Would the combination of these two bond funds comprise a CORE band holding? I was thinking of selling $5,000 of TGEIX in my Roth and adding $5,000 of DBLFX instead, perhaps with adding more DBLFX as I sell more of my TGEIX. DBLTX is now my only "core" bond fund in my non-retirement portfolio at Fidelity. I can "sneak in with DBLFX by only needing a minimum of $5,000 for an IRA. Comments and or suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thanks
Paul

Reply to @johnN:
also what's interesting is IF you look at most target date MFs at major large institutions, they have ~ 50s% in equities even for those that are close to retirement
http://www.google.com/finance?q=target+retirement+2010

One side: there's going to be inflation (quite possibly worse than the unreported inflation we already have/"headline inflation", whatever you want to call it), and equities will fare better than most fixed income, especially certain equity sectors. Commodities will fare well, but there's very few actively managed commodity funds; most of the current funds more or less go in and out with the commodity tides.
Other side: there's a level of debt saturation in society (especially developed society) that can't continue to leverage up. There will have to be a deleveraging at some point, although if there is one, my guess is that it will not be voluntary (or pretty.) In other words, we can't continue along the same road and structural issues will have to be addressed - if not, new crises could easily emerge.
I can see a lot of different possible scenarios down the road.
I lean towards the first side, and think equities (and particularly real assets - commodities/commodity/inflation-related equities/real assets like important/productive infrastructure) will do better over the next 5-10 years. There will be bumps along the road, as with anything.
As I noted yesterday, I have balanced funds, but no fixed income only funds and am 0% cash (well, a little bit cash after yesterday, but it's just going to be moved into something else). I fully admit that that approach could be wrong, but that's the risk I'm willing to take at this point, as I still think there's more risk in betting on deflation than inflation. I'd rather bet more on inflation and get that wrong than bet on deflation and get that wrong.
I'm younger than most on the board though, and how one invests really depends entirely on risk tolerance, age and situation. I would definitely not recommend my portfolio for someone nearing retirement age or especially in retirement age.

Hi, Mike!
I'm working on a story about the three big IPOs (Artisan, M&N, Oak Value). As a sort of public service, I've converted about six pages of each filing document into a tidy Word file, and I'll post them with the story. The IPO prospectuses strike me as fascinating because they contain a bunch of information about the firm that's nowhere else public. For example, M&N never suffered substantial outflows during the bear market and Artisan has hardly any sales directly to the public.
In any case, my best read is that Mr. Manning is 74 and they're trying to restructure things to distribute equity within the firm at his retirement and to get out of some earlier provisions that would have made substantial cash payments to him. Since he's still firmly in charge, I assume that compensation/payout changes have his blessed.
I'll keep reading on it, and really do appreciate the heads-up!
David

Hi Investor,
Thank you for the info; but don't presume what I did not write. I did not indicate any cash flows; and adjusting for drawdowns will require an adjustment in calculations.
The Funds Boat is all tax sheltered retirement accts and if the math we used in the reply to prinx is faulty; then one may presume a best guess + or - a quarter of a percentage or so. I do not find this to be the case, with the example given.
Your point is a consideration for those doing their own math who do have inflows/outflows to consider.
Take care,
Catch

Hi Burt,
At this time, we have 7 retirement accts. 4 of these are at Fidelity, being Traditional and Roth IRA's. The other 3 accts are each at their own web sites.
We calculate the % gain or loss each week for the Fund Boat post.
All accounts web sites give us the total value of each account on a daily basis. On Saturday or Sunday we check each account for its total value and then add all of the totals together for a grand total value; which is used to compare with the grand total value from the previous week ending. Using our handy-dandy HP-12C calculator, we enter the prior week grand total dollars against the new value and this particular calculator has a one button math function to present the % gain or loss.
So, if last weeks ending grand total value was $102,500 and this week's ending grand total value is $103,500, we ma calculate a gain of +.98% for the total of all holdings combined. We also have our starting total dollar value for a new year and use that number to determine our YTD.
We also do this for each account; just to have those numbers.
The vast majority of the bond funds have distributions on the last business day of a month. There are exceptions, as with LSBDX and periodically both bond and equity funds post a captial gain, too. We reinvest all distributions to buy more fund shares and know that whatever the NAV may be for "x" number of fund shares is also part of the final value of a fund reflected in the additional shares.
There are circumstances based upon market moves where we check individual funds for trends going in one direction or the other. For these quick looks, I have been using the "Falcon's Eye" link here for a quick link and look for a closer look at a fund.
So, we don't load into or use an Excel or similar program to download to and/or finalize the numbers.
We have a one page sheet layout that we put together using MS Word, and merely fill in the dollar numbers for each week from the dollar values at the acct web sites and the weekly/YTD % changes as determined from the calculator.
30 minutes maximum to gather the numbers from the sites, do the % math and enter the numbers for current and future reference.
I recall a discussion at FA about downloading one's investment numbers into a program on the home computer; or transferring them to an online program to crunch numbers. You should start a new post about this aspect to find what other folks are doing.

