The rates that you see on Muni MM (3-4%) are just the results of the last several days/weeks. You will not get anything close to it and they will revert back to 1-1.5% and lower than prime MM. If Muni MM could give you even 2-2.5% performance all the cash would be invested in them.
In fact, Muni MM and prime MM can have the following: "The fund may impose a fee upon sale of your shares or may temporarily suspend your ability to sell shares if the fund's liquidity falls below required minimums because of market conditions or other factors."
In this market, I stay away from the above MM and invest in Fed or treasury MM where I will able to sell at any time and buy something if I need to. It is not worth the additional small performance.

Not long time ago, I have seen several posts on different site about Muni MM and how great it is because it had 7 day SEC yield over 3%. You can see my response above.
So how much more did you really get for VMSXX(muni mm) vs VMMXX(prime)? You got about 0.1% more in one month, see (chart)
VMSXX 7 day SEC yield = 1.35% now and VMMXX = 0.94 but again, soon enough VMMXX will be the better performer.
BTW, I don't use prime or Muni MM but Fed MM. I already stated my reasons.

Riffing on @LewisBraham responding to @FD1000: 2001 dot-com specialness -- a lot of "top" companies got to the top and....
In the short run, the market is a voting machine; in the long run it is a weighing machine. Belief in that principle (as well as the logic of buying a quarter for a dime) is what is makes value investing logic appealing to many investors.

Statements like this are really meaningless. 15 years is pretty long and over long term it's being proven that a very cheap, "stupid" but a smart idea like the SP500 will beat most managed funds
What is VALUE? value means different things to different investors. Is Buffett value equal D&C value.? Is T a better value than AAPL?
The best voting machine is the market thru the price. It doesn't matter what anybody thinks, the price reflects the end results of all decisions. The price is always right and the price will affect the SP500.

From what little I can find, it seems that FXAIX overall had the lower ER all these years. I look forward to seeing the ER numbers for "all these years".

It would be very time consuming to find ER for previous years but from memory, Fidelity lowered ER for their index funds years ago to compete with VG.
From M*, for 5 years average annual as of (04/08/2020)...FXAIX=7.9%...VFIAX=7.88...VOO=7.86
It's a surprise that VOO with lower ER had lower performance than VFIAX

Another maybe bullish sign... This article from the NYT says it's institutional investors (aka smart money) driving this one while Mom and Pop investors (like me) wait it out.

I have also read that some of the buying has been driven by funds with a mandate to own the constituents of various indexes.
OTOH. From your link:

Cole Smead, a portfolio manager at the Smead Value Fund, has been snapping up bargains in beaten-up parts of the market, like oil and energy producers, homebuilders and shopping-mall companies, that are closely tied to short-term swings in the economy.

I won't be adding Smead Value to my shopping list. I regularly drive by one of the largest ghost town malls in the country.

Goldman Sachs economists, for example, expect the gross domestic product to contract at an astounding 34 percent annual rate in the second quarter, with unemployment reaching roughly 15 percent.

I look at numbers like that on top of the burden of corporate leverage, and I wonder what could happen if their debt is down graded.

And don’t underestimate the fear of missing out. As shares rise, professional money managers feel pressure to buy stocks to protect their reputations.
“If you wait until the coast is clear, you will have missed a huge part of the gains,” said Matt Maley, chief market strategist at Miller Tabak, a trading and asset management firm. “And professional investors can’t afford to do that.”

That doesn't sound like the sort of discipline Old_Skeet describes as his process.
Thanks for the link.

Howdy folks,
The chances of this happening are pretty low. Is it possible? Sure. Right now, gold is at all time highs as expressed in every other currency in the world. This means that in dollar terms, gold is cheap. Indeed, the simple fact is that most every government in the world is printing money 24/7/365. Hell, the most secure job in the planet is a printing press operator at the mint. This should result in gold continuing to hit new highs.
And so it goes
Peace and Flatten the Curve
Rono

Hi guys. I have the S&P 500 Index current up off its 52 week closing low of 2237 (March 23rd) by +22.9% (513 points). According to Mr. Paulsen's thesis I wonder how much near term upside is left?
I'm thinking from here we drift sideways and become range bound for a while. Should Q1 earnings surprise then perhaps we go higher ... Perhaps, not. For the near term, I feel most of the upside has already been made.
For me, since I was an active buyer of equities during the downdraft it is now clip coupons and collect dividends, that my portfolio generates, while I await this out.

https://www.kitco.com/news/2020-04-07/Gold-is-undervalued-prices-to-hit-5-000-in-medium-term-says-economist.html
/Gold is cheap; prices to hit $5,000 in medium-term, says economist
Kitco News) - Gold prices could climb to $5,000 in a few years, this according to John Butler, author of "The Golden Revolution."/
Not sure if cheap or not in medium term, could be pure speculation. We are thinking increase our Commodities to ?! 4-5% in portfolio with GLD and VDE

bullish sign? Investors keep piling up cash: Money market mutual fund assets rose $120 billion in the seven days ended Tues. Total money fund assets now a record $4.39 trillion, up from $3.50 trillion at the start of the year. (iMoneyNet)

@Nick637 It has proven totally unethical and cruel in many other parts of the country:
https://washingtonpost.com/sf/investigative/collection/homes-for-the-taking/?utm_term=.61cb93babcea
https://citylab.com/equity/2015/06/how-the-black-tax-destroyed-african-american-homeownership-in-chicago/395426/
And now in the current environment, it could prove a particularly vicious time for such sales and evictions unless the government steps in to stop them: https://inquirer.com/health/coronavirus/coronavirus-eviction-foreclosure-philadelphia-gym-council-resolution-20200312.html
A lot of people are going to miss their mortgage and property tax payments in the current environment.

