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.
The "cause" alleged is having "'falsified bank documents and property records' in an effort to gain more favorable loan terms and lower interest rates."
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/08/22/us/politics/trump-lisa-cook-fed-mortgage-fraud.html
Gosh tha…
Thanks for link.
If markets become unstable and we have higher inflation, then “retirees should control what they can, Bengen says. You might feel better reducing your withdrawal rate and watching your spending. You could also work longer, if that’…
With AI taking so many entry level jobs and housing costs that have exploded, there is no need to worry SWR. Money will be spent building second floor addition for the kids and a basement to store the food rations and the gold bars.
Bloomberg interview
a2z,
He wouldn’t directly answer question about debt outside USA. Why doesn’t he just say I don’t want to worry about currency risk?
The T. Rowe Price Small-Cap Stock Fund (OTCFX) closed to most new investors on January 2, 2014.
At the time of the closure, the fund had experienced a significant increase in assets under management. As the fund becomes larger, it becomes more dif…
Bloomberg’s monthly economists’ survey for the federal budget balance in June and July 2025
June 2025 $20 billion surplus Bloomberg LP Fiscal Forecast Survey (survey closed May 30, 2025)
July 2025 $275 billion deficit Bloomberg LP Fiscal Forecast…
$291B Federal Budget Deficit for July 2025. There goes the budget.
Don’t listen to economists or weather forecasters.
In June 2015 Bipartisan Policy Center predicted that "...the government will likely run a larger deficit in July, as there a…
June estimate from two reliable source did not predict a massive deficit for June 2025.
Congressional Budget Office (CBO): As a primary and authoritative source, the CBO, in its "Monthly Budget Review" published on June 1, 2025, estimated a surplus…
damn
PRPFX has outperformed PRWCX the last 5y, everyone's hard-on here for over that period of time ! --- good on them
otoh FPACX has done quite a bit better than either !
double-damn
otoh2, if I had taken my subpar-investor father's advice in…
Took 10 seconds but my portfolio page opened up successfully even though it says locked for paying members and I’m not a member and don’t have a members only jacket.
With the market at an all time high, and generally considered to be overvalued, I bought additional shares in QDSNX, an alternative fund with an excellent risk/reward profile which has worked very well for me so far.
It never had a losing calendar …
"WIN" - which stood for "Whip Inflation Now" - buttons were distributed in 1974.
The campaign was a voluntary program introduced by President Gerald Ford in October 1974 to encourage American citizens to combat the high inflation of the time. The re…
If you don’t sell, then you still have Annual Tax Liabilities for Holding LP Interests.
Your Schedule K-1 is where all pass-through items show up.
Federal Income Tax on Distributive Share
Your share of the LP’s profits and losses “pass through…
Rieder had an interesting interview few days ago on CNBC.
“This is the best investing environment ever.” He did think productivity is high and that you can get good yield at 6.5% range. But he did think valuations are high so he bought portfoli…
Does CPI Reflect True Inflation? Some on Wall Street Have Doubts
• CPI says “no big inflation” — sorry to the hundreds of experts who swore it was coming any minute now.
• S&P 500 at yet another all-time high — apparently Wall St. doesn't have …
For apartments BLS could use Zillow, apartments.com, rent.com and zumper to search same apartment complexes in each city to get estimate of large apartment complexes. Confidence rate would be pretty high with enough apartments selected.
Supposedly…
Hank,
Miss the Contrarian Chronicles from 20 years back on MSN Money.
“It became a must-read for investors burned by the dot-com bubble and wary of Wall Street's pervasive optimism. The column stood as a stark, often witty, counterpoint to the pr…
As the economy unravels, we will hear a lot more of "It had to be done". As if making us economically weaker accomplishes anything. Ot that they are fighting the "good fight". No proof will ever be forthcoming.
President Trump says US court ruling …
A firm I read believes that if DJT fires Powell, and forces the fed rate down to 1.5, ALL deficit funding will be short term with disastrous consequences for LT debt. While there will be a surge in economic activity, inflation will soon blow up, sto…
Those are regular CDs carrying early withdrawal penalties. Unfortunately, Sallie Mae does not offer no penalty CDs directly.
Got it, thanks. Missed that fine print you had mentioned with fintech offer.
Hank,
Thanks for detailed breakdown, never had enough time to research CEFs, seemed opaque. The affable billionaire Mario seems to have done ok last few years. But seems to trade like a convertible fund. But correlation with SPY is low, so a good …
There is a White House clarification (re gold tariffs) in the process of being issued. So don’t do anything rash!
Oh no! I was just driving to a dozen Costcos to pick up my bars…
Hope you have a big enough pickup to haul it all. :)
Unfortunate…
FD1000,
I apologize for my poor attempt at humor in middle of the night. Did not mean to offend you about crypto.
I totally dismissed bitcoin (prefer gold) and other crypto, maybe Buffett and deep value folks are too conservative with investme…
FD1000,
I said crypto is very risky, probably 5-10% max in portfolio. Just pointing out like you implied that politics should not factor into investing decision. Many people have missed out on biggest gains of last year because (maybe in part at …
There is a White House clarification (re gold tariffs) in the process of being issued. So don’t do anything rash!
Oh no! I was just driving to a dozen Costcos to pick up my bars…
Looked up MIT class 15.015 (Macroeconomics and International Economics). Jumped right to exam question and found this gem
Exam question-
A candidate for the Republican nomination (i.e., someone currently competing to become the presidential candi…
Catch22,
Very interesting and I know it’s almost late September and I should be back at school (MIT Sloan School), to take
15.218 Global Economic Challenges and Opportunities Course so I can make sense of peso crisis in Argentina.
I would like t…
Las Vegas Tourism stats June 2024 to June 2025
Metric Change
Total Visitors −11.3%
Convention Attend. −10.7%
Hotel Occupancy Rate −6.5
Air Travelers (Harry Reid Airport) −6.3%
Traffic from California (I-15) −4.3%
International Arrivals −9.8…
Sold all GDL. Swapped it out for new position in TRTY.
Gabelli’s (arbitrage fund) GDL wasn’t a bad investment for me. Just moving a few deck chairs around … in anticipation … of what?
GDL reminds me of the airport code, but
“oh no
Guadalajara…
I hardly have MM. It's all in SNAXX at 4.29%.
I’m sure you have better choices than lame MM. You probably don’t like to brag, but bet you have 10-15% in
$TRUMP cryptocurrency, which for MM folks here, is up over 600% year to date. By far the best…
Smart people buy Toyota vehicles and hold them for 15+ years.
Has been easy in California to keep cars for long term. Don’t know about newer cars.
We had Camry V6 250,000 miles but totaled in accident. Body shop guy did minor fix and gave to his…
