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.
the GOP was right to sanction NBC.
The main trio of CNBC questioners (Quintanilla, Quick, Harwood) seemed to be relentlessy asking questions less about substantive policy points, and instead about the "horse-race" -- trying to incite the candidat…
Abandon ALL hope? And someone (else) accused me on another thread of being cynical/pessimist.
Feel like throwing up your hands? Sequestering yourself in front of the TV? Under the bed? We've kinda been here before (those of us old enough.) …
I’ve a different take on the Riverpark commentary. I’ve had an unwanted degree of familiarity for some time, with Verso, Newpage and the now-merged entity, due to my ‘day-job’. (and please excuse me, a lot of this is based on recollection). Rive…
This result (not GE specifically, but generally) is a victory for those who have championed & achieved the corporatist agenda for the past 40 years. Liberalization of trade, union-bashing, illegal immigration/invasion.
For those of you who h…
The Evil Empire was defeated.
As for economic conservatism: Global "free trade" agreements are the law. Corporate interests are prominently represented in the corridors of power. Personal tax rates are near multi-generational lows. An ever-…
Flying from city to city, country to country, continent to continent as I am sure Mr. Herro does, when he visits potential and current companies to invest in... what do you suppose is David's personal carbon footprint?
Also, do you suppose, be…
The oil/energy industry is in no way unique in attempting to shift/externalize/socialize costs.
PEP's and KO's main products are material contributors to chronic metabolic disorders (diabetes, obesity, etc.) --- perhaps explicit, dedicated fees/lev…
VintageFreak: WTF are we comparing people across continents/countries? can we please compare people within the united states? Or do we think we are done with that debate? the only reason to waste intellectual capital to look at other countries is t…
That comparison of living costs between the US and Europe's largest economy, Germany, is very counter-intuitive. I would have expected that Germany, being a very population-dense country vs. the US, their costs for foodstuffs and rent would be m…
I find the reader comments below the article, more insightful than the article itself. Some folks understand what is going on, others refuse to admit it to themselves.
We've had a bi-partisan consensus among the ruling class on expanding "trade". …
The use of the word “donation” in this context would be laughable – if we were not talking about how decisions in the Beltway are made. Can we cut through the B.S. and call it what it is: bribery of public officials and corruption of the political …
I've looked for 'the holy grail' for some time -- a hedged or l/s fund that RELIABLY will deliver positive returns, I've not had much success OTHER than the Boston Partners funds (which I've no access to, as they are closed to new investors).
Other…
The article rightly talks about the problems of negative compounding (i.e. bear markets). -- Strangely though, it neglects to mention a vehicle which can do that, yet still allow participation in equity bull markets --- namely fixed-indexed annuit…
Henry made some (ethical) mistakes back in the 90s. I've no sympathy for THAT Henry. That said, since then, he has had some 'seasoning' provided to us by the capital markets-- haven't we all? My impression (from some of his posts on BI) is that h…
The timing of the pricing rebound in most things (stocks, junk, energy, energy-equities, etc) began right at the end of the quarter (9/30). Business fundamentals don't neatly pivot at quarter-ends.
That suggests to me: a) heavy window-dress …
Maybe the (now former) owners thought this was as good a time as any to "ring the register" --- maybe selling out is their last, and ultimate market call....?
Predictably, several of "the Bears" on the link were in the 1920s & '30s..
Was the S&P 500 around in the 1930's? I thought that index was started in the mid/late 1950s.
Yes, andy, I am aware that one year (last year) did not adhere to seasonal patterns. Looking back one year and saying "ah hah!" doesn't negate that seasonal patterns do exist over time. US equities 'on average' have earned +100% of their retu…
I'm no expert on mortgage paper, but my understanding is that unlike company debt ratings, there is not a lot of incentive on anyone's part to have mortgage paper re-reviewed (and possibly upgraded). So a lot of this paper, dated 2008 and prior, w…
Unconstrained bond funds generally seem like a gimmick to me.
