Reply to @BannedfromBogleheads:

So a portfolio that halves in value when you don't need the money and quadruples in value when you do need the money is, despite its volatility, an undeniably less risky and superior portfolio and anyone that believes otherwise is a sucker.

I agree with you to a certain degree. You can actually get higher returns with a higher risk portfolio over a long term. The question is do you have the mental fortitude to stick with your investments when you experience that 50% downside. Many people cannot easily stomach that. In particular, in retirement such events can be disastrous as you still have to take out from your portfolio to live. Thus you give up a bit of the long term upside for more subdued and hopefully more even returns with less variance.

I editted this to "fund discussion status" because of all the great "fund discussion" going on here...
A Fidelity article:
building-portfolio-for-income
"If you are saving for retirement, you should be taking a total return approach that considers both income and capital appreciation. If you’re in retirement, you likely have some guaranteed1 income streams like Social Security, a pension, or an annuity. But you may also want or need to generate income off your investment portfolio. And regardless of your stage in life, there may be times you want to generate income for a specific goal..."
Some income investment sectors to consider:

Reply to @TheShadow:
ABNIX is in fact available with no minimum in WT retirement accounts, but you have to use a rep.

To msf You stated I used the term MONEY MARKET ACCOUNT . At no place in this posting did I use the term MONEY MARKET ACCOUNT.
I used the term cash account that is what the term that the fido retirement rep called it.
If I used the term money market account I was wrong.

MSF I want to use my retirement checks to buy fido funds in my ROTH IRA account. I can do this because I am still working. The retirement is from a company I used to work for and they would not delay paying out the retirement. Talked to Fido retirement rep and they stated I needed so set up the cash account to deposit the retirement payments on a direct deposit basis. First payment was a direct deposit and as I stated they mailed the next check. It's a fido bank, fido check. and a fido money account. It's all within their domain. As far as I am concerend, there should be no 4 day hold period - It's that simple and It pisses me off.

You bet your sweet bippie; I was on the phone for over 2 hours yesterday listening to elvator music while "specialist" at brokerage and then retirement looked into what happened and could be done. I guess I just dont understand how something so simple can be made so complicated!! I have tried several times to transfer money in this cash account to buy shares in my IRA account on line. But to no avail!! A "funds are not available" warning box stops the transaction. Specialist yesterday also stated the funds are not available for the 4 day hold period!!
Gary

Most of the time I have good dealings with Fido Have never had anything like this happen at their shop in the past.
This transaction has 2 days left for my rant. Going to tell the world about their awakwardness!!!
I emailed this statement to Fidelity on 11/06/12 in response to their 4 day hold on their own corporate check.
I set up this cash account for your people to direct deposit my retirement check from (a company) into. - Also you people manage the retirement distributions for (a company). Rather than making a direct deposit - You issued and mailed me a check. I then indorsed the check “for deposit only” and turned around and mailed this check (which you people issued) back with a deposit slip to be deposited in this account. Now you people tell me I have to wait 4 days to have access to - and invest these funds in my Roth IRA which is also a Fidelity account. I think this is outrageous that you put a 4 day hold on your own check.
I know for a fact that I have sent checks in the amount of $ 12,000 for my Wife’s and My Roth IRA investments and the requested purchases were made within 24 hours of the receipt of my check. Looks like you are saying you people put more faith in my personal check then your own corporate check. – If that be the case - maybe I should think about moving my family’s personal and business accounts to another mutual fund company.
Gary

We continue to like and own the lowest cost institutional class of this fund, ABNIX, which is available for a $500 minimum in Firstrade retirement accounts with a transaction fee, and appears to be available with no minimum in TDA retirement accounts according to their web site. This fund continues to have excellent U/D capture ratios as I detailed HERE.
Kevin

