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.
Great minds thread alike:
https://mutualfundobserver.com/discuss/discussion/37338/etf-playbook-for-2018-astoria-advisors/p1
Glad this was re-posted because it is well worth the read along with the interview I also linked.
@Mark, you make an interesting point that was echoed in this podcast I listen to today. It centered on two Amazon warehouses that opened in two US towns...one in Texas and one in Minnesota.
Each town cut a deal (provided tax incentives and grants)…
@hank,
Notice this as well.
Firstly, @TheShadow does an awesome job and provides a great service to us with the "Capital Gains Thread", but I'd like a website dedicated to searching individual ticker symbols for gain gains/ dividends information.
…
@davimoran,
Not sure I agree with the author when he states that someone employed by a business is in a "similar situation" to someone who owns that business...he states,
This violates a basic rule of good tax policy: that taxpayers with similar sit…
@davidmoran, I'll take that as a small unintentional achievement. I don't wish to fit into some box you choose to put me in...oops, there I go again.
@Old_Joe, I fully support "Wine, Women and Song", but Grassley is being hypocritical if he also d…
@Old_Joe...sounds almost envious to me...let's think about a farmers, who saved their whole life for that rainy day.
In a sense, the "salt of the earth" (have the Iowa farmers become big business...maybe?) and have they joined non-farm Corporate A…
@Junkster,
Reading your insights and appreciation for the surprises of the HY Bonds market is every bit as interesting and inspiring as a good episode of not-so-junk food on Diners, Drive-ins and Dives.
@JunksterBondFoodForThought...Thanks.
@MJG your comment,
Therefore, I take issue with Ben Carlson's closing statement. Portfolio volatility matters; it is your enemy.
I'm not sure if you read the link that the last line hyperlinked to (and you referenced) , but if you didn't, I'll link…
Present rule of law creeps this administration out while the administration's undermining of the rule of law may soon creep the markets out.
One that may shake thing up is presented here:
the-market-shock-no-one-is-ready-for
And a Bloomberg Opini…
@davidmoran, another opinion piece you might like to read:
...although there are some constructive aspects of the tax reforms under consideration, the proposed changes do much more to redistribute the burdens of a civilized society than to improve …
hmm...no mention of PR, FL, TX, CA and the other US islands working overtime printing new muni issues for muni reconstruction?
Here's a chart of three muni funds I follow. As @hank mentions...price action LT / IT (USTEX & USATX) muni should be …
@msf,
Thanks for the topic...
Pre-Paying Property Taxes:
I looked into the prepayment scenario for property taxes. I contacted both my escrow account (mortgage company) and the city that collects these taxes. The city works off of a fiscal year, no…
@Old_Skeet,
From this linked BI Article with Morgan Stanley Analyst:
2,750 could also be the peak for next year, Wilson said. That's based on the expectation that S&P 500 earnings growth will peak and financial conditions will tighten as the Fed…
I wonder how this plays out for balance funds like USBLX or VTMFX that hold 50% Muni/ 50% S&P 500...buying opportunity?
Will these Tax managed Funds be harmed by the tax reform as well?
I hear you @rforno. Though one could rationalize a management fee for decision making the spread is a very nice management fee for the manager of this fund.
Look at ROTAX (an Alphacentric fund that "manages" a rotation strategy)...ER of 1.62% inve…
JG on why commodities might be a good choice over equities:
In a response to a question about whether having 10 percent of a portfolio in gold is "too much," Gundlach said he would rather put 10 to 15 percent of his investments in commodities broadl…
I found this presentation interesting of IOFIX (IOFAX).
Website:
alphacentricfunds.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/IOFAX-Presentation-January-2017-Retail.pdf
Interview with manager of GNXIX a pure play mutual fund in the area of Robotics and Automation.
https://fool.com/investing/2017/10/11/investment-ideas-in-the-robotics-industry.aspx
Fund Website Link:
alphacentricfunds.com/funds/GlobalInnovationsFu…
Potential Impact of Cash Repatriation on EPS of Stocks (S&P 500 and Tech) :
fundamentalis.com/?p=7403
A look at 4th Quarter Earnings Estimates and Interesting Cash Repatriation Spreadsheet:
fundamentalis.com/?p=7397
Close-up of Spreadsheet:
fu…
A good perspective on the S&P 500 can be found here:
https://www.advisorperspectives.com/dshort/updates/2017/12/01/s-p-500-snapshot-up-1-53-from-last-week
Another Fidelity link to understanding Charitable Remainder Trusts (CRTs) and Charitable Lead Trusts (CLTs) which both can fund a DAF and where the DAF only holds the distributed "donation" from the Trust.
Using donor-advised funds
“One planning tip…
I believe the equity market can act as its own re-balancing mechanism. Market price conditions change "moment by moment". When you are in the accumulation stage of life you might dollar cost average (dca) into these price conditions and in a sense y…
Yeah @Anna... Willows also have shallow, bumpy roots that are nasty on the lawn mower...and then there's the Catalpa with its overactive suckers and Pod production. Kinda like credit card offers.
@catch22,
The author estimates that $32 trillion of wealth (returns in excess of Treasury Bills) was created between 1926 and 2015 via the approximately 26,000 stocks that have appeared in the CRSP database during that time. Of these 26,000 stocks, …
Comment section is as valuable as the article...maybe more.
This brings to mind Ashvin Chhabra's book The Aspirational Investor. He makes a similar suggestion. Divide into three buckets: safety, core, Aspirational.
Maybe your article should be read …
Interestingly, a high percentage of these two portfolios are found outside the US. with Japanese companies making up a large part of the top 25 companies. BOTZ is concentrated with only 28 holdings and the top ten holding make up 68% of the etf. Tha…
@LewisBraham said,
The question for investors isn't how fast the economy is growing, but how much of an economy's revenues corporations can extract in the form of profits to distribute to shareholders.
Your thoughts on this upcoming event (repatria…
A nod for High Yield in a Rising rate environment:
https://invesco.com/pdf/HYBRR-FLY-1.pdf
Where's @Junkster when you need him...probably kneeing up a High Yield mountain trail.
Another nod for High Yield:
high yield bonds have historically not o…
@catch22,
Thanks for the response and links. I like the dynamic visual effect "the 2326 day slider" feature provides the viewer. Cool tool.
What are your impressions of the impact rising rates will have on this fund and other RE funds that derive i…
@catch22...thanks for the "catch".
Since you are more familiar with this fund (FRIFX), do you ever use it as a indicator of the broader Real Estate index (I'll use VGSIX...the index) . It seems FRIFX might serve as good indicator of whether the RE…
Comparing 1 YR performance of IYR to a Real Estate Income Fund, such as FRIFX, reveals about a (5.7%) upside difference in performance for IYR.
Real estate stock appreciation comes with a fair amount of volatility. Be prepared for that kind of …
