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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Sven
Lynn,
Thank you so much. I am planning on a 3-year ladder since I am a year away from retirement. Lots of spreadsheet work to calculate the income replacement needed. This ladder will create a steady income stream. So thank you for all your help.
I moved back to high quality bond funds this year. Some of which you covered in the SA article. For now, I will stay with agency bonds to the bond ladder. I will pick active managers for corporate bonds.
Sven
@bee, Thank you for the very informative interview with Ken Rogoff.
Here is an interview with Martin Wolf on May 4, 2025. Professor Rogoff discussed the impact of tariffs on the dollar and the global economy. Great learning opportunity.
http…
We frequently travel to Canada and have had fond memories. Now we are unsure if we ugly Americans are ever welcome there anymore. Such childish play of name calling by Lutnick should not be surprising since it came from this administration. Canada …
I bought a refurbished business laptop for just $250K
Wow, you got a great deal! Who did you made that deal with?
Where else that manufactures consumer electronics for low cost?
Here we go again just like the time during COVID. There were limit on TP per customer at the checkout stands. Wonder how Walmart and Costco handle this differently now ?
Over the weekend, Berkshire announced:
posted a lower operating profit in the first quarter, dented by insurance losses from wildfires and foreign currency changes
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/berkshire-hathaways-operating-profit-falls-12083116…
We will run short out of supplies and their prices will rise. Good luck to onshore commodity products to be manufactured in US with high labor cost. Building factories and establishing supply chains take time.
Before his passing Steve Jobs said …
Thank you @Observant1. Very informative, especially the Mag 7 stock earnings. Apple and Amazon are most affected from Chinese imported goods. The odd is that interest rate remains the same in May 7th Fed meeting.
It is about human decency and being respectful to those who just lost their beloved leader. Cardinal Timothy Dolan of New York spoke up, but is that enough? JD Vance is supposedly a Catholic.
https://npr.org/2025/05/04/nx-s1-5386516/catholic-lead…
The full transcript of the NBC interview is provided below:
https://nbcnews.com/politics/trump-administration/read-full-transcript-president-donald-trump-interviewed-meet-press-mod-rcna203514
The market hates uncertainty as @larryB posted. Who can…
It is getting wilder, WH just released another AI-generated picture of Trump in Start War. It is this kind of wasteful acts on taxpayer dollars that DODG should look into.
https://yahoo.com/news/white-house-shares-beefed-trump-164052275.html
The year of 2022 was one the rare moment both stocks and bonds to fall due to rapid rise of interest rates. The asset correlation failed despite the broader diversification on stocks and bonds. The magnitude of loss was in double digits in the teen…
We have been long time Berkshire Hathaway investor. Always appreciate how he addresses the shareholders and others with respect and honesty, a rare trait among today’s CEOs. The former co-chairman, Charlie Munger, is equally admirable for all his w…
I checked this morning and found April’s dividend posted as @Derf indicated. Perhaps they maybe a day late.
April’s account statement, however, has not posted yet, and they are generally take a few days to have it available.
Thank you for the information. We have few small I-bond holding maturing in 2026. Unsure if we will continue to add more I-bonds due to the 5-years holding period. Working with Treasury Direct is not the easiest.
GDP news today was not a surprise due to the tariffs. Yet the trade advisor, Peter Navarro spun the math from a 0.3% loss to a 3.0% gain.
The odd of recession is over 50% and the full tariffs impact has yet all play out. Question is, what are yo…
You wonder why Musk called Navarro “dumber than a sack of brick”. You look at Navarro’s tariff equation and you have to ask does he know his basic math. I thought getting doctorate economics degrees from major universities requires basic algebra. …
I recommend European index funds/ETFs to be tax efficient. Vanguard and BlackRock would be a good starting point. I would use active managed funds/ETFs in IRA account. ETF.com and MFO Premium are good resources to search your funds.
VG has sever…
It is never too late to shift part of your US stocks to European stocks. One can dollar cost average to a target % over the next 6 -12 months.
My goal is to double the international exposure at the expense of US stocks. For full disclosure, I use…
@Observant1, good move! Moving from QLTY to MRFOX certainly reduces the Mag 5 stock exposure (no Tesla and NVIDA). MRFOX is the opposite of QLTY where the largest sector is consumer discretionary, and not technology. Tho fund managers are doing a…
Thanks to @bee. Both WealthTrack shows with Mary Ellen Stanek and Nick Sargen are excellent in light of today tariffs environment.
Stanek is the PM of Baird core-Plus bond fund. She provided a summary on Baird’s bond strategy to explore opportun…
Agree. We must not let this turmoil consume our personal life. Remember that we all have fulfilling life before this administration came along. Lately, I have been calling old friends by calling (not texting) and it is such a hoot. The other is s…
This article is for Apple News subscribers. Russell Vought, the quiet one, is the mastermind behind Project 2025’s immigration policy. Quite chilling!
https://apple.news/AHl_LbsizRZqF-dpkFv-nsQ
Exactly. Many of this is a cover to the public so he works on getting a large tax cut through quietly. Where are those GOP who cry about the ballooning deficit in Biden administration ? They all know it but are keeping quiet.
@Crash is spot on. There is NO discussion with China. They have made it clear that the negotiations will be on their terms, not Trump. China has been preparing for this trade conflict. Nicholas Boris of Seafarer fund provides an in-depth discussio…
Sorry. It is a typo. SFGIX is the correct one. Both the investor and institutional shares are closed to new investors for some time. However, Andrew Foster and his team also run the smaller value-oriented fund, and it is open. However, only the i…
Well done. You have picked solid funds for sure.
For awhile US stock funds out-performed international funds due to strong earning and US dollar. But the situation is changing quickly as investors are shifting away from US. Dollar fell over 9% o…
@Observant1, we also left Vanguard last year to Fidelity after many years of disappointment. For now we only have ARTKX and SFIGX as our main international stock exposure. I like to increase oversea exposure in both bonds and stocks in light of the…
Several weeks ago there were data indicating strong housing demand despite high mortgage rates and low house supply. Guess the higher furniture costs from tariffs is changing the situation, and that is not encouraging going forward. The full impac…
That is a "bull trap", and they usually do not end well. Investors are hoping things will return to normal, but that is unrealistic as long as the trade war continues with everyone, except Russia.
Few quotes from Chauncey Gardiner (Peter Sellers…
@Observant1, if you are Vanguard customers, VZICX, Vanguard International Core Stock Fund Admiral Shares is also managed by Wellington. F. Halsey Morris and Anna Lunden are the fund managers.