Howdy,
A thank you to all who post the links, start and participate in the many fine commentaries woven into the message threads.
For those who don't know; I ramble away about this and that, at least once each week.
NOTE: For those who visit MFO, this portfolio is designed for near retirement, capital preservation and to stay ahead of inflation creep. This is not a buy and hold portfolio, and is subject to change on any given day; based upon perceptions of market directions. All assets in this portfolio are in tax-sheltered accounts; and any fund distributions are reinvested in the funds. Gains or losses are computed from actual account values.
While looking around.....Five years ago this week, exactly on Trick or Treat day, found our mix of investments at that time, to arrive at its high value. Our house recalls the trading days going into the end of the year and the large swings in pricing, which continued into 2008. Not that any of this matters today; but for this house, caused much head scratching and eventually protective sells of equities in June, 2008.
Busy at this house with pre-winter cleanup outside; as the night temps are already below freezing. But, a brief look backwards into the first 10 months of 2012. We held about 20% of our mix in equity funds at the beginning of the year; which were sold in mid-May. Doing some fast math finds that all funds sold have gains to date between +.52 & +15%. Calculating the gains of the funds to which the monies were moved finds that our current mix would be worth about 1% more on this date, had we retained all of the equity funds. An, oh well; and perhaps this will work out by year end.
The data/numbers below have been updated.
As to sector rotations below (Fidelity funds); for the past week: (Note: any given fund in any of these sectors will have varing degrees of performance based upon where the manager(s) choose to be invested and will not directly reflect upon your particular fund holdings from other vendors.) Sidenote: The average weekly return of 200 combined Fidelity retail funds across all sectors (week avg = + .31%, YTD + 11.76%).
--- U.S. equity - .45% through + 1.3%, week avg. = + .37% YTD = + 14.4%
--- Int'l equity - .21% through + 3.55%, week avg. = + .65% YTD = + 13.3%
--- Select eq. sectors - 2.8% through + 3.8%, week avg. = + .35% YTD = + 13.7%
--- U.S./Int'l bonds - .68% through + 0.3%, week avg. = + .07% YTD = + 3.9%
--- HY bonds - .00% through - .32%, week avg. = - .10% YTD = + 11.9%
A Decent Overview, M* 1 Month through 5 Year, Multiple Indexes
You may consider our portfolio to be quite boring, but you may be assured that it moves and bends each and every day; from forces beyond our control.
I have added a few blips related to our portfolio and market observations at the below SELLs/BUYs and Portfolio Thoughts.
SELLs/BUYs THIS PAST WEEK: = NONE.

