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 Trump administration may exclude government spending from GDP, obscuring the impact of DOGE cuts
No problem when you can move the variables around when necessary.
Fiddling with the data will come back to bite them in the a** at some point, espe…
Matt Levine has been talking about this for a while now. He's also suggesting that we're being set up for a rerun of 2008.
This would not surprise me one bit. Wall Street can't help itself....
Thanks for the link. Dumb question….. Are these items what are broadly called “Securitized” in bond funds. Like 21.93 % in VBMFX? Or a whopping 49.40% of the highly regarded Dodgeand Cox Income Fund. I know I should not worry because the curren…
If the economy is driven by consumers and consumers start hugging their nuts because the hour by hour barrage of bad news scares them from all manner of discretionary spending, a slight correction could become something more serious. Or maybe just …
I too no longer do resting stops. I totally agree about whipsaws from stops. Too many times it just felt like someone had access to my stop limit information and grabbed my resting stop order. But I have mental stops and do not let my greed and…
I can accept buying as an idea but would keep somewhat tight stops so one does not get called on their bluff or bluff on bluffs. Part of my friction is that I can wager on risks but I can not wager on uncertainties. We are in a perfect environme…
It's amazing how backwards modern organizations can still be these days. And in VG's case, what Shostakovich describes is inexcusable!
I needed to request a vital record from a NY locality and they could only mail me the form via USPS. Other loca…
@Junkster,
Appreciate you visiting and posting in this forum.
@rforno,
I have given much thought to your question. US default (even a tactical default) does not rank in the top 10 problems that would precede why our investments (other than US …
@Junkster - would you be concerned that this regime or Congressional dysfunction makes the US default on its debt? If so, wouldn't that pretty much crash Treasuries and make folks reconsider them as a 'safe haven' for the forseeable future?
That …
Politics influences investing now more than others. And tbh in practically *every* forum and mailing list I'm on, politics has seeped into the discussion to varying degrees. Unless MFO wants to go full-on Bogleheaddy with iron-handed moderation, …
I keep waffling between opening up a TIAA brokerage window account for my 403(b) but not sure I want the hassle of dealing with yet another account and clearinghouse ... but having the ability to invest in other things would be nice/helpful and poss…
Maybe it's time to move to another brokerage? Some Brokerages will do most of the work for you & possible give you a bonus $$$
+1 if my only remaining full service broker pulled that on me or gave me that attitude (and like you, I don't trade …
LarryB, without going into details, with what i'm hearing from trusted sources about federal data, systems, and security these days, it's a wonder I'm getting any sleep. It's truly disturbing both as a citizen and investor....
Sold 1/3 of T-C for a tiny gain. The first call is next week, and while I doubt it'll be called (which would be fine by me) I'm doing some minor portfolio adjusting.
Might close out the entire position and reallocate into other preferreds and/or M…
One almost wonders if the Invisible Hand(tm) is guiding equities higher so that any tariff/trump nonsense that dramatically spooks things may just drop them to more sensible levels that are more like a reversion to the long-term mean versus a 'catas…
Oh, Donnie, still adhering to the 'power of positive thinking' personal improvement philosophy.
He doesn't care about rising prices b/c he and his cronies can easily afford it. The rest of us? And those rubes who bought into his campaign schtick a…
Since I moved to Schwab ahead of the TD process, I only have 1 form, but they say I'll have it by 2/28, so .... who knows? As long as I get it promptly I'm ok.
Officially out for everyone... might be a handy tool now and then if needed.
https://www.schwab.com/learn/story/what-to-know-about-245-trading-on-thinkorswim
It's all about creating havoc. If he can distract you from other nefarious (illegal) proceedings that he is orchestrating, then he wins. He needs distractions.
The markets seemed to recognize this game, and they have largely ignored his tariff …
@Old_Joe,
Pardon my ignorance / lack of imagination.
One of the posters has been posting GQP for GOP. What does the Q in GQP stand for?
If you do not know the answer, I will ask the poster about it when I see it next time.
GQP = my reference t…
What the hell is his infatuation with "10,000" ...?
10,000 troops 'never came' to the Capitol on 1/6 (he alleges, total lie)
10,000 Mexican troops to the border
10,000 Canadan police to the border
It's like he just fixates on what he thinks is a …
It's only for a month. And it looks like Trump finally got Mexico to pay for a wall - not an engineered wall, but a wall of 10,000 soldiers on the border.
From what I've seen, much of his 'win' over Mexico is 'getting' them to do exactly what Biden…
Most are going down only 1 basis point. Not sure why it's generating this level of media coverage ... it's a non-issue for most people who wouldn't even notice.
'fentanyl' obviously polled best among MAGA for a trade war.
runners-up were WASP discrimination in mexico, cold weather exports from canada, and probably proliferation of 'panda express' by china.
Don't forget 'caravans'
No So Fun Fentanyl Facts:
https://www.forbes.com/sites/andyjsemotiuk/2025/01/31/tariff-on-canada-not-justified-by-us-immigration-and-drug-claims/
Excerpt: (BOLD added):
In Fiscal Year 2024, USCBP seized 21,148 pounds of fentanyl at the southwest …
“Our peaceful trading partners are not our enemies. they are our allies. We should beware of the demagogues who are ready to declare a trade war against our friends—weakening our economy, our national security, and the entire free world—all while c…
The ignorant orange idiot just said that tariffs against the EU are coming 'soon' .....
He really does want to blow up the world, doesn't he?
EU tariffs would be the cherry on top this next week. Final nail in the coffin. Market disruption c…
what does *that* tell you about the so-called 'free markets' here?
It is not a free market just as you see the big tech leaders at the inauguration. They all want the corporate tax cut just like previously. Now many of them are removing DEI from …
This is the first round of tariff with China, Canada and Mexico. Both Canada and Mexico retaliated the same 25% tariffs, especially liquor from Red States. China is taking their case to WTO. There is more to come as he also threatens EU and England.…
Just wondering if you meant NY Crude rather than NY Cruse or something altogether different.
Crude, of course. At least I wasn't the person who typed 'Tittok' on Fox News TV chyron the other day!!!
Got my popcorn ready. Much more (designed) chaos to come!
Totally unrelated to tariffs, but some folks are amazed to realize that they are suddenly paying more for their monthly prescriptions. Let's remind them to thank Uncle Dump! They ain't s…