Hi guys. I thought I'd post an update with today's rally which puts the S&P 500 Index up 10.5% thus far into the week and up 22.9% from its 52 week low; but, leaves it down 18.8% from its 52 week high. With this upward price movement moves the Index from bear market territory (greater than 20% off the 52 week high) into correction territory (which is less than 20% off the 52 week high but above the 10% decline mark).
With this price movement today the Index moves from being oversold (with a reading of 165) to undervalued (with a reading of 160) on the barometer's scale. Generally, a lower barometer reading indicates that there is less investment in the Index over a higher reading.
For me, I have been enjoying the stock market rebound and still with my plan to position new money on the income side of my portfolio. This is to help maintain my current asset allocation of 15% cash, 40% income and 45% equity as equities are having a good upward run plus I was a buyer of equities during the downdraft.
My three best performing funds for the day were PMDAX +4.5% ... FRINX +4.4% ... and, PGUAX +4.0%.
Thanks for stopping by and reading.
Take care ... be safe ... and, I wish all good investing.
Old_Skeet

Anyway, let me add that FXAIX does not outperform either Vanguard SP500 product if you go back to their spring 1988 origin, only more recently.

Nothing to do with insecurity, trying to be accurate. FXAIX didn't perform better because it didn't have a lower ER all these years. The main difference between me and others is that I supply numbers and not just narrative ;-)

As you're a numbers sort of person, could you provide some numbers to go along with your narrative? The story saying that FXAIX "didn't have a lower ER all these years"?
I can find some early years over the lifetime span when VFINX had an ER more than a single basis point below FXAIX's. But there aren't very many years like that, and the VFINX advantage in those years was just 6-9 basis points. In contrast, there are a greater number of later years where FXIAX had the advantage. More sizeable to boot, 8-15 basis points.
From what little I can find, it seems that FXAIX overall had the lower ER all these years. I look forward to seeing the ER numbers for "all these years".

Hi @MikeM
You noted:

I am eliminating bonds from my self managed portfolio as much as I can

Obviously, I don't know what type of bond funds you have already or will eliminate. I can only offer this, as we all "see" the markets from our own knowledge and perspective.
Note: The following view/comparison does not include either narrow focused or junk bond funds; with the exception being AAA narrow focused bond funds/etf's.
SO. I had 2 phone calls from friends, about a month ago, regarding their bond funds. They're both conservative investors and don't fiddle with their holdings often and hold about an even mix of equity (SP500 type) and bonds (active managed total return bond funds). They were concerned that their bond funds had become negative for returns. This was the short period when credit markets became stuck. As we know now and what could be assumed, is that the FED moved in to unwind the log jam.
The had fully expected that these would show positive returns when the equity market was crashing. Generally speaking, this would be normal expectation; except a short period in bondland was different. However, I did express that indeed their bond funds were supportive in their portfolio, although showing a small negative return at the time.
I provided the following information (now updated through April 7) using $SPX and FTBFX (a fairly typical total return bond fund).
The $SPX and FTBFX start at Jan. 2018, as this period found 4 periods of equity "fits"; being, Feb. 8, Mar. 21, Oct. 29 and the big melt of Dec. 24, 2018.
This is the total return data from Jan. 2018 through April 7, 2020 and two other periods:
--- Jan. 2018 - April 7, 2020
$SPX = - 1.4%
FTBX = + 9.9%
--- 1 year, April 7, 2019 - April 7, 2020
$SPX = - 8.1%
FTBFX = + 6.2%
--- March 19, 2020.....this date, being a period + or - a few days of when bonds, including AAA where behaving badly; and when I received the phone calls. The following is the YTD returns as of March 19.
$SPX = - 25.5%
FTBFX = - 5.4%
The conversation expressed that while the bonds were not + YTD; the bond fund did indeed function properly, in regards to the loss comparison with $SPX.
The above amounts to how one views an outcome and what are or were the reasons for arriving at a given monetary place.
As for today and with many U.S. bond areas; there is not likely a prior period or a future period when more support from the FED is taking place.
The support crutches, for many bond areas, are in place, IMHO.
Be well.
Catch

Just heard this from a friend of mine. I had no clue anything like this existed. My friend said he invested around $50K across 10 liens. It's really an auction where you can bid for how much you willing to pay (equal / over to tax owed) and how much interest you accepting to collect. I could keep explaining, but article below will no doubt do much better job.
https://www.bankrate.com/investing/investing-in-tax-liens-fraught-with-risk/
Wanted to ask if anyone diversifies their portfolio investing in tax liens and / or if any real estate funds out there we know invest significantly in them (since it falls in RE investment category).
Thanks much for any insight / advice.

