Was possible and now it's mandatory AND cost beneficial. Cities? Check the real estate market and building occupancy rates going forward. Large crowded places and gatherings? Really?!?
Enough of the good news. Earlier I felt we'd get back to normal after a few years. Now I don't know. As a species, we're stupide but us Americans are even worse. The idiocy being displayed around the country for ideological reasons is not only insane but will cause this to devolve into exceedingly bad times. I fear this coming winter.
"Get ready, little lady. Hell is coming to breakfast.":
and so it goes,
peace and wear the damn mask,
rono

@hank Have you tried Walmart early in the morning. I get there about 7 AM and almost have the store to myself. Same for other stores at that time of day....(Since I usually get up between 4 and 5 that really isn't very early for me.)

Thanks for the tip OJ. Just checked. Unfortunately No. Walmart and Target do. Minimums are $25 and $35 respectively. Very fast shipping. Sometimes next day. But both are restricting more popular items to in-store purchase only. There’s a Costco in area. Super fast checkout! Low prices. But limited selection. Have ordered online from Costco as well (higher minimum). Not afraid to shop in stores as necessary. But safest to get in and get out - not linger indoors with crowds.
(This message has been resized to fit MFO posting standards.)

Doing more shopping online for staples like canned goods / detergents / dry packaged food products. But dang it. ... Many items the big chains refuse to ship (ie currently Ghardelli chocolates) and some of what they will ship (ie canned fruit) is priced 40-50% higher than in the company’s retail outlets. Most offer free shipping on orders over a certain amount. Not so much a complaint as an observation. Shipping direct to homes costs $$.
Price’s David Giroux ventured outside his normal investment mandate and added Amazon 2-3 years ago. How lucky can you get? :)
PS - I think this all relates to jobs - loosely. Some jobs are disappearing. Many others are simply moving. I don’t suppose FedX or UPS is laying off any workers.

Not that it matters, but the tickers for the last two funds (Int'l Gov Bond and US Core Bond) are reversed.
This filing is in a sense a followup to a filing last February liquidating the four Wells Fargo Factor Enhanced funds.
https://mutualfundobserver.com/discuss/discussion/55305/wells-fargo-liquidates-several-enhanced-mutual-funds.
All 8 funds (those four and the four here) were supposedly introduced in August, 2017. Supposedly, because the initial prospectus names all eight funds, but only has info on seven. The eighth fund, Int'l Gov Bond Fund, was then (re)introduced in a separate prospectus and launched Nov. 2017.
Seeing a whole batch of fund launched (sort of) simultaneously, then shut down within three years, makes one wonder what the management company was thinking.
The four shut down earlier would seem to be an ill fated attempt at latching onto a fad (or trend if you prefer), factor investing. The four shut down here are different.
Admittedly international bonds (whether sovereign or EM) are not exactly mainstream. But they're not exactly the flavor du jour either. The management team is part of the larger team for WF International Bond Fund ESIYX, which has a fairly poor record and under $100M AUM. It's no surprise that the two funds here failed to take in much above $1M. What was WF thinking in launching a fund more narrowly focused (restricted to government debt) and a niche fund (EM bonds)?
The US Core Bond Fund likewise holds only around $1M AUM. Why did this one fail? Okay, a lackluster record, but it's got mostly the same team as WF's Core Plus Bond Fund STYAX that has done a bit better, and has over $1B in assets. A mainstream category and a competent team. Another me too fund in a crowded field?
The High Yield Corporate differs from the others - it has almost $1B in AUM. It fared a bit worse than its peers in the March swoon, likely because it holds mostly lower grade junk. But its overall record (3 years) is okay, and it's got enough assets to be profitable.
One can say that it makes sense to close down seven of these funds; but then it made little sense to launch them. The reverse may be true of the last fund. Either way, it leads one to wonder what WF is doing launching funds.
FWIW, the remaining "new" WF funds (shorter than five years) are:
Dynamic Target Date Funds - a series distinct from its traditional Dow Jones Target Date Funds
Global Investment Grade Credit Fund WGCIX - $76M AUM, primarily for institutional/qualified plans
Low Volatility US Equity (WLVLX) - $57M AUM, launched 2016
Municipal Sustainability (WMSAX) - $26M AUM, launched this February
Special Int'l Small Cap (WICIX) - $5M AUM, primarily for institutional/qualified plans

Hello
Added more slv, brk.b. started new position in PAA
Have more divs coming in 8.15th, not really sure what to do with them, maybe buy more index equities or add more to BIAWX/spread among others

The US lets creative destruction determine the shape of the economy after it emerges from a crisis more than most developed economies. Will that help the US economy to prosper more in a post-covid19 world? And, will the US safety net perform well enough to be of substantial assistance during the transition? Just concerned and wondering.....

