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.
@catch22 Good question! Our previous governor and legislature issued bonds to fund the upkeep of the turnpike. Unfortunately, from what I understand, the $1.5 billion raised from issuing bonds in 2012 has now all been committed to existing project…
Picking a number like this is ridiculous, and she knows it. There are way too many variables when it comes to retirement finances, no matter what the age. Yes, some people will be lucky and never have to worry. But most of us are not in that elit…
Our new Ohio governor proposed an $0.18 per gallon tax to shore up our crumbling infrastructure. The Ohio House said $0.08 was enough, and the state Senate said $0.06. Those may be off a bit, but the numbers are close. Gas prices regularly fluctu…
Totally agree. I can remember "back in the day" when most mutual fund investing was done one account at a time with each individual fund company. This will come as a shock to those of you younger than 40, but this was before Schwab, Fidelity, Vang…
@Ted: Doing well, Ted. As my December commentary indicates, I am enjoying being disconnected from all the financial world's constant noise. Just completed my annual review of our investments, made one sale, and closer looks for two or three other…
A client told me she and her husband had signed up for one of these. I suggested she ask just one question to the salesperson, “Will you provide a signed statement that you serve your clients as a fiduciary and that you do not receive any form of co…
Commodities? Folks have waited for that day for at least twenty years. Even within commodities, the separate classes have been cyclical. While I own a bit of a gold ETF for pure hedging (and it hasn't worked all that well, either), paying a ridic…
I chuckled reading this. The fund description is "a disciplined and contrarian approach" supported by "robust research". If you had held this fund for the last five years, your return would have been zero, all the while paying Mr. Arnott and PIMCO…
Alternative-type funds, whether they use long-short, obtuse mathematical, or some other "alternative" strategy, really need to be looked at with a jaundiced eye. The vast majority, almost all actually, either do really well then suffer near collaps…
GLD and THIIX up a teeny bit. OSTIX and FFRHX pretty much no change. QMNIX down less than 1%. All in all, about what I would have expected. I am still comfortable with my overall allocation, which stands at 20% bonds, 28% alternatives, and 52% do…
FWIW, and perhaps it's worth nothing at all, we have a federal government controlled by the right and left extremes. Both groups seems to care about one thing only, and that is power. There is no place for vocal moderates in either party who advoc…
As with all investing, EM should be in portfolios "in moderation", recognizing the higher risk associated with owning these stocks. There are always potential causes for concern, no matter what the asset class. Goldman's commentary has as much to …
Not sure what I am missing on this, but it seems to me that fund fees are about the last thing investors should be unaware of these days. I am not suggesting that limiting the ability to take legal action is a good idea. But discussions of fees ha…
I urge all MFO folks to contribute as they are able. It is easy, trust me...I just did an online donation. David and Chip do a fantastic job on a shoestring budget. It's a good thing they both have real jobs, because they could not afford to run …
Found this comment by John Mauldin:
"I am not necessarily calling for an end to this amazing bull market. I’m agnostic about that right now, because the traditional forecasting tools have been taken to the woodshed."
While he is certainly not a per…
I am amazed this company has any account holders. They HAVE lost some of their big commission producers to other firms, but inertia has a big effect on investors not moving their own accounts. Even bank accounts have not had a major fallout. Yes,…
It is very hard to believe the blog did not go through the firm's compliance division before it was posted. EVERYTHING put out by fund companies goes through often multiple layers of compliance. But even so, compliance may not have been aware of t…
No to owning an India-specific fund, unless you don't care about increasing portfolio volatility. There are plenty of good diversified EM funds that provide exposure to India.
Yes, let's follow the herd and dump domestic mid and small cap, and dump any international we might have that we didn't already dump. And then, when the S&P 500 has a drop of 10-15%, we will all sell at the low point, just as we did about 10 ye…
FWIW, given the fund's big manager turnover and rather high expenses for mostly AAA-rated debt, and lack of asset base ($9 million), I would look elsewhere. Vanguard's VFSUX has a better long-term record for teeny expenses. Yeah, Vanguard has high…
How many is too many? 1 is too many. I say this as a reformed daily SBX customer who got tired of getting a political lecture with my morning coffee. Switched to a very small, local roaster/brewer/coffee shop the first of the year and wonder why …
msf gave very good advice. The ADV Part 2 will provide information on whether the company and individual receives commissions. Sometimes the RIA or planning company can say they do not receive commissions, but there may be one or two other subsid…
It's not just federal employees who are hoodwinked by annuity salespersons. It truly is everyone. Often done under the guise of "retirement planning", the annuity people have all the great lures, but seldom disclose all the facts. It only takes o…
Never thought about it in this way, msf. Nicely done! Guess there is some carry over in our family as well. We want something sturdy but a bit different, not too fancy, ok mileage but uppermost in mind is safety with comfort. Is that why we are …
The link works fine for me, Ted. Interesting they mention the DFA fund, but very few individual investors have access to it. We use BISMX in this asset class, but PRIDX has a good option, too. Probably no great reason for most investors to have a…
Just curious, Ted, how you look at CIM. Fixed-income? What would be your trigger to sell? Looking at trading volume, currently at 1.5 million shares, and only 150,000 in 2008 when the bottom fell out of the mortgage market. Looks like it would h…
I suspect the word "investors" in this article is mostly institutional investors and funds that own EMkt ETFs. My guess is that very few truly individual investors are likely to invest in specific country ETFs. They will more likely use broad-base…
IF there is a credit crunch, I would want to be very picky about who is managing my HY dollars. Would probably want much less downside than this manager's fund had in 2008 (loss of 20%), but that is just my take. I don't look for my bond funds to …
Cannot speak for other folks in Central Ohio, but the number of honey bees in our display garden this year is many times more than I can remember in a long time. Not sure if someone has a new hive in the area or if the population of bees has had a …
I trust you are not disparaging us Midwesterners, just all Midwestern governors? I have been fed up with Washington for the last 10-12 years, but it's the media that really disappoints me. Oh, for the days when there was no cable news. Of course,…
I taught at Humboldt State University in the early 1970s, and even then spent some time on weekends in what was then a rather small-potatoes Sonoma-Napa wine country. But ever since then, I have visited on a somewhat regular basis. What a transfo…
I certainly enjoy good wine, but the whole idea of spending $15,000 on a bottle of wine (times 67 bottles!) is absurd. Think of what that could do for a homeless shelter, food pantry, after-school program, arts organizations, and other charitable e…
I have personally owned VFTSX for years. It may not do better (or worse) than VFINX, but I am a first-generation non-smoker in my family. I have seen how bad the products really are, so just can't go there. And no, I don't go the whole ESG route,…
