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This article from Kiplinger Personal Finance discusses various investment options for individuals seeking income from their portfolios. It notes that fixed income is returning to a more normal state, with risk-free Treasuries offering real yields of about 2% and higher yields available on riskier high-yield bonds. The article provides a guide to attractive income-producing investments in nine different categories, ranging from low-risk to higher-risk options. It emphasizes the importance of having a financial plan and considering individual financial situations before investing. The article also highlights the potential for higher yields in foreign stocks and leveraged investments, while emphasizing the importance of diversification. [Extracted from the article]

Higher rates can stress property borrowers as well as lead to higher yields for bonds, which some investors see as yield competition for REITs. HOW TO INVEST: Yields average 6% to 7% in the sector, but Lack notes that free-cash-flow yields (free cash flow per share divided by share price) are nearly double that, and he projects that those flows will grow in the mid-single- digit percentages this year. For lending to these riskier businesses, investors are compensated with higher yields than investment-grade bonds offer (the current yield of a widely used high-yield bond index is nearly 9%). Yields are respectable again in Treasury securities and high-grade corporate IOUs and much plumper in riskier high-yield bonds. [Extracted from the article]

STAYING AT HOME You can loosely divide U.S. companies into three groups: those negatively affected by dollar appreciation, those helped by a strong greenback, and domestically oriented outfits that are not directly impacted by currency movements. CURRENCY CONTENDERS OUR PICKS FOR A RISING GREENBACK The stocks and funds below should be able to do well when the dollar is strong. INVESTING Among the many challenges confronting investors in 2022 is the dizzying rise of the U.S. dollar. [Extracted from the article]

INVESTING A Fund Legend Shares Stock-Picking Secrets On a recent sunny morning in New York City, Ron Baron, founder, chairman and chief executive officer of Baron Capital, is standing and studying Sixteen Jackies, a famous painting of Jackie Kennedy by Andy Warhol that Baron purchased through a dealer. Past performers include Paul McCartney, Elton John and Billy Joel (one performer whom Baron would like to perform someday is Bruce Springsteen, who hails from Baron's hometown of Asbury Park). "The pool of investors focused on what a company will earn in five years is much smaller than on what it'll earn next quarter or year", says Andrew Peck, co-chief investment officer (with Cliff Greenberg) and a portfolio manager who joined the firm in 1998. Baron Growth is the top midsize-company growth fund since its inception in 1994; Baron Partners and Baron Focused Growth are the top performers among all mutual funds since their inceptions in the 1990s. [Extracted from the article]

These funds typically build their long and short bets with an overall target in mind for net long exposure, or the difference between the fund's long and short positions. We'll introduce three of them here: long-short funds, market-neutral funds and managed-futures funds. MARKET-NEUTRAL FUNDS Market-neutral is a long-short strategy with a twist: The funds balance long and short stock exposures in order to achieve a 0% net long exposure to the stock market. The fund selects investments among 10,000 stocks listed around the globe, which are first filtered by a quantitative process that helps to identify statistically cheap stocks with good businesses for the long side of the portfolio and, conversely, low-ranked securities with declining earnings trends for the short side. [Extracted from the article]

The yield on VANGUARD FEDERAL MONEY MARKET (SYMBOL VMFXX, YIELD 0.19%) should rise steadily this year, partly because there is a time lag between Fed moves and yield moves in a money market portfolio. Colby observes that on only a handful of occasions over the past 20 years did the ratio of 10-year muni yields to 10-year Treasury yields surpass 90%. Find ATTRACTIVE YIELDS in Today's Market THE RISKS: As with Treasuries, investment-grade munis (there is also a high-yield muni market) are high-duration bonds that are particularly sensitive to interest-rate movements. [Extracted from the article]

INVESTING With their winning combination of low account minimums and affordable access to professional investment and financial-planning advice, robo advisers continue to grow briskly. Rewards from shopping at hundreds of brands are swept into investment accounts, and clients can easily allocate a portion of each paycheck to an account. Review the menu of investment options and the extent to which customers can fiddle with the robo's default portfolios. Customers whose self-tailored portfolios stray too far from their stated investment goals and risk tolerance receive nudges from Wealthfront, which also offers sophisticated tax-loss harvesting and tax-sensitive rebalancing strategies. [Extracted from the article]

