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.
Support MFO
Donate through PayPal
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
Reply to @Investor: Concur with many points you made. For those who remain invested on a balanced portfolio through the entire market cycle would more than recover the 2008 loss and more. Those who pulled out on the bottom will likely stay on the…
REIT's valuation is trading above S&P 500. In addition, they are economical sensitive and highly correlate to equity. So tread lightly.
online.barrons.com/article/SB50001424052748703591404578453020304813236.html?mod=BOL_hpp_emc#printMode
Reply to @Mona: Pimco as a company use derivatives extensively in their bond funds to hedge bets. Working through the annual report is redoing my qual exam again. Last year I sold my entire position of Total Return, PTTRX, and bought the ETF equiv…
Some of these investors need higher yield to cover their living expense. Timing-wise this is not so great since junk bonds now yielding only 5%.
Now that many central banks are also lowering their rates to simulate their economies. Going forw…
Dan Fuss of Loomis Sayles Bond fund changed the prospectus several years ago that allows it to invest up to 20% in stocks. Many blue chip stocks pay dividends that are competitive to that of investment grade or even junk bonds. Going forward bond…
Reply to @MaxBialystock: I concur with your comment on QE. It is troubling to see other central banks (Japan and Europe) are taking the same approach as US.
guardian.co.uk/business/2013/apr/04/japan-quantitative-easing-70bn
reuters.com/artic…
Reply to @andrei: 27% of it is invested in Nigeria and Kenya
I wonder how Laura Geritz does it (so well in risk management). Nigeria is one country not for the fainted heart.
If you review FPA Cresent portfolio, there is very little that represents farmland... So not sure how this small percentage contributes meaningfully to the fund.
Reply to @scott: Longleaf and T. Rowe Price hold a sizable chunk of Dell. Even at the best scenario, these firms bought Dell shares at higher prices that what is being offered. Doubtful for a good ending.
Reply to @Investor: I sold mine Apple shares when everyone was hyping it at $1,000/share - same sentiment as Cisco at the height of tech bubble. At today's price Apple is being considered as a "value" stock - no debt, solid cash flow, and low PE. …
* Selective Exclusions
* Unconventional Weighting
* Excel Sheet Coding Error
I hope this is an honest mistake, but I think not with all 3 mistakes in this seminal paper. Good for this graduate student who discovered these mistakes.
bbc.co.uk/ne…
If global economy continues to slow, the demand for commodity will decline accordingly. This is one asset class I rather not bet on. If the economy worsen into even a mild recession, commodity seldom do well.
Reply to @scott: Both you and Investor's arguments make sense. Many large cap EM stocks are export depended and they will not do well when developed countries slow or even entering recession. I think the smaller EM stocks are likely to do better w…
If you gentlemen are right, we may have another repeat of last year. Also this is the beginning of the earning season and a number of large firms such as IBM and United Healthcare have missing their numbers even though they have already been lowere…
Like many tech companies, Apple is no exception and it lives and dies by its new product cycles. Meanwhile the existing devices (iPhone and iPad) becomes stale and requires refreshed every 12 months in order to keep the competitors at bay. Until l…
No major move so far. But as the indeces move higher, it brings closer to a point where we will reduce the equity positions.
Going forward, we are increasing our positions in the global smaller caps via GPGOX and WAEMX and emerging market, T…
Reply to @Investor: I concur that this aggressive allocation could end badly when next down cycle comes.
While low expense ratios are important, but it is not the ONLY consideration. From the article it is not clear how these asset allocation ar…
Reply to @BobC: Excellent comment. I have a small allocation on MFLDX before Mainstay bought Markfield. So far nothing change, but I am warily of the ER creeps up.
I look at MASFX but decided it wasn't for us for various reasons. You are right…
Reply to @kevindow: You are not the only one not interest in ARIVX. I was not interested in this fund either.
At this point of economy the valuation of smaller caps are fully priced while larger caps especially those with global exposure are tra…
Reply to @Art: I would vote for Grandeur Peak's offering over Artisan's based on the track record of Robert Gardiner and Blake Walker while they managed Wasatch Global Opportunities. Note that both funds are aggressive and they suffered over 50% l…
Going into bond now is too late in the game with yields already at historical low (and declining). The next move will likely be going up, although this may not take place in the near term.
Reply to @Investor: Since his short sabbatical, the management team has expanded to a total of 7 co-managers, who would be in a good position when Tillinghast decides to retire. This is one of my longest holding in the past 10 years.
Reply to @Art: I am underweight in smaller caps since they seem to be fully valued if not a bit over-extended.
I used to own IVA Worldwide, but moved on the Wasatch EM Small Caps - much happier now, especially it is closed to new investors. IV…
In the near term, Europe will likely be volatile now that EU will take a much harsher approach with Sprain and Italy for the bailout using Cyprus as the blueprint. If Europe continues to slide, valuation will become attractive again. Last summer a…
The three funds you mentioned cover different part of foreign exposures: developed versus emerging markets. Here is how they differ from each other.
Tweedy Browne is the tamest one of the three that historically invests in developed markets. …
Reply to @BobC: As always thanks for the recommendation. Will check out Oppenheimer and Thornburg funds.
What makes Oppenheimer's investment process unique or better than others?
Reply to @kevindow: Wonder why many EM funds are closing? In general this asset class has been lagging the developed markets. So there should be fewer dollars going into them.
thanks for the heads up with Aberdeen EM funds. Didn't know that on…
Reply to @kevindow: At the present I don't find market weighed EM index funds is a good approach to this asset class despite the low ER. I also agree that low daily trading volume also carries larger ask/bid spread.
This year the large cap EM in…
Reply to @Rbrt: Highly unlikely, even in your taxable accounts.
Roth IRA contribution comes from after-tax dollars (both federal and state). Thus the state of your residence has no claim on your Roth withdrawal in the future.
Reply to @Hogan: I was referred to iShares MSCI Emerging Mkt Min Vol Index, EEMV and PowerShares S&P Emerging Markets Low Volatility, EELV.
I have looked at VMMSX, a fairly new active managed EM fund since Feb 2011. Would prefer one with lo…
Increase
AQR Risk Parity, I, AQRIX
Pimco Dividend and Income Builder, I, PQIIX
Wasatch EM Small Cap, WAEMX
TCW Emerging Markets Local Currency Income, I, TGWIX
Reply to @scott: I hope DeMark is right on China..... Personal I prefer funds with more emphasis on local consumer stocks rather than those depend on exports.
online.barrons.com/article/SB50001424052748704836204578354410146165172.html#articleTabs_ar…
Good article. Sometime down the road as the economy and unemployment improve, rate will go back up again. "Unconstrained" strategies will help to protect the downside while provide a decent but not great return.
Advisers also complained that Fidelity replaced 10 of the commission-free iShares ETFs on its previous menu. Nine of the new ETFs have lower trading volumes, suggesting they are less popular with investors.
Always wonder how these free iShares benef…
