H & R Block entered the personal financial software market in late 1993 with the purchase of MECA Software, which was best known for its "Managing Your Money" program. Block decided, however, to sell MECA in March 1995 for $35,000, while retaining the right to publish tax preparation software under the name TaxCut. By 1998 its subsidiary, Block Financial Corporation, was the second largest publisher of personal financial software, with record sales of Kiplinger TaxCut, as more people were using their computer and the Internet to prepare their own tax returns.

http://www.fundinguniverse.com/company-histories/h-r-block-incorporated-history/

On October 31, 2011, the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia announced its decision to issue a permanent injunction blocking H&R Block's proposed acquisition of the company that markets the TaxACT line of tax-preparation software. The court found that the proposed acquisition would substantially lessen competition. ... [In 2011] H&R Block market[ed] a line of tax-preparation software under the brand name "H&R Block At Home" (formerly known as "TaxCut").

https://www.jdsupra.com/legalnews/federal-district-judge-issues-permanent-12068/
If you used something in 2011 or 2012 called Tax <something> it wasn't Tax Cut. These days, H&R doesn't even seem to have a name for its software. Here's what Tax Cut looked like in the early 2000's when it ran on Windows XP and a Pentium (90MHz, 133MHz preferred).

Source: https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/480145-REG/H_R_Block_1016600_06_TaxCut_Premium_Federal_and.html/specs

Dow 35k! CAPE near 40 forever! It's a new era!

https://www.thestreet.com/etffocus/.amp/dividend-ideas/5-etfs-great-emergency-fund
5 ETFs That Are Great For An Emergency Fund
The COVID pandemic put the importance of having emergency savings squarely in the spotlight.
Besides perhaps CD or cash Etf US TREASURY
Anyone thought parking in high grade short term corp bonds like bac? Yields maybe higher

“The study findings, released Friday, portend a long era of muted returns for higher education institutions, which will likely encourage them to have a fresh look at financial and investment strategies in order to meet critical return targets and sustain their mission of providing urgently needed support to students. The new study was based on responses of 705 institutions representing $638 billion in endowment assets, and covers the fiscal year July 1, 2019, to June 30, 2020.”
“Endowments’ average one-year returns were 1.8% as of June 30, compared with 5.3% for the previous fiscal year. The historical target return for endowments has been 7.5%, comprising spending requirements, but in recent years, endowments have been challenged to meet this target, according to the study.”
Article
NOTE - Study may be a bit misleading since it measures the one-year returns as of June 30 - shortly after the pandemic induced selloff. However, 1.8% seems like a dismal one-year return. My sense is that both 2019 and 2020 were pretty good years for most investors - despite the March / April pummeling.

I was having issues as well and called in only to be on hold for 45 mins before hanging up. I assumed it was perhaps issues in Texas? Not sure

The yield, listed as per Morningstar, is 5.8%. That might make it worth owning for me. If junk bonds were on my radar. I don't try to time highs and lows in the Market. Distributions are consistently 4-5 cents each month. Barchart rates it a 100% buy.
https://www.barchart.com/etfs-funds/quotes/ARTFX/opinion
Morningstar: "...Manager Bryan Krug's investment philosophy is rooted in cash flow-based lending rather than the more traditional asset-based lending. This often leads him to find value in so-called asset-light companies, such as software firms and insurance brokers, which generate strong cash flows but often carry lower ratings from the rating agencies. As a result, the strategy holds hefty doses of CCC rated debt; Krug also runs a concentrated, idiosyncratic portfolio, with the 10 largest issuers accounting for roughly a third of assets..."

I hear you loud and clear @sven on valuations and equity P/E... BUT... the stories covering that topic and sending out the alarms have been have been increasing in frequency the last 3 years. Then in March it was an I told you so moment but it ended up not being.
@derf I’m open to learning the value of bonds. Heck.. I’ve even admitted that I own a bond fund in each of my accounts. I’m trying to be conservative and note- I’m not yet relying on investments for retirement income. I’m not retired. When I do... perhaps I’ll pay even closer attention to them. It’s just for the last 10 plus years... I don’t understand how I benefitted from owning them when just comparing to an S&P 500 Index.
Still - love the conversation here and learning different perspectives.

"When fiat [regular] currency has negative real interest, only a fool wouldn't look elsewhere. Bitcoin is almost as BS as fiat money. The key word is 'almost'."

From a current MFO post: "Musk trashes cash / defends bitcoin purchase"

OK, so let me see if I understand this correctly. A small piece of cardboard with the picture of a dead baseball player is believed to be worth 215,000 small pieces of green paper with the picture of a dead president. But then a few weeks later it's decided that it's actually worth 738,000 small pieces of green paper with the picture of a dead president.
At the same time some of us have accumulated a fairly large number of small pieces of green paper with the picture of a dead president, but no one, especially banks, is interested in compensating us to borrow any more of those small pieces of green paper, as they already have so many of those that they don't really want any more.
However companies of questionable value and dubious future are interested in borrowing more of those small pieces of green paper, possibly because they believe that they will never need to return them anyway. And many people are happy to loan these companies small pieces of green paper, but not to loan them small pieces of cardboard with the picture of a dead baseball player.
An observer from another planet might reasonably conclude that these small pieces of green paper are actually pretty close to worthless, and that the people of this large North American land mass are evidently delusional, if not insane.

