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.
MSF I was speaking specifically about government employee pensions, which as you noted, are in many cases woefully underfunded and (I believe) also are subject to raiding by politicos for other 'more pressing' needs in their states. As for me, I'm …
More pathetic, the clowns running many of these funds/programs are suckered by the allure of hedge funds, private equity, and other costly black boxes that eat up their returns after expenses and fees ... and then they worry when their projections, …
As a university faculty member in an east coast university system, after 7 years, I'm still glad I elected the 403(b) option at TIAA CREF versus the state pension ... the entire account is parked in the very low-cost and high-quality AF WaMu R-6.
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PRBLX, though all-equity, is pretty defensive, imho. Only dropped 22% in '08 and has bounced back from each 'panic drop' in the years since. (I own it)
Until I feel the need to put my remaining cash to work in drips-n-drabs (or agree to move my desired purchase prices higher on things I want to buy/add to), I'll research the purchase of single malts from Speyside or the Northern Islands instead.
Guilty as charged, and also many other British comedies old and new. Though truth be told, after I wrote that I kind of snickered at myself. LOL
@rforno
You stated: "Speaking for myself (and I am unanimous in this)"
:) Hmmmmmm......someone i…
@Sven: Yes indeed. And then there's the question of 'active share' and how a fund does viz-a-viz the market and/or its competitors. I hold a few funds with high active share, and it's nice to know they zig when the rest of the herd (er, market…
Speaking for myself (and I am unanimous in this) I am drawn to Vanguard not for its passive indexing, but low costs. I only hold one VG fund -- VMVFX -- which is dirt cheap and has an eclectic enough global equity exposure that I appreciate. (I b…
Sounds like how I manage one of my portfolios, actually. I have some positions purchased back in the 80s and 90s that are still kicking, growing, and reinvesting on themselves.
Interesting fund. Though Columbia Thermostat Fund reminds me of PAUIX --- a fund of funds that (to me) looks like a place for the fund provider (in this case, Columbia) to sell more shares of its other funds in a new wrapper. I don't think they n…
Clearly, we need another round of QE to get things going again. Because these days stocks apparently can't move upwards for a prolonged period without such assistance. And besides, only old or retiring investors/traders care about such charming …
Oh look, equity markets roar higher on the hint of a rumour of perceived speculation regarding the possibility of another round of central bank intervention. Welcome to The New Abnormal(tm).
I've got crazy lowball buy orders on stuff I want to own (or increase my holdings) for long-term positions but only one of them got hit so far. We'll see what the rest of the day and next week brings us, though. :)
As I recall TSLA was a top-5 holding in PRGTX until last December when they dumped it for something else. As a holder of PRGTX I had mixed feelings about that move b/c I think the company does have some great prospects in the long-long term. But w…
Some people like that even if they're long-term, minimally-active investors. I do most days ... do I worry about every wiggle and weave or rush to trade based on what I see? Nope. Just like knowing what's going on.
The real question is why are yo…
Is it just me, or has FrankTemp been letting MH out into the media more and more in recent weeks? You never hear from him, and now it seems I come across his name every few days. Could it be anything to do with the ongoing years-old decline in AUM…
I've been toying with Personal Capital. SeekingAlpha has a free portfolio manager, too. In fact, most newspaper sites do - FT, CNBC, Bloomberg, WSJ, Marketwatch, USAToday, etc.
Among several other threads from M*Premium folks reporting both major and minor problems with the 'premium' site we pay money to use. For YEARS.
It's beyond pathetic at this point, and I'm making the call tomorrow to nix my auto-renewal of the Pre…
Good for them. About time some Wall Street technical 'innovations' benefitted the retail investor and other responsible investing entities (ie fund companies) instead of the HFTs and trading 'pros'.
If selling and locking in some gains lets you sleep at night, do it.
If you're looking for buys (as I am) set your alerts and DCA into new/bigger positions as volatility periods present themselves.
Otherwise, just sit back, grab some popcorn, and…
Not really - ex-SEALS somehow do the conference keynote thing despite having zero background in the conference theme. I was shocked that a SEAL was invited to keynote a major computer security conference I was involved with a few years ago ... he h…
One of the things that rubbed me the wrong way 'on principle' was the way the May 2016 TGBAX dividend cut seems to have been 'announced'. Not that I need the income (I'm 43, still working) but the fact I only learned about an approx 30% reduction …
M* site has all sorts of problems with data, interface, and more. Not surprising to see more complaints. Frankly the premium side has gone downhill over the past 18 months or so in many ways ... and their IT dept is slower than mollasses in add…
I agree the Barclays Agg makes no sense as a 'benchmark.'
I've held TGBAX for ... something like 8, 9 years. Love the insanely-tiny duration of its holdings.
TGBAX has gone nowhere for 1 and 3 years, and 5 years returned 1.57% according to M*. I…
PRBLX is a solid fund that held up nicely during the '08 GFC - I own it and still add to it.
For large or megacap check Bridgeway 35 (BRLIX too -- only .15 ER (cheap!) and a nice allocation/weighting of companies.
