Nancy- I trade Funds directly, on the 'Net...
...no broker or fees; yes - 4PM EST cutoff time. I'm using American Funds family...
CTAXX - money market, ~6.x% APR, monthly
ABNDX - bond fund, ~7.3% APR, monthly
AHITX - high yield bond fund, ~9.7% APR, monthly
AGTHX - stock fund; roughly follows NDX or SGX.X
...in a tax-free account; so, the taxable equivalent APR yields are in reality much higher than the above ;-)
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I have this account set up so that at idle the monthly distributions from the MM and BondFunds - they hit the end-of-month on 3 different days kinda like a shotgun - are automatically re-invested into the StockFund (ie., a classic dollar-cost averaging investment scheme) and there are no transaction fees for this "cross-DRIP", either.
I fiddle with the "yield engines" allocations: the AHITX 9.x% grade B corporate bond paper is susceptible to the SPX; ie., it will decay in NAV not only when the FED or TYX/TNX market changes but also when the equity market is going down. otoh, the ABNDX 7.x% corporate AAA paper follows the corporate spread to TYX and TNX very closely, and is less influenced by SPX-500 equity values.
There is a 'pure' 30Y-TYX BondFund in this Family, (as well as tax-exempt MuniFunds) but I don't use them - rather, I buy US TYX Bonds and/or MUNIs directly, in another, taxable brokerage account.
In addition to AGTHX, there is also an SPX-500 tracking-type StockFund, and a ValueTurtle StockFund - but I don't use these, either. There are no "sector" StockFunds in this Family - one thing I do miss - as I am an index-driven trader.
These are all 'Class A' funds, Nancy, with very high Front-End Loads. otoh, they have very low annual fees - though I'm sure there are better trading Fund Families out there. Perhaps "ProFunds" - I dunno ?
fwiw, I did not choose this American Funds family, rather - I acquired this "Inherited IRA" account when my father passed away: I cannot make contributions into it, and by law I must make a required minimum distribution from it once a year. It has been fun, building it up but, mostly I just let this thing "idle" along, dollar-cost average monthly distributions from MM+BondFunds --> StockFund.
...when I get a doji or hammer reversal sentiment on the OEX+NDX or TMW.X charts - I'll flood $$$ in to or out of StockFund, then move it back the other way -- either all at once (like I just did, in a "scalp") or, over several days/weeks - using the automatic "calendar" timing device feature that exists on the American Funds' website.
personally, I don't understand why anyone would buy/sell or hold StockFunds through a broker, BWDIK? (^_^)
-Steve |
