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.
Historically these things take a bit of time to settle, but they always do. I can remember back "in the day" when emerging markets included all of Asia ex-Japan, and Latin America was more frontier than emerging, and Eastern Europe...why would anyo…
Rogers is a commodity bug and has been forever. He is always bracing for a crash. In a similar mold as is John Mauldin, but less scholarly. Both guys are good reading, but both have pretty dismal records over the long haul.
This has nothing to do with how much to save, but unless you have LOTS of money, the adage "Live BELOW your means" is a prudent thought. This can allow you to save more. The rule used to be to save at least 10% of your pay...out of sight, out of m…
A truly admirable fund. Smartly, they closed it to new investors a long time ago. It is not a balanced fund by any means. It is much more of a risk-aware global allocation fund. Current allocation of57% U.S. stock, 22% international stock, 22% b…
IVW has a stronger record than all of the listed funds except PARWX. So not sure why I would pay as much as 1% more for questionable net returns, especially now unless you have no holdings in large cap growth.
We use TGBAX as a core hold in many accounts, with GSDIX for some larger accounts. Although TGBAX is not EM per se, Hasenstab uses a lot of EM currencies and has not been afraid of owning EM bonds (currently about 60%). It is clearly the "chicken"…
Yes, I am a fan of OSTIX, a big fan of Carl Kaufman and his team. OSTIX does have a transaction fee because Osterweis funds refuses to pay Fidelity, TD, Schwab, or anyone else the extra fees. It helps to keep the asset base down, which is a good t…
I never put much store in any predictions. John Mauldin admits "The fact that my forecast may be wrong doesn't prevent me from making one." The same applies to these two windbags.
@BobC This is a side question. I hold TPINX. I've checked both Fidelity and Scottrade websites, and as I expected TGBAX is only available through an advisor or other special cases. I am not a Schwab customer, so I am not as familiar with their w…
The best thing a person can do is unload debt before retirement. Yeah, I know, I sound like a stuck record. But it is true, and it makes a big difference on the amount of dollars needed for regular cash flow in retirement. No one can control the …
Hi O'l Skeet. Interesting comments.
Hank and others, we call these "dynamic" funds, in that the management teams have the ability to change their allocation among domestic/international stocks and bonds and cash. We use TIBIX, FPACX, and WHGIX in …
had proposed to me tonight by ML to move accounts to them from Fido
David, I am curious that you even have accounts at ML. What is your reason for this, especially in light of their unwillingness historically to put clients' interests first via a …
This is one of the dumbest things I have heard in a long time. Schwab, Fidelity, Vanguard, and all custodians of IRAs and other retirement accounts can and do automatically calculate RMDs. Investors can opt for the custodian to automatically distr…
This article is a good example of why those of us in the RIA profession do not want FINRA to be given any authority to regulate us. They employ a classic edition of choking on gnats and swallowing camels. From a PR standpoint, they will occasional…
We use TGBAX as a core hold in many accounts, with GSDIX for some larger accounts. Although TGBAX is not EM per se, Hasenstab uses a lot of EM currencies and has not been afraid of owning EM bonds (currently about 60%). It is clearly the "chicken"…
We did a lot of screening in the international small cap arena, as usual taking a long time to make a decision. In the end, it came down to BISMX and PRIDX. We really like both funds, both management teams, and each has a strong and compelling the…
It's hard for me to get excited about Artisan. AT one time, we had rather large positions with Mid Cap and Mid Cap Value, as well as International. We sold out of Yockey's fund quite a while back, and it has really struggled to be relevant. We ha…
We did a lot of screening in the international small cap arena, as usual taking a long time to make a decision. In the end, it came down to BISMX and PRIDX. We really like both funds, both management teams, and each has a strong and compelling the…
I really like this fund, and agree with Tony that the short-term redemption fee helps keep traders at bay. Nothing wrong with that at all. Also like IHI, which for me is a tech fund within the healthcare sector.
HI Bob, just curious why you are selling out of WAEMX, mainly expenses? Yeah, it was by far the most expensive fund we were using, and except for recently, it had really underperformed since Geritz left Wasatch. We were also concerned with the hug…
For those interested in this sector, you might consider GLIFX. The management team has done a very good job. It compares favorably to IGF, even with the expense differential.
Adding to international/emerging markets. Consolidating in this asset class and reducing expenses. Capturing profits, selling out of WAEMX. Adding international small cap Brandes BISMX. Consolidating a couple of large cap international to VEA. …
Let's be honest, here. Orman and Cramer are both pretty bad. Why real investors would watch either one is a puzzle to me. At least Cramer can be entertaining...for about 2-3 minutes max. Orman's voice is like crashing glass.
Have just finished binge-watching "The Man in the High Castle" on Amazon. Had we lost Midway, and had the Germans gotten the bomb first, we would not be discussing investments today.
Discussed this with a recently-retired client. We (our wives and us) simply don't buy clothes the way we used to, and probably will buy even less into retirement. New suits, no. Dress shirts, no. Dress shoes, no. New cars, no. Same goes for man…
Suze Orman has been a mixed bag of recommendations over the years. But I would venture that her largest source of income the last 8-10 years has been from the sale of her CDs and other products she pushes on PBS, QVC, and other outlets, and from sp…
Fixed-income managers who value the mantra "do not lose money" will tell you that preferreds are horrendous values now, with prices much higher than the face value. Given that most preferreds have deep call features, it is hard to understand the lo…
Keep in mind that much of this is RETAIL money, investors trying to follow whatever trend is hot. I would suggest that more than a few of the funds on this list could have banner years. MALOX is ahead of the S&P 500 ytd. TGBAX is up more than…
They could start by being honest and putting their clients' interests first. It will take a very long time, and there will still be those who rip off consumers by selling them inappropriate products and engaging in unethical practices. Get rid of …
Nothing but good news for consumers. Unfortunately, there is a large "wealth management" company here in Columbus that advertises on television a TON, but of course no mention is made of the fact they are huge sellers of indexed annuities. They mu…
I don't spend much time with this fund company rating thing. When I do, I sometimes think "Are they talking about the same company I know?" Then there are the funds not medalist rated by M*, and if they were, would probably change the overall comp…
Investors "flee"? NO, it was program trading, and the president's troubles, real or fantasy, had little to do with the small loss. Most here have been expecting a 5-10% or more pullback. Nothing surprising yesterday, except for news people tryin…
Good post, hank. Totally agree with your observation. And blaming the current president's problems, real or fantasy, for the drop is silly at best. Many of us have been expecting, maybe hoping for, a 5-10% pullback to load up the truck.
Same strategy as WHGIX, but with more foreign equities and bonds and a bit less cash. Same management. We have not used it to date. Given its "world allocation" status, we find much more interest in TIBIX, RPGAX, and MALOX, all of whom have a muc…
"Famed" investor? He "called" the crash of 2000? He was one of many who "called" that, but it was pretty clear to even an average investor the market way way out of whack then. The current market has no similarity to that market. Yes, there will…