True, but just like with stocks, its the time and return on investment, not just end value. To get a 343% return on investment on a Jordan card in just a few weeks sounds a bit too much like the Game Stop mania. The Mantle card apparently went from $2.8 million in April of 2018: https://cbssports.com/mlb/news/a-mickey-mantle-baseball-card-sold-for-2-8-million-reportedly-by-a-former-nfl-lineman/ to $5.2 million in January, 2021, a crazy number yes but an investor seeking to profit off mania would've gotten a better return on Jordan.

Only $738K? Check out Mickey Mantle.

Maybe the end of this soon:

Ken Goldin has sold sports trading cards for four decades. What happened earlier this month still shocked him.
In early February, a Michael Jordan rookie basketball card in pristine condition sold for a record $738,000 at an auction run by Goldin's company. The kicker? The exact same item went for nearly $215,000 just weeks before.

Thanks @hank,
I can read it using Safari's Private Window (this somewhat works less than 50%). Otherwise I search for the title when it is posted elsewhere.
The comments below the article reveals various investor views. I tend to agree with this poster.

What this article is missing is that the stock market starting point is already too high. All the good news mentioned here should already be discounted. The high market level has only one cause: money for nothing and QE galore. Furthermore, the level of indebtedness is such that a moderate interest rate rise will have a huge effect (unlike previous times). Any tightening in financial conditions (higher long-term yields for example) with the Fed margin for maneuver more limited (inflation ticking up) will cause a cataclysm in the markets. The timing is anyone's guess. Therefore advising readers to "stay in equities for a while yet" or worse buying the dips is totally irresponsible, given the current over-inflated stock levels.

Just Fidelity Sector funds, I think. Not sure about round trips though...edit: looked up in the prospectus. They consider a round trip as a buy, then sell, within 30 days. After two round trips within 90 days, your trading is restricted. I was able to sell some sector funds within 30 days of buying in a couple of different accounts (I was surprised I didn’t get the “$49.95 fee” warning on the trade preview screen): in a brokerage link 403(b) account and in a Rollover IRA.

Article in the FT today partially addresses the issue. Hard to link to it if no subscription. It’s the top one in the attached search query. Try this
Article: Should equity investors worry about rising interest rates? - Michael Mackenzie
Excerpt: “Bullish sentiment remains very high. The latest monthly survey of global fund managers by Bank of America this week highlighted that cash levels in portfolios are being cut to their lowest level in eight years”.

@catch22 : Thanks for the list. I checked out Brett Farve Sports Illustrated issue & was heart broken. What I thought was worth $35, turns out to be less than $5.
Stay warm & safe, Derf

Feb 20th Episode:

Beyond Diversification: What Every Investor Needs to Know About Asset Allocation:

On October 28th, Sébastien Page and Chris Dillon discussed principles from Sébastien’s recent book, “Beyond Diversification.” Sébastien combines his 20 years of investing experience; analysis from more than 200 academic articles; insights shared from a cast of expert colleagues at T. Rowe Price; and, perhaps most importantly, practical lessons passed down by his father, a renowned finance professor.

beyond-diversification-insights-webinar-replay
Against the Wind (CNBC Interview):

Sebastien Page's Bio and Articles:
Sébastien Page, CFA, Head of Global Multi-Asset

I have also always thought of IHI as the comparable ETF for FSMEX. But I, tonight, found XHE. It’s the SPDR HC Equipmenr ETF. There appears to be significant overlap between the two (link). And doing a cursory check of recent performance, XHE has outperformed IHI over the last year or so. Has anyone looked at, or does anyone hold, XHE?
Also, and many may know this, but the Fido Select Sector funds do not seem to have a redemption fee if held for under 60 days.
I hold FSMEX as the single holding in my wife’s Fido only 403b (which she can no longer add to, and which is only about $5K). Good fund! Sold out of it in my own portfolio for FBIOX among others. Sorry I did that! I also bought a small piece of the Fido Healthcare Disruptor fund to see how it does.
Also, EDOC is the ETF that focuses on telemedicine and related stocks, if anyone is interested.

Hi @carew388
I use eBay for a proxy of what the general public is willing to spend on a given item at the present time. Note: I'm a buyer/seller since May, 1997; so I have a bit of bias with what I see/know at the site.
This list is for Ryan. But, scroll down a tiny bit and find the Koosman, same card, too.
I set this search list to "sold" auctions. The list will continue to populate as sold auctions close.
'Course, not unlike collectible coins..........condition, condition, condition, eh?
Enjoy.

Here is the SEC filing concerning the closure announced on 2/17/21:
https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1217286/000119312521045281/d119465d497.htm