Portfolio Thoughts:
Our holdings had a + .35 % move this past week. Our portfolio return for October was about +.47%, as a notable slowing of capital appreciation exists at this time within most of our bond holdings. Some of this gain came from several bond fund distributions on Oct. 31. Tempted with the housing and building sector; but will wait for post election and anything else of special note; political or otherwise. We'll continue to watch; but do not have plans at this time, to enter into equity areas.
b> Still plodding along, and we will retain the below write from previous weeks; as what we are watching, still applies.
--- commodity pricing, especially the energy and base materials areas; copper and related.
--- the $US broad basket value, and in particular against the Euro and Aussie dollar (EU zone and China/Asia uncertainties).
--- price directions of U.S. treasury's, German bunds, U.K. gilts, Japanese bonds; and continued monitoring of Spanish/Italian bond pricing/yield.
--- what we are watching to help understand the money flows: SHY, IEF, TLT, TIPZ, STPZ, LTPZ, LQD, EMB, HYG, IWM, IYT & VWO; all of which offer insights reflected from the big traders as to the quality/risk, or lack of quality/risk; in various bond sectors.
The Funds Boat is at anchor, riding in the small waves, watching the weather and behind the breakwater barrier. To the high praise of MFO and the members, it is very difficult to find a topic to note here that has not been placed into the discussion boards. Excellence, as usual.
I have retained the following links for those who may choose to do their own holdings comparison against the fund types noted.
The first two links to Bloomberg are for their list of balanced/flexible funds; although I don't always agree with the placement of fund styles in their categories.
Bloomberg Balanced
Bloomberg Flexible
These next two links are for conservative and moderate fund leaders YTD, per MSN.
Conservative Allocation
Moderate Allocation
A reflection upon the links above. We attempt to establish a "benchmark" for our portfolio to help us "see" how our funds are performing. Aside from viewing many funds within the balanced/flexible funds rankings (the above links), a quick and dirty group of 5 funds (below) we watch for psuedo benchmarking are the following:
***Note: these week/YTD's per M*
VWINX .... + .25% week, YTD = + 9.54%
PRPFX .... - .51% week, YTD = + 5.51%
SIRRX ..... + .33% week, YTD = + 6.46%
TRRFX .... + .16% week, YTD = + 9.66%
VTENX ... + .21% week, YTD = + 8.65%
Such are the numerous battles with investments attempting to capture a decent return and minimize the risk.
We live and invest in interesting times, eh? Hey, I probably forgot something; and hopefully the words make some sense. Comments and questions always welcomed.
Good fortune to you, yours and the investments.
Take care,
Catch
---Below is what M* x-ray has attempted to sort for our portfolio, as of Nov. 1, 2012 ---
From what I find, M* has a difficult time sorting out the holdings with bond funds.
U.S./Foreign Stocks 1.9%
Bonds 93.9% ***
Other 4.2%
Not Classified 0.00%
Avg yield = 3.99%
Avg expense = .57%
***about 18% of the bond total are high yield category (equity related cousins)
---This % listing is kinda generic, by fund "name"; which doesn't always imply the holdings, eh?
-Investment grade bond funds 28.2%
-Diversified bond funds 22.4%
-HY/HI bond funds 14.5%
-Total bond funds 32.4%
-Foreign EM/debt bond funds .6%
-U.S./Int'l equity/speciality funds 1.9%
This is our current list: (NOTE: I have added a speciality grouping below for a few of fund types)
---High Yield/High Income Bond funds
FAGIX Fid Capital & Income
SPHIX Fid High Income
FHIIX.LW Fed High Income
DIHYX TransAmerica HY
---Total Bond funds
FTBFX Fid Total
PTTRX Pimco Total
---Investment Grade Bonds
ACITX Amer. Cent. TIPS Bond
DGCIX Delaware Corp. Bd
FBNDX Fid Invest Grade
FINPX Fidelity TIPS Bond
OPBYX Oppenheimer Core Bond
---Global/Diversified Bonds
FSICX Fid Strategic Income
FNMIX Fid New Markets
DPFFX Delaware Diversified
LSBDX Loomis Sayles
PONDX Pimco Income fund (steroid version)
PLDDX Pimco Low Duration (domestic/foreign)
---Speciality Funds (sectors or mixed allocation)
FRIFX Fidelity Real Estate Income (bond/equity mix)
---Equity-Domestic/Foreign
NONE outright, with the exception of equities held inside of some of the above funds.

