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Tobacco stocks may be the best investment since 2002, and for the next 50 years...but as an ex-smoker and heart attack survivor, I will pass. I refuse to make money from purveyors of cancer and pulmonary disease. Sorry for the buzz kill.
I have personally owned VFTSX for years. It may not do better (or worse) than VFINX, but I am a first-generation non-smoker in my family. I have seen how bad the products really are, so just can't go there. And no, I don't go the whole ESG route, but there are certainly some very good options for those who do.
Well if you are going to turn this thread into a holier than though discussion....
What makes it a "holier than though" discussion to point out that the tobacco companies make their money selling products which harm, and kill, their customers? And whose research focused on ways to make their products even MORE addictive? Which, by the way, is why the stocks took a hit.
@MFO Members: In 2011 a doctor stood at the foot of my hospital bed and said, "Ted if you don't quit smoking you'll be dead within a year." As a 3 pack a day smoker for over fifty years that was quite a wake-up call. The long-term effects leave me with CHF coupled with COPD that thankfully are manageable. Regards, Ted
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RAI got bought recently by British Tobacco, didn't they? Not sure when the symbol stops being traded, though.
Regards,
Ted