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 @Soupkitchen: i used the same page which under footnote (2) stated total expenses for Class D, minus interest expense @.75%. you compare 75 to 115 bps to have an apple to apple comparison. i bet closed end fund's interest expense is highe…
PONDX is indeed 75, not 70. In both of my responses I haven't included interest expense so you can compare 75 to 115 if that's what's important to you. In my opinion, while it's important to understand the cost of leverage, it is absolutely useles…
ok, ok, gentlemen - thank you. you've done better homework than i had before buying... used morning* and etfconnect for a quick check up. since leverage is a plus in my book (provided current market environment), i am fine with the holding. i want…
Reply to @Hiyield007: correction... PDI is unlevered. unfortunately for me. the cost of leverage is low nowadays and the returns are high (just ask bee who took a mortgage to invest!). he bought it because, for a short period of time, it was tradi…
tried to use a cool 'picture' button, but failed.
@Charles: despite the perfect graph, CEF's are much more volatile than open-end MFs and have additional premium/discount features. please do not jump in if you are not comfortable with the produc…
For those who appreciate the closed end fund universe, the answer is yes. Just look at the performance differential between the two:
http://quote.morningstar.com/cef/chart.aspx?t=PDI&region=USA&culture=en-US&statePara={tick…
Earlier this week purchased JSD and my state muni closed end fund - funded partially with cash, and partially with reducing FSICX. Earlier today -- replaced a long-time position in JPS with PDI.
Reply to @MikeM: "limited" means to existing investors and/or to certain qualified retirement accounts. it is definitely available in one of my 401K and I have been invested in RYSEX for several years.
i confirm, Mark. your cash from the sale will not be available for your purchase for the same NAV day - it takes one day extra (at least) most of the time. Interestingly, my 401K allows for the same day transaction, while my husband's doesn't. We…
TFCVX would be one of them. But the original manager is gone. Also, FWIW, the opportunity set diminished greatly since '09/10. For those that remain, there is a bunch of distressed shops (HF's) that bid the price and they are not that cheap. Fin…
Reply to @CathyG: if it has an average maturity of the 30-day paper, it's m-t-m losses will be VERY limited. it is indeed as close to cash & yield as you get, in my understanding.
also, i just paid attention to your heading. the question yo…
if you would like to double your cash rate from 2 to 4% and have almost a cash like volatility, why not use RPHYX profiled so extensively on this site. There is a very educational recent manager interview recording as well. despite the scary name (…
if you don't mind closed end funds, JRO has been my favorite for the last 5 years. Nuveen more recently added a shorter duration one, JSD. i like both of them. they keep increasing distributions paid out from income. Nuveen is very transparent and…
Reply to @VintageFreak: I believe that Pimco FoFs are charging one level of fees -- it's more like a multi-strategy fund: moneys are divided between different strategies/ separate accounts given to different Pimco managers. This one seems to charge…
Reply to @scott: ETNs do not generate K-1. iPath Barclays have a lot of them. Ordinary income, close correlation to benchmark. Barclays credit risk of course -- just like any corporate bond would have.
I got a similar offering in my old 401K a month ago. It is not run by SSGA, but a similar inflation fighting concept. It is, basically, a commingled fund of funds, with allocations spread among 4 asset classes and about 10 managers. The asset cla…
respectfully disagree. only in the last two trading days, 13th and 14th, the long institutional investors started to buy stocks. before -- mostly hedge funds speculated by putting quick ETF positions or covering their shorts. those relative perfor…
it's not just QE3 that is great for mortgage-backs; it's recent data that the housing market had bottomed and is on a slow way to recovery. this, latter piece of data (together with the diminishing tail risk in europe) what caused the market to ral…
Reply to @bee: thanks, bee. I myself have a bunch of line items (though less than you). Do you feel that Japan indeed merits an allocation separate from other foreign? (you seem to bundle together EM/Asia/Int'l, but Japan stands out.)
Reply to @Charles: everyone of your recent commentaries has an "Obama" in it. Someone might suspect an agenda. Agenda items are better placed under "off topic" categories, Charles.
with interest rates pegged to zero, the spread products (not-agency MBS and HY) will continue to perform well. but equities should perform even better. don't forget the two positive elephants in a sea of negativity: tail risk in Europe -- if not g…
Claimui, there is no "increased default risk" suddenly on Sep 7 and/or 8. The fund's holdings pricing still correlates to HY. Each bond will fluctuate in pricing due to general market perception of risk and default. However, and this is i am hear…
Reply to @catch22: hi catch, mine was a response to skeeter. the guideline management usually applies to a full service brokerage relationship that he seems to maintain as opposed to a discount brokerage like fido or shwab -- where you are basicall…
Reply to @Skeeter: your investment advisor is required by the regulatory authorities to maintain your investments within the ranges (guidelines) you have on file with them. To get them off the regulatory hook -- which is quite severe, you would nee…
hmmm. i am neutral tilting to the agressive site by adding 2 percent to equities a few days ago. my 'neutral' is 40 equity (us+foreign); 20 spreads/credit (hy, emd, loans, preferreds, etc.); 30 traditional fixed income (munis; gov't; inv grade); 10…
ok, David, i happened to be on fidelity website! here they are FGMNX, FIGFX, SPHIX, FSDPX, FTQGX, FOCPX, FSCRX, and FSCSX -- these are non-index open mutual funds rated five-star by M* as of 8/31.
These are indeed good interviews on loans and MBS. What would serve this society right is spelled in Scott's comment somewhere today -- a rudimental financial/ investment education during high school years as part of the core program. Then we all …
Actually, i like this concept. Pimco uses futures to get exposure to UBS commodity index. This is as close to passive as you get, with some benefits. 1. They actively manage rolls (futures need to roll monthly or quarterly) as to minimize that co…
thanks for coming out in an honest fashion, Marc. There is nothing wrong with the wide variety of articles -- simple and more complex, since there is a wide variety of investing public -- from the beginners to more sophisticated ones. You might wa…