Howdy Burt,
Your questions:
1. How do you differentiate a total bond fund from a diversified fund.?
>>>>>One really has to obtain the most recent prospectus and attempt to discover the primary plan of a given bond fund that may contain the names:
Total, Diversified, Strategic or Multi Sector, to name the most often used terms. For most practical purposes, I find these four names for bond funds to be correlated closely for their goal of bond diversification among sectors, as the managers move monies around attempting to find what they feel is or will be the "sweet spot" for the best returns in a sector. I was asked at FA, as to why so many bond funds in a related sector? Two answers are required; in that we currently have several accts holding retirement funds spread among 401k, 403b, traditional and Roth IRA's with each acct having its own choices for various bond sectors. Secondly, if we had all of our retirement monies at Fidelity; we would likely have 3-5 funds invested into a given grouping of bond or equity funds to further enhance the diversification and help eliminate one fund having a bad quarter or year. A prime example of this event, relative to Total bond funds; is Mr. Gross and Co. choosing to sell down the Treasury holdings of PTTRX and missing most of the profits in this area for 2011. While most monthly, quarterly or yearly returns may not vary too much among funds of the same style (bond or equity); this house prefers to spread out the risk a bit more away from management miscues and we'll take the average return of funds within a given sector.
NOTE: I do indicate (just above the funds list, that the funds are listed by "name" type)
2. With regard to your equity fund choices what was the rationale of your picks from a diversification choice and risk?
>>>>>Some of the more pure equity funds are more directed to value vs growth, with notes for the funds below:
---Speciality Funds (sectors or mixed allocation)
FCVSX Fidelity Convertible Securities (bond/equity mix)
>>>>> hoping for an equity value increase, while patiently receiving a yield
FRIFX Fidelity Real Estate Income (bond/equity mix)
>>>>> a conservative real estate equity play & the yield from the bond area
FFGCX Fidelity Global Commodity
>>>>> energy, agri, metals equity play related to global demand/inflation
FDLSX Fidelity Select Leisure
>>>>> multi national/global equity play, restaurants, gambling & related (folks are still doing all of these activities)
FSAGX Fidelity Select Precious Metals
>>>>> nervous markets, inflation insurance policy
RNCOX RiverNorth Core Opportunity (bond/equity)
>>>>> a balanced type fund with the equity/bond mix
---Equity-Domestic/Foreign
FDVLX Fidelity Value
>>>>> value equity vs growth in the mid cap area
FSLVX Fidelity Lg. Cap Value
>>>>> value equity vs growth (actually a mistaken purchase...wrong ticker, but we have kept this)
FLPSX Fidelity Low Price Stock
>>>>> value equity? vs growth, noted as mid-cap, but ranges from mega-small (decent track record/management)
MACSX Matthews Asia Growth-Income
>>>>> quality fund for the Asian exposure before the fund closed to new money
3. How did you get the load waved on tegbx?
>>>>>TEGBX is a fund choice within one of our non-Fidelity retirement accts. The internal prospectus for this fund, in this acct. indicates an ER of .80%.
4. Like you my money is heavily into Fidelity funds and they do have my custodial account. I noted that most of your fund choices are Fidelity. Do you choose them because of convenience which it seems or have you compared carefully your choices with other similar non Fidelity Funds and found them to be superior?
>>>>>As noted above, we have several active retirement accts. and most do not have many Fido fund choicesthat we would choose to use; so the Fido funds we hold are via our Fidelity IRA accts. All retirement accts will likely be rolled over into our Fidelity accts. We will then have to spread our fund wings further into other fund families via the 1,000's of other fund family choices at Fidelity. While Fido doesn't have a large list of superior funds; as the competition has increased so much over the years, some funds match well against the competition, and Fido's record keeping and ability for one to perform many internal compares and measurements is excellent.
Since this is a tax deferred account do you use the benefit of upgrading your funds to others doing better when the opportunity presents itself?
>>>>>I would have to answer yes; but we really don't move investments around too much. We were 90% equities prior to June, 2008 and then sold 84% of our portfolio, with the remainder (16%) in Fido Contra and Pimco Total Return bond and the 84% moved into stable value or MM funds. In the late spring of 2009 we moved into HY bonds and some equities/bonds. We missed most of the hugh rallies in equity sectors; as we were still not convinced of the stability of the market place, but we also did not have hugh losses to recover from, as we had a -8% for 2008.
I would have to say that I find it most difficult to always determine which funds may be doing better at some given point. Although a fund manager(s) have a mandate of a fund prospectus, I often wonder how these managers remain to be affected from 2008 and what they also continue to see today. Fido Contra is considered a defensive equity fund; but is Mr. Danoff more defensive now than prior to 2008? My non-scientific guess is that at least 25% of the equity fund managers "think" differently about the investments held in a fund; versus how they felt prior to the 2008 market melt. I also suspect this is part of the market swings the year; as I believe many equity fund managers are "still nervous." The problem lies with which managers may be thinking different these days. One can only imagine the mad scramble considerations to have a winning fund before the end of the year, with only 2 more trading months.
I hope I have covered most of the questions with some success.
Ring my bell, if need be.
Take care,
Catch