3%-4% HIGH-YIELD BONDS High-yield "junk" bonds are issued by companies with below-investment-grade ratings. PGIM HIGH YIELD (PHYZX, 4.1%), which focuses on higher-rated junk (that is, bonds rated double- and single-B), has placed in the top performance decile of high-yield funds over the past decade. 1%-3% INVESTMENT-GRADE BONDS In normal times, the core of a typical fixed-income portfolio comprises investment-grade bonds issued by the U.S. Treasury, government agencies and corporations that provide income without large fluctuations in bond price. But today, the sub-5% average yield for "high-yield" bonds is extremely low by historical standards, a function of the current low-interest-rate regime and tight spreads between junk and investment-grade bonds. [Extracted from the article]

To lure more young investors, it now charges no fees for accounts with balances of less than $10,000; a $3 per month flat fee for those with a $10,000 to $50,000 balance; and a 0.35% annual fee for accounts with more than $50,000. The annual fee of 0.89% is high relative to other robos, but it's lower than the usual fee for a private wealth manager, which typically charges 1% or more for accounts with less than $1 million. CHARLES SCHWAB As with Fidelity and Vanguard, Schwab has had great success in coaxing its own long-standing, self-directed brokerage clients into the firm's two robo offerings, Intelligent Portfolios and Intelligent Portfolios Premium, which helps to explain why the lion's share of its digital-advice clients are over the age of 50. The minimum account size is $2,000, and accounts of up to $10,000 are free of fees; larger accounts are charged an annual 0.25% fee and come with access to a human investment adviser. [Extracted from the article]

INVESTING THE SEMICONDUCTOR INDUSTRY GRABBED headlines in 2021 mostly due to a supply shortage that crippled industries, such as autos, for which chips are a key component. Vying with Nvidia to be the most valuable semiconductor company (by market value) in the world, Taiwan Semi is investing $100 billion from 2021 to 2023 in new chip-fabrication facilities to meet supply shortages and rapidly expanding demand. Angelo Zino, an analyst for investment research firm CFRA, foresees a "super cycle" for the industry over the next decade as the content per device and sophistication of semiconductors grow. [Extracted from the article]

INVESTING PRESCRIPTION FOR 2022 AS THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC recedes, routine doctor and hospital visits, along with deferred medical procedures such as cataract surgery and heart valve replacements, are returning to normal. With innovation and some of these secular trends in mind, we identified six intriguing health care stocks that literally span the alphabet, from letter A to letter Z. We particularly like companies that address large and growing end markets, especially global ones. Eaton Vance's Kritzer calls Optum, an industry leader in the digitization of services, "a very large health IT company inside an insurance giant.". [Extracted from the article]

And therein lies an opportunity for income-starved investors, who can now find yields on assets such as high-quality stocks, real estate investment trusts and high-yield bonds that were unavailable in recent years. Prices, yields and other data are through April 17. 0% - 2% SHORT-TERM ACCOUNTS Yields on short-term, fixed-income accounts and securities follow the Fed's short-term interest rate. Mayukh Poddar, portfolio manager at Altfest Personal Wealth Management, says that in normal times, munis yield 80% to 85% of what equivalent-maturity Treasuries yield. At the start of 2020, high-yield bonds yielded only 5%, and the spread over Treasury yields of similar maturity averaged only three to four percentage points. [Extracted from the article]

It's little wonder that investors worry about the turmoil spreading to the world's other financial markets - or about whether to invest in the humongous Chinese market at all. AHEAD AHEAD TOPIC A THE NEWS FROM CHINESE financial markets in recent months certainly has succeeded in grabbing headlines. [Extracted from the article]

7%-10% | High-Yield Bonds These high-yield "junk" bonds are issued by firms with below-investment-grade ratings. Money market mutual funds trade daily, which can be important for liquidity, and funds such as Vanguard Federal Money Market (symbol VMFXX, yield 4.8%) offer attractive yields. IF THERE IS ONE SILVER LINING FROM THE FEDERAL Reserve Board's dramatic tightening of monetary policy, it is that much-higher interest rates have produced some attractive yields for investors in bonds and some other asset classes. [Extracted from the article]

The article discusses municipal bonds that are issued by U.S. state and local governments pay interest that is free from federal taxes; and core of a typical fixed-income portfolio comprises investment-grade government and corporate bonds. It mentions Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs) are required to distribute majority of their income each year to shareholders.

