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.
@Junkster - Thanks for mentioning IOFIX. I owned DPFNX recently, but IOFIX looks even better.
TDA has superior municipal high yield funds NHMAX and ORNAX. And OOSAX and EAFAX are excellent bank loan funds offered at TDA.
The Fairholme Focused Income Fund fared better than FAIRX: It was down 6.19% today and is still up for the year by 2.51%. FCOIX is managed by Bruce Berkowitz and he has a 6.76% holding in Fannie Mae Preferred which also tumbled today. FOCIX was up…
@Old_Skeet - You did well and stuck with your methodology. I like a bond-only portfolio because of the lower maximum draw down, which was 0.8% vs 8.5% for the S&P in Feb 2016.
I hope we all do well in 2017.
Recently sold: EIFAX
Recently bought: GWMEX
Corp High Yield 42% (IVHIX, BHYSX)
Bank Loan Funds 30% (HFRZX, BXFYX)
Muni High Yield 28% (GWMEX)
I sold EIFAX and have been easing into GWMEX. EIFAX had a good 2016, but it has been lagging. Mun…
No more Scottrade, it will be folded into TDA.
Following the finalization of the merger, the Scottrade name will be phased out, including at the Scottrade Center arena downtown, home of the National Hockey League's St. Louis Blues. The arena's name …
I sold half of my junk bond holdings today. I also sold my emerging market bond funds. It has been a nice run - 2 months without any volatility, until today.
Bryan Krug has done a great job at ARTFX. IVHIX suffered immediately after his departure but it has turned around this year. I don't like the 2% short term redemption fee at ARTFX.
What a week for junk! One thing I don't like about the week is that I am not fully invested in corp junk. I still have 30% in muni junk and 10% in PFORX. @Junkster - I like your WAHYX and I also own ABHIX and PYHIX.
My goal is always 0% cash, otherwise I am not working hard enough.
Fortune favors the bold. - Latin Proverb
It is true that when we take chances, we stand to lose. But it is also true that we will never win anything if we never even enter the game. …
Yes, that is correct - my portfolio return YTD is 7.5% and I only trade bonds. I learned from the master @Junkster.
I was in corp junk in Feb and March, but I went into bank loan funds since they were performing as well as corp junk funds. I wa…
@Junkster - I'm no Bill Gross, but I'm up 7.5% YTD in my bond only portfolio, which has been almost all in bank loan funds for the past 2 months. I have 80% in bank loans funds, LSFYX, JFIIX and SAMBX and 20% in DVHIX, a municipal high yield fund. …
It is turning out to be a good year for bond traders. 12/2015 and 1/2016 were a couple of down months, but I kept the discipline and finally caught a nice rally. It is nice to see all the bond sectors are in rally mode simultaneously. It is a rare…
Corporate junk bonds continue to follow oil. Defaults in the energy and mining sectors will be much higher than 5%. I've seen estimates of 50% default rate for oil junk bonds.
@junkster I see your point: The junk bond index has lower highs and lower lows since the peak on 5/29/2015.
Corp junk (PRHYX) did not confirm the recent NASDAQ peaks:
The "smart money" had been buying recently:
Gundlach ‘Not Really Afraid Of Junk Bonds’ Now, Adds More 9/9/2014
http://blogs.barrons.com/incomeinvesting/2014/09/09/gundlach-not-really-afraid-of-junk-bonds-now-adds-more/
Pimco Scoops Up Quality Jun…
The rise and fall of gold taught me to make money on both the long and short sides of the market. I own physical gold (purchased in 2004) and at times I buy SPPIX to hedge and capture downside moves in gold. SPPIX shorts the gold miners, so it is …
When I first came to this site, I found the volume of information overwhelming. But, now it is as comfortable as an old hat. Please keep up your posts Ted, and keep us all informed.
Nice chart! Here is a link to the accompanying article:
http://www.mcoscillator.com/learning_center/weekly_chart/perhaps_the_only_chart_that_matters_for_now/
Reply to @Junkster: In 2008, UltraShort Bond funds were being used for cash. The category only lost 0.53% in Q3 2011, but lost 7.89% in 2008. I agree with you Junkster, that RPHYX has never been tested in a bad bear market.
I would think about the Dollar Menu, but McDonald's just killed it.
http://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2013/10/why-mcdonalds-killed-the-dollar-menu-in-1-chart/280778/
Reply to @msf: Thanks msf! I found some more info at:
http://consumerreports.org/cro/news/2013/08/keeping-grandfathered-plan/index.htm
"You may also have a plan that, although not grandfathered because you bought it more recently, lacks some of t…
From the article:
“When there's one big buyer that everyone knows is going away, you run the risk of a bunch of big trades getting in your way as you're trying to get out of high yield,” Mr. Blumenthal said.
My comment is that there has been no ind…
I do not qualify to have subsidized health insurance, and I found that I could purchase more affordable coverage by getting non-ACA health insurance. I bought a 1 year non-ACA plan for 12/15/2013 to 12/15/2014. If I had waited until 1/1/2014, I wo…
Bitcoin is best viewed as a lotto bet - win big or lose all. While bicoin has greatly appreciated in the past 3 years (1000%), a technical flaw could make it worthless.
