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.
Reply to @Old_Joe:
Hi Joe,
How about we let other folks around the world take care of things for a while? Geez, if we took that wasted natdef $ and spent it on infrastructure, it would create jobs and serve as a boost to the economy. Not like t…
Hi Mark,
Hope you guys are warm and dry.
They've started to talk on CNBC about aggregate demand - or lack thereof. Today there was a round table discuss led by Brian saying that perhaps the goals and objectives of corporations are all wrong - tha…
Yeppers, I'm with Anna on this one Bob. Our problem is not entitlements, although they have some issues, and it's not the welfare state. It's the gd military defense spending and how we somehow think we have the manifest destiny to be the worlds p…
Howdy,
Gold stocks have underperformed bullion pretty much for this entire bull run. For this to reverse, you'd have to see much lower prices for bullion and a continued bull market in equities.
I do question that statement that 'gold bugs have…
Reply to @Mark:
Howdy,
You may be correct, Mark. Only time will tell. I still like the concept for a core holding, but to some degree each of us builds this sort of approach into our asset allocation. We want to have growth but security and wa…
Howdy folks,
Sure, PRPFX will take a hit with the fall in the POG but by design, other holdings are supposed to counteract it. I'm still holding it in most of my accounts in the ~7-10% range.
And I'll keep holding it. And just for disclosure sak…
Howdy all,
Greg. I have not even considered doing anything with PRPFX. It is and will always be a core holding of mine.
As for the POG and POS, these are paper prices and we have to see what is happening to physical gold and silver, both suppl…
Howdy folks,
I'm with Bob on this one. As I've been saying for years, there is a place in every portfolio for some gold as an investment of 5% or so with more than that being speculative. I still believe this very strongly if not more so. Well, …
Howdy,
Scott brings up a huge point that was never taken into the equation - the albatross of student debt around all the would be investors, home buyers, consumers, . . .
peace,
rono
Reply to @GregFromBoston:
Hi Greg,
Hope you're doing well. I think it's probably a combination of inertia and fear. For younger workers with only a 401K, they'll probably contribute and ride out any down turns. Most of the boomers that are stil…
Howdy,
Thought I responded last night but . . .
You all knew that this was coming and you really need to plan for it. Of course they're going to try to raise revenue any and all ways possible. They have no choice. Note, that they will also hav…
Howdy,
I think you can make a Japan play without really sticking your neck out by buying a pan-asian fund that INCLUDES japan. Most do not. Check Matthews Asian Growth MPACX, or MAPIX for more conservative or MATFX for more aggressive. They're a…
Here you go. Seems the common folk are protected, uninsured depostors are screwed - not more than 40% at one bank and well and truly screwed at the other. teehehe '-)
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-03-24/cyprus-said-to-reach-tentative-deal-to…
Hi Hank,
Recall back just after this occurred, the British gov't announced it was suspending all automatic pension deposits to Cyprus for British expats. Of what other arrangements they might have made I'm unaware but I thought it was a bold state…
Howdy,
I concur with most in that they will NOT tax the Roth IRAs. Oh, they're a filthy scumbag lot, but they won't screw us that way because it would also screw themselves. In all honesty, they most often do things in a 'grandfathered' manner. …
arrrrgh,
Just after the election one of their city council members was shown on TV telling the Pres, that they got him elected and it was time for him to bail them out. I was humiliated. Sorry. Well bred peeps dont' do that stuff. Bad form a…
Howdy i,
Norway happens to be one of the best run countries on the planet. It would be a better world if more countries looked to Norway for leadership.
peace,
rono
Howdy Scott,
Good stuff. Was at a conference today and they were talking about land use residential patterns in the coming decade or so and it's all revolving around the boomers exiting the 'big house' and moving into retirement. This results in…
Howdy rw,
Some good ideas and they do need to take action but I'll have to wait and see.
#2 should be dealth with by the Land Bank program which allows the 'city' to seize property with back taxes in as little as a year and get a scrubbed title …
Howdy folks,
If it happens in Cyprus it can and probably will happen here. How about a tax on IRAs and 401Ks? Brokerage accts? Hey, we've got to balance the budget and that's where all the money is? Sleep tight boys and girls. Hope your be…
Not nice, Joe, ;-)
Yeah, he seems to be a good choice by the Gov. However, I really do not see how he can avoid bankruptcy. Sorry, I love Detroit, but when you build and operate a city for 3M and you're down to 700K the legacy costs are enormous…
Rats. I had a postie get throttled.
I believe folks should take profits based upon their ability to sleep. Rebalancing and reallocation all play a role, but as Bob just said, when you hit a a double or triple, bleeding down some of the gains is…
All y'all can laugh at Illinois but that's just the tip of the iceberg. The real problem with underfunded pensions is with the cities and counties around the country. Most states don't have this much of a problem with their state pension systems …
Reply to @Mark:
I was ranting. Sorry. Actually, the top corporations should have to eat them. I've listened to all their crap for years now, how they're the job creators so they should be exempt from everything. feh. Seems to me as they're th…
Howdy Scott,
Good stuff as ususal. The great irony about this is that as we continue past peak oil and it becomes continually more and more expensive to - find, and/or retrieve, and/or refine, and/or transport - the cost of fuel will increase. Ah…
Reply to @clacy:
And I too was a bit snippish.
I don't blame either party - Clinton created a lot of this mess, particularly with Wall St.
Indeed, auto industry peaked in Michigan in 1973. That's a huge part of the issue at hand - how do we e…
Reply to @clacy:
My feelings don't get hurt easily. It was your tone that I considered to be uncivil and probably mine as well in response.
That said, I fail to see why it is our concern about how other folks govern themselves. I don't believ…
Hi John,
I don't know that I'd bail out but I would advise everyone to be a bit more cautious. Rebalance or take some profits or simply tone things down a tad. You don't want to fight the Fed, but this is an asset bubble and everyone knows it an…
Howdy folks,
I think Anna has a solid point in connecting the finanicial services industry with rising college costs. The tie is student loans that are not subject to bankruptcy relief.
I've seen a chart over time of rising tuition vs. increas…
Reply to @clacy:
In spite of your tone, I'm going to respond to you one time and see if you can be civil.
I doubt there is anyone on this board that thinks that wealth should be distributed equally, certainly not me. I believe that hard work sho…
Howdy Mark,
Ignore the fudgies. Yeppers, this is one of the issues that will destory this country if allowed to persist. I don't believe a country can thrive and prosper without a viable middle class. This is related to why we're still in this d…
Howdy all,
Bob's got a good strategy for a fixed allocation. Indeed, that's pretty much most folks will ever need - some fixed percentage of their wealth in physical bullion. Note that I said physical bullion and not paper bullion. Paper bullion…
Howdy all,
Wouldn't surprise me either way. I feel, however, that it is inevitable. The mayor and city council do NOT get along and most of the unions are not willing to make the changes needed to start to correct the problem. Pensions are killi…
Howdy,
1. In or out of retirement only matters to the degree the taxes do on any gains (see #2).
2. As Scott said, you'll need to handle the K1 and all that.
feh. I don't really see any of these funds suitable for trading the pm market, howe…
Howdy guys,
This happened a few years back and a combination of market reactions took place in the physical market. The supply became tight for some specific types of bullion and the premiums increased. Now think back to Econ 101 and supply/deman…
Reply to @STB65:
Thanks for the response. You're obviously in the field and sharing some great insights.
Obamacare was a start but alas, the pressure from the insurance companies and hospitals and drug companies gutted it quite badly.
I con…