Howdy,
Again, a thank you to all who post the links and also 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 retirement, capital preservation and to stay ahead of inflation creep; if and when it returns. 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..... Liberal it is; as in a Liberal Arts degree, whether an actual diploma from a course of study, or the ongoing study of everything. One may have formal training or a degree in a specialized field that allows your employment and/or maintaining that your employer views "you" as the last person they could afford to lose; as your work ethic and knowledge are an asset. I have specialized training in the electo-mechanical/computer based world of knowledge, that has served me well for income over the years. ;
I am a naturally curious person; which may also mean that I am a jack of all trades/knowledge, and perhaps a master of none. However, such broadbased knowledge for a curious mind; does, in my opinion have value as it translates into the investment world. These broadbased knowledge areas for anyone may favor particular areas for one's own comfort zone. Such an example for myself; among the many areas of music to which I listen, is that I am not a fan of opera and some forms of classical music. This does not mean that I do not revisit these areas of music; as we all constantly evolve and re-form who we as we experience more life, whether being aware of these sometimes, slow changes, or not. My naturally curious mind does not let me become locked into confined areas of potential knowledge; the exception being the broadbased areas of knowledge for investments. I have no problem discovering and obtaining knowledge, as related to investing; from any number of folks on the tv business channels, that vary from the hard "right or left" style of thinking about where or what to invest, as well as the 1,000's of opinions since the market melt of 2008 and "how" to help correct the current economic situation. No one is twisting my arm to watch and listen to any of this; but I/we personally must draw in these opinions to help this house digest and attempt to realize the meanings and/or ramifications of potential actions and what the end result may be upon current and future investment sectors.
Focus upon what you must for your employment; or if retired, what you enjoy. But, do not become entrenched in a narrowly focused journey of knowledge that would preclude you from any new adventure in learning.
I am singing to the MFO choir; but there are always some new visitors here.
As one's time allows, continue the Liberal Arts studies; as one never knows what little piece of text or spoken words will trigger a new thought, a clarification of previously unconnected dots of thought or perhaps the simplification of what one thought was a more complex proposition. The source may be from a book, a movie, a television program or a spoken conversation from any subject area one chooses to discover. The source need not be new; and could come from perhaps a book or movie from the 1940's.
At a point in my very early 20's, while writing a letter to a friend; I noted that, "If I could make a statement or ask a question, that caused someone to think of something they had never before considered; or to observe a topic they were familiar with, but from a different perspective, I would find that particular day, as fulfilled." We, at this house; must also apply this same function when presented with a statement or question.
MFO, and formerly FundAlarm are prime, positve examples of "eyes wide open" statements and questions for helping navigate the investment highway. Combine what you learn here, with all of the other pieces from your Liberal Arts of the World of Everything knowledge and you may find a type of intuition for your investment choices.
Never stop learning.....
A short blip about Europe. One may choose any number of connective stories about the "conditions" that exist. For more than 2 years, one may consider that the collective EU has been aware that their "house" is a "fixer upper". So, buy another house or fix the existing house would be the common question for an indivivdual. The EU has known about the problems with the old house; and has started to make a list of fixes, and the projected cost of repairs. This is all well and good; but the problem remains, in terms of the housing market; that they have not yet qualified for the loan to make the repairs. Until this is settled, the overhang of doubt and ability to "get the loan" remains and will continue to affect the value of all homes in the neighborhood (read that as global markets and investment sectors). So, a kinda fix; from the plan last week, but all the neighbors are still a watch'in with their shoulders hunched upward.
A money move last week as indicated further down the page.
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
SELLs/BUYs THIS PAST WEEK:
SOME CASH MOVED TO FNMIX, which already had some monies invested from this house; and the percentages of holdings has been adjusted accordingly. The $U.S. has maintained and gained value since this past spring. This has kept dollar denominated emerging markets bond funds in a somewhat sideways mode relative to NAV's. Recent downward moves in the $US may or may not be in place at this time to hold going forward. So, the EM bond additional monies is a bit of a coin toss; but we will gather the yield while hopefully awaiting a continued upward move in NAV.
Portfolio Thoughts:
Our holdings had a +1.76 % move this past week. And yes, we are satisfied with our risk adjusted returns YTD. If the portfolio can pull a +10 to 12% for the year; you will not hear any whining from this house. (This sentence was from an April write; and I/we suppose a +5% for the year may now look good, too !)
The old Funds Boat may make 5% or 25% this year. I expect some rough waters, changing winds and opposing currents; causing the most serious attention being given to a firm hand upon the rudder control. (April report text)
We can hardly wait until Oct. 31 to find whether it will be the trick or the treat.
The immediate below % of holdings are only determined by a "fund" name, NO M* profile this week
CASH = 3.2%
Mixed bond funds = 88.7%
Equity funds = 8.1%
-Investment grade bond funds 26.8%
-Diversified bond funds 19.8%
-HY/HI bond funds 23.2%
-Total bond funds 14.6%
-Foreign EM/debt bond funds 4.3%
-U.S./Int'l equity/speciality funds 8.1%
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 Fed High Income
DIHYX TransAmerica HY
---Total Bond funds
FTBFX Fid Total
PTTRX Pimco Total
---Investment Grade Bonds
APOIX 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
TEGBX Templeton Global (load waived)
LSBDX Loomis Sayles
---Speciality Funds (sectors or mixed allocation)
FCVSX Fidelity Convertible Securities (bond/equity mix)
FRIFX Fidelity Real Estate Income (bond/equity mix)
FFGCX Fidelity Global Commodity
FDLSX Fidelity Select Leisure
FSAGX Fidelity Select Precious Metals
RNCOX RiverNorth Core Opportunity (bond/equity)
---Equity-Domestic/Foreign
FDVLX Fidelity Value
FSLVX Fidelity Lg. Cap Value
FLPSX Fidelity Low Price Stock
MACSX Matthews Asia Growth-Income

