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.
On YACKX not being apple-to-apples with FAIRX -- I'm assuming your logic here is that YACKX is a good old-fashioned value-oriented stock picking fund, while Bruce goes beyond seeking out "undervalued" and looks into distressed assets and covers his …
Slightly tangential, but I've read that a few funds are trying to do some of what BB is doing with FAIRX -- find ways to turn mutual funds into broader-based instruments that can do special private equity deals & etc. I think Romick of FPA has …
I think Arnott was short treasuries in PAUCX.
No matter. I respect Gross as an investor; but other than that, I wouldn't trust him as far as I could throw him (and his shareholder letters are juvenile).
You know, its not even the "micro cap" issue.
Take a look.
Most all of Royce's funds are allowed to invest up to 20% international. That figure is an increase from their previous guideline of 10%. But regardless -- all of Royce's funds are be…
There are very few funds today who act as fiduciaries first, profit-making machines, second. Very few. Royce was one of the good ones. That has changed in very short order. Their fees have gone up as well. Such a shame what has happened to this…
I thought DFA had a micro-cap index? In my experience decent micro-cap funds are had to come by.
Anyway, good points on Royce. My wife and I both own a Royce fund or two. I'm always on the lookout for alternates, because they've changed quite a …
Sounds like your issue is with Islam and radical theocratic Islamic groups, not a fund which tries to invest in accordance with widely-held Islamic principles.
If there is a connection between Amana and AQ/MB, that would be deeply unfortunate.
…
I've seen the Amana funds covered in the press before. The "Islamic principles" angle is not a gimmick. Kaiser was approached by a group of Muslims who asked his help in constructing investment vehicles suited to their beliefs. Thus, the Amana fu…
Great points, rono.
I go back and forth on the whole metals/commodities issue in an attempt to try and get my head around it.
GMO's latest investor letter might be of interest to you -- makes an extremely bullish case for commodities of all sorts …
FWIW -- Buffett and Munger had a few interesting comments on gold at the Berkshire Hathaway meeting. To paraphrase:
1. (From Buffett): Total world value of gold would be a cube 67x67 (meters?); for the same price to purchase that cube, you could…
This presentation can also really, really ruin your day. You can't help but watch this and think the only thing you should be investing in is gold bullion. And guns. And guns made from gold.
"The whole world is basically broke".
"Historically t…
FWIW...Jim Rickards thinks the whole world is basically broke, and that the US could force the world back onto a gold standard and that we would win the ensuing "gold war". Of course, there would be much pain and large scale civil unrest in the pro…
I guess I read the original poster's comment as "...hey, I've just moved all my money out of FAIRX into Fairholme focused credit...what did I just buy...?".
Stagflation could be the more serious risk here.
If one goes long the usual hedges, at what point does one jump off the train?
An acquaintance who works in financial services commented to me midway through the Bear, Stearns/2008-2009 crisis "...do…
JPM put out a research report on the meaning/impact of rating agency cautionary statements.
Off the top of my head, for AAA-rated sovereigns, there is a less than 50% chance of a full downgrade (think it was 43%, but the n was pretty small, and 4…
I don't get that either -- prior to 2008, Tweedy's funds did okay. With respect to international, at least, 2008 took them down, less so than many stock funds, but they also took a surprisingly large shot in the chops. Further, Tweedy's internatio…
Selling a few shares of an energy fund in taxable.
I've had a nice profit there, and don't want to lose all of it should the dollar strengthen as a result of the Fed decisions. Also want to use the proceeds to better diversify there and take advan…
Investors' points are well-taken however. Commodities are the "asset class du jour", ergo you can't put it beyond financial firms to throw together something that sounds really cool, but is really an overpriced version of a more basic product. The…
You may be right. As Soros (I believe it was) said "...this is the market, you have no friends in the market...". Icahn said something similar.
With that in mind, I was aware of the large difference in E/R for Highbridge versus, say, PIMCO's prod…
Should have also noted that in the taxable portion of my portfolio, I've put in stop-losses on my equity holdings at about 15% gain level (taking dividends into account).
Others here are much more skilled than I am in terms of tracking and reading momentum, and even market timing. What I'm learning in this market along the lines of your question is:
(1) I probably shouldn't buy anything that doesn't have a substa…
If both of the PIMCO products are largely oriented toward tracking indices, they probably should not be directly compared to HDCCX.
HDCCX is not primarily an indexed product; it is genuinely actively managed. It can (and does) use substantial le…
More negative press for Berkowitz.
Wonder if the outflows are a result of: (a) l'affair de St. Joe; (b) concerns that FAIRX is simply getting too big; (c) general movement out of stocks.
For the past year or so, when evaluate a fund, I look at a history of fund closings. The number of such managers if few and far between.
Micro cap funds close because they have to. I own one, and will be purchasing another.
Your other points/co…
Asset bloat has to also be considered in the context of the fact that Berkowitz has opened a new stock-oriented fund which will allow it to pursue opportunities (smaller cap stocks) that FAIRX no longer can.
I suppose, Bruce, you could have just cl…
