<p>BCEagle91, when our kids are searching for jobs, I think it’s as hard on parents as it is on our kids. And now that both our kids have full time jobs, I worry about whether the employers will stay in business and/or downsize. It’s all just more gray hair for mom and dad.</p>
<p>Good luck to your daughter.</p>
<p>Apple still makes and sells a lot of expensive PCs. The model I want is $3K. I hope that they come out with it soon.</p>
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<p>I hated this process when our son went through it and I hate it now with our daughter as I know what to expect. At least there’s no financial need for her to work.</p>
<p>I was talking to a friend about the depression today. Then I saw this.</p>
<p>This isnt comfort to those looking for jobs. The job market is terrible now. </p>
<p>Both those lines are ugly. </p>
<p>The depression… Wow.
<a href=“http://blogs.hbr.org/fox/2013/07/one-difference-between-a-great.htmlhttp://blogs.hbr.org/fox/2013/07/one-difference-between-a-great.html[/url]”>http://blogs.hbr.org/fox/2013/07/one-difference-between-a-great.htmlhttp://blogs.hbr.org/fox/2013/07/one-difference-between-a-great.html</a></p>
<p>[BBC</a> News - A dark magic: The rise of the robot traders](<a href=“http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-23095938]BBC”>A dark magic: The rise of the robot traders - BBC News)</p>
<p>The robot traders have cost a lot of jobs, but costs to investors are lower. The profits go to fewer people.</p>
<p>Your blog link is doubled. You need to take out one of the http specs to connect to the page.</p>
<p>Daughter has an interview with a temp agency tomorrow (not Kelly). We’ll see how that goes. I’m pretty sure that she’s going to be back in school this fall at this rate. If I weren’t so busy at work, I think that I’d start a business to give her some work experience. As it is, I’m training her or directing her training in a bunch of IT areas. Fortunately she’s willing to learn a lot of this stuff on her own.</p>
<p>One other thing that I learned.</p>
<p>Entry level today means that you have 1-3 years of internship experience.</p>
<p>[One</a> Difference Between a Great Recession and a Great Depression: Jobs - Justin Fox - Harvard Business Review](<a href=“http://blogs.hbr.org/fox/2013/07/one-difference-between-a-great.html]One”>One Difference Between a Great Recession and a Great Depression: Jobs)</p>
<p>I am going to give it one more shot. </p>
<p>You need experience to get experience. A bizarre world.</p>
<p>Tesla getting added to NASDAQ 100 and Oracle is moving to the NYSE. TSLA’s rise yesterday is indicative of a leak.</p>
<p>“Wilson submitted several applications to local businesses, but the process would always stop there. “I would never hear back,” he says.”</p>
<p>“The teen summer employment rate in this state fell from 67 percent in 1999 to just 35.7 percent in 2012, the lowest rate in at least three decades, according to Andy Sum, director of Northeastern’s Center for Labor Market Studies. Sum says that low-income youth, as well as blacks and Hispanics, fare the worst in finding employment. Those are exactly the teenage groups that tend to need jobs the most — not to earn spending money for video games, as too many people assume, but so they can help support their families.”</p>
<p>[Why</a> teens need summer jobs - Magazine - The Boston Globe](<a href=“A future worth paying for - The Boston Globe”>A future worth paying for - The Boston Globe)</p>
<p>In my continuing quest to identify plausible yield-producing strategies, I’ve started thinking about the possibility of creating a five year ladder of high yield bonds using Guggenheim Bulletshares etfs</p>
<p>[ETFs</a> | Guggenheim Investments](<a href=“http://guggenheiminvestments.com/products/etf/product-list]ETFs”>http://guggenheiminvestments.com/products/etf/product-list)</p>
<p>Assuming that Guggenheim continues to roll out target date etfs each year, by pursuing this strategy, after the first few years you should get the standard benefit that you get from ladders–that is, you will be getting the return from five year bonds with an average maturity of 2 1/2 years. In addition, since the etfs liquidate on the target dates, if you hold them to maturity, over the intermediate term you would eliminate interest rate risk. Of course, you would still have default risk on the individual bonds in the portfolio.</p>
<p>What do you guys think?</p>
<p>EMM1,</p>
<p>Just so we are on the same page…</p>
<p>The corporate 2015’s…what do you think yield is that you are going to receive?</p>
<p>I didn’t even know such a fund existed (target fund that liquidates at maturity) so thanks for bringing that to my attention. My objections are the usual: Fees take a big bite out of already meager bond yields. Do you pay commission when you buy (or sell)? </p>
<p>If the bonds in the portfolio are currently valued at large premiums, I think you have to assume that when the fund liquidates you will get back less than your purchase price. You should factor that into your expected yield. The distribution yields look pretty low to me, although I confess the first one I looked at was 2013 - brain fart somehow thought that was 10 years out instead of this year, and I couldnt figure out why the yield was so low! LOL.</p>
<p>Actually, I was thinking about BSJF, the high yield 2015. The yield characteristics are here</p>
<p>[ETFs</a> | Guggenheim Investments](<a href=“http://guggenheiminvestments.com/products/etf/bsjf/performance]ETFs”>http://guggenheiminvestments.com/products/etf/bsjf/performance)</p>
<p>NJres, the expense ratio is not so bad–.42%. The commission would be the normal $8.95 per trade at Schwab.</p>
<p>I don’t mean to sound like a salesman–just thinking that a ladder of etfs like these might have a place in the yield-oriented part of a portfolio and wanted to hear other peoples’ views.</p>
<p>I see they include a price adjustment to account for bonds purchased at a premium. It also looks like a well diversified portfolio, which I think is essential if you are buying junk… er, I mean “high yield”. Looks fairly reasonable to me.</p>
<p>So EMM1, for the high yield 2015’s what do you think your return is?</p>
<p>Krlillies, xone, nice pick.</p>
<p>According to the info provided by Guggenheim, they estimate 5.79%. But as I think further about it, I wonder if that figure takes account of default risk.</p>
<p>Emm1, here’s an article about target date bond ETFs albeit dated Jan 2013.
[Target</a> Date Bond ETFs: Best or Worst Fixed Income Funds? - January 15, 2013 - Zacks.com](<a href=“Zacks Investment Research: Stock Research, Analysis, & Recommendations”>Zacks Investment Research: Stock Research, Analysis, & Recommendations)
The article gave examples of three laddered model bond ETF portfolios.</p>
<p>IDK, what do you think happens last quarter of 2014? Does BSJF plunge to $23? What if my entry point was $26? A quick glance makes it seem like everyone’s heading for the exit door about the same time. What am I not getting?</p>
<p>Dstark, I was out of it last week. Sucks for me. Ditto with TSLA when I got out at $105. But XONE’s lockup period is expiring next month so…</p>