3 Actively Managed Bond ETFs for Stability and Income
http://community.nasdaq.com/News/2012-11/3-actively-managed-bond-etfs-for-stability-and-income-etf-news-and-commentary.aspx?storyid=186771#.UJSAkmfx568
muni bond tax advangtage at risks
http://www.marketwatch.com/story/muni-bond-tax-advantage-at-risk-in-deficit-debate-2012-11-01
HC funds that continue rallying
http://www.thestreet.com/story/11755445/1/health-care-funds-that-can-continue-rallying.html?cm_ven=GOOGLEN
skill vs luck?
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10000872396390444734804578062890110146284.html?mod=googlenews_wsj
https://www.google.com/#hl=en&output=search&sclient=psy-ab&q=Is+Your+Manager+Skillful…or+Just+Lucky?+&oq=Is+Your+Manager+Skillful…or+Just+Lucky?+&gs_l=hp.3...750.750.0.1354.1.1.0.0.0.0.189.189.0j1.1.0.les;..0.0...1c.1.Uvz1fdJYJ14&pbx=1&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.r_qf.&fp=525df9d0db58cfce&bpcl=37189454&biw=1366&bih=600
calvert investment launches EM equity fund
http://www.marketwatch.com/story/calvert-investments-launches-calvert-emerging-markets-equity-fund-2012-11-02
close end ETFs for forgotten 7% yield
http://www.zacks.com/stock/news/86008/closed-end-etfs-for-forgotten-7-yield
4 funds for post sandy building bounce
http://investorplace.com/2012/11/4-funds-for-a-post-sandy-building-bounce/
10 Publicly Traded Hedge Funds That Pay a Dividend
http://www.dividend.com/blog/?p=55758
retirement plannings
http://money.usnews.com/money/blogs/the-smarter-mutual-fund-investor/2012/11/01/nearing-retirement-5-must-do-steps
investing 101: investing for 2013
http://mutualfunds.about.com/od/wheretoinvest/a/Where-To-Invest-2013-Fixed-Income.htm
ibd reads
http://news.investors.com/investing.aspx?nav=NewsInvesting
perils of crashing through risks tolerance
http://www.forbes.com/sites/rickferri/2012/11/01/perils-of-crashing-through-risk-tolerance/
prepare your portfolio for tax code changes
http://www.thestreet.com/story/11753350/1/prepare-your-portfolio-now-for-tax-code-changes.html?cm_ven=GOOGLEN

This article also makes the case for owning a health-care fund. Never thought of my HQL as a fund for the long haul until I saw these numbers.
http://seekingalpha.com/article/894951-3-retirement-picks-sleep-easier-10-returns-for-10-years?source=yahooh

Reply to @Investor: I don't know what the rules and hoops are on transfers, rollovers, etc. out of the average 401k, but with IRAs, almost all trustee to trustee transfers require specific forms to be submitted with a medallion signature guarantee, which is not readily available in some places. For example, our bank doesn't offer them, and the credit union where we used to have an account requires a member to travel 50 miles round trip to the office in the next town to get one.
Therefore, our few major IRA moves have been via withdrawal/rollover, which is fine under IRA rules. If it's as onerous to effect a transfer (direct rollover) from most 401ks as it is from IRAs, I can imagine a lot of people would go the withdrawal route simply to move retirement investments. The article does mention this as a possible rationale for withdrawal.

Hey Derf, Howdy:
The full understanding is that the farm land mentioned is currently priced only for that purpose.
I have placed a map at this link North Dakota counties where you will find McLean county.....about in the central area of the state. The farm land is in this county to the southeasterly sections.
The Bakken Oil Formation's outer southeast range is near McLean county; but has not yet caused any pricing changes for shale oil reasons. The below link for the Bakken Reserves area will provide a decent view. The majority of the activity and crazy pricing has taken place in Williams county in the northwest area of the state. If one owned a large piece of land there about ten years ago and sold 2 years ago...............well, a fella could just move right into retirement managing a decent investment portfolio.
Bakken Oil Reserve map
Take care,
Catch

