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.
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LewisBraham
Hi Hank,
Your satire came across very well. Don't worry about the user name.
Best,
Lewis
I would say the default investment philosophy of making as much money as possible without concern for other people or the planet is partisan politically on its face. Politics are embedded in Wall Street's basis ethos.
That's too bad about ARTKX. I didn't know that. It seems like they're working on two other funds,a global value one, ARTGX, and an international small-cap one, ARDBX, but they're not the same.
An important thing to remember in finance and this topic as well is correlation is not causation. I would say poverty, a lack of education, a lack of opportunity and racism itself are the primary drivers of crime, not the usual loaded stereotypes. I…
@Crash Political refugees are not the same as climate refugees, and neither of them are the same as economic refugees. Whether refugees or just plain immigrants, there are standards of social behavior, civic lessons and some sort of mainstreaming pr…
To provide some nuance, I will add the folowing excerpt: If all of this makes you consider throwing in the towel on active management, you’re not alone. Investors continue to shift money into indexed exchange-traded funds and away from mutual funds.…
OK, since I am a wise old uncle, I will ask how about this and what it means for both colonialism and refugees:
https://foreignpolicy.com/2020/10/10/case-for-climate-reparations-crisis-migration-refugees-inequality/
https://pbs.org/newshour/world…
@Crash What I’m saying is the same beliefs you’re espousing, and even the same language you’re using, have been used towards every immigrant group in every country throughout history:
https://history.com/.amp/news/when-america-despised-the-irish-th…
@Crash Many of them live by social values that actually CLASH with civilized EUROPEAN norms
Your remark reminds me of the old story of when someone asked Gandhi what he thought of Western civilization, he responded, “I think it would be a good idea…
Interesting part to the article: The key insight is that investment spending is driven in large part by growth — growth in the number of workers and in technological progress. A growing labor force needs more office space, more houses, and so on; a …
I disagree that only those who didn’t need money got low rate loans:
https://spglobal.com/marketintelligence/en/news-insights/latest-news-headlines/high-yield-bond-and-leveraged-loan-sales-top-1-trillion-in-2021-67670013
For investors as opposed to …
I would say the risk of a major implosion from rising rates this time is to a different part of the economy than 2008:
https://forbes.com/sites/mayrarodriguezvalladares/2022/09/26/probability-of-default-is-rising-for-high-yield-bonds-and-leveraged-l…
This has been a good fund long-term but it has hiccups lately. It is also priced too high for its large asset size. Still, could be a good entry point for it.
What's sad is Wall Street and investors seem to have a hankering for fascism: https://reuters.com/world/americas/brazil-election-enters-runoff-bolsonaro-dashes-lulas-hope-quick-win-2022-10-03/
Lately, it does seem that God tells people to go out and become billionaires more often during their epiphanies than He tells them to give up all their material wealth and preach the gospel in the streets to the poor. It’s all part of His divine reb…
While I agree that the constant fear-mongering in the press isn't helpful, I'm not a fan of the referenced Martin Seligman's positivity edicts, which I think create their own toxic outcomes and pressure people to just "buck up" about legitimate grie…
@BennyB If your CGM fund is in your IRA, you do not need to talk to a tax advisor as the IRA is sheltered from taxes. You could just let it liquidate or sell now inside the IRA.
@Mona No, those two funds are very different. PQTIX is a managed futures fund that can go long or short entire securities markets—U.S. or Foreign stocks or bonds, commodities or currencies. It follows price trends in these individual markets. HSGFX …
Regarding AKREX, I do think funds that are highly concentrated in a few stocks even when they manage risk reasonably well can be suspect in general simply because it's always a question whether the magic can be repeated once the top picks have run t…
@Anna What you're talking about is a regressive tax break in which the rich benefit far more than the poor as the bigger an investor's account is, the larger the withdrawl they can make to avoid taxation. It would be a bonanza for the wealthy to tak…
Probably a reasonable compromise would be to allow people with retirement balances below a certain amount to delay RMDs but to require those with balances above that level to still take it. Even more progressive would be to provide a subsidy to thos…
No, I’m saying those who need the money to live in retirement will take the distribution because they have to while those wealthy enough to delay taking the distribution and recover from their losses probably don’t need more of a tax break. The whol…
The people who are well off enough not to need to take a required minimum distribution probably don't deserve this tax waiver. Most people who are struggling will have to take the distribution. So, this is really another tax break for the rich in my…
Although I assume this is understood, I think it's important not to confuse Russia as a nation and people with Putin and his regime. I don't think the Russian people have benefited from this war or this sabotage or even from a tyrant emerging here a…
Maybe Truss has no choice but to be Keynes while claiming to be Thatcher: https://newyorker.com/news/our-columnists/the-huge-economic-challenge-facing-liz-truss-new-british-prime-minister
True, but the whole violent fascist thing in one of the world's largest democracies is problematic. Unlike Trump, Bolsonaro has deep ties with Brazil's military and says that if he loses the upcoming election, he won't leave.