Hi bee,
Per your below questions:
"I have a question for you that plays off of your fund boat. I am going to try and create a 5-10 year draw down portfolio for one of my mom's investment bucket. She is 88 and needs about $600/mo to compliment her SS benefits. I would like to diversify her "boat" with 80% high quality income generating funds and 20% with growth funds that might hedge inflation as well as be exposed to the risk of the markets. She will be spending down some of her portfolio shares since her last bucket is more like a pail... it is quite small ($35K). With inflation, she will draw $600/mo in year 1 but this will evolve into almost $700/mo in year 6.
My thought is to divide her portfolio into a portfolio of 4-8 funds. If you were to pared down your holdings (boat), what would be your top 8 funds? What would your top 4 funds be? Would one group(4 vs. 8) hold any advantage over the other?
I would guess FAGIX would be one of your top four holdings but I would like to hear your take on creating an ultra simplified "last bucket" draw down retirement portfolio remembering that it will be the "last bucket" before kicking the proverbial...bucket. We all will be there one day."
>>>>>Ah, the $64,000 question (from the wayback tv show); which is now inflation adjusted to $480,824.37.
I will say that this house is looking to a possible similar set of conditions regarding a trim of holdings in the next year or so.
A few thoughts regarding the list below:
At this stage of our investing world; it may be best stated that... "we are looking at bond funds that behave like equity funds; and equity funds that behave like bond funds." The ultimate goal, eh; yield and growth.
Looking forward as of today, for the next 5-10 years; from this untrained economic mind, finds a likely tough road ahead for the developed nations (debt loads/ability to continue to raise funds for payoff of debt), the possibility that the so-called BRIC/EM's nations could maintain growth among themselves even with reduced export demand from the developed nations (a global have's and have not's on a country scale), stagflation may be part of this scenario. Obviously, this is part of a possible global economic slowing; but with pressures for a given amount of demand for commodities; and some countries could at the same time, have a deflationary environment that would also affect interest rate variables among many countries (this is already in place). How to capture all of these possiblities going forward may require a "boat" with about 12 sails that may be set to the proper direction of a current, prevailing wind. 'Course, I am not saying anything that most here at MFO have not already thought about. Other than all of this; investing is pretty easy, eh ???
The below funds are not in a particular order; just how I happened to note them initially on a piece of paper.
VWINX Vanguard Wellsley long track record, a dividend payer on the eq. side; as well as the bond holdings yields, has held up well this year. Yield is 3.8% with equities at US=32%, INTL=5%; bonds at US=44%, INTL=13%. Balanced/growth & income/conservative allot...or whatever one chooses to name this fund, and with a low ER of .28..
RNDLX RiverNorth/Doubleline short track record, but appears to know what they are doing for 2011. ER a bit steep at 1.5% for this fund of funds; but the prospectus indicates the fund may place monies into whatever bond area from 0-100% of holdings, for maximum flex. No current yield indicated.
LSBRX Loomis Sayles Global bond long track record, has some problems with making money in shakey market scenarios; but is perhaps suited to a possible sideways/slow growth markets going forward. ER=.94 with a current yield of 5.5%. US holdings = 47%, INTL = 25%, remainder cash/other.
FAGIX Fido Cap & Income long track record, but can take a big hit in sour equity market periods, not unlike many funds involved in the high yield bond area. But, in spite of what this fund is; its long term returns match very well with many equity/balanced funds including a fund like PRPFX. The fund also holds 10-20% in equities, based upon historical indicators; as well as 80+% being US holdings of bonds/equity. ER = .8% with a current yield of 6.9%. For more than 30 years, this particular fund has been a portion of our holdings; excluding its sale in June of 2008 and repurchase in 2009.
FNMIX, EM bonds; although Fidelity has their share of so-so funds; this one fund in this area has held it place among many similar funds. I don't like that the fund is denominated in $US; but in spite of this has provided decent returns in this sector. ER = .9% with a current yield of 5.6%.
FRIFX, Fido Real Estate; a conservative US REIT type fund with about 58% in bonds and 35% equity holdings. ER = .8% with a current yield of 5.3%.
FLPSX, Fido Low Priced stock fund; a fairly good mix of equity holdings and a fund with a decent record for 2011 in this crazy market place. US = 51%, INTL - 35%, and the fund holdings do rotate among mega through small cap with current holdings indicated: Mega=6%,very Lg=7%,Lg=5%,mid=43% and Small cap=39%. ER=.8% with a yield of .7%. Obviously, this fund is subject to equity market moves, too.
FFGCX, Fido global commodity; this fund gives one a wide mix of equity holdings that are subject to poor equity markets; but also allows for exposure to offset inflation and a rising equity market. It is the only fund of which I am aware that offers a 1/3 mix of each sector in energy, agri and metals equities all in one package with holdings of US=34%, INTL=66% with an ER of 1.1% and yield of 1.2%.
MAPIX, Matthews Asia Dividend This fund obviously gives one exposure to a broad Asia market place, of which; I feel is important going forward, The ER = 1.1% with a yield of about 4%.
SIRRX, Sierra Retirement; a fairly new fund; but it appears management understands the overall market moods for 2011 and have adjusted where they have needed to place the money. I have not dug deep into the prospectus; but it appears the fund does have a fair amount of flex; obviously a very important ability going forward. I also have not noted DBLNX, which Mr. Gundlach appears to have an ultimate skill in the mortgage bond area; but is a very narrow choice of fund style; but could be part of a mix, too.
I have not listed PRPFX, but is also a consideration for its balanced and mixed holdings. I also have not mentioned any Pimco bond funds; although there are more than enough to satisfy any bond needs. I am not sure what happens in their meetings or who has the powers of decision making; but many of their bond funds have not performed as expected for the total type funds; and also the "unconstrained bond" funds. By chance of investment style of a particular Pimco bond fund, those in the Treasury/TIPs areas have performed well; as they are in the right place at the right time for 2011 to date. If our holding of PTTRX was not the only bond fund available in one acct.; the holding would have already been reduced and moved elsewhere.
bee, I have not passed these funds through the M* cruncher machine; which would provide a better picture of overlap and related; and would provide a better starting point for choices, as I am not sure of what the bond/equity mix as a percentage may have with these funds.
I would personally prefer 8 funds, versus 4 for a wider exposure and better support of perform when equities or bonds are moving in opposite directions. So, I have to discard 2 of the 10 above. Ultimately, for this house; we have no problem holding 20 plus funds for a broad mix; attempting to maintain a likely slow, but forward moving boat.
Top 8: VWINX RNDLX FAGIX FNMIX FLPSX FFGCX MAPIX SIRRX
Top 4: VWINX RNDLX MAPIX SIRRX (someone would have to threaten my life or a family member's life to form this too short list !!!) an impossible mix for this house, that would not cover the sectors.
I have noted before that I run out of time for the type of research that I/we demand at this house for our investments; but we try. With several thousand fund choices at Fido, there are bound to be better choices than what we have in the funds boat, but; to little time.
I sure as heck have forgotten to mention something..........so, rattle my brain cells.
Back to work for me, now.
Take care,
Catch

http://individual.troweprice.com/staticFiles/Retail/Shared/PDFs/PriceReports/Fall2011PriceReport.pdf#page=1&placementGUID=em_prcreport&creativeGUID=EMBDHT&v_sd=201110
kipinger best 25 mf
http://www.kiplinger.com/printstory.php?pid=2151863
stinker of the yr
http://www.investmentnews.com/article/20111023/REG/310239985
M* ranks best/worst MF for 401K
http://abcnews.go.com/Business/morningstar-ranks-best-worst-mutual-funds-401k/story?id=14789497
loomin ETF shakeout
http://www.fa-mag.com/fa-news/8945-the-looming-etf-shake-out.html
putman offering new retirement income funds & tools
http://www.financial-planning.com/news/Putnam-retirement-tools-mutual-funds-2675713-1.html
are you bogleing
http://www.forbes.com/sites/rickferri/2011/10/24/are-you-bogleing/
also - ot
http://www.forbes.com/sites/dividendchannel/2011/10/25/why-hatteras-financial-corp-is-a-top-10-reit-stock-with-15-34-yield/
vanguard dividend etf
http://www.etftrends.com/2011/10/a-closer-look-at-vanguards-high-dividend-etf/?utm_source=iContact&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=ETF Trends&utm_content=
junks bonds are hot but there are still plenty of fire
http://money.cnn.com/2011/10/21/markets/bondcenter/high_yield_bonds/
which investors are in long term
http://blogs.wsj.com/venturecapital/2011/10/24/groupon-which-investors-are-in-for-the-long-term/
Market Week: October 24, 2011
The Markets - rbc investments
A tug-of-war between earnings and Europe dominated equities last week. The Dow industrials overcame a discouraging start to the week and managed a third straight week of gains. However, the Nasdaq slipped back into the loss column, while the S&P 500's encouraging week still left it in negative territory for the year and the small-cap Russell 2000 continued to struggle.
Market/Index 2010 Close Prior Week As of 10/21 Week Change YTD Change
DJIA 11577.51 11644.49 11808.79 1.41% 2.00%
NASDAQ 2652.87 2667.85 2637.46 -1.14% -.58%
S&P 500 1257.64 1224.58 1238.25 1.12% -1.54%
Russell 2000 783.65 712.46 712.42 -.01% -9.09%
Global Dow 2087.44 1845.80 1846.63 .04% -11.54%
Fed. Funds .25% .25% .25% 0 bps 0 bps
10-year Treasuries 3.30% 2.26% 2.23% -3 bps -107 bps
Last Week's Headlines
Despite strong words from G-20 finance ministers about the need for a formal plan for containing the damage from European debt problems, the eurozone continued to debate ways to enhance the European Financial Stability Facility's resources. However, any formal agreement failed to appear last week, though French and German leaders said they anticipated having one this week. In the meantime, Moody's warned that France's AAA debt could be hit with a negative outlook if its budget is strained by bailout demands; it also downgraded Spain's debt from Aa2 to A1.
September's 0.3% consumer inflation rate was the third increase in as many months. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, that put the inflation rate for the last 12 months at 2%. At the wholesale level, inflation was worse; driven mostly by a 2.3% jump in energy costs and a 10% increase in the prices of vegetables, it spiked up 0.8% in September, for a 6.9% rate for the last year.
Federal Reserve manufacturing numbers were mixed. The New York region was negative for a fifth straight month, while new orders were flat. However, the Philadelphia Fed survey showed improvement, jumping from -17.5 in September to 8.7, the first positive number in three months. Nationwide, industrial production rose 0.2% in September and was 3.2% higher than a year ago.
China's efforts to try to control inflation there contributed to a slower pace of economic growth--9.1%--during the third quarter. According to China's National Bureau of Statistics, that's down from Q2's 9.5%.
Housing starts shot up 15% in September, putting them 10.2% above last year. According to the Commerce Department, that's the highest level since before the homeowner's tax credit expired last year. Building permits, an indicator of future construction activity, fell 5% from August, though they also were up from a year ago.
Sales of existing homes dropped 3% in September, according to the National Association of Realtors®, though compared to the previous September, they were up 11.3%.
Eye on the Week Ahead
Action or lack thereof at the midweek European debt summit is likely to affect the mood of the markets. A first look at Q3 economic growth also will be of interest.
Key dates and data releases: home prices, consumer confidence (10/25); new home sales, durable goods orders (10/26); initial estimate of Q3 gross domestic product, pending home sales, weekly new jobless claims (10/27); personal income/spending, labor costs, consumer sentiment (10/28).

Hi Catch,
Thanks to you as well for your commentary and portfolio updates.
I have a question for you that plays off of your fund boat. I am going to try and create a 5-10 year draw down portfolio for one of my mom's investment bucket. She is 88 and needs about $600/mo to compliment her SS benefits. I would like to diversify her "boat" with 80% high quality income generating funds and 20% with growth funds that might hedge inflation as well as be exposed to the risk of the markets. She will be spending down some of her portfolio shares since her last bucket is more like a pail... it is quite small ($35K). With inflation, she will draw $600/mo in year 1 but this will evolve into almost $700/mo in year 6.
My thought is to divide her portfolio into a portfolio of 4-8 funds. If you were to pared down your holdings (boat), what would be your top 8 funds? What would your top 4 funds be? Would one group(4 vs. 8) hold any advantage over the other?
I would guess FAGIX would be one of your top four holdings but I would like to hear your take on creating an ultra simplified "last bucket" draw down retirement portfolio remembering that it will be the "last bucket" before kicking the proverbial...bucket. We all will be there one day.
Thanks,
bee

Howdy,
Again, a thank you to all who post the links and also 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 retirement, capital preservation and to stay ahead of inflation creep; if and when it returns. 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..... Too busy of a weekend with other than money watching. Briefly; peeked at any news for EU and appears a coin toss; although the early Asian markets are somewhat happy. Started our own project of OOOF, Occupy Our Own Funds. Minimal outside managerial, political or other influences to affect our policy making decisions to OOOF; aside from the normal tiny variables in the global monetary market places...:):):) A money move last week as indicated further down the page.
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
SELLs/BUYs THIS PAST WEEK:
SOME CASH MOVED TO FINPX, which already had some monies invested from this house; and the percentages of holdings has been adjusted accordingly.
Portfolio Thoughts:
Our holdings had a +.67 % move this past week. And yes, we are satisfied with our risk adjusted returns YTD. If the portfolio can pull a +10 to 12% for the year; you will not hear any whining from this house. (This sentence was from an April write; and I/we suppose a +5% for the year may now look good, too !) Our portfolio is at - 3.65 % from the high point in mid-July.
The old Funds Boat may make 5% or 25% this year. I expect some rough waters, changing winds and opposing currents; causing the most serious attention being given to a firm hand upon the rudder control. (April report text)
We can hardly wait until Oct. 31 to find whether it will be the trick or the treat.
The immediate below % of holdings are only determined by a "fund" name, NO M* profile this week
CASH = 4.5%
Mixed bond funds = 87.4%
Equity funds = 8.1%
-Investment grade bond funds 26.8%
-Diversified bond funds 18.5%
-HY/HI bond funds 23.2%
-Total bond funds 14.6%
-Foreign EM/debt bond funds 4.3%
-U.S./Int'l equity/speciality funds 8.1%
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 Fed High Income
DIHYX TransAmerica HY
---Total Bond funds
FTBFX Fid Total
PTTRX Pimco Total
---Investment Grade Bonds
APOIX 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
TEGBX Templeton Global (load waived)
LSBDX Loomis Sayles
---Speciality Funds (sectors or mixed allocation)
FCVSX Fidelity Convertible Securities (bond/equity mix)
FRIFX Fidelity Real Estate Income (bond/equity mix)
FFGCX Fidelity Global Commodity
FDLSX Fidelity Select Leisure
FSAGX Fidelity Select Precious Metals
RNCOX RiverNorth Core Opportunity (bond/equity)
---Equity-Domestic/Foreign
FDVLX Fidelity Value
FSLVX Fidelity Lg. Cap Value
FLPSX Fidelity Low Price Stock

Howdy,
Again, a thank you to all who post the links and also 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 retirement, capital preservation and to stay ahead of inflation creep; if and when it returns. 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.....That sound is the pontoon boat's aluminum floats rubbing upon the sand bottom; as we are parked in a relative safe harbor, just 20 feet from the shoreline, protected on three sides from the strong winds blowing from one of the Great Lakes bordering Michigan. A 30' pontoon boat needs about 2' of water depth to not touch the below sand or rocks. The boat is in 3' of water depth, but the recent rocking motion of the boat comes from the larger waves that have formed farther out into the big lake surface; but still have impact into the shoreline of the safe harbor.
We find any number of boats in the area; some of whom have also taken safe harbor. A few have pulled their boats completely out of the water. There are other boats, confirmed with a look through the binoculars; that are navigating along into the bigger waves at various distances from the shoreline, and one knows there are other boats much farther out into the open waters of the big lake, but beyond the view of the horizon. We do hope that the weather radar systems upon all of these boats are in proper working order and that the pilots are able to recognize meaningful images to avoid the sudden; sometimes localized, and sometimes far reaching storms that come to be upon the Great Lakes.
Using the weather radar systems allows one to avoid most of the in place and obvious storms; but it is the weather fronts moving into positon that are most difficult to predict. Some of these will never develop into anything meaningful; other than some rain and wind. Some will become storms that pose the potential to do damage to one's boat.
Obviously, as our boat is in a relatively safe harbor, based upon our reading of the weather radar; we do not have the same comittment as those who choose to ply the open, equity waters. From our recent observations of the number of boats in safer harbors, versus those in the open equity waters; there remains a division of how the images upon the weather radar are being interpreted, relative to the weather fronts one may view.
For the below video link, click onto the name title first for a full screen play; so that you may then click onto the "show more" just below the video image which will let you view the text of the radio transmissions and the song lyric.

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
SELLs/BUYs THIS PAST WEEK:
NONE
Portfolio Thoughts:
Our holdings had a +1.35 % move this past week. And yes, we are satisfied with our risk adjusted returns YTD. If the portfolio can pull a +10 to 12% for the year; you will not hear any whining from this house. (This sentence was from an April write; and I/we suppose a +5% for the year may now look good, too !) Our portfolio is at - 3.65 % from the high point in mid-July.
The old Funds Boat may make 5% or 25% this year. I expect some rough waters, changing winds and opposing currents; causing the most serious attention being given to a firm hand upon the rudder control. (April report text)
Relative to our PTTRX holding, which is the only broad based bond portfolio available in one account; we continue to remain surprised that Mr. Gross' view of Pimco's "new normal" did not match the placement of the portfolio holdings, and the lack of performance YTD. For those checking any of the portfolio holdings, FTBFX had a short term distribution of .042/share and long term distribution of .094/share that is reflected in the NAV change of -1.36% on Friday.
We can hardly wait until Oct. 31 to find whether it will be the trick or the treat.
The immediate below % of holdings are only determined by a "fund" name, NO M* profile this week
CASH = 8.3%
Mixed bond funds = 83.6%
Equity funds = 8.1%
-Investment grade bond funds 23%
-Diversified bond funds 18.5%
-HY/HI bond funds 23.2%
-Total bond funds 14.6%
-Foreign EM/debt bond funds 4.3%
-U.S./Int'l equity/speciality funds 8.1%
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 Fed High Income
DIHYX TransAmerica HY
---Total Bond funds
FTBFX Fid Total
PTTRX Pimco Total
---Investment Grade Bonds
APOIX 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
TEGBX Templeton Global (load waived)
LSBDX Loomis Sayles
---Speciality Funds (sectors or mixed allocation)
FCVSX Fidelity Convertible Securities (bond/equity mix)
FRIFX Fidelity Real Estate Income (bond/equity mix)
FFGCX Fidelity Global Commodity
FDLSX Fidelity Select Leisure
FSAGX Fidelity Select Precious Metals
RNCOX RiverNorth Core Opportunity (bond/equity)
---Equity-Domestic/Foreign
FDVLX Fidelity Value
FSLVX Fidelity Lg. Cap Value
FLPSX Fidelity Low Price Stock

Reply to @catch22:
Hey Catch, I would consider YAFFX as a replacement for FSLVX. I would say YACKX but that is no longer NTF at Fidelity. Nevertheless, both Yacktman funds are very similar.
Alternatively, you can invest in a couple of good balanced funds and have the manager manage the bond/equity allocation for you. That way, you are less likely to be jumping in and out at wrong times. A few to consider: GLRBX, OAKBX, PRPFX, FPACX
Regarding allergies: I am sorry for you. Before I moved to Austin, I did not know much about allergies. I think within 5 years most people develop some allergies here. Some people claim Austin is the allergy capital of the world. I don't know if it is true. (Austinites also believe and advertise as Austin the Live Music Capital of the World)
Being Generation X, there are no pensions for me either. No cushy health benefits attached to a pension either. With the Republicans out there to destroy Medicare and Social Security as we know it, I think retirement will be much more difficult for me. I am not sure, if I will be able to build a big enough fund by then. I am not expecting a big inheritance to bail me out either. I still have 2 kids to send to college and college costs like health care is increasing much higher rate than inflation.
Bonds or equities? I wish, I knew. If I knew, I would buy long treasuries this summer. I am pretty heavy into equities but have a long time horizon.. Despite that I'm down ~5% YTD after recent rally. I try to get myself to buy a small amount on equities large down days. I think in the next 12 months market will be higher than now.

Hi scott,
"That said, I was a little surprised, given the retirement/near retirement age of many of the posters here that CAMAX had become more popular; that fund is aggressive and consistently aggressive - in addition, it can also use leverage. It does short, but not to great effect - it's a fund that will do well during good times and being at the bottom of the pack would not be surprising during bad times."
Yes, to the above. CAMAX was part of a barbell shape, offsetting the sleepy and slow moving bond funds we hold.
Tis why it was kicked out of the house, as you note above and what we saw. I have not and likely will not be a fan of long/short funds. I don't know that these folks have the edge in the current market environment. Had a discussion about BPLEX with Fundmentals when he was still around at FA.
Perhaps the long/short funds will get things right going forward; but I don't have faith in this practice, and if they do get things very right, I/we here will have missed that boat.
Thank you for your thoughts,
Catch

Sorry to hear about your experience with CAMAX - it happens and you move on. Everything is a learning experience, and there's always something new to learn with investing at any age.
That said, I was a little surprised, given the retirement/near retirement age of many of the posters here that CAMAX had become more popular; that fund is aggressive and consistently aggressive - in addition, it can also use leverage. It does short, but not to great effect - it's a fund that will do well during good times and being at the bottom of the pack would not be surprising during bad times.
I'd much rather suggest Marketfield (MFLDX), which is a very flexible long/short fund that has had a history of success at knowing when to dial up/down risk - it lost 12% in 2008 and was up 31% in 2009 and 14% in 2010. Past returns are no guarantee of future results, but this fund is - in my opinion - really one of the few successful long-short funds that has pulled off the strategy consistently.

HI Investor,
I'll do the old FA method for replies:
"SELLs/BUYs THIS PAST WEEK:
Sold entire postion in CAMAX, FSAVX and DHOAX, with all procedes going to FBNDX. We took it in the teeth with the first two......oh, well; tis how the cookie crumbles sometimes.
It looks like you bought CAMAX close to the top and and after you sold, stock funds has actually rallied significantly this week. Buy high sell low huh?
>>>>>As to CAMAX, bought high, relative to our sale price; but it remains to be seen if the sale price is the low. As to significant gains in the past week; it appears the fund was outperforming in up markets; but is having a hell of a time getting it right in a sideways market. The fund is acting like a long/short fund and having problems with the proper direction. So, gone it is. FSAVX.....really thought there would be more going forward, although not at the 2009 pace; so, gone, too. DHOAX...we had held this since May, 2009; but the fund was not holding up as well as the other HY funds....so, gone, too. All of this was and is still part of a "dump" waiting to be made.
Anyway, I know at the 1st qtr, you were starting an imaginary portfolio of funds. Did you check how it performed recently?
>>>>>The Grand Illusion fund. The portfolio mix is in place and the list is parked somewhere on this pc. I have not had time this summer to even look at the results so far. I will attempt to find this and place the list at MFO. Where we live in Michigan finds only about 2 more weeks of possible decent outside weather; to attempt to finish any outside projects. As we own and maintain our home (ah, the joys of home ownership :)...) some of the spring or fall months, and the summer days when there is no rain many times provide only "x" number of days to get anything accomplished. This summer, for me; had two downside kickers. I discovered I now have allergies to something outside and lost most of the month of June to do physical work outside; and my mother decided to buy a new home and move.........60 years worth of upwind at her previous home..........another month of unscheduled other work. Not the warmer weather project period I had envisioned last winter.
Addition: I am also curious why you continue to hold the Fidelity Large Cap Value fund which you purchased by mistake. I don't think it is a great fund either. Why not reallocate that fund into another fund?"
>>>>>This fund has had some very nice up days when the equity markets think they are happy. It isn't doing as poorly as many equity funds. What would you buy with the sale of this fund; knowing the overall moderately conservative mix we now have ?
Summary: The last two years has found us being Euro-ized two times. In May of 2010 and 2011. I was much too optimistic with the willingness and ability of the EuroZone leaders to come to grips with their problems. Our equity holdings have suffered from this and downsized the returns we have been slowly gathering in the bond sector. We were also expecting continued value in the Treasury bond area; but that sector has far surpassed our wildest thoughts about this.
Doing the silly rearview look at our portfolio: We would not have purchased many eqiuity funds in May, 2010 or 2011. We missed the equity move from the Sept. 2010 period. And we sure would have purchased a boat load of Treasury related funds in July of this year; had we known this area would exceed our optimistic view.
Either the bond market or equity market area is wrong at this time; looking forward to the next 6-12 months. This is an easy statement to make; but not easy to "call" looking forward.
As there are very few here (MFO) who have noted their holdings; I sure don't know how we measure against a similar portfolio, with the exception of Skeeter who notes his moves, but I don't know the holdings.
Our main goal; as is indicated, is to preserve capital, as we are not far away from no cash flow from "work". We will not have any grand pension or health care plan into retirement; as is common for many in this state related to the large boomer population retired from the unionized auto industry and the related large group of retired from what was a very large group of folks in the gov't/teaching/public sector; all of whom have very nice retirement packages. Without a post retirement health care plan provided and pre-Medicare retirement; a family plan here for health/dental currently has quotes of about $20,000/year with fairly high deductibles. We have always been aware of all of this with our chosen careers and have planned accordingly with building our own pension fund via IRA's, 401k's and related. We skipped all of the toys one used to find among the families in our area....the boats, snowmobiles, jet skis, the second home or cottage at the lake, etc. When we wanted or needed these adventures............we rented. We are debt free, with the exception of the normal recurring expenses.....property taxes, utilities, home/auto insurance, food and gas, etc.
So, there it is in a nutshell. We don't knowningly have a rich aunt, uncle or similar flowing inheritance money our way in the future, the self provided health care plan is going to cost an additional 9%/year at the current rate changes and we have our fingers crossed that we don't outlive our money.
While still seeking perfection in the invesment world, we will continue to make mistakes from not having time for the best research and will also be whipsawed by the perverted markets. Other than all of this, life is good.
I stepped through this reply fairly fast; and hopefully there are not many typos or mismatched thoughts; as I did not proofread the text.
Bonds sector or equity sector going forward for the next 6-12 months ??? What say you ?
Be well in Austin,
Catch

Skeeter, SVAAX is one I didn't know about, thanks. Nice in this kind of market with dividend paying stocks but a poor 5 year showing. Might be a little late now, but that's anybody's guess. I'm 77 and in-retirement and my equity allocation is fully invested.