The article offers information on the mutual funds for the retiring or retired people in the U.S. It is mentioned that under the category of balanced funds investing in funds of FPA Crescents Associates LLC is a good option as it gives better returns than the contemporaries. The equity income finds of T. Rowe Price Associates Inc. are prudent investment options under the large company stock funds. Also, incomes funds from the company Dodge & Cox are recommended under fixed income funds.

The article evaluates several funds included in the Kiplinger 25 which includes Primecap Odyssey Growth (POGRX), T. Rowe Price Equity Income (PRFDX), and Vanguard Dividend Growth (VDIGX).

The article reports on the expected increase in cash dividends of several companies in the U.S. in 2010. It indicates the possible increase in cash dividends is due to the rising profit of Corporate America and economic recovery in the country. An example would be the 368 dividend-paying members of the Standard & Poor's Corp. (S&P) 500 who will be giving 212 billion dollars in cash.

The article offers information about several well-managed mutual funds (MF) in the U.S., which are included in the "Mutual Funds" periodical's top 25 list. These include the large-company fund Fidelity Contrafund, the Marsico Global overseas fund and the Fidelity Low-Priced Stock. The article also offers some advice on how to maximize the after-tax returns of a MF investment.

The article offers suggestions for investors on how to choose the right mutual fund to invest in. One is to review the long-term investment objectives and understand asset allocation. Another is to study the fund holdings and to know more about the fund manager. It is also important for investors to consider valuable information on fund returns and performance during bear markets.

The article discusses the performance of Dodge & Cox (D&C), a San Francisco, California-based fund manager. It notes that D&C has performed well for the past twenty years and has an average of nine percent in stock returns. The author claims that its 2008 performance sees all of its funds posting weak results, with D&C Stock losing 43 percent. The 2008 losses are more painful as compared to the slumps that it experienced from 1995 through 1999. Cited as attributes to its losses are the series of investment blunders inside and outside the financial realm.

The article discusses the 25 best mutual funds for 2009. The selection is made based on great management and benchmark-beating records, and low costs. It notes that the method used for the evaluation and selection is straightforward which means comparisons are made based on track records of the fund managers, their investment strategy and style, and their performance. Three of the 25 best mutual funds are Vanguard Primecap Core, Dodge & Cox Stock, and Harbor Bond.

The article focuses on several new financial funds. These include WHG Large Cap Value, Harbor Large Cap Value and Marsico Flexible Capital. Richard Evans, a finance professor at Boston College, explained the impact that funds with small and large asset bases have on stock prices when they trade in and out of shares. The article suggests that new funds are able to enter and exit positions without tipping off the market because they are usually small with smaller funds that are flexible.

The article presents the top 25 stocks and bonds that may help in wealth-building goals. The three companies include the Marsico 21st Century which combines the ideas of Goldman Sachs, MasterCard and some midsize and small companies and is managed by Tom Marsico, the Harbor Bond managed by Bill Gross with the Pimco team, and the Julius Baer International Equity II which holds the same portfolio as that of the International but without the small-company stocks. It also explores the companies' achievements.

The article offers 3 lessons in understanding funds through mutual fund devotee Tim Pollard. In the first lesson, Pollard cites several benefits from mutual fund including higher stock returns, expert brainpower, and transparency. The second lesson provides guidelines on selecting funds including picking funds with good performance, looking for funds with calendar-year decile ranks, and funds with fewer assets. Lesson 3 advises to sell funds when the portfolio manager leaves, asset bloats, and stock overlaps.

This article focuses on some of the best broker-sold mutual funds in the U.S. They include Quaker Strategic Growth, Ivy Asset Strategy, Keeley Small Cap Value, Legg Mason Partners Aggressive Growth, Calvert Large Cap Growth, Pioneer Cullen Value, Thornburg Value and Thornburg International Value. It explains the reasons for the attractiveness of these types of mutual funds. It presents information on the performance of these funds and the people who manage them.