I don't have a dog in the fight, but I did take a quick look at upside/downside capture ratios for DODFX on M* and they are terrible for 3, 5 and 10 years. T
It is well know that large cap is the hardest category for a fund manager to "beat" the index. It is very unlikely that it can be done and if it can be the investor picking the "the winner" ahead of those 3, 5 or 10 years is close to impossible. If the case for owning a managed LC fund is a smoother ride or principle conservation and not beating the index return (which it is for me), the up/down statistic is a good one to judge performance.

Your contrib is so valuable, but are you really so insecure you have to impugn ('obsess') anyone who offers even mild corrections or challenges ?
Anyway, let me add that FXAIX does not outperform either Vanguard SP500 product if you go back to their spring 1988 origin, only more recently.

Nothing to do with insecurity, trying to be accurate. FXAIX didn't perform better because it didn't have a lower ER all these years. The main difference between me and others is that I supply numbers and not just narrative ;-)
As of (04/07/2020) FXAIX did better than VFIAX for 3 + 5 years by only 0.02% annually.

Matt, I don't think any markets, including bonds, have calmed down. I don't see even a trend I'm excited about that I want to trade. Higher-rated funds look OK but rates might go up when things get better. We are in a black swan market and unclear forecasts. VFIIX has a very smooth slow uptrend if you want to own a fund until we see better markets (chart).
JMUTX,BAGIX,OPTAX are good funds.
I'm out of the market.

I just looked at TRP HY. TUHYX. Down -15% ytd. Distributions are nothing to write home about, either---- given that it's supposed to be a HY fund. I owned it back in 2018 or so but got out not long afterward. It's not awful. But I continue to tout PTIAX and PRSNX. Even RPSIX, a TRP bond fund of funds, is less volatile. The HY risk you'd take seems not worth it to me, with other good options out there. Maybe go with Munis? PTIMX. Or maybe HY Munis.
https://www.morningstar.com/funds/xnas/tuhyx/performance

“This relatively rare condition of intense stock market fear, combined with a generally calm bond market, has proved to be a powerful combination for ensuing stock market returns,” Paulsen wrote in a note Tuesday.
When the VIX is above the 80th percentile and MOVE is below the 50th percentile, the average annualized S&P 500 price performance has been “remarkable -- at nearly +21% compared to only a little more than +7% the rest of the time,” he said.
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-04-08/bond-stock-volatility-gap-is-bullish-equity-signal-for-leuthold
In checking the stock futures, about an hour before the markets open, this morning, it looks like the market is set to build on Monday's gains.
The futures ... https://finviz.com/futures.ashx
Old_Skeet has been a buyer of equites during this downdraft believing that program trading had the markets oversold. It is now nice to see the stock market rebounding since ... as the saying goes ... I caught some falling knives. I'm thinking ... as the 500 Index begins to approach the 2700 to 2800 range things will slow and we will trade off of TTM earnings projected by S&P to be in the $130's. This could take us sideways and in a trading range through summer. Hopefully, though, when fall comes forward earnings will start looking better (possible in the 150's to 160's) and this will set stocks up for a nice fall stock market rally.
Anyway ... this is how I see it.
Take care ... be safe ... and, I wish all "Good Investing."
I am, Old_Skeet
@mcmarasco ... Matt you asked for a signal. Jim Paulsen is one I have followed for years. I have found that his thinking has been pretty much on spot. Hope this helps you sort things out. Anyway, his comments confirmed my thinking. By the way ... my fixed income sleeve took a beating much more than I thought it would. With bond valuations being down I have now begun to buy in the fixed income area of my portfolio.

Your contrib is so valuable, but are you really so insecure you have to impugn ('obsess') anyone who offers even mild corrections or challenges ?
Anyway, let me add that FXAIX does not outperform either Vanguard SP500 product if you go back to their spring 1988 origin, only more recently.

and FXAIX is cheaper yet

Correct, since I started talking about Vanguard I wanted to stay with it.
Fidelity 500 Index Fund ( FXAIX )=015%...Vanguard 500 Index Admiral (VFIAX)=040%
Fidelity Tot Market Index Fund ( FSKAX ) =015%...Vanguard Total Stock Mkt Index Admiral (VTSAX)=0.4%
But if you are really obsessed about expense ratio then Fidelity has several funds with zero expense ratio.
Fidelity® ZERO Large Cap Index Fund (FNILX)
Fidelity® ZERO Total Market Index Fund (FZROX)
Fidelity® ZERO Extended Market Index Fund (FZIPX)
Fidelity® ZERO International Index Fund (FZILX)
But FNILX didn't do better than VFIAX since inception.