Howard,

Thanks for confirming what I suspected, namely, that Fidelity's bond desk is redundant to my needs. They do some interesting, proprietary things with how they rate bonds. But it's easy enough to reverse-engineer.

I agree that the "benign neglect" achieved by shutting down one's computer and walking out of the office for a couple of weeks can work wonders, both for the portfolio and for one's mental health, and I'll be doing just that shortly as I head down to California to play post-season boat-mechanic for a friend at his marina.

Charlie