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
@OJ, The irony is both those purchasing at a discount and warning against falling knives can be right because everyone's financial circumstance is different. For the poor and middle class riding out the storm during a downturn can be a dangerous thi…
I find it strange in the discussions/articles of Apple being a value at this price that rarely is it mentioned that Apple has a market cap of $721 billion, bigger than the GDPs of many nations. When a company has a market cap that high and profit ma…
The truth is most investors can't handle volatility so the ideal products for them are balanced funds that smooth out the ride. I've seen studies indicating that investor returns most closely match the fund's returns in the balanced fund category.
Regarding online pricing and how it varies, this is disturbing but true:lifehacker.com/5973689/how-web-sites-vary-prices-based-on-your-information-and-what-you-can-do-about-it
I actually think such practices should probably be illegal.
I'm waiting for a site that doesn't treat its workers terribly, pays its taxes and charges low prices: theguardian.com/technology/2013/dec/01/week-amazon-insider-feature-treatment-employees-work
@OJ, One of the biggest gripes against the TPP is the level of secrecy regarding the deal. Those who have access to it that represent labor and other non-business factions can't criticize it specifically without risking jail time. And then when they…
We've heard this story before. This was written by the Heritage Foundation in November of 1993, right before NAFTA went into affect in January of 1994:heritage.org/research/reports/1993/11/em371-the-north-american-free-trade-agreement
Somehow these …
Both the New York Times and New York Review of Books' articles I cited provide ample evidence that the War on Poverty has been successful at reducing the absolute poverty level significantly, by as much as 75% according to the Harvard professor who …
The War on Poverty was not a "failure" at reducing levels of absolute poverty, but has failed to reduce relative poverty:
nytimes.com/2015/03/25/opinion/how-poor-are-the-poor.html
https://russellsage.org/sites/all/files/Jencks_NYReview_Books_pt2.p…
@David, I'm surprised economists can't understand the fierce defense of the low inheritance tax. I understand the defense. It just has nothing to do with the health of the economy and everything to do with rationalizing another gilded age. The other…
@MJG. You say: "Most folks believe that individual efforts will be impacted by the tax schedule, and could reduce GDP growth." Actually, most folks do not agree about this and this subject is fiercely debated: businessinsider.com/study-tax-cuts-dont…
@Charles The trust of a financial adviser for a mutual fund company is not the same as that of an individual investor for a mutual fund company as the adviser may receive compensation from the fund company for selling its products.
The fact that traders are obsessed with this man who couldn't make a decent profit anymore once the SEC was created to regulate markets and ultimately killed himself because of his excesses says a lot more about the mentality of those who work on Wa…
The fact that the Oppenheimer fund is $5 billion despite its record from the 2008 crash shows that a lot of people are hungry for yield: morningstar.com/funds/XNAS/ORNYX/quote.html
@OJ, I suppose that's the reason the Islamic-oriented Amana Funds don't own banks. But some of these Christian-oriented funds do. I wonder what their thinking is on it.
There's an interesting conflict here between Christian and financial ideology which seems difficult to resolve for truly religious investors. The way capital markets are structured, lenders charge the most interest to those least able to pay their …
@Maurice, You flatter me. The definition of Jubilee is not from me but from Scott's article written by Puerto Rico's Arch Bishop Roberto González Nieves. Nor was Nieves or the Jubilee network calling for debt forgiveness for everyone but for the poo…
From Scott's Time Article: "The Bible itself provides us with a concept that seems perfect for the situation our island finds itself in now: the Jubilee. The book of Leviticus introduces us to the Jubilee year, which occurs every 50 years and involv…
@MikeM, While the upside/downside capture ratio seems a useful stat, there is this lurking question of a repeatability. Funds that did well in one downturn may not do well in another. This is one of a number of hidden dangers I see in alternative fu…
The backdoor entry to funds that are closed to new investors is to buy a share off someone and have that person transfer that share into your account. There are also other ways. Click here: bloomberg.com/bw/stories/2001-11-04/unlocking-the-door-to-c…
@Ted, Saying "there isn't much you like about America" is questioning my patriotism when the fact is l love America so much I don't want its air to be poisoned by rogue companies that have no respect for its people or laws--the same air my wife who'…
@Ted, The saddest thing of all is you equate criticizing oil companies for having bad environmental records and trying to find better ones with being somehow a disloyal American. And then you impugn my patriotism. I'm getting pretty tired of your bu…
@Ted the cyberbully, To the contrary, the thing I love about America most is its FREEDOM OF SPEECH, something you seem to have no interest in at all with your constant attacks on MFO Members with different opinions from your own. I think given your …
Yes, Ted, China has a terrible environmental record with almost no regulation. That's why U.S. companies love to manufacturer all of their goods there. Your point?
As one Amazon reviewer put it: "What do you get in this book? You get beautiful black and white photos of 33 managers, and vignettes of each of them written by six authors." Pictures of Warren Buffett, Don Yacktman and Marty Whitman on my coffee tab…
The thing that's so funny about it is what is a sports team other than the current players and its physical locale and fan base? So if you take the Brooklyn Dodgers and move them to LA, then years down the road when all of the players have changed a…
Politifact's Truth O' Meter Ratings:
Hillary Clinton: politifact.com/truth-o-meter/article/2015/apr/10/hillary-clinton-and-truth-o-meter/
Donald Trump: politifact.com/truth-o-meter/article/2015/jul/05/donald-trump-truth-o-meter/
Cable News Channel…
@David, I would call this a mass public outcry: usnews.com/opinion/blogs/robert-schlesinger/2011/02/16/poll-birthers-now-make-up-a-majority-of-gop-primary-voters Interesting article from the Times, thanks.
This sums the risks up pretty nicely:money.usnews.com/money/blogs/on-retirement/2010/12/16/3-risks-of-purchasing-a-fixed-annuity
The only thing I would add is there can also be a liquidity risk as you are locking your money up in the annuity and won…
@David, I'm not saying Cruz is ineligible to run, though the facts I stated are true. What I'm saying is there hasn't been a mass public outcry about his eligibility like with Obama.
@David, the interesting thing is Cruz was born both outside of the U.S. and to a Cuban father, yet other than Trump there's been nary a peep about his presidential bid.
@Maurice Actually there has been some constitutional debate regarding whether someone born to American parents outside of America is American. This was the case for George Romney, Mitt Romney's father, who was born in Mexico to American parents:
abc…