“This recession is unusual in the extent of permanent (job) reallocation that will ultimately result,” Davis said.
He and two co-authors have estimated that up to 40% of layoffs in March through May were permanent. That figure will likely rise, he said, the longer the pandemic squeezes the economy.
“We’re kind of past the stage where we’re quickly recalling workers to their old jobs,” Davis said, “and getting to the stage that people will need to get new jobs at new companies or in new industries.”

https://apnews.com/89992979ca3c3ba72eb2cd31a9ca0e5d

“Is this in reference to Dodge & Cox?“
It would seem so. Franklin Templeton is headquartered in San Mateo, 20 miles from SF, but I believe it to be publicly owned. D&C of course is privately held.
To play Devil’s advocate here ... One reason to diversify among managers is the expectation that some will outperform others over short and intermediate terms. A long leash out to perhaps a dozen years is long enough to take into consideration likely changes in management at the firm as well as changes in investor sentiment which in turn affect the fund’s return.
Yes - I’m a bit chagrined comparing DODBX to PRWCX over past 12 years (roughly the tenure of David Giroux). But there was no way to predict that type of disparity 12 years ago that I know of. Without digging below the surface, let’s just say that the management styles and focus of those two funds are quite disparate (even though M* may place them in the same category). My inclination at this point would be to tilt slightly in favor of DODBX, out of belief in reversion to the mean and also the recognition that it’s hard to outwit low fees. (But it hurts a bit looking at the 10 year charts.)
Note: I have owned both of the above mentioned funds for more than 15 years.
A Tribute to Obsolescence
“Tellson’s Bank by Temple Bar was an old-fashioned place, even in the year one thousand seven hundred and eighty. It was very small, very dark, very ugly, very incommodious. It was an old-fashioned place, moreover, in the moral attribute that the partners in the House were proud of its smallness, proud of its darkness, proud of its ugliness, proud of its incommodiousness. They were even boastful of its eminence in those particulars, and were fired by an express conviction that, if it were less objectionable, it would be less respectable. This was no passive belief, but an active weapon which they flashed at more convenient places of business. Tellson’s (they said) wanted no elbow-room, Tellson’s wanted no light, Tellson’s wanted no embellishment. Noakes and Co.’s might, or Snooks Brothers’ might; but Tellson’s, thank Heaven!”
Charles Dickens, A Tale of Two Cities

@Derf - Great story. We just took delivery of a new larger freezer. But I don’t think it would hold enough hog bellies to make trading profitable.
Thanks @Mark for the explanation. Now you got me wondering is LP (liquified petroleum gas) the same as wet gas? I’ll bet it is ... We got a 500 gallon LP tank near the house (for heat and hot water). Interestingly, those are (or used to be) referred to as “PIGS” - which kinda ties this whole thread together.

Dry gas, natural gas that consists of little more than methane, producing little condensable heavier hydrocarbon compounds such as propane and butane when brought to the surface. In the United States, dry gases are defined as those that contain less than 0.1 gallon of condensables per 1,000 cubic feet of produced gas.
Dry natural gas is at least 85% methane, but often more. Wet natural gas contains some methane, but also contains liquids such as ethane, propane or butane. ... The natural gas used in homes and business for heating, cooling, cooking and electricity generation is dry gas. It can also be compressed and used as a fuel.
Wet vs. Dry Natural Gas. What's the Difference

One can see from the images below, the glide path of these new funds is the same as the glide path of T. Rowe Price's Retirement Fund series of target date funds. That's TRP's more aggressive target date series.
The difference seems to be that these new funds, as might be inferred from the name, use both actively and passively managed funds in their portfolios. This results in a somewhat lower ER for the new funds (around a dozen basis points less).

Retirement funds' glide path: