What Did You Buy Today?

[fenders53]

(04-09-2020, 11:15 AM)stockguru Wrote: I bought a big position in SHV. It almost like a money market fund but this one had a nice yield and and you get a nice .16-.18 cents each month. This thing basically trades in a $1 range. I thought it was a nice place to hide and put money over the next 2-3 years. Collect those dividends lol

Does anyone else know this one or invest in it?

I Shares Short Treasury Bond ETF (SHV)

It's an ultra-short bond fund.  I keep most all of my cash in a very similar Vanguard fund.  About the only advice I have is this is one of the few times they are a little more volatile than normal.  Try to catch it near the bottom of its short-term trading range when you buy new shares, and the opposite if you sell some of it.  2% is about as good as it gets in a safe fund.  Just have to be careful not to cut the yield in half with bad trades in and out.  Be careful and your effective yield might be about 2 1/2%.  It's the only bond fund type I will touch right now because the risk-reward is not good on much anything longer term.  The yield on longer term bonds is bad so you have to enter and exit them like a stock.  Anyway, a good decision IMO.

[divmenow]

(04-09-2020, 11:47 AM)fenders53 Wrote:

(04-09-2020, 11:15 AM)stockguru Wrote: I bought a big position in SHV. It almost like a money market fund but this one had a nice yield and and you get a nice .16-.18 cents each month. This thing basically trades in a $1 range. I thought it was a nice place to hide and put money over the next 2-3 years. Collect those dividends lol

Does anyone else know this one or invest in it?

I Shares Short Treasury Bond ETF (SHV)

It's an ultra-short bond fund.  I keep most all of my cash in a very similar Vanguard fund.  About the only advice I have is this is one of the few times they are a little more volatile than normal.  Try to catch it near the bottom of its short-term trading range when you buy new shares, and the opposite if you sell some of it.  2% is about as good as it gets in a safe fund.  Just have to be careful not to cut the yield in half with bad trades in and out.  Be careful and your effective yield might be about 2 1/2%.  It's the only bond fund type I will touch right now because the risk-reward is not good on much anything longer term.  The yield on longer term bonds is bad so you have to enter and exit them like a stock.  Anyway, a good decision IMO.

I like the decision to buy this ultra short bond fund. Your getting in at a decent price to hide over the next few months. But if your just buying 1 or 2 shares it’s not worth it lol. This is something you have to put 25k in just to make it worth your while and collect the dividend payouts..

Today we are in bull market.

last week we were in Great Depression II.

[EricL]

Sold out of my position in Thor Industries (THO) and trimmed my DLR position by roughly 20% as it sits near all-time highs.

Used the proceeds to add roughly 50% to my Watsco (WSO) and tripled my position on 3M (MMM).

After the trade DLR is still my largest holding at a more than 2X weighting, while WSO and MMM are now roughly equal weight.

Thought I'd take advantage of the big pop in THO the last few days to exit. Not a fan of its BB- credit rating in the current economic environment.

Picked up a bit over 1% in yield with the trades.

[fenders53]

(04-09-2020, 11:15 AM)stockguru Wrote: I bought a big position in SHV. It almost like a money market fund but this one had a nice yield and and you get a nice .16-.18 cents each month. This thing basically trades in a $1 range. I thought it was a nice place to hide and put money over the next 2-3 years. Collect those dividends lol

Does anyone else know this one or invest in it?

I Shares Short Treasury Bond ETF (SHV)

(04-09-2020, 01:29 PM)divmenow Wrote:

(04-09-2020, 11:47 AM)fenders53 Wrote:

(04-09-2020, 11:15 AM)stockguru Wrote: I bought a big position in SHV. It almost like a money market fund but this one had a nice yield and and you get a nice .16-.18 cents each month. This thing basically trades in a $1 range. I thought it was a nice place to hide and put money over the next 2-3 years. Collect those dividends lol

Does anyone else know this one or invest in it?

I Shares Short Treasury Bond ETF (SHV)

It's an ultra-short bond fund.  I keep most all of my cash in a very similar Vanguard fund.  About the only advice I have is this is one of the few times they are a little more volatile than normal.  Try to catch it near the bottom of its short-term trading range when you buy new shares, and the opposite if you sell some of it.  2% is about as good as it gets in a safe fund.  Just have to be careful not to cut the yield in half with bad trades in and out.  Be careful and your effective yield might be about 2 1/2%.  It's the only bond fund type I will touch right now because the risk-reward is not good on much anything longer term.  The yield on longer term bonds is bad so you have to enter and exit them like a stock.  Anyway, a good decision IMO.

I like the decision to buy this ultra short bond fund. Your getting in at a decent price to hide over the next few months. But if your just buying 1 or 2 shares it’s not worth it lol. This is something you have to put 25k in just to make it worth your while and collect the dividend payouts..

Today we are in bull market.

last week we were in Great Depression II.

I seriously have about 20% of my net worth in such a fund.  Is that good enough for you or should we get part-time jobs?    It's getting hard to get even close to a 2% yield without locking up a lot of money for a long term CD, which I'm not doing.  I think my settlement funds are sub 1 1/2% and fading weekly. 

This week was nuts.  I kept on trimming to get my cash where it should be.  Definitely a top ten investing career week, probably top five actually and I am hedged.  This makes no sense.  I look forward to some buying opportunities soon.  MArket is going to pull back hard eventually so let's get it over with.   

A very Happy Easter to all of you who celebrate.

[divmenow]

I know I know. But what ever I just bought 50 shares of FDX at $120.35. I have been watching since $129 today. I was very patient in waiting lol.

I have a feeling FDX numbers are going to be a bit surprising on the upside. They have been taking shipments from Amazon and people are still buying online. This will now become a core holding for me. I will add more in weakness.

I'm also looking at NSC, CNI, GPC, ATVI and Fang.

GPC is one I may buy before the closing bell

[stockguru]

(04-09-2020, 02:22 PM)divmenow Wrote: I know I know. But what ever I just bought 50 shares of FDX at $120.35. I have been watching since $129 today. I was very patient in waiting lol.

I have a feeling FDX numbers are going to be a bit surprising on the upside. They have been taking shipments from Amazon and people are still buying online. This will now become a core holding for me. I will add more in weakness.

I'm also looking at NSC, CNI, GPC, ATVI and Fang.

GPC is one I may buy before the closing bell

I was looking at FDX and GPC as well.  My husband really likes GPC and his brother is a retail dealer.

Why not I bought FDX as well. I will look at GPC again. Looks very undervalued and has raised its dividend and had paid a dividend since 1948.

[peachday]

(04-09-2020, 11:15 AM)stockguru Wrote: I bought a big position in SHV. It almost like a money market fund but this one had a nice yield and and you get a nice .16-.18 cents each month. This thing basically trades in a $1 range. I thought it was a nice place to hide and put money over the next 2-3 years. Collect those dividends lol

Does anyone else know this one or invest in it?

I Shares Short Treasury Bond ETF (SHV)

Significant portion of my net worth is equally split in SHV and BIL for diversification purpose but both are very equally safe since they only hold US government treasuries.

They are certainly some of the safest cash alternatives available but the yield doesn't even beat the inflation. Every time I see their tiny dividends (especially compare to my other dividend stocks) I have to keep reminding myself that their primary objective is safety and not the return . Without risk, some thing is better than nothing I guess.

[fenders53]

(04-09-2020, 04:13 PM)peachday Wrote:

(04-09-2020, 11:15 AM)stockguru Wrote: I bought a big position in SHV. It almost like a money market fund but this one had a nice yield and and you get a nice .16-.18 cents each month. This thing basically trades in a $1 range. I thought it was a nice place to hide and put money over the next 2-3 years. Collect those dividends lol

Does anyone else know this one or invest in it?

I Shares Short Treasury Bond ETF (SHV)

Significant portion of my net worth is equally split in SHV and BIL for diversification purpose but both are very equally safe since they only hold US government treasuries.

They are certainly some of the safest cash alternatives available but the yield doesn't even beat the inflation. Every time I see their tiny dividends (especially compare to my other dividend stocks) I have to keep reminding myself that their primary objective is safety and not the return . Without risk, some thing is better than nothing I guess.

Those thoughts cross my mind in a sustained bull market.  In a market like this I tell myself it's safely earning 2%, while I wait for a Div stock yielding 4% to go on sale for 20%+ off, and ex-Div next week.  There are also a lot of preferred stock ETFs on sale now that pay huge dividends due to price correction. It's been pretty easy to skim a little extra income with a small part of your cash position and you are still almost as safe overall.  Last year is when it was tough with about everything quality at dangerous valuations.   What's crazy is trying to get 4-5% with a corporate bond fund that holds some weak paper to boost the overall yield.  A discounted high quality aristocrat is a much safer IMO.  I feel sorry for retired folks that don't really understand the markets.  For decades they could just put it all in bonds and enjoy their remaining years.  I'm sure some were forced into stocks the past few years and didn't really know the risk we are seeing now.

[Otter]

(04-09-2020, 04:39 PM)fenders53 Wrote:

(04-09-2020, 04:13 PM)peachday Wrote:

(04-09-2020, 11:15 AM)stockguru Wrote: I bought a big position in SHV. It almost like a money market fund but this one had a nice yield and and you get a nice .16-.18 cents each month. This thing basically trades in a $1 range. I thought it was a nice place to hide and put money over the next 2-3 years. Collect those dividends lol

Does anyone else know this one or invest in it?

I Shares Short Treasury Bond ETF (SHV)

Significant portion of my net worth is equally split in SHV and BIL for diversification purpose but both are very equally safe since they only hold US government treasuries.

They are certainly some of the safest cash alternatives available but the yield doesn't even beat the inflation. Every time I see their tiny dividends (especially compare to my other dividend stocks) I have to keep reminding myself that their primary objective is safety and not the return . Without risk, some thing is better than nothing I guess.

Those thoughts cross my mind in a sustained bull market.  In a market like this I tell myself it's safely earning 2%, while I wait for a Div stock yielding 4% to go on sale for 20%+ off, and ex-Div next week.  There are also a lot of preferred stock ETFs on sale now that pay huge dividends due to price correction. It's been pretty easy to skim a little extra income with a small part of your cash position and you are still almost as safe overall.  Last year is when it was tough with about everything quality at dangerous valuations.   What's crazy is trying to get 4-5% with a corporate bond fund that holds some weak paper to boost the overall yield.  A discounted high quality aristocrat is a much safer IMO.  I feel sorry for retired folks that don't really understand the markets.  For decades they could just put it all in bonds and enjoy their remaining years.  I'm sure some were forced into stocks the past few years and didn't really know the risk we are seeing now.

Junk bonds now have the backing of the Federal Reserve, so there's that. Those purchases are on the secondary market though, and not original issues. So, when the underlying junk bonds go into default, does the Federal Reserve also give dollars to the defaulting subprime companies to pay off the junk bonds?

[fenders53]

(04-09-2020, 04:44 PM)Otter Wrote:

(04-09-2020, 04:39 PM)fenders53 Wrote:

(04-09-2020, 04:13 PM)peachday Wrote:

(04-09-2020, 11:15 AM)stockguru Wrote: I bought a big position in SHV. It almost like a money market fund but this one had a nice yield and and you get a nice .16-.18 cents each month. This thing basically trades in a $1 range. I thought it was a nice place to hide and put money over the next 2-3 years. Collect those dividends lol

Does anyone else know this one or invest in it?

I Shares Short Treasury Bond ETF (SHV)

Significant portion of my net worth is equally split in SHV and BIL for diversification purpose but both are very equally safe since they only hold US government treasuries.

They are certainly some of the safest cash alternatives available but the yield doesn't even beat the inflation. Every time I see their tiny dividends (especially compare to my other dividend stocks) I have to keep reminding myself that their primary objective is safety and not the return . Without risk, some thing is better than nothing I guess.

Those thoughts cross my mind in a sustained bull market.  In a market like this I tell myself it's safely earning 2%, while I wait for a Div stock yielding 4% to go on sale for 20%+ off, and ex-Div next week.  There are also a lot of preferred stock ETFs on sale now that pay huge dividends due to price correction. It's been pretty easy to skim a little extra income with a small part of your cash position and you are still almost as safe overall.  Last year is when it was tough with about everything quality at dangerous valuations.   What's crazy is trying to get 4-5% with a corporate bond fund that holds some weak paper to boost the overall yield.  A discounted high quality aristocrat is a much safer IMO.  I feel sorry for retired folks that don't really understand the markets.  For decades they could just put it all in bonds and enjoy their remaining years.  I'm sure some were forced into stocks the past few years and didn't really know the risk we are seeing now.

Junk bonds now have the backing of the Federal Reserve, so there's that. Those purchases are on the secondary market though, and not original issues. So, when the underlying junk bonds go into default, does the Federal Reserve also give dollars to the defaulting subprime companies to pay off the junk bonds?

A couple of those funds I posted on the spec thread a couple days ago all carry at least a a few shaky notes to boost the Div yield.  Normally safe enough but this is a special time.  Thanks FED, those funds are on fire this week.  I guess I might as well enjoy some of my tax dollars.  To your question, I think it is probably just an attempt to keep the overall low quality bonds market from imploding when a few default.  They'd all get steamrolled including the ones that are in no real danger.  That panic thing.

[Otter]

(04-09-2020, 04:54 PM)fenders53 Wrote:

(04-09-2020, 04:44 PM)Otter Wrote:

(04-09-2020, 04:39 PM)fenders53 Wrote:

(04-09-2020, 04:13 PM)peachday Wrote:

(04-09-2020, 11:15 AM)stockguru Wrote: I bought a big position in SHV. It almost like a money market fund but this one had a nice yield and and you get a nice .16-.18 cents each month. This thing basically trades in a $1 range. I thought it was a nice place to hide and put money over the next 2-3 years. Collect those dividends lol

Does anyone else know this one or invest in it?

I Shares Short Treasury Bond ETF (SHV)

Significant portion of my net worth is equally split in SHV and BIL for diversification purpose but both are very equally safe since they only hold US government treasuries.

They are certainly some of the safest cash alternatives available but the yield doesn't even beat the inflation. Every time I see their tiny dividends (especially compare to my other dividend stocks) I have to keep reminding myself that their primary objective is safety and not the return . Without risk, some thing is better than nothing I guess.

Those thoughts cross my mind in a sustained bull market.  In a market like this I tell myself it's safely earning 2%, while I wait for a Div stock yielding 4% to go on sale for 20%+ off, and ex-Div next week.  There are also a lot of preferred stock ETFs on sale now that pay huge dividends due to price correction. It's been pretty easy to skim a little extra income with a small part of your cash position and you are still almost as safe overall.  Last year is when it was tough with about everything quality at dangerous valuations.   What's crazy is trying to get 4-5% with a corporate bond fund that holds some weak paper to boost the overall yield.  A discounted high quality aristocrat is a much safer IMO.  I feel sorry for retired folks that don't really understand the markets.  For decades they could just put it all in bonds and enjoy their remaining years.  I'm sure some were forced into stocks the past few years and didn't really know the risk we are seeing now.

Junk bonds now have the backing of the Federal Reserve, so there's that. Those purchases are on the secondary market though, and not original issues. So, when the underlying junk bonds go into default, does the Federal Reserve also give dollars to the defaulting subprime companies to pay off the junk bonds?

A couple of those funds I posted on the spec thread a couple days ago all carry at least a a few shaky notes to boost the Div yield.  Normally safe enough but this is a special time.  Thanks FED, those funds are on fire this week.  I guess I might as well enjoy some of my tax dollars.  To your question, I think it is probably just an attempt to keep the overall low quality bonds market from imploding when a few default.  They'd all get steamrolled including the ones that are in no real danger.  That panic thing.

Just for fun, I decided to go check out the iShares fund page for HYG, one of the largest junk bond funds:

https://www.ishares.com/us/products/2395...e-bond-etf

There, you can scroll down to the "holdings" portion of the page and search for various underlying holdings.  There's fun stuff in there, like over $3.5 million notional value of Whiting Petroleum bonds.

$6.4 million notional value of Chesapeake Energy Corp. bonds.

Some really high quality stuff to jump into.

[fenders53]

(04-09-2020, 05:09 PM)Otter Wrote:

(04-09-2020, 04:54 PM)fenders53 Wrote:

(04-09-2020, 04:44 PM)Otter Wrote:

(04-09-2020, 04:39 PM)fenders53 Wrote:

(04-09-2020, 04:13 PM)peachday Wrote: Significant portion of my net worth is equally split in SHV and BIL for diversification purpose but both are very equally safe since they only hold US government treasuries.

They are certainly some of the safest cash alternatives available but the yield doesn't even beat the inflation. Every time I see their tiny dividends (especially compare to my other dividend stocks) I have to keep reminding myself that their primary objective is safety and not the return . Without risk, some thing is better than nothing I guess.

Those thoughts cross my mind in a sustained bull market.  In a market like this I tell myself it's safely earning 2%, while I wait for a Div stock yielding 4% to go on sale for 20%+ off, and ex-Div next week.  There are also a lot of preferred stock ETFs on sale now that pay huge dividends due to price correction. It's been pretty easy to skim a little extra income with a small part of your cash position and you are still almost as safe overall.  Last year is when it was tough with about everything quality at dangerous valuations.   What's crazy is trying to get 4-5% with a corporate bond fund that holds some weak paper to boost the overall yield.  A discounted high quality aristocrat is a much safer IMO.  I feel sorry for retired folks that don't really understand the markets.  For decades they could just put it all in bonds and enjoy their remaining years.  I'm sure some were forced into stocks the past few years and didn't really know the risk we are seeing now.

Junk bonds now have the backing of the Federal Reserve, so there's that. Those purchases are on the secondary market though, and not original issues. So, when the underlying junk bonds go into default, does the Federal Reserve also give dollars to the defaulting subprime companies to pay off the junk bonds?

A couple of those funds I posted on the spec thread a couple days ago all carry at least a a few shaky notes to boost the Div yield.  Normally safe enough but this is a special time.  Thanks FED, those funds are on fire this week.  I guess I might as well enjoy some of my tax dollars.  To your question, I think it is probably just an attempt to keep the overall low quality bonds market from imploding when a few default.  They'd all get steamrolled including the ones that are in no real danger.  That panic thing.

Just for fun, I decided to go check out the iShares fund page for HYG, one of the largest junk bond funds:

https://www.ishares.com/us/products/2395...e-bond-etf

There, you can scroll down to the "holdings" portion of the page and search for various underlying holdings.  There's fun stuff in there, like over $3.5 million notional value of Whiting Petroleum bonds.

$6.4 million notional value of Chesapeake Energy Corp. bonds.

Some really high quality stuff to jump into.

I'll have to admit I owned a junk bond fund, but only once.  Late last year I was searching for yield as my safe stuff was dropping yields with every FED rate reduction.  The junk fund started getting a little volatile about the time oil started to struggle.  I got out with a tiny gain.  I should go check on that ETF but I know the answer without looking. The fund you posted doesn't look so horrible in a stable market, but it will blow up soon without some backing.