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.
All these fancy schmancy annuities. I still think if you go that route nothing beats an immediate fixed annuity. I mean it sounds crazy (at least to me as a 67 year old male) for a 65 year old male to buy something that doesn't kick in until they …
Next to the tax free compounding of capital in an IRA etc., I can't think of any better way to build wealth than to be 100% debt free (and that includes no mortgage!)
To play the Party Pooper here, Roger Maris and Mickey Mantle didn't get together until 1960 and Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton until 1963 among just a few that should have been Lost In The Sixties. Some of us here actually lived in the Fifitie…
Dex, I hope so. I watch HYD and HYMB intraday but they don't hold a candle to the open end junk munis. For instance, several are outperforming HYD by 2 to 3 percentage points YTD. I am not a fan of ETFs. During the recent selloff HYD declined ne…
http://blogs.barrons.com/incomeinvesting/2014/07/23/lack-of-liquidity-hampering-high-yield-rebound/?mod=BOL_hp_blog_ii
More on the most hated asset class. I hate em too but when everyone hates something that is less than 1% off all time highs it h…
I was a commodities broker 40 years ago. Their returns (funds) since the 70s (allowing for the ones that vanished) is woeful. One glance at Morningstar's Commodity Broad Basket category for the past 3 and 5 years tells it all. Over the intervening…
Maybe I can say this better than what I posted and deleted over the weekend. If you held this fund since inception you are ahead of the S&P. But besides being -4.54% YTD it has also underperformed the S&P by 8.12% and 6.65% per annum over …
I haven't been a fan of corporate junk this year preferring municipal junk. But I agree with the above and have stated it before that it seems everyone and their mother hates junk. Marty Fridson highlighted in one of the links above is the acknowl…
A lot of dire forecasts for junk bonds in the various links of Ted original link above. Here's some more negative comments, these coming from Michael Aneiro's column in this week's Barron's. Mr. Aneiro has been a regular Cassandra on junk bonds fo…
What that's old saying about different strokes for different folks?
Edit: Thought I better delete the rest of my post as no need to ruffle feathers. We all have different strategies, risk tolerances, and goals. What feels comfortable for one i…
Diversification never seems to work for me. After today all I hold is NHMRX (90%) and LSFYX in my IRA and ABTYX in my taxable. I am not one for sitting tight (when a position is moving against me) but in hindsight (where we are all brilliant) shou…
Do junk bond funds count or are we just talking about equity funds? Junk bonds had their worst year/largest drawdown on record in 08 yet by August of 2009 the Merrill Lynch High Yield Master II Index was back to hitting all time highs. I haven't …
Thanks bee. Being that my IRA is my primary trading/investing vehicle and comprises 93% of my nest egg, I was interested to read his views on the RMD method. I still believe the bottom line is simply to have a large enough of a nest egg where you …
JimH, will be all in cash sooner than later if this keeps up. I haven't liked stocks all year and then just recently start dabbling in two equity funds???? If that is not the sign of a top (when bears throw in the towel) I don't know what is. Luck…
bee, I'm in the phase obsessing about when enough is enough so any retirement posts gets my attention. I'm probably misreading your post, but do we all want to die rich? Is there anything wrong with drawing down *some* principal in retirement if n…
I hate these threads but then always seem to bite. Down to 20% from 100% in NHMRX. Have some smallish positions looking to increase if price cooperates in DLENX (should have been much heavier there by now) BEXFX, and DODWX - albeit the latter two…
http://www.forbes.com/sites/davidmarotta/2012/08/27/the-false-promises-of-annuities-and-annuity-calculators/
The above article (you have to scroll down a bit for the actual article) is one of the best cases I've seen for staying clear of immediat…
I've said many times in the past that I would not touch an ETF or a closed end fund with a ten foot pole (regardless of its category) because of their volatility compared to the open end funds. What we have seen here recently is a good example. HY…
>>>>Did you have ice water injected into your veins as a newborn, or did you have that done later?
p.s. I live in Carson City, less than 15min drive from the eastern crest overlooking Lake Tahoe, 30min from Desolation Wilderness, and 60m…
>>Are your stops mental or do you have a good relationship with your broker? See, when I go out hiking it's for days on end with a backpack and no specific time agenda.
Yes, my entire liquid net worth is normally 100% in one fund. But I use a tight trailing stop of around 1% to 1.25%. Remember I am into tight rising channels and at this point in my financial life bond funds. Look back at 2012 and PONDX or last ye…
Thanks Dex, MJB, and bee. Interest-wise, I've had a very one dimensional life. Trading, running, and hiking. As boring as it may sound to some, for me retirement would be focusing as much as possible on the latter two interests. That's what I …
Thanks OJ, *really* good advice. My goal has always been a nest egg large enough to sustain me even if it never generated another penny of appreciation. In other words, if necessary, just live off the principal of my nest egg. We need more thread…
Dex, being single, totally debt free (no mortgage or rent) and frugal makes a huge difference. I am struggling with when enough is enough. I don't want to spend my years forever fretting about the markets and posting in newsgroups. I don't want t…
Dex, I completely agree, a million dollars isn't what it used to be. But forgetting about pensions and SS, there were still a lot less than I had imagined that had $1,000,000 in investable assets. It used to be that $1,000,000 was the marker for r…
And at a cursory glance, looks like it will be the 64th record high this year for corporate junk bonds as measured by the Merrill Lynch High Yield Master II Index. For a long term view of this market click on the link below and then click on "Max"
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David, how do you handle over zealous, groundhog day, ever repeating, broken clock posters?? It's hard not to engage them in sometimes contentious discussions.
Edit: OK, edited former post. I guess the best way and most harmonious for the boar…
Great post Old Joe albeit not sure I should be included above as I seriously misbehaved a few months back.
fundalarm, still sticking with junk munis as they have yet to have a meaningful correction YTD. Using a 2% trailing stop from highs as my ex…
Flack. I agree with the gist of what you are saying. Just that my idea of market beating returns and especially drawdowns are worlds apart from Charles' moving average studies. Admittedly though, they are better than the buy and hold crowd. (But …
>>>Actually, Charles researched my LT market strategy and provided this -
http://www.mutualfundobserver.com/2013/06/timing-method-performance-over-ten-decades/
Come on, backtested, simulated, hypothetical results are utterly worthless. An…
cman, say it ain't so. Hopefully, after a brief sojourn, you will be back. I've been on a brief hiking vacation so don't know if there was something that precipitated your decision. I've always found you and Investor (long gone) to be among the mo…
I've had my best (dollar-wise) January to May ever, but it's sure not because I had a clue. At the beginning of January I felt stocks were doomed because many sentiment indicators were at all time records of exuberance - more than in 2000 or 2007.…
