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.
The industry has done what it can to obfuscate the differences. For example, here's what Fidelity says:
At Fidelity, our representatives are required to provide advice that is in your best interest. This standard of care applies to all accounts a…
How many of the investors in these know about the K-1s? Should not the prospectus say?
Call me a cynic, but I suspect most retail/momentum folks won't notice that until tax time next year.....all they hear is 'Bitcoin!'
These ETPs are barely 1-day old (I will stop calling them ETFs), and already an options-based ETF has been filed for GBTC; others may follow soon.
The firms involved (and there are some big ones) are in it for fees that are collected whether the s…
Just steer clear. Matthews by now is like a black hole. Back in the '90s they were at the top of their game. It's a disaster now.
If the troubles continue, maybe they'll get acquired by a consolidator/supermarket like AMG at some point....?
Given the # of insane digital coins out there -- the vast majority are worthless anyway -- I wonder how long before someone creates a 'Sh*tCoin ETF' (yes, that's a real term to describe those digital coins) that invests in whatever digital nonsense …
Many government retirement plans offer up to 25% in self directed mutual funds at outside firm such as Fidelity. CA state retirement plans are a mess with agenda that have nothing to do with best risk adjusted return. My wife worked several year…
@Tarwheel again I agree completely.
It's also why when I joined my state university system I avoided the pension plan and went for the self-directed 403(b). Many state pensions have huge positions in various (and costly) hedge/PE investments that …
I do not understand the interest in hedge funds. Most of them underperform simple market index funds, and some fail spectacularly. T Rowe Price started allocating about 10% of the holdings in their allocation funds several years ago, and I can disce…
I don't need (or want) an FA to invest for me, thankfully.
My Schwab FA came over from TDA. He treated me very well over the years in terms of customer service and we stay in touch very periodically to opine about the markets ... he has never push…
As for me, religious and/or politically-themed vehicles or punditry have no business in my portfolio.
If someone wants to invest in such things, it's totally fine by me. Each to our own, as the saying goes.
@rforno - just wondering if you considered PBDC before selecting BIZD? I own neither but like the holdings of the former v. the latter. To date I've only speculated in individual holdings.
PBDC liquidity is around 10K/day while BIZD is nearly 500K/d…
BOT first slug of DigitalBridge/Pr-I to my income portfolio as I continue putting money to work in that account. That portfolio is mainly energy (mostly natgas), telcos, utes, and infrastructure .... ie, strategic stuff that 'fuels' our world and s…
Owning several funds — if you know what you own and why — causes no harm. It can increase investor comfort and lead to portfolio stability. If the investor rebalances wisely, it may even generate outperformance.
Agreed. Besides their overall hold…
Somewhat OT, but this is a huge problem in academia over the past year. Where I am, we're seeing a noticeable increase in these incidents in the STEM fields, often by international students trying to cut corners b/c that's apparently acceptable bac…
Changes under 10% have minimal effect, and under 5% are meaningless.
That's my approach to investing/allocations as well. For me, generally anything under 10% is either a starter position, placeholder, or a speculative thing -- I don't expect anyt…
After the (imo) over-extended run-up over the past few weeks, it wouldn't surprise me to see the market barf into the close of the year as people lock in some extra profits for 2023. But who knows? Not even the Shadow!
@Tarwheel: "TRP also started investing about 10% of its assets in hedge funds, which from my view hasn’t helped performance a bit."
RPGAX (Global Allocation, now 10 yrs old IIRC) also has like 10-15% exposure in a black-box. To my knowledge they …
Given how the site has reportedly continued to deteriorate significantly in its utility from what it once was years ago, I'll simply scrunch my eyes, cock my head, and ask "what's Morningstar?" :)
Seeing a bunch of Cathie/ARK stories this week as part of this latest (and I might wonder, overdone?) Era Of Good Feelings in the market heading into year-end. FWIW saying, that combination to me suggests caution with new money, especially in growt…
Speaking for myself, it's just the way I was raised. Along the way it just became part of my curiosity toolkit to compare and contrast funds and their holdings, as well as what they are charging for doing business with them.
One example I can thi…
Where at Schwab can you find the summary report? I just looked for PVCMX and cannot find any analysis
Not that it is worth anything . ChatGPT pans PVCMS saying they have a "unseasoned portfolio mangers" ( Really!!! If you know how you can dig arou…
I'm angling for some more preferreds that aren't REITs or banks. This one pays a good div, is below par, is in a space I'm knowledgeable about, seems solidly-backed, and has a mandatory redemtion in the 2030s. So unless I missed anything, I'm qui…
M* fund PDFs were free in the old days. Then, they were moved to its professional/advisory software with some legalese (for clients) & dozen+ pages. Now, it's available as 1- or 2-pages in the new M* Investor (subscription required).
I get M* 'a…
I'm pretty sure that the eventual AI 'advisors' we'll soon be seeing will have neat little personalized nicknames; is that any more reassuring to you? ;-)
Not really, lol. In fact I say that b/c the other day a colleage was approached on LinkedIn …
You first @Derf. Let us know how it works out.
Healthcare’s had a tough ride in ‘23. Something I’ve never been interested in from an investing standpoint. Potential for litigation issues alone make them too dicey for me. And I’ve witnessed enough …
Well, if I throw anything into it, it will be because of the weightier bond portfolio, and less in equities. I can take advantage of Giroux's expertise, and still invest a bit more conservatively. Not going to give up PRWCX, however! :)
Still DYIN…
Periodic speculation in the markets is enough 'gambling' for me -- probably much better odds, too. :)
The companies will make out like bandits, for sure -- as will the sports leag,er businesses -- but the end customer likely will be the ones suffer…
Dated 12 Dec:
https://www.chsinc.com/about-chs/news/news/2023/12/12/chs-board-elections
"At the Annual Meeting, CHS members also approved two amendments to the organization’s bylaws.
The first amendment decreases the number of representative dire…
Having gone ex-distro today, order placed for my annual purchase of PRWCX tomorrow.
Maybe next year I'll do something with its new counterpart, after I see what it's holding and how it performs for a bit.
The jokers on CNBC are having fun this morning. One quip: ”The landing’s going to be so soft you can keep your tray tables down.” :)
Gee beyond a Barrons' cover or market call by Goldman's CIO, if that isn't a contrarian signal, I don't know what …
Ah, thanks guys for the info. I thought maybe there was some shenanigans going on.
If you have access to streaming futures data, the time 1359-1402 is always fun on Fed day to see markets in action. The wibbles, spikes, drops, and microsecond vol…
"The deceptive codes sent by text or email often use lies to create a sense of urgency, such as saying that a package couldn’t be delivered and it needs to be rescheduled or posing as a company and saying that there is suspicious information on a pe…
Even though the paint is still drying on it, it still would be nice to see its top-10 stock holdings and/or at least be presented a more granular breakdown of stock/bond sectors/types -- even in a general way.
That said, contrary to my comment yest…
I'm due to make my annual $10K contribution to PRWCX this month and was going to fork it into this new pup as an exploratory foothold at Schwab, but I'd really like to see the holdings and a touch of performance before doing so....which obviously is…
Always trying to learn more here - to go beyond simply looking at a fund’s 10 year track record and assuming it’s a relatively profitable / safe / predictable investment.
Most of us MFO regulars certainly do that. But the average person probably…
If you're interested in them, maybe consider one of the ETFs or CEFs that hold BDCs. I'm sure at some point these things will be included in them.
As for me, i have no interest in those specific names, but am considering BIZD for exposure to the fi…