Its easy to market a new sexy "alternative" product --- much harder to deliver consistent results. Its hard enough for the best of managers to make money by 'simple' security sel…
Yes, the media can pervert the truth. That 1st link is exhibit A.
The headline on the link is “America’s biggest competitor really isn’t China”..
Anyone can google “US bilateral trade balances” and discover which country runs the biggest trade sur…
At first glance, I was skeptical of the article. --- And I find the writer very self-serving in only interviewing high-yield managers -- what are they gonna say but "great time to buy". The writer COULD have interviewed some go-anywhere bond man…
A follow-up, Gundlach now also manages ETF "TOTL" and a CEF "DBL". DBL is managed similiar to DBLTX (mostly mortgages). However, because its a CEF, it can leverage-up, and sports a great yield.
If you can pick up DBL at a discount to NAV, …
"Total Return" is its name. Yes its a mortgage fund. Its managed "for" total return (i.e. not necessarily to maximize yield at the expense of capital preservation).
Gundlach was asked to compare/contrast these when they opened the 2 funds. DL…
Who can say how much of her record at Loomis was her or Fuss?
Her new charge, EVBAX, is obviously a very aggressive offering, with 20% invested in stocks, almost 30% split between EM and HY debt, and another 16% in convertibles (which too, gener…
Re 'diversification not currently helping. '
Could not agree more, but then consider that when Q/E & ZIRP were expanding, that tended to benefit ALL assets. Now that monetary policy is becoming less accomodative, it seems intuitive there is …
My mind too went straight to preferreds (individual or CEFs of pfds).
dividendyieldhunter.com does a nice job of presenting sundry lists of pfds. Quantumonline.com is great for researching them. -- Generally pfds from C-corps (i.e. NOT REITS) rec…
VintageFreak, the high cost of drugs on patent have as much to do with supply & demand as to the price of postage stamps. -- Pricing of both is based on monopoly by govt fiat. --- Remove the patent protection and market-supply will likely push…
Yeah, I can tell they are "more appealing" by the ever-growing discount, and by their volatility -- which can often be 2X or 3X of equity indices on down days.
That link is a real "puff piece" -- neglects to mention that CEFs often OVER-distribut…
No, it doesn't --- not any more than buying equities or debt requires that one "knows" what a company is going to earn, or what the natural (i.e. not set by Central bankers) level of interest rates is. People buy stock and bond index funds all th…
Now that is really a hatchet job. - "hype", like beauty is in the eye of the beholder..
Were someone so inclined, they could cherry pick anecdotes of equity promoters too. -- The 1st one that comes to mind is James Glassman's 1999 tome "Dow 36…
... well then, there is an UN-asked question:
1.What good are they?
2. What is the benefit derived (vs. sticking with a "long-only" fund)?
3. All things being equal, isn't a (typical) long-only fund, a more straightforward, less complex fund…
+1 for Sven.
Remember, investors cannot buy low if their capital is all, already deployed. (Unless of course they use margin, which is not my recommendation).
Immigrants displacing educated/trained workers at (the Happiest place on earth)...
http://www.breitbart.com/big-government/2015/09/07/exclusive-displaced-cast-member-how-disney-replaced-me-other-americans-with-cheap-foreigners-on-h1b-visas/
Speaking of reductio ad absurdem, that Forbes post (from an earlier poster) is telling
(extract..)
http://www.forbes.com/forbes/2010/0628/special-report-immigration-opening-borders-mexico-let-them-in.html
"America should open its borders. Anyone w…
Lewis, you are constructing a reductio ad absurdum. You can debate yourself on that matter; I'm not taking the bait.
The topic thread is about income inequality. I believe immigration is definitely a contributing factor. You apparently (?) think …
Mona, that is another interesting facet of the immigration issue (which again, is not the topic of this thread, but still fascinating, and where the thread has evolved to..)..
Money earned by immigrants and transferred overseas is money NOT spent h…