Howdy,
Again, a thank you to all who post the links and also 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 retirement, capital preservation and to stay ahead of inflation creep; if and when it returns. 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..... The equity dump truck has its motor running and we just about pulled the lever to dump the whole related batch last week. As the market blipped up a few days, we did sell CAMAX, FSAVX; as well as DHOAX, in the bond sector. DHOAX in particular, for a technical aspect; indicated a Relative Strength that would indicate a buy for some folks. The encounter with this is what is fair value or undervalued. While I don't have any writes to direct to this area from 2008; one must suspect that there were enough "professionals" in the investment world who continued to find stuff "undervalued" per their guage. Some of these folks likely continued to be surprised for the next 6 months from Oct. 2008, as to what undervalued might really become. We all have our own guage to measure what we feel may be undervalued today; versus the unknown forward paths, and how the investments fit into our risk/reward scenario.
Most of Europe and the U.S. still find problematic conditions that remain paralyzed by both legal (Europe) and political circumstances. I can not begin to fully understand the most complex nature of the required interactions needed among the European nations that would offer a more positive prospect of corrective actions. The U.S.; well I sure don't find much comfort with the actions in D.C.; and sadly, there are some very decent folks there who work very hard and become road kill to the movers and shakers.
I can only offer this video link; in regard to the machinations of those in Europe and the U.S. who fiddle while the fires burn. I believe I had previously posted at FundAlarm.

VAN HALEN lyric:
Don't wanna wait 'til tomorrow
Why put it off another day?
One by one, little problems
Build up, and stand in our way. Oh
One step ahead, one step behind it
Now ya gotta run to get even
Make future plans I'll dream about yesterday, hey!
Come on turn, turn this thing around
(Right now) Hey! It's your tomorrow
(Right now) Come on, it's everything
(Right now) Catch your magic moment
Do it right here and now
It means everything
Miss a beat, you lose a rhythm
An nothin' falls into place. No!
Only missed by a fraction
Slipped a little off your pace. Oh!
The more things you get, the more you want
Just trade in one for another
Workin' so hard to make it easy
Whoa, got to turn. Come on, turn this thing around
(Right now) Hey, it's your tomorrow
(Right now) Come on, it's everything
(Right now) catch that magic moment
Do it right here and now
It means everything
Said a lie to me
Right now
What are ya waitin' for? Oh! Yeah!
Right now
(Right now) Hey! It's your tomorrow
(Right now) Come on, it's everything
(Right now) Catch that magic moment
And do it right, right now (Right now)
Oh, right now!
It's what's happening
Right here and now
Right now, it's right now
Oh!
Tell me, what are ya waitin' for?
Turn this thing around
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
SELLs/BUYs THIS PAST WEEK:
Sold entire postion in CAMAX, FSAVX and DHOAX, with all procedes going to FBNDX. We took it in the teeth with the first two......oh, well; tis how the cookie crumbles sometimes.
Portfolio Thoughts:
Our holdings had a -.34 % move this past week. And yes, we are satisfied with our risk adjusted returns YTD. If the portfolio can pull a +10 to 12% for the year; you will not hear any whining from this house. (This sentence was from an April write; and I/we suppose a +5% for the year may now look good, too !) Our portfolio is at - 5 % from the high point in mid-July.
OMG. was the first word cluster from the mouth at this house when discovering the portfolio was still positive for YTD.
DON'T like the recent action in the HY bond sector, not moving up much with the few equity blips. I take this as a traders market in equities with some "run and gun".....take some profits and run. Our sells this past week of the above indicated and moving to an IG bond fund tells you just about all you need to know about our feelings as to forward directions. More head scratching next week; without a doubt. We'll still maintain that if the kids in Europe get a real plan of value that is is accepted and not just show and tell; our portfolio will get a big kick down and those of you holding equity positions will smile. I/we here just don't feel the "love" of a plan of purpose headed down the path, anytime soon. So, we too; are in the darn if you, darn if you don't camp. And for the time being, we are stuck with PTTRX as the only bond fund in one particular account. At least its value is not yet negative. LSBDX may get a rework/trim job; as it is not happy in this current environment either.
The old Funds Boat may make 5% or 25% this year. I expect some rough waters, changing winds and opposing currents; causing the most serious attention being given to a firm hand upon the rudder control. (April report text)
The immediate below % of holdings are only determined by a "fund" name, NO M* profile this week
CASH = 8.3%
Mixed bond funds = 83.6%
Equity funds = 8.1%
-Investment grade bond funds 23%
-Diversified bond funds 18.5%
-HY/HI bond funds 23.2%
-Total bond funds 14.6%
-Foreign EM/debt bond funds 4.3%
-U.S./Int'l equity/speciality funds 8.1%
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 Fed High Income
DIHYX TransAmerica HY
---Total Bond funds
FTBFX Fid Total
PTTRX Pimco Total
---Investment Grade Bonds
APOIX 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
TEGBX Templeton Global (load waived)
LSBDX Loomis Sayles
---Speciality Funds (sectors or mixed allocation)
FCVSX Fidelity Convertible Securities (bond/equity mix)
FRIFX Fidelity Real Estate Income (bond/equity mix)
FFGCX Fidelity Global Commodity
FDLSX Fidelity Select Leisure
FSAGX Fidelity Select Precious Metals
RNCOX RiverNorth Core Opportunity (bond/equity)
---Equity-Domestic/Foreign
FDVLX Fidelity Value
FSLVX Fidelity Lg. Cap Value
FLPSX Fidelity Low Price Stock

Reply to @bee:
The actual ER of MFCFX is 1.49, which includes a dreadful 0.25% 12b-1 fee. The net ER of HAFLX is 1.00% through 2/29/2012. I purchased my shares of HAFLX for a reasonable minimum at Thinkorswim before it was gobbled up by TDAmeritrade. I just checked around at Fidelity, Firstrade, Schwab, Scottrade, and TDAmeritrade, and the minimum at these brokerages for both retirement and taxable accounts is $50K. I don't know of a way to access HAFLX for a reasonable minimum at this time.
Kevin