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Here's a statement of the obvious: The opinions expressed here are those of the participants, not those of the Mutual Fund Observer. We cannot vouch for the accuracy or appropriateness of any of it, though we do encourage civility and good humor.

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the February issue is live

David_Snowball
in Fund Discussions
Hi, guys.

As you might have noticed, the February issue is live!

Lynn does exceptionally detailed work on three aspects of fixed-income investing. I try to work through water infrastructure as an asset class. Since that's something folks have discussed before, I'm hoping I got it approximately right. And, too, I walked through my own portfolio. Unlikely past years, I tried to focus more on the Big Picture aspects - the role of investments in a healthy adult life, the necessary tradeoffs implied in the dual pursuit of eating well vs sleeping well - than on individual funds. I did allow that you could probably achieve comparable outcomes with two funds, and modeling the 2024 performance of two such portfolios. And, as well, TheShadow tracked down a slew of industry machinations.

My publisher's letter touched on chaos and the prospect that some forms of chaos are productive. I am struck that our total public debt after 204 years (that is, as of 1980, was $900 billion, smaller than our yearly deficit now. Too, some forms of chaos are purely toxic; "havoc" (from Old French, "pillaging" or "looting") might be the alternate term there. I did excise rather a substantial chunk of the draft text as less relevant and inflammatory.

Please do follow the same impulse. If you're going to excoriate any particular politician or political movement, it should live in "Off Topic" and strive to be civil. Discussions of trade wars might plausibly be "Other Investing" to the extent that we try to reason through how to hedge against such.

Be well!

Comments

  • BaluBalu
    edited February 4
    Bumping up

    https://www.mutualfundobserver.com/category/mutual-fund-commentary/
  • BaluBalu
    edited February 4
    I have been reluctant to buy muni bonds for the following reason -

    Is it possible the current federal government (with help from Congress) may consider eliminating the tax exempt status of muni bonds to reduce federal deficit?

    This says "no" https://alliancebernstein.com/corporate/en/insights/investment-insights/will-a-red-wave-affect-municipal-bonds-tax-exempt-status.html#:~:text=Muni%20bonds'%20tax%20exemption%20dates,help%20to%20the%20national%20deficit.


  • InformalEconomist
    And note, from the author of the Commentary, Professor Snowball, in re MFO finances:
    We’re modestly in the red ...
  • hank
    edited 11:17AM
    The opening’s eloquently developed references to David’s disheveled garden evoke (perhaps intentionally) thoughts of Kosinski’s novel:

    “As long as the roots are not severed, all is well. And all will be well in the garden.”

    (Chauncey Gardiner / 1979 film Being There)
  • BaluBalu
    edited 12:59PM
    InformalEconomist said:

    And note, from the author of the Commentary, Professor Snowball, in re MFO finances:

    We’re modestly in the red ...
    Good thing you highlighted this. As a slow reader, I tend to skip a lot in any publication. I certainly missed this.

    Hopefully, members will make up soon for the shortfall.

    Another reason why I keep asking the members to make the forum a bigger tent.
  • davidsherman
    hank said:

    The opening’s eloquently developed references to David’s disheveled garden evoke (perhaps intentionally) thoughts of Kosinski’s novel:

    “As long as the roots are not severed, all is well. And all will be well in the garden.”

    (Chauncey Gardiner / 1979 film Being There)

    Speaking only from a personal standpoint (and no business representation):
    Being There is one of my favorite movies and I have used the quote many times as it is very poignant.

    Good, Bad, Who Knows....
    A man walked in the woods and found a wild mare that he captured to bring back to the farm. While taming the horse, the son was thrown and permanently damaged his leg. The townspeople pronounced that the poor boy was befallen with a bad omen. Then, the King declared war but the boy was not conscripted because he was lame. The townspeople pronounced the boy was rewarded for his handicap with good. The King lost the war and many of the army were killed. The boy and remaining lived under a new regime. Folks wondered allowed "who knows" of our future.

    Now, the MFO board has insight into my thoughts as I fly across the country on an airplane with uninterrupted time.

    Best to all.

    David Sherman
  • davidsherman
    aloud nnot allowed but in hindsight maybe a stretched poetic license.
  • BaluBalu
    edited 3:50PM
    When autocorrection by AI is not so lame, I will know AI has arrived.

    To reinforce Professor's OP, for all those getting whipped around by the political theatre, pl keep in mind that there are daily news related to earnings and economy that may be effecting the markets more than you think.
  • BenWPBenWP
    The veggie plot is reserved for the season, per usual. Chaos can ensue if FOMO takes hold and delicate plants are rushed into the ground before all danger of frost is past. Further chaos arrives later in the growing season when the old bones no longer feel up to the task of regular weeding. Good fertile soil is also good for uninvited species. We garden organic, of course, so more effort to impose a certain sense of order on natural chaos is required. Critters such as groundhogs also bring a certain chaos; a single large bite taken out of every low-hanging tomato might look orderly from one perspective, but this drives the gardener to questioning the rightness of a natural phenomenon.

    On second thought, the foregoing comments could only result from a bad case of cabin fever and a chaotic mind.
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