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
@davidrmoran There are two things going on--one is the pursuit of raw power regardless of which party. Trump himself was once a Clinton donor until it no longer suited his ends. The other is an undying love for all things Wall Street. Both Trump and…
@Ted Sorry, but it's not fake news. The man founded the fund management firm that operates these funds and said the things reported and now has the job of communications director. I think you're confusing "fake news" with "truthful hyperbole." Your …
@Ted Talking about Amazon's pricing is not a social or political issue. It's a money issue. In any case, I am opposed to using this board as a repository for crude sexist jokes, yet I respect your right to make them.
@Ted I seem to remember a certain recent post of yours that had nothing to do with mutual funds and was completely offensive and disrespectful of women. Are you oblivious to your hypocrisy or do you just revel in it?
Good article:
As these processes continue and accelerate, many Trump voters — the neighbors, relatives, friends, parents and children of those who have become mired in this “geography of desperation” — are deeply apprehensive about what might happen…
While I'm a fan of world allocation strategies with the right manager, I often wonder how to fit them in one's portfolio as their allocations can fluctuate, so you might not realize how much equity or bond exposure you have in total. Also, in the ca…
@MauriceThey both live in glass houses.
False equivalency. Read the U.S. News & World Report story. And I'm sorry if you're going to assume that anything published in U.S. News is false and part of the liberal media conspiracy, there really is …
@Maurice
Glass house, stone:
https://usnews.com/opinion/articles/2016-09-16/the-clinton-foundation-vs-the-trump-foundation
Also, the rationale that other people do bad things and therefore I can do bad things is about the oldest lie in the book. Do …
Isn't it all just a vehicle for financing black market crime?
sciencemag.org/news/2016/03/why-criminals-cant-hide-behind-bitcoin
https://theguardian.com/technology/2017/may/15/digital-gold-why-hackers-love-bitcoin-ransomware
fortune.com/2017/03/1…
"Ralph Kramden is a beloved character who is seen as representative of the working man of that era in New York" Lewis: Think that one through: surely you didn't mean to suggest that blacks were not part of the New York working class of that era.
Per…
@Maurice You lost me at "monolithic media." You've heard no doubt of an organization called News Corp. Or for that matter CNBC, Breitbart, Infowars, etc. Yet we can agree to disagree. I respect your free speech too.
The thing is tastes in humor vary and change. They're time bound and often culturally, contextually, politically and geographically dependent. I saw Old Joe referenced the Honeymooners in his post. When I was a child, I thought the Honeymooners was …
@Maurice The only problem is the video I posted wasn't about comparing the president to an ape which is proof positive you didn't even watch it before condemning it. It references for a few seconds a lawsuit the Snowflake in Chief filed because of t…
@Benwp If it came across as I was suggesting you specifically were attacking the fund, I apologize. I was referring to the general disappointment of the top three posts and the suggestion of dumping the fund by year-end. That kind of short-term unde…
Attacking the fund in this environment is a failure to understand Foster's strategy. He is a defensive risk-averse emerging markets investor. When the average emerging fund is up 21.5% in 6 1/2 months like in 2017, this fund will probably lag. Anyon…
@Old_Joe The kind that believes in freedom for me but not for you.
@Maurice Just days after her downfall, Bill Maher, your comedic hero, got away with insulting the nation and a very large oppressed minority group. Maher faced close to zero criti…
@Ted Wow, that's almost as effective a comeback as George's:
Maybe if you added some more exclamation points or used all-caps your witticisms would be even subtler and more nuanced.
@Ted To use your own words, what does this have to do with mutual funds? By the way, if this deeply offensive sexist ad, which objectifies women as blow up dolls you can just deflate and throw away, ran in the U.S., there would be protests in the st…
Fake quote: snopes.com/quotes/einstein/interest.asp
Aside from its dubious provenance, the quote is incompatible with Einstein's overall political philosophy. Einstein was a socialist. He wrote an essay entitled "Why Socialism?" in which he stated: …
Why should the earnings yield on stocks be anywhere remotely close to interest rates on bonds when bond rates are contractually guaranteed by law for years in advance while stock earnings can fluctuate wildly from quarter to quarter? Should not the …
@MJG The current winners earned their high positions by providing goods and services that we needed or wanted. Whatever the reason, we volunteered to pay the going rates. Good for them and good for us.
Your quote suggests that all goods are discreti…
@MJG If you find a free economy, let me know. I'd like to visit one someday. In the meantime I'm busy staring at operating systems owned by three oligarchs--Microsoft, Apple and Google. My airport only has three airlines and any medicines I might ne…
@Maurice
It's hypocritical to mention these kinds of cases when the Republican healthcare plan will throw upwards of 20 million people off the healthcare rolls. Do you not realize how many cases there are of people whose lives depend on Medicaid? In…
Just think about this: When this fund hit $10 billion in assets, it was taking in upwards of $100 million in fees a year. I don't think it ever had a tremendous analyst staff or back office or that many employees overall at like say Fidelity. That m…
@Shostakovich,
Actually when I look at the old portfolios and annual reports I see the fund was then a truly all-cap fund with a few large companies like--Berkshire Hathaway--to some tiny companies like Gladstone Capital and Wlitel Communications an…
@David_Snowball I think you're right-two separate funds. When I first saw this news, I couldn't believe it as the original Grand Prix was such an unmitigated disaster.
Mr. Berkowitz is unapologetic for the poor returns, noting he always has promised his investors ultra-concentrated, often contrarian bets and high volatility was a likely result.
“The people who had the smoothest ride were those in Bernie Madoff. Li…
@OJ Fair enough, still remains a bill authored by two parties. The irony is that the healthcare exchanges--the free market working its magic--was originally the Republican part of the bill and that's what's failing right now. The pre-existing condit…
@Maurice "In Fall 2005, the House and Senate each passed health care insurance reform bills. The legislature made a number of changes to Governor Romney's original proposal, including expanding MassHealth (Medicaid and SCHIP) coverage to low-income …
