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.
Thanks @MikeM I used to be at Scwab a decade or so ago, but I had very little knowledge of investments at the time and remember that their mutual fund buy/sell fees were high. And, I think at that time, their etf fees were higher also, but I can't …
You're right, @Old_Skeet. One of the trusts I am lucky enough to be beneficiary to is 100 years old (will be terminating, FINALLY, in 2 years). A couple of the stocks invested in then (or in the last 50 years) are still around. Thousands percen…
@MikeM
Thanks, Mike. I HAD noticed ONE fund I was looking at that M* said had a load, but TDA did NOT show any load fee. I had not thought that this waiving may apply to a lot more funds. I wonder if M*'s "TAX COMPARE" page shows AFTER TAX stat…
@ted
Thanks for the stats, Ted. One of my current "re-evaluations" is how my existing investments will perform once tax rates start increasing. I looked to find out which periods since 2000 had higher rates, then used M* charts to compare my inve…
@davidrmoran
Thanks for the follow-up, David. The only fund I invested over $100,000 in has been VTMFX. That was several years ago and performed as I expected since then by cutting my entire portfolio losses significantly during bad times, but sti…
Old_Skeet
That was very interesting. I did not know some of that information about load funds, and your average expense ratio is, as you said, nicely below the average. I do hope I did not offend you or imply that no one should invest in load m…
@Old_Skeet
Thanks Old Skeet - that was so nice of you to take all that time to give me some suggestions to look at. I was fascinated because NONE of them were in my Watch list of 172 Global/Int'l equities. So I checked the first 4, and found the…
@davidmoran
Thanks for the information, David! I had not known of these two.
At first glance at DSENX, when I saw SWAPs, Shorts, etc. as their top investments, that deterred me. I've been trying NOT to learn about those (or Options, etc.) as m…
@Old_Skeet
Thanks so much for taking the time to respond. The extra information really helps.
Using M* analysis figures, my transitioning portfolio is 22% Large Cap Value, 51% Large cap growth, 9.46% mid/small value and 18% mid/small growth - wit…
Thanks @Catch22
I always enjoy your comments (and sense of humor) - and appreciate your taking the time to write them.
Your analogy of the carriage is exactly my point about so many of the "Value" funds today. Either that, or the company/stock ha…
Thanks for taking the time to answer, @Old_Joe! That helps. Would be easier, though, if it was like it was in the "old" days when you could just respond directly below each person's response.
Thanks Carew388. I used to be at Schwab. At least SOME of their people had actually heard of MUTUAL FUNDS, which doesn't seem to be true of several of the TDA agents I've spoken with so far. It seems that MUTUAL FUNDS for ANY brokerage are put in…
Thanks, Junkster. It never occurred to me that a brokerage would charge any different whether you buy or sell - unless there was a penalty for early sales.
Thanks, Guilhermes. I had not noticed the zero fee on PIMCO funds. All my old PIMCO MF were in Bond-Type funds, and it looks like ALMOST ALL of those are NOT looking good for the near future. I'm still checking, but if you know of an especially g…
Thanks for your follow-up, Sven. Very interesting. I am TRYING to continue to be an Investor instead of a trader. But I hadn't changed any investments in a couple of years, so need to re-balance and re-evaluate many. Also true during this politi…
QUESTION. In the old version of MFO, you could reply DIRECTLY to each person who replied to your comment. The response would still be shown in that conversation link, but would show under the person's name (if that makes any sense in how I put it)…
Hi Bee - nice to see that you're still here. Since M* only gave it 3 stars, I had a SLIGHT bit of concern. But their track record is impressive so I thought a SMALL entry amount worth it - especially many of the best MFs I've been researching late…
THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH! I got a little choked up hearing from several of the people who were so helpful to me in the past. I missed you - and am so sorry I didn't take the time to let you all know what was happening. I'm very upset with myself for…
Thanks so much, Catch! I really appreciate your taking the time to respond. I'll read the link now.
I do hope you and your family have not had major health problems. It is so upsetting for everyone involved.
Cathy
P.S. Re the USB problems. Still…
Thanks so much for the welcoming comments. What a drastically difference this market is compared to even a few years ago. Bonds and Value Funds in the tank for extended periods, I'm at +120% for AMZN, NOC, FB, RTN, and +60% several more in just a …
Hi catch22 - great to see you are still here and posting! Hope you are happy and wealthy by now.
Bob P. at CNBC has commented that this incredible volatility, including Monday's, was a result of LOW VOLUME buyers - that most institutional type buye…
Reply to @hank: Thanks, Hank. So much more information to learn about stocks than bond funds. I have learned basic valuations, which stocks have longer-term consistent records (rather than counting on momentum) and have searched for stocks/stock f…
Reply to @BobC: Thanks, Bob. Holding my own with no further strong negatives. I'm sure your customers are loving their portfolios this year - and know you will protect them as best you can in the coming downturns.
Love the internet! Easily found…
Reply to @Mindy: Hi, Mindy.... thanks for thinking of me. I've made a new post to let everyone know I'm still alive as I have such fond memories of everyone here at MFO - and am ashamed I haven't kept up more. Cathy
After this last June+ drop i…
Reply to @David_Snowball: Would you/Charles consider having the entire spreadsheets available for a fee, perhaps with the ability to subscribe to get current, along with updates? At least he would receive some income for all his trouble.
Reply to @scott: Thanks so much for taking the time to check a few of these, Scott! I'm a little muzzed tonight so I should have thought to just check some of their holdings myself.
Reply to @fundalarm: Thanks so much for your follow-up, fundalarm. I do have PTDLX on my watch list. Only problem is my rebalancing is for taxable fund, and PTLDX has fairly high tax cost. I hold WEFIX and THOPX, have been happy enough with both …
Reply to @TSP_Transfer: Thanks, TSP! I added THBVX to watch list... looks good so far (and is avail ST). It's hard for me to buy funds that weren't around in 2008 so I can see how much downturn they had. But, then again, this next crash/downturn …
Reply to @scott: Hi Scott... great to hear from you. I've wondered how you and your Portfolios are doing.
I also don't need another K-1. I will check out your MFs and put them on my watch list...thanks!
Reply to @fundalarm: Thanks, Fundalarm! I don't hold separate GNMAs, but my Intermediate bond funds (MWTRX, DLTNX, ADBLX, TGLMX) all carry percentages in these (some fairly high percentages). Do you think these should be cause to worry?
Some also…
Reply to @Accipiter: Thanks, Accipiter. I do remember the fund polls. I liked them... but, as you said, they didn't seem to be that popular so the poll results were not as effective.
Reply to @slick: Thanks for your follow-up, Slick. I had 3 ETFs (or similar), but really hate not being able to reinvest dividends at Scottrade - AND having to wait 3+ days for funds to clear when sell. So I sold all BOND (at nice profit) and now …
Reply to @TSP_Transfer: Thanks, TSP. What an interesting idea. I didn't even know you could invest in VIX index. But if the market is likely to have strong downturn, of course the VIX will go up and could be a decent diversifier (using a very sm…
Reply to @Accipiter: Thanks for fixing this, Accipiter! I thought I tried to change categories the way you suggested and it didn't work, but I'll make a note to try again if I make another mistake.
I also love the new B, I, U auto-code-adding abil…
