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
I have been watching this for several weeks since the virus news broke late December 2019. There is a fear that drive investors toward the safest asset, US treasury. This pushes down the yield while raises the price. Not sure if Treasury is over-bou…
I agree with @rono and @old_Joe. Center for Disease Contol already sent out plenty of warning and ways to protect individuals, i.e. good personal hygiene practices. Yet the WH is treating this as low risk. By the way, where is Ben Carson? He is …
But, how much good will that do in the short term if it turns out people are afraid to get on a plane or go to the grocery store?
To stop spreading the virus China they lock down the entire city and it slows the spread somewhat. Cannot image this …
This cornavirus could become pandemic. Everything is globally connected and this could slower growth or even recession.
https://cnn.com/2020/02/25/health/coronavirus-pandemic-frieden/index.html
Look like a train wreck in slow motion.
Just like anything else you read here and elsewhere. Got to do your homework and ascertain whether the data make sense.
Rupal Bhansali's Arial International fund is fair on its 3 and 5 year track record. FMI International is better choice with r…
MFO Premium brought it to my attention. Virtually no press on the fund. Review the record and risk compare to other EM debt local currency funds. It is quite good on the risk. Still untested in severe down market such as 2008. So go slow...
Moved away from Matthews funds awhile back when Andrew Foster left. Nothing today at Matthews are truly exceptional but the fee are above average. I can always find more cheaper alternatives while having the same performance.
We owned MAINX in …
Don't forget to pay attention to management fee and the underlying funds used in target date funds. Next is compare their performance with their peers through the market cycles (if they have the track record back to 2008 if all possible).
There is always a catch, i.e. no free lunch for sure. Henry Ellenbogen was successful managing TRP New Horizons fund and received majority of the credit. Often star managers leave and form their own firms and they don't perform nearly as well. Th…
I understand that Ajit Jain and Greg Abel have been managing part of the portfolio in BRK for last several year. Most likely one of them will assume Buffett's position.
https://observer.com/2019/02/warren-buffett-berkshire-hathaway-succession-plan-…
Nevertheless he received a reduced sentence. Question is why does he wants to cheat when he so generous in donations to universities.
https://marketwatch.com/story/ex-pimco-ceo-gets-shorter-sentence-in-college-admission-scandal-because-of-his-phi…
Even at a 4% mortgage rate, it is higher than most bond yield except to the more risky and long duration bonds -EM local currency... Think of it as a loan guarantees as @davidrmoran stated.
Thanks for the update. News on coronavirus's direct impact is come in. Depending on the duration of shutdown of factories, it may be okay for the year if it can be contained. Here is an article on Apple.
https://seekingalpha.com/article/4322515…
For most folks who income is fall between $78,751 to $488,850 and filed jointly, LT cap gain is taxed at 15%. Article above provides more details depending on your tax bracket.
@hank, Sorry that you have to go through that with Turbo Tax. Supposedly downloading the previous transactions from TRP would save you time in reporting each transactions and their cost basis. I have fewer ones than you do so I enter them manuall…
@hank, Sorry to hear you have so much trouble with Turbo Tax. I have been using Turbo Tax for a number of year on Mac and PC with any delay (refund). Most of the time I owe a bit of tax and that is okay. No free loan to Uncle Sam.
Question, …
For me as an investor, when the S&P 500 went down 1.8% Friday, my accounts went down about 0.2%. Each month, I look at what is working and what is not, and make small changes.
That is the way to assess one's portfolio allocation. Can't image re…
The Vanguard FTSE Emerging Markets ETF (NYSEARCA:VWO) might be even a hair more weighted to China. It's off 2.25% today and also about 5% for the year.
Think this is far from over.
These folks have to work part time in their retirement to supplement their SS. Many of them had their pension reduced when their former employers restructured their payout. Even when define contribution plan became available many did not save enou…
While some experts believe the new strain, known as “2019-nCoV”, is not as deadly as SARS, alarm has grown over its rapid spread and many unknown attributes.
“There have been more cases in China, but so far with a lower death rate than the SARS out…
Quote from the article below
At the height of the SARS epidemic, the U.S. stock market went into a corrective period. In November 2002, the S&P 500 was trading at 941.8. By March 2003, the S&P 500 nosedived to 788.9 for a drop of 16.2%.
It’…
@sma3, Same source as SARS, a Chinese "market" selling wild animals for human consumption. There are more toxic Chinese products than just their bad loans and huge debt .
Just shocking to see pictures of wild animials for consumption ! Thought bush …
There were sizable economic impact due to the outbreak of SARS in 2003. Quote from the article below:
It was estimated that Asian states lost USD 12–18 billion as the SARS crisis depressed travel, tourism, and retail sales [13]. SARS had a large im…
So far China reported 41 dead along with over 100 being treated. Serious lock-down in train stations and some airports are taken place in an attempt to contain the spread of coronavirus. This virus appears to be transmitted by physical contact and…
Do we want another round of tax cut? Where is the party that shout fiscal responsibility? Who really benefitted from the 2019 tax cut? I representing the middle class certainly did not. Further, we already reached over $996 billions budget defic…