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.
A few active management funds I have screened based on comparative performance within their sector:
Foreign Small Blend - GLFOX
Foreign Small Value - QUSOX
Foreign Small Growth - WAIOX
World Allocation - KTRSX
Europe - CAEZX
This week I have noticed a tug of war going on with AAPL. The news that some traders and hedge funds have sold their stakes has me scratching my head. I can see cutting back some but then again I don't manage a fund either. Will these experts regret…
Bee,
Why are you posting something a year old --- did you look at your link? am I missing something? --- and which was not true then and less so now? Whose debt bubble? As a percentage of GDP? What? All too widespread, and wrong, way of thinking ab…
A response to a "Are we in a stock market bubble?" question from 1 year ago:
"The stock market is not in a bubble. Today is no different than 20% of the time in the entire history of the stock market. This rally is normal.
What we have is a debt b…
@Old_Skeet
Just a little experiment I'm trying.
The differential to me is the risk premium, so peeling off the the risk premium is an actionable strategy that hopefully acts to lower my overall portfolio risk as well as capture gains.
Much like …
How about a list of best ideas for holding / managing "cash/short term money" (use of mutual funds welcome):
I am trying to peel off the quarterly differential between PONDX and PSHDX.
Usually this means moving the difference out of PONDX and int…
Not sure if this fits your thread question about timber, but it seems to fall along the edge of the forest:
A couple of quotes:
"The latest news from the American Institute of Architects (AIA) has some economists alarmed, because it shows a potent…
M* agrees with Junkster regarding potential upside for HY Junk this year though it seems to disagree with Junkster's holding periods.
"No matter which vehicle investors choose for high-yield exposure, it's crucial that they have a long holding per…
@JohnChisum
"I was debating the auto insurance issue on rental cars which is a scam in my book."
I found this link for AMEX card holders:
americanexpress.com/us/content/card-benefits/car-rental-loss-and-damage-insurance-terms.html
IMHO...As rates adjust (when this happens is the key) these funds will not provide adequate downside protection. Instead, hold a good multi-sector bond fund and focus on other opportunities as they arise.
I received an email today from turbo tax with an apology for the lack of included schedules and a $25 rebate for having to purchase premier for TY 2014.. Sounds good to me...especially with an additional discount at Costco this month.
bee, I would agree that RMD would seem to be for collection of taxes. But, the fact that RMD tax payment can't be used for Roth conversion when non-RMD tax payment can leads me to think that the policy is really to encourage both tax payment and spe…
RMD is a tax event that executes each year after age 70.5. It roughly equals 4% of one's tax deferred assets the first year and is recalculated each year thereafter based on your tax deferred balance and your life expectancy. The IRS finally wants t…
Here we have a group of foreign countries, aided and abetted by the large international oil companies, publicly STATING that that is their very intention, with respect to the US shale oil suppliers. And we can do absolutely nothing about it, in any …
Over the weekend I compiled a few funds that I hope will be complimentary to my equity holdings. Real Estate and commodities were on my list along with a variety of bond funds (LT / ST treasuries, TIPS, and Multi-sector funds). I also wanted to cons…
Short Side of Long is also a buyer of PM:
"The fact that Gold has barley sold off and still remains above $1,200 per ounce, similar price where it traded 18 months ago, indicates relative strength and buying interest. Other commodities, such as Cru…
I've stopped using my CC to pay periodic auto payments for fear that I forget to connect the dots when my card gets compromised. I received a water shut off notice last year while away from home for a number of months as a result of nonpayment. My C…
A different take on lower gas prices:
Once State and Federal agencies "vote" to raise a higher gas tax onto a gallon of gas we'll be back up above $3-$4 / gallon and then we'll all feel better.
Deflationary cycles often encourage taxing agencies …
Pretty powerful stuff...might need a chaser to help get it all down.
Is there a bond guru in our presence who would like to help the rest of us digest some of these slides?
Just listened to Jim Rickards who explains the impact of a strong dollar on the repayment of EM debt which is repaid in US dollars. The $7T of EM debt may have higher than normal defaults as a result a merely a higher debt burden from a strong dolla…
What's are deep value investors buying as a result of these deep value opportunities?
One strategy, as a long term investor, is to diversify some profits into deep value stocks (or bonds).
One deep value metrics is identifying "stocks trading bel…
Just a few thoughts:
We have heard / read about the hoards of cash that Corporate America has been holding. What better way to hedge input costs than by investing some of this cash into oversold commodities.
In a world of printable weakening cur…
bee has in the past shared some good strategies on how you can actually place a bet this way and than "recharacterize" a year later if the position continues to lose.
This article might be of interest:
splitting-a-roth-conversion-into-multiple-acco…
I've been in FRESX since June and will continue to accumulate. VNQ is a REIT etf that I considered before buying FRESX, but ultimately chose FRESX. I like the diversification that REIT's bring to my portfolio. FWIW I don't own TIPs but your logic…
@scott,
a quick review of PIRMX seems to reveal poor performance verses a blended 50/50 mix of "VGSIX / TIP" and barely out paced "TIP only" over its short existence.
Isn't that sort of what Pimco's Inflation Response Multi-Asset fund does?
Cool...have to familiarize myself with the fund. Thanks.
Some REIT articles:
will-rising-rates-hurt-reit-performance
REIT Correlations
White Paper Interest Rates & REI…
Tax managed funds often split munis with the S&P 500 and have exhibited low volatility and decent returns with tax efficiency.
VTMFX and USBLX are two I follow.
Here's a list of ten (BBTEX seems impressive from this list, but no muni exposur…
When it comes to Bond strategies I like to reference Wealthtrack's interviews with Robert Kessler:
Here's one from 2014:
investmentnews.com/section/video?playerType=CMWealth&bctid=3708741801001&date=20140801
Here's one from 2013:
https:/…
I have a question in regard to RMD (Required Minimum Distributions).
Tax deferred (IRAs) requires distributions at age 70.5 due to RMD. What dynamic does this play in the 4% rule?
I can imagine that if RMD is anywhere near 4% of my overall portfo…
Cars as a mutual fund=AUTOX?
Car leasing & financing (bond like income).
Manufacturers (integrated Tech).
Fuel systems (Energy sector).
Auto Collectibles (mobile precious metals...precious as in "69 Camaro)
Car tourism (rentals...B&B...re…
I have a friend who rents a house in an upscale community, on the ocean, in Connecticut. If he wanted to own this home he'd have to qualify for and carry a million dollar loan. He would also have to cough up $20,000 for property taxes per year.
H…
@Kaspa...wondering if recent lower gas prices came into your decision making?
My thought is that a driver spent considerably more money driving a less efficient car at last year's higher gas prices compared to today's newer, more efficient, car at…
A run on a pension fund (taking all of your savings out) might have the same negative effect as a run on a small bank. I will say, that when Delta went bankrupt the employees (the pilots) were given a lump sum of money plus the right to receive thei…
