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 Monday, one of the largest insider purchases on the market came from Richard Kinder, CEO of Kinder Morgan, Inc (KMI). The head officer and chairman of the board purchased 500,000 shares at an average price of $35.78. The total transaction value o…
Reply to @JoeNoEskimo: I was VERY heavily EM in 2009/early 2010, then broadened and became much more globally diversified. Given what has happened in EM lately, adding to EM has moved towards the top of the shopping list again. I have had some very…
Reply to @JoeNoEskimo: China isn't a non-issue I think but I think it's a matter of those who have a long-term view on China and Asia in general have to continue to have a long-term view. I don't think there aren't definite issues in China and that …
"That volatility, mostly on the downside,has put investors on notice and their fear index is on the ascent."
I've heavily shifted towards companies that I like long-term that also provide a very nice (or especially nice in many cases) yield, whethe…
Reply to @Charles: Yeah, I saw that this AM. His biography ("King of Oil") is a wildly interesting read. It's wildly volatile and hasn't done well like other similar stocks (BHP, etc), but I am buying more Glencore (or now Glencore Xstrata, "Glenst…
Reply to @hank: There are so many classic Faber quotes. My favorite is from an interview on CNBC where they asked him how he would advise someone to allocate their money. His response (which is only funnier with that accent and Faber's delivery): "W…
Reply to @JoeNoEskimo: Have been buying and will continue to buy bit-by-bit, focusing on things that are down much more significantly than overall market.
I just have so many things on my potential shopping list, I just can't see owning a single country ETF, much less one in Europe. I remain at least long-term bullish on EM. In terms of CEFs trading at a discount, I'd rather FEO at about a 11.5% disco…
Reply to @JoeNoEskimo: I think V is highly interesting mid-to-long term with mobile payment and other changes (EMV chip cards, etc.) I own Ingenico, but have considered Visa, too.
I find it rather interesting that crude is now well into the green, holding at $95. Additionally, CNBC of course continues to tell people to stay out of what has done the worst during this period and buy what has held up better.
The rapid nature of the move in interest rates is more than a little concerning and I think reflects the scenario that Guggenheim CIO Scott Minerd said a couple of weeks ago: "The U.S. Treasuries market could now be described as a Ponzi market. The …
KMP is an MLP and distributions have to be paid out of distributable cash flow. KMR is a corporation that just owns KMP. KMR is more popular given that it allows one to effectively own KMP without the tax issues (K-1, distributions for KMR are a "st…
Reply to @STB65: ""be willing to move within a firm's capital structure" = ?"
Be flexible and look at both bonds (convertibles, whatever) and stocks of a particular company.
"build a yield advantage by broadening your opportunity set"
Uh, diversi…
Reply to @JoeNoEskimo: Interesting choice - the one that I'm also looking at in Brazil in terms of utilities is SBS. Companhia de Saneamento Basico do Estado de Sao Paulo-SABESP. Down about 40% from 52 wk high.
Elsewhere, I am kinda considering Ru…
Reply to @bee: You know, I was actually thinking Bullard would be a slight possibility this morning. He is a highly regarded Fed governor and is probably the most visible/public Fed governor aside from Bernanke (and is probably more public/visible t…
Reply to @MJG:
"I believe we are not on the same page with your “personal finance in schools” forecast. I do concur that its present overall state is awful. "
It is.
"We are currently graduating an unhealthy high percentage of mathematically ill…
Reply to @BWG: It would appear to pick specific stocks at least to some degree. The top 10 holdings are available on the T Rowe website, although the full holdings are not yet available.
Reply to @Old_Joe: Oh I know you were kidding. I actually do remain very positive on that general sector and remain very long-term on what I own in that area and will continue to add here-and-there if there is a continued downturn. It becomes the qu…
Reply to @Old_Joe: Ameritrade has D shares of Pimco funds for no minimum/NTF. The institutional class (PMHIX) is available for no minimum, but that class does have a TF.
Glad MFLDX did well today (it remains a large holding), although as for GASFX,…
Reply to @BWG: I've seen that as well and I think it's very interesting. The market is not down all that much on the surface, but there are whole sectors that are down very substantially and and where a number of names are not far off or at 52 wk lo…
Reply to @Old_Joe: I don't even mean "lecture" in a bad way; I just think active give/take discussion is the best thing in regards to internet discussion of investing. People are going to do what they're going to do in regards to investing - they ma…
I think there are a number of people who seem to stand awfully firm that their method of investing is the best way to invest. There are some people who are more active or some who trade on technicals and some have a religion of buy and hold. I go wi…
Reply to @bee: I think that scenario would benefit HD, LOW (although maybe those have gotten ahead of themselves already, given the discussion of housing) and maybe the homebuilders to some degree (although a number of homebuilders had enormous loss…
Reply to @hank: There was some debate about Bullard's dissent yesterday. Bullard was actually wanting more inflation. I tend to believe that, as per usual, Bullard will be the one trotted out to calm markets. ("Hey, I want more easy money - there's…
Reply to @scott:
1. Favorite ZH comments section post: "2:00PM - Ben Bernanke, "The economy has picked up enough steam that we can begin to withdraw excess liquidity from the system, which is no longer needed to support the stock market"
2:10PM -…
"COMMUNISM: You have two cows. The State takes both of them and gives you the milk."
Reminds me of a joke that Dave Chappelle did in front of a small audience not that long ago. He talked about visiting China and investing in the economy by buildin…
Uh, 5 year treasury yield +16.63% in one day.
http://finance.yahoo.com/echarts?s=^FVX+Interactive#symbol=^fvx;range=1d;compare=;indicator=volume;charttype=area;crosshair=on;ohlcvalues=0;logscale=off;source=undefined;
Continuing to look for opport…
It's exceptionally more volatile than average REIT funds and often seems to perform as if it's a leveraged (which it may be to some degree, given all the various derivatives) real estate fund. It's also an index fund, not actively managed. If real …
Reply to @Old_Joe: Well, it's a continuation of this "reality" - people want to continue the status quo, whatever the mid-to-long term cost that will be. Go against that and you're not going to be very popular politically. It's also a lot easier for…
Reply to @Old_Joe: I think she is. Deny her and deny a likely continuation of easy monetary policy that everyone is pleased with and acts like is a free lunch. Deny that and you're probably not going to be popular and politicians these days care abo…
"Mark Cohen, who teaches at Columbia University’s business school in New York, is a former chairman and chief executive officer of Sears Canada. Don’t get him started on Eddie Lampert, the chief executive officer and majority owner of Sears Holdings…
Reply to @JohnChisum: "We will have to decipher the Yellenspeak " Same speak, coming from very different form. Hence the smooth transition. In fact, if anything, everything I've ever read from Yellen seems much more straightforward and clear - wheth…
I think Yellen would probably offer the smoothest transition if she replaces Bernanke. The fact that Bernanke said a month or two ago that he would not be attending the Jackson Hole meeting should have given anyone an indication that he was not goin…