This article looks at the 20 biggest no-load stock funds in the U.S. It explains that the factors considered by this periodical in ranking the 20 biggest no-load stock funds. It says that biggest does not mean better in the mutual funds world, but the stock funds selected in this article are proven champions. They include Dodge & Cox Stock, Vanguard Windsor, Fidelity Low-Priced Stock, Fidelity Magellan, Vanguard Primecap, Fidelity Growth & Income and Fidelity Growth Company.

This article features 15 mutual funds that are best for investments. The mutual funds are Dodge & Cox International Stock, Excelsior Value & Restructuring, Fidelity Floating-Rate High Income, Harbor Bond, Hodges, Homestead Value, Loomis Sayless Bond, Marsico Growth, Merger, Medidian Growth, Oakmark International, Selected American Shares, Skyline Special Equities, T. Rowe Price Growth Stocks and T. Rowe Price Rea Estate. It presents information on the performance of the funds.

The article discusses the advantages of investing in municipal bonds. According to the author, default rates in the municipal bond market have been exceptionally low. The author adds that investors have several options to own municipal bonds. These include mutual funds, exchange-traded funds and closed-end funds. The author stresses that mutual funds offer diversification and professional management.

The article elaborates on several load mutual funds that are available to investors without a fee through financial advisers, brokerage wrap accounts, 401(k) and 529 plans in the U.S. These include American Funds New World, Franklin Mutual Global Discovery, RS Global Natural Resources and Eaton Vance Worldwide Health Sciences. Information on total return, maximum sales charge and trading symbol are provided.

The article focuses on several fund managers. These include Rob Gensler of T. Rowe Price Global Stock, David Winters of Wintergreen fund, Don Hodges of Hodges fund and John Osterweis of Osterweis fund. The article focuses on the efforts of these managers to help ensure that the role of their respective companies is further established in the fund-management business.

The author reviews five promising closed-end funds that focus on stocks and bonds including Claymore Dividend & Income, Source Capital, and BlackRock Core Bond (BHK).

The article discusses aspects of investing in the municipal bond markets in the U.S. despite remarkable low rates in the past. It reveals that some states have faced budget problems during the depression. John Miller, municipal bond department head of company Nuveen believes in the difference between the image of fiscal balance of a municipal government and its ability to pay debts. Several ways to own the bonds including taking the fund route and considering exchange-traded funds are described.

The article offers things to consider in looking dividends that grow every year in the U.S. It suggests comparing the expected return on a dividend-growth stock with a U.S. Treasury bond. It analyzes the dividend-growth strategy of several companies including Coca-Cola Co., Philip Morris International Management SA, and Abbott Laboratories Inc.

The article discusses the best funds that can protect their clients' investments during economic downturn. It highlights the innovative strategies used by the funds to anchor their clients' investments and their growth prospects. Cited in the article are Hussman Strategic Growth, Permanent Portfolio, FPA Crescent, Fairholme, and T. Rowe Price Health Sciences.

The article discusses which mutual funds can help investors minimize their exposure to capital-gain taxes. It is noted that funds are required to pay taxes even if they have lost money. The author cites several tax-friendly funds which include Vanguard Total Stock Marke Index, iShares S&P 500 Index, Tax-Managed Growth & Income, Fidelity Tax Managed Stock, and Fairholme.

This article explains that making a decision on which mutual funds to abandon is just as important as which mutual funds to buy. It says that investing in mutual funds is somehow like entering into a relationship. Investors should know their mutual funds well. It identifies factors that should warn investors when to consider parting with their mutual funds. It says that a change of portfolio manager and poor performance are just some of the factors that investors should watch out for.

Reports on the threat of inflation on China's economic growth. Reasons why China has high inflation rate; Inefficiency of state-owned companies; Failure of the state-owned companies to pay their bills; Communist Party leaders' reluctance to give up the basic theory of socialism.

Features the music company, Grammy Entertainment of Thailand. Information about the company and the founders Paiboon Damrongchaitam and Rewat Buddhinan; Relation of Grammy Entertainment with Thorn EMI's EMI Music, Time Warner's Warner Music and Bertelsmann's BMG.