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 @Charles: Appealing dividend policy, valuation and assets. I think a number of oil names are appealing and CVX and XOM are great companies (CVX is really doing remarkably well and still is something I may look at), but a number of majors (R…
I think the thing becomes being specifically and, I suppose, strategically bearish vs being generally bearish. It's not black and white, but shades of grey.
Hussman is bearish. However, Hussman is not bearish and making an asymmetric bet. If things…
Reply to @TSP_Transfer: Yeah, and the illiquid and volatile nature of private equity is concerning.
Blackstone shareholders have gotten some back after the stock cratered in 2008, but the principals certainly didn't see any effects from that - or d…
Where's austerity? Governments love spending in good times and bad, and talk about living within their means on one hand and spending/making new promises on the other. We will kick the can and dodge the bill and spend some more, despite all the time…
Some exposure to private equity is possible to get in other ways, so this is not of particular interest (to me, at least.) Oaktree has some exposure to private equity and I would be more comfortable investing in Oaktree (OAK) than Blackstone or Car…
I don't have as much issue with the structure as the author does. You also see a somewhat similar structure engineered by the Rothschilds and Paris Orleans, as well as Jardine Matheson (Jardine Strategic owning its parent, Jardine Matheson; Jardine …
Reply to @Daves: YACKX offers a lot of these types of stocks. SPLV is another option, and that provides a monthly dividend. There are plenty of equity income funds, such as PRBLX that would be another option.
ZH accused them of a number of things in 2010.
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2013-03-11/last-laugh-illinois-pension-system-charged-not-disclosing-structural-underfunding
They got a response back then saying they were wrong and everything is fine.
…
Madison, WI is a nice option. Winters are ... not great (although I think better than they used to be a couple of decades ago - thanks to global warming, the Midwest now truly is Canada's Florida), but there's some really beautiful areas nearby and …
1. Logically and fundamentally, I'm concerned about what returns for fixed income are going to look like going forward.
2. When you have funds starting to short bonds and everyone is talking about NOW you're getting to the point where fixed inco…
The article is called "Guru to the Stars", and offers thoughts from Oaktree's Howard Marks.
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Clip/highlights:
One can invest in Oaktree (OAK),but it is an MLP so it does generate a K-1.
Institutions are "still leery of stocks ... after 13 ye…
Reply to @Mark: I agree with your core thought, but we live in an era where it's become "acceptable" for people.
"ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — For Alex Pemberton and Susan Reboyras, foreclosure is becoming a way of life — something they did not want but…
Reply to @MikeM: Who said I thought the world was going to end? Not everything is so black or white.
I'm actually quite heavily invested and I think there's a number of interesting and exciting stories, such as the energy transportation thread I s…
1. Wow, Old Joe with the one-liner.
2. No one said anything about collapse above, did they? Simply that the Fed was papering over everything.The unusual nature was the idea that someone from CNBC moderated a panel of three people - all of whom gave…
Quite the epic letter (as manager commentaries go) and an interesting read. Remains a large holding for me and I don't see that changing.
While I don't always agree with it, I think it's a unique (in that it's really the only global long/short fun…
Reply to @clacy: Yep. The BOJ will buy bonds. Whether or not Japanese citizens will continue to buy as much as they have (due to demographics and other factors) I dunno, but maybe they will. If they don't, the BOJ will. How doing that ends well - e…
Reply to @fidia: It's certainly difficult to try and market time - and I know that when things are going up, I find it difficult at times to be disciplined and wait for a pullback. The way that markets are today in terms of holding period and attent…
Three I'd keep - SEQUX (and while it may not be popular, I'd go with SEQUX over FAIRX), YAFFX, WPOPX. I dunno, do you really even need four?
I just think SEQUX is really a wonderful example of consistency and how valuable that is - nothing flashy, …
Reply to @TSP_Transfer:
Thanks - the above was just something pulled together (if the original poster takes an idea or two from it, great), but I agree that I think it's difficult to make large-scale changes in asset allocation with the market whe…
Reply to @MikeM: "Scott, I've heard you often say that the governments CPI numbers are inaccurate and conscious lies, but I never see you give data supporting that."
To pull one statistic, the FAO food price index more than doubled between 2000 and…
From Anna's link: http://www.ritholtz.com/blog/2010/01/why-michael-boskin-deserves-our-contempt/
“The debate about the CPI was really a political debate about how, and by how much, to cut real entitlements.”
-Greg Mankiw, chairman of George W. Bus…
Reply to @Investor: Do you really believe the CPI is an accurate reflection of the rising costs of living? "Intervention analysis" and other tweaks are done for the best interests of the people? What about Core CPI's exclusion of food and energy? A…
Reply to @Investor: I'm saying prices for everything - not just medical and college - are rising at a noticeable rate over the recent short-term and the long-term.
Where prices are not rising, quality and quantity is down (less toilet paper but "n…
Reply to @Anna: Thanks - I think his blog offers some very interesting takes on a number of things.
I think we live in a time period where there's a lot of changes in a lot of fields and you're going to see those who move forward with more streng…
Reply to @Charles: Yep, that's sustainable - lol. Health care is terrible too. Geez.
I'd really like the people who continually act like there's no inflation to go to a grocery store in a major city and explain to customers that they are not see…
Not investing in anything new for the time being but not selling.
I continue to believe in real, productive assets that serve a need - infrastructure (pipelines, etc - KMR, BIP, etc), oil wells/royalty trust (I don't own it, but FRHLF would be some…
Reply to @Anna: In terms of representation in the financial world, do you mean loans as an an asset class that can be invested in? I definitely think the financial industry is using student loans as yet another support.
In terms of assets, they inc…
I'll probably get some upset some of this, but I think what concerns me is this:
1. The gap between the haves and have nots in this country continues to get worse. I believe there's the possibility of social unrest down the road. I think Old Joe ma…
The Big Easy slides:
http://www.scribd.com/doc/128740069/Gundlach-the-Big-Easy-Slides-FINAL
"...raises more than a few 'doubts' about the new reality in which our markets live - Gundlach fears 'trade protectionism' is coming (and will hurt the glob…
Reply to @Charles: Congrats on MBIA via Fairholme funds. SHLD getting short squeezed higher again thanks to Lampert buying shares again.
I'm rather skeptical about Immelt, but I agree with you that GE is well-positioned for a number of themes (suc…
Now that there's the "record" flashing sign, you'll probably see another wave of retail investors drawn in with the headlines. There's a couple of things I'd like (O and COP are towards the top of the list) and a couple of things I'd like to add to,…
Reply to @Charles: As for people who got out of stocks and/or who haven't gotten in and or who have fleed to bonds entirely, I think it's unfortunate that there's no exploration of the psychology after you have three years of almost consistent outfl…
"DECATUR, Ill. -- At the height of this year's drought, decision-makers at the agribusiness giant Archer Daniels Midland kept an uneasy eye on the reservoir down the hill from their headquarters.
At one point, the water level fell to within 2 inche…
Reply to @Hiyield007: I haven't even really looked at it in great detail, to be honest, but it looks like a very fine fund. Personally, I like the pipelines a great deal - I'm not really very interested in straightforward utilities. I think GASFX i…
