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I am just rolling maturing 3m T-Bill (5/4/23) into 3m T-Bill auction Monday (5/1/23) - both will settle on 5/4/23. 3m is still benefitting from wide 1m-3m spread on debt-ceiling concerns.
I am keeping existing I-Bonds and 5-yr TIPS for now, but no…
The fed fund (overnight) rate is 4.75-5.00% (likely to change on 5/3/23). So, these rates should be viewed in that context.
The 1m T-Bill yield fell to 3.36% on 4/21/23, but yesterday (EOD, 4/27/23) it was 4.27%, low compared to the fed funds but n…
@fred495, the FDIC insurance should cover it. But if high rate CD, it may be redeemed and replaced by a new, lower rate CD - that is a part of the fine print.
You probably know that a government bailout may wipeout all equity, while a private bailout or wind down may retain some value for equity (for example, Silvergate/SI is still trading as a zombie). In situations like this, debt may be better and may …
My first brokerage a/c in the 1970s was at Merrill Lynch and I was paying almost 6-7% commission per trade, 12-14% for a roundtrip. I had to call my assigned broker and he was hard to get hold of. As his office was on the way to work, I will just wr…
Some Monday Morning quarterbacking - FRC should have been closed in the 1st round of bank failures (closed SVB, Signature; voluntary wound down of Silvergate). Then it got a temporary private bailout - that didn't work in hindsight. Or, it should ha…
Secondary market for CDs is illiquid. So, premature sellers get good haircuts, but that is great if you are the buyer. Of course, these opportunities may be quire irregular.
Sale of TIAA Bank was announced last year but the TIAA has been mum on it since - on details such as new name, stadium renaming, etc. https://www.jaxdailyrecord.com/news/2023/apr/20/tiaa-remains-quiet-on-bank-buyout/
VG advisor is their glorified VG PAS ROBO-advisor. Apparently, a call center person calls about the allocation recommendations that the computer spits out.
So, M* is having its much touted annual MIC 2023 conference from April 25-27, 2023 in the McCormick Place, Chicago. And they couldn't get a Rep from Vanguard (and from Blackrock)? This is just a chit-chat between 2 M* staffers.
MFO representatives …
Be aware of ounces (common measure) and Troy ounces (used for precious metals).
Other Tidbits:
12 Troy Ounces of gold make 1 Troy Pound of gold (unlike the usual 16 Oz of peanuts for 1 Lb of peanuts).
1 Troy Oz of gold has 31.1034768 grams of gold …
Well, early reports had 3,600 pounds valued at $104 million stolen. That looked like a lot to just walkaway with. New reports of only $14 million worth is probably walkable by some big guys, but still cannot just hide in the pockets.
Only for mutual funds, the reinvestments happen on the ex-div date.
It's different for stocks, ETFs, CEFs.
First, the Pay Date may be 2-4 weeks away (why is unclear to me). Second, most brokers aggregate all the reinvestment orders/requests, and a…
Some early reports mentioned $104 million worth of gold.
https://www.firstpost.com/world/gold-bars-worth-over-100-million-dollars-stolen-from-canada-airport-12491892.html
That is lot of 3-yr TIPS on the secondary market. The shortest maturity at auctions is 5-yr TIPS and several posters have been mentioning those for a while; these are to be held to maturity.
Brokered CD rates may be up because many banks find it easier and cheaper to raise funds via brokered CDs (although the FDIC is watching) than through the new Fed BTFP facility and the old Fed Discount Window - those seem to have stabilized (see bel…
Remember that the 2011 downgrade by the S&P came a few days AFTER the debt-ceiling issue had been resolved by the Congress and the President. It seemed that some S&P committee was on a roll to the US downgrade recommendation. Mr McGraw said …
Another puzzle is an unusually high spread of 121 bps for 1m-3m T-Bills. April started out with more normal 20 bps spread. Something is fishy with the liquidity.
Earlier estimates for debt-ceiling drop-dead date were in August, but weak tax receipt…
There was a related filing earlier on 3/20/23 on multi-asset VPGDX merger into moderate-allocation (fund of index funds) VSMGX that also outlined these steps: Liquidation of VG Alternative Strategies on/around 4/19/23, distribution of any related CG…
A good review, but even Marks missed one important aspect.
Many banks, including SVB and Signature, initially had their Treasuries as AWS (available-for-sale). But in the initial phases of Fed rate hikes, when there were talks of inflation being tr…
Technically, a work-for-hire is owned by (or belongs to) the employing entity and actual author(s) may not be credited. But the authors are routinely credited by newspapers and magazines even for work-for-hire; they are often promoted as "bylines".
Zacks hasn't been my go-to place for the MPT data (alpha, beta, R), but I will explore it some more. There isn't much on the website on methodology or assumptions used.
I have used M*, PV, Stock Rover (SR) for MPT data.
But the usual cautions app…
PRPFX prospectus describes risks of holding gold/silver bullion and coins. https://www.permanentportfoliofunds.com/pdf/Prospectus.pdf
"The gold and silver bullion and bullion-type coins held by the Portfolio’s subcustodian on behalf of the Portfol…
@johnN: "Tsp Ira all in 2045 spy Iwm and vo..."
Unclear.
TSP isn't an IRA and it doesn't offer one. If TSP, did you signup for new brokerage window? Heard bad things about it - too expensive, etc. There is indeed TDF L2045; a unique aspect is tha…
WFC acquired what remained of Strong Capital (its famous ad-line was: Is your portfolio Strong?).
Invesco acquired OppneheimerFunds. Invesco has been an aggressive acquirer but it is taking some rest now.
True, Franklin Templeton is now quite diffe…
Last year, the media declared Allocation 60-40 dead, and this year they have risen from the dead, or risen from the ashes. WSJ, Barron's, M*, almost everybody. Media headlines are for the the current news with some hype.
While basic 60-40 (SP500-li…
M* has investor-returns (vs fund-returns). That is an AUM weighted-average of fund-returns. IMO, it is a flawed statistics for investor experience, but it is all that is available. A surprising conclusion is that investor-returns and fund-returns ar…
Treasury ladder doesn't have the issue of credit research needed for bond ladder.
BTW, mid/late-month is a good time to jump start T-Bill ladders when 13-wk (next 4/17/23), 26-wk (next 4/17/23), 52-wk (next 4/18/23) T-Bills are sold.
As posted els…
I used a wide range for fixed rate (0.40-1.00%). The current fixed rate of 0.40% should go up. But with 5-yr TIPS at 1.18%, 1.00% sounds generous. So, the range of 3.79-4.40% for the combined rate is solid.
That may be the restriction of your specific 401a plan, not a general restriction by the brokerage firm. It seems that your 401k plan had a change and the old options are frozen - i.e. cannot add but can withdraw.
VWELX / VWENX has mostly inv-grade bonds. It is a moderate-allocation fund.
PRWCX also has HY & convertibles. It is really a capital appreciation fund that ends up in moderate-allocation by its tradition/history, and may at times have aggressiv…
Ignoring past history (as the rate environment was different), I am thinking of using ultra-ST bonds as an alternative for manual- or auto- rolls of T-Bills.
Fido OEF: FCNVX ER 0.25% (no trading restrictions at Fido)
ETFs with lower ERs:GSY, ICSH,…
