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
@Ted Let me get this straight: A kid who watched his schoolmates get murdered in front of him by a hateful idiot who should never had access to a gun is a "punk" and like "Mussolini" for fighting via perfectly legal and acceptable civil disobedience…
First, how much liquidity do you need and do you have enough after pre-paying your mortgage to handle at least six months of expenses in case of an emergency? If you don't you probably shouldn't pre-pay as then your house rich and cash poor. Assumi…
@Maurice I don't have to agree with his views about Vanguard and BlackRock to recognize that comparing him to Mussolini for having them is asinine and insulting.
"Hogg reminds me of Benito Mussolini. He speaks, he shouts, he raises his fist."
So the syllogism is:
Mussolini was human/ Hogg is human.
Mussolini was male/ Hogg is male
Mussolini had two arms and legs/Hogg has two arms and legs.
Therefore Hogg …
@VintageFreak Note that GMO's forecasts always are for "real returns," which are returns adjusted for inflation. So a 2% real return would be 5% net if inflation is 3%.
I interviewed Marty a number of times and always found him engaging and honest and funny too. He sometimes would curse like a sailor and it was hilarious. A true New Yorker of the old school. I will miss him.
@Maurice The assets under management in this case are far less relevant than the percentage invested in gun stocks--1.33%. In other words, over 98% of the assets of a tiny ETF are driven by non-gun stocks. But you know that. Complaining about this i…
@OJ "why are you trusting government dollars?"
If the U.S. government collapses, everything collapses. The entirety of capital markets is built upon the so-called "risk-free rate" from T-Bills to the riskiest emerging market stocks. The only thing …
Regarding floating-rate loan funds, here are others:
news.morningstar.com/fund-category-returns/bank-loan/$FOCA$BL.aspx
There are also ETF versions and closed-end fund versions of floating-rate loan strategies that could prove the best options, but …
@Starchild I don't really think it's worth paying any adviser 1% today unless they are giving you a whole lot of advice such as complex estate planning or business succession planning. Otherwise, you could get an adviser with less hand holding at pl…
@Starchild PONAX has been a strong performer, but it normally carries a 3.75% load/commission to make purchases and has a higher expense ratio 0.90% than other share classes of the same mutual fund. So at the least I would recommend buying a differe…
@Maurice I thought I was done with this, but the accusations that I can't read between the lines, didn't and still doesn't sit well with me.
And what do other shareholder activists seeking divestment have to do with Elizabeth Warren wanting to be yo…
Besides someone has to tell the truth. The literal definition of an ideologue in an echo chamber is someone who thinks they have a monopoly on the truth.
@Maurice Fully expecting a refutation of Ms Narula as a discredited and biased member of the science community. Oh wait, she was allowed on PBS. Never mind.
Don't you find it funny that you keep talking about people on this board being in an "echo …
What kills everyone in New York cost wise is the real estate. If you can figure out a way around that, which is possible but not easy, I actually think it can be more affordable than many other places in the U.S. Food for instance is often cheaper i…
The other factor that needs to be considered is comparable wages for the same types of work in different states. You might be more willing to pay a higher income tax in New York if your salary for doing the same type of job is significantly higher t…
It would be nice if just one of these dumb stories actually bothered to calculate what value you get for your tax dollar as opposed to just how much you're paying. In other words, calculate the efficiency of the tax payment for goods and services, a…
When you're the owner of a business, the profits from the business are far more important in most cases than any salary you might collect from also being an employee of the same business.
One fund that is a fascinating example of the disparity between the two previous bear markets is the deep value fund AVALX. It did great in the first 2000-02 bear market and terrible in the 2008 one. What is really interesting to me right now is it …
I hate to say this, but it depends. I've noticed there are different kinds of bear markets and depending on what factor is driving the bear will determine what turns out to be a winning downside risk strategy. For instance, 2008 was a credit driven …
The structural aspect he describes is interesting too. I would say you are better off with the Doubleline mf for the CAPE exposure than an ETN with a single issuer's--in this case Barclays'--credit risk. Or, and I know I've mentioned this before, do…
I figured as much but my response to the particular ETN versus the metric it is based on would largely be the same. It's doing fabulously right now no question. My point is I don't think it will always be doing fabulously, that the trade will eventu…
Regarding the new Vanguard mutual fund versus the ETF, I would disagree with the Morningstar author's recommendation to choose the mutual fund unless you are investing directly with Vanguard as your broker. The reason for that is the same as what I …
Regarding dates, are not November 9th, 2016 and January 20th, 2017 respectively election day and inauguration day? What is fishy exactly or cherry-picked about those days in the context of what JoeD is discussing?
@MSF From your article: We will see who the next target is – acrylamide is after all not just in coffee – but in many cooked and processed foods.
That is what interests me and makes me wonder why coffee at this point? Although the FDA link I posted…
@Maurice I consider comments from a representative of an organization specifically backed by a lobbyist for corporations seeking to repeal or weaken California's Prop. 65 for their own financial interests highly suspect on their face. That's why I s…
@Maurice Not here to "demonize" all your comments. I just have a low tolerance threshold for junk science promulgated by corporate lobbyists who are facilitating the destruction of our planet. Also, if you read carefully, I actually agree with you t…
@Ted Any MFO member who once posted "Blow Up Wife"--https://mutualfundobserver.com/discuss/discussion/comment/91319/#Comment_91319--should not be talking about immaturity. People in glass houses....
@Maurice While I also think California overreacted to coffee, posting op-eds from bs sources is not helping your argument. The Center for Accountability in Science is a front for corporate lobbyist Richard Berman who is behind almost every garbage a…
@LLJB The qualities are pretty much in the story already. One was managing successful parallel or similar mutual fund products for longer periods of time. Another was fees--are they lower than comparable active products or even lower than comparable…
Human interaction still matters. If you don't meet with your broker in person, you can't do the infamous Larry David eye stare to see if they're telling the truth:
Moreover, unless your broker is a psychopath or has a personality disorder, an unfo…