Howdy,
A thank you to all who post the links, start and participate in the many fine commentaries woven into the message threads.
For those who don't know; I ramble away about this and that, at least once each week.
NOTE: For those who visit MFO, this portfolio is designed for near retirement, capital preservation and to stay ahead of inflation creep. This is not a buy and hold portfolio, and is subject to change on any given day; based upon perceptions of market directions. All assets in this portfolio are in tax-sheltered accounts; and any fund distributions are reinvested in the funds. Gains or losses are computed from actual account values.
While looking around.....We'll just be hang'in out with our current portfolio mix; as the coming elections are a likely coin toss as to a forward path. The power brokers will remain in place; at both Wall St. in N.Y.C. and K St. in D.C., regardless of the elections. Yes, a president who is a real person of action, could make a difference; given a few years time, but I don't find that person in our near future. The likely key will be what legislation will be in place for the lame duck congress and who among that group will show their real colors with voting; as they are not beholden to the public. Okay, this is all; as last week and this coming week find a very full schedule with other areas at the home front.
The data/numbers below have been updated.
As to sector rotations below (Fidelity funds); for the past week: (Note: any given fund in any of these sectors will have varing degrees of performance based upon where the manager(s) choose to be invested and will not directly reflect upon your particular fund holdings from other vendors.) Sidenote: The average weekly return of 200 combined Fidelity retail funds across all sectors (week avg = - .92%, YTD + 11.34%).
--- U.S. equity - .50% through - 2.28%, week avg. = - 1.36% YTD = + 14%
--- Int'l equity - 1.70% through + 1.33%, week avg. = - .70% YTD = + 12.6%
--- Select eq. sectors - 5.0% through + .45%, week avg. = - 1.44% YTD = + 13.3%
--- U.S./Int'l bonds - .37% through + 0.62%, week avg. = + .01% YTD = + 3.50%
--- HY bonds - .30% through - .67%, week avg. = - .48% YTD = + 11.2%
A Decent Overview, M* 1 Month through 5 Year, Multiple Indexes
You may consider our portfolio to be quite boring, but you may be assured that it moves and bends each and every day; from forces beyond our control.
I have added a few blips related to our portfolio and market observations at the below SELLs/BUYs and Portfolio Thoughts.
SELLs/BUYs THIS PAST WEEK: = NONE.

Portfolio Thoughts:
Our holdings had a - .07 % move this past week. Our portfolio return has become about "flat" for the last 3 weeks with bond types trading places as the favored flavor of the week. Most equity sectors ended the week in the negative, with Japan, China and a few other Asian sectors being positive. We'll continue to watch; but do not have plans at this time, to enter into equity areas.
b> Still plodding along, and we will retain the below write from previous weeks; as what we are watching, still applies.
--- commodity pricing, especially the energy and base materials areas; copper and related.
--- the $US broad basket value, and in particular against the Euro and Aussie dollar (EU zone and China/Asia uncertainties).
--- price directions of U.S. treasury's, German bunds, U.K. gilts, Japanese bonds; and continued monitoring of Spanish/Italian bond pricing/yield.
--- what we are watching to help understand the money flows: SHY, IEF, TLT, TIPZ, STPZ, LTPZ, LQD, EMB, HYG, IWM, IYT & VWO; all of which offer insights reflected from the big traders as to the quality/risk, or lack of quality/risk; in various bond sectors.
The Funds Boat is at anchor, riding in the small waves, watching the weather and behind the breakwater barrier. To the high praise of MFO and the members, it is very difficult to find a topic to note here that has not been placed into the discussion boards. Excellence, as usual.
I have retained the following links for those who may choose to do their own holdings comparison against the fund types noted.
The first two links to Bloomberg are for their list of balanced/flexible funds; although I don't always agree with the placement of fund styles in their categories.
Bloomberg Balanced
Bloomberg Flexible
These next two links are for conservative and moderate fund leaders YTD, per MSN.
Conservative Allocation
Moderate Allocation
A reflection upon the links above. We attempt to establish a "benchmark" for our portfolio to help us "see" how our funds are performing. Aside from viewing many funds within the balanced/flexible funds rankings (the above links), a quick and dirty group of 5 funds (below) we watch for psuedo benchmarking are the following:
***Note: these week/YTD's per M*
VWINX .... - .49% week, YTD = + 9.27%
PRPFX .... - .63% week, YTD = + 6.05%
SIRRX ..... + .04% week, YTD = + 6.11%
TRRFX .... - .57% week, YTD = + 9.48%
VTENX ... - .49% week, YTD = + 8.43%
Such are the numerous battles with investments attempting to capture a decent return and minimize the risk.
We live and invest in interesting times, eh? Hey, I probably forgot something; and hopefully the words make some sense. Comments and questions always welcomed.
Good fortune to you, yours and the investments.
Take care,
Catch
---Below is what M* x-ray has attempted to sort for our portfolio, as of June 1, 2012---
From what I find, M* has a difficult time sorting out the holdings with bond funds.
U.S./Foreign Stocks 1.9%
Bonds 93.9% ***
Other 4.2%
Not Classified 0.00%
Avg yield = 3.72%
Avg expense = .55%
***about 18% of the bond total are high yield category (equity related cousins)
---This % listing is kinda generic, by fund "name"; which doesn't always imply the holdings, eh?
-Investment grade bond funds 28.2%
-Diversified bond funds 22.4%
-HY/HI bond funds 14.5%
-Total bond funds 32.4%
-Foreign EM/debt bond funds .6%
-U.S./Int'l equity/speciality funds 1.9%
This is our current list: (NOTE: I have added a speciality grouping below for a few of fund types)
---High Yield/High Income Bond funds
FAGIX Fid Capital & Income
SPHIX Fid High Income
FHIIX.LW Fed High Income
DIHYX TransAmerica HY
---Total Bond funds
FTBFX Fid Total
PTTRX Pimco Total
---Investment Grade Bonds
ACITX Amer. Cent. TIPS Bond
DGCIX Delaware Corp. Bd
FBNDX Fid Invest Grade
FINPX Fidelity TIPS Bond
OPBYX Oppenheimer Core Bond
---Global/Diversified Bonds
FSICX Fid Strategic Income
FNMIX Fid New Markets
DPFFX Delaware Diversified
LSBDX Loomis Sayles
PONDX Pimco Income fund (steroid version)
PLDDX Pimco Low Duration (domestic/foreign)
---Speciality Funds (sectors or mixed allocation)
FRIFX Fidelity Real Estate Income (bond/equity mix)
---Equity-Domestic/Foreign
NONE outright, with the exception of equities held inside of some of the above funds.

