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.
True, a few of the holdings in my portfolio show no change from Wednesday's closing prices when in fact there are