These are NOT MY WORDS but 100% the way I feel now about BONDS at this juncture.
This comes from Fidelity and it is the statistical equivalent of buffalo herd charging across the prairie toward an unseen cliff:
"The below-average real returns for equities during the past 12 years, in combination with the near- uninterrupted 30-year rally for bonds, has led to a recent shift in investor preferences. Since December 2007, investors have poured more than $1.1 trillion into bond mutual funds and exchange-traded funds (ETFs)—more than 33 times the amount allocated to equity funds and ETFs"
I don't hate bonds, they are an integral part of our low-volatility portfolio models. But to be doing bonds instead of stocks looks suicidal to me in the context of a long-range retirement portfolio.
If I could pick an asset class for the next 5-10 years it would be REAL ESTATE.
Just my humble opinion.
Anyone care to mention or recommend a good real-estate mutual fund .
Good luck to all.
Turtle

FYI
Regards,
Ted
http://www.thestreet.com/print/story/11748136.html
HABDX Expense Ratio .53% No Load
PTTAX Expense Ratio .85% + Front or Back Load unless in retirement plan
PTTAX vs. HABDX 5 Year Returns Chart:http://finance.yahoo.com/echarts?s=PTTAX+Interactive#symbol=pttax;range=1y;compare=habdx;indicator=volume;charttype=area;crosshair=on;ohlcvalues=0;logscale=off;source=undefined;

Reply to @BWG: The issue with MLPs in a tax-sheltered account is UBTI (Unrelated Biz Taxable Income), which is discussed in greater detail here: http://seekingalpha.com/article/313114-should-investors-hold-mlps-in-retirement-accounts-another-perspective and particularly this one: http://seekingalpha.com/article/312281-master-limited-partnerships-and-your-ira
I do not hold MLPs in a tax-sheltered account. The only partnership I currently hold is BIP. I do hold KMR, which is a different way (often called "i-share" version) to invest in the Kinder Morgan Partners MLP. KMR is not a partnership and does not result in a K-1. However, you only have the option of share dividends with KMR.

Thank you sir. I will definitely consider. Currently, preponderance of our retirement portfolio is in RNSIX.

How near retirement are you ?
Regards,
Ted

Howdy,
A thank you to all who post the links, start and participate in the many fine commentaries woven into the message threads.
For those who don't know; I ramble away about this and that, at least once each week.
NOTE: For those who visit MFO, this portfolio is designed for near retirement, capital preservation and to stay ahead of inflation creep. This is not a buy and hold portfolio, and is subject to change on any given day; based upon perceptions of market directions. All assets in this portfolio are in tax-sheltered accounts; and any fund distributions are reinvested in the funds. Gains or losses are computed from actual account values.
While looking around.....Mixed Bag of Thoughts.....If we periodically need an excuse related to investment decisions; this study Memory and Doors may cause one to consider staying put in one room for a time period, during crucial investment thinking sessions.
A recent post Bond Funds, Total Return or Equity Hedge?
brought forth fewer responses than I expected. Our house will answer with "Total Return"; as that is always our goal, from whatever market sectors we may use. The original question is in place with the basis thought that the majority of investors have been equity investors for several decades. The new question may be whether this will be the case with new and current investors today. Equity investments surely will not disappear; but will this sector draw and continue to hold the most money?
Lastly, the most common proposition of bonds being used as an equity hedge; may become, "equity investments used as a "bond holdings hedge". All of us have our investment holdings placed, based upon whatever we perceive to be the best place for our money, set within our own risk and reward scale. In one fashion or another, we all have some form of a long/short, equity-income, balanced, flexible or other style of investing when looking at the overall portfolio holdings in place. We manage the managed funds, or at the very least; manage the passive or index holdings of our portfolios. We've all placed our investment mix to form a style box of one type or another, eh?
The data/numbers below have been updated.
As to sector rotations below (Fidelity funds); for the past week: (Note: any given fund in any of these sectors will have varing degrees of performance based upon where the manager(s) choose to be invested and will not directly reflect upon your particular fund holdings from other vendors.)
--- U.S. equity - 1.78% through + 2.2%, week avg. = + .36% YTD = + 15.5%
--- Int'l equity - .33% through + 2.5%, week avg. = + 1.06% YTD = + 13.4%
--- Select eq. sectors - 2.9% through + 3.9%, week avg. = + .51% YTD = + 15%
--- U.S./Int'l bonds - 1.7% through + 0.0%, week avg. = - .31% YTD = + 3.48%
--- HY bonds + .09% through + .50%, week avg. = + .33% YTD = + 11.77%
A Decent Overview, M* 1 Month through 5 Year, Multiple Indexes
You may consider our portfolio to be quite boring, but you may be assured that it moves and bends each and every day; from forces beyond our control.
I have added a few blips related to our portfolio and market observations at the below SELLs/BUYs and Portfolio Thoughts.
SELLs/BUYs THIS PAST WEEK: = Reduced our holdings in FINPX, with the proceeds added to FRIFX and PONDX.

Portfolio Thoughts:
Our holdings had a + .09 % move this past week. If one viewed the market data between the Friday's of Oct. 12-19, the numbers would indicate a so-so market in equity and bond sectors. The fact that large swings in both some equity and bond sectors had taken place between Monday and Friday of the week ending Oct. 19 would not be evident; but there were some very big swings in closing out the trading week. Most equity sectors ended the week in the positive, while many bond sectors were negative in returns. We'll continue to watch; but do not have plans at this time, to enter into equity areas.
Sidenote: The average return of 200 combined Fidelity retail funds across all sectors (week avg = + .40%, YTD + 12.4%). b> Still plodding along, and we will retain the below write from previous weeks; as what we are watching, still applies.
--- commodity pricing, especially the energy and base materials areas; copper and related.
--- the $US broad basket value, and in particular against the Euro and Aussie dollar (EU zone and China/Asia uncertainties).
--- price directions of U.S. treasury's, German bunds, U.K. gilts, Japanese bonds; and continued monitoring of Spanish/Italian bond pricing/yield.
--- what we are watching to help understand the money flows: SHY, IEF, TLT, TIPZ, STPZ, LTPZ, LQD, EMB, HYG, IWM, IYT & VWO; all of which offer insights reflected from the big traders as to the quality/risk, or lack of quality/risk; in various bond sectors.
The Funds Boat is at anchor, riding in the small waves, watching the weather and behind the breakwater barrier. To the high praise of MFO and the members, it is very difficult to find a topic to note here that has not been placed into the discussion boards. Excellence, as usual.
I have retained the following links for those who may choose to do their own holdings comparison against the fund types noted.
The first two links to Bloomberg are for their list of balanced/flexible funds; although I don't always agree with the placement of fund styles in their categories.
Bloomberg Balanced
Bloomberg Flexible
These next two links are for conservative and moderate fund leaders YTD, per MSN.
Conservative Allocation
Moderate Allocation
A reflection upon the links above. We attempt to establish a "benchmark" for our portfolio to help us "see" how our funds are performing. Aside from viewing many funds within the balanced/flexible funds rankings (the above links), a quick and dirty group of 5 funds (below) we watch for psuedo benchmarking are the following:
***Note: these week/YTD's per M*
VWINX .... + .37% week, YTD = + 9.80%
PRPFX .... - .14% week, YTD = + 6.73%
SIRRX ..... + .04% week, YTD = + 6.07%
TRRFX .... + .24% week, YTD = + 10.11%
VTENX ... + .12% week, YTD = + 8.96%
Such are the numerous battles with investments attempting to capture a decent return and minimize the risk.
We live and invest in interesting times, eh? Hey, I probably forgot something; and hopefully the words make some sense. Comments and questions always welcomed.
Good fortune to you, yours and the investments.
Take care,
Catch
---Below is what M* x-ray has attempted to sort for our portfolio, as of June 1, 2012---
From what I find, M* has a difficult time sorting out the holdings with bond funds.
U.S./Foreign Stocks 1.9%
Bonds 93.9% ***
Other 4.2%
Not Classified 0.00%
Avg yield = 3.72%
Avg expense = .55%
***about 18% of the bond total are high yield category (equity related cousins)
---This % listing is kinda generic, by fund "name"; which doesn't always imply the holdings, eh?
-Investment grade bond funds 28.2%
-Diversified bond funds 22.4%
-HY/HI bond funds 14.5%
-Total bond funds 32.4%
-Foreign EM/debt bond funds .6%
-U.S./Int'l equity/speciality funds 1.9%
This is our current list: (NOTE: I have added a speciality grouping below for a few of fund types)
---High Yield/High Income Bond funds
FAGIX Fid Capital & Income
SPHIX Fid High Income
FHIIX.LW Fed High Income
DIHYX TransAmerica HY
---Total Bond funds
FTBFX Fid Total
PTTRX Pimco Total
---Investment Grade Bonds
ACITX Amer. Cent. TIPS Bond
DGCIX Delaware Corp. Bd
FBNDX Fid Invest Grade
FINPX Fidelity TIPS Bond
OPBYX Oppenheimer Core Bond
---Global/Diversified Bonds
FSICX Fid Strategic Income
FNMIX Fid New Markets
DPFFX Delaware Diversified
LSBDX Loomis Sayles
PONDX Pimco Income fund (steroid version)
PLDDX Pimco Low Duration (domestic/foreign)
---Speciality Funds (sectors or mixed allocation)
FRIFX Fidelity Real Estate Income (bond/equity mix)
---Equity-Domestic/Foreign
NONE outright, with the exception of equities held inside of some of the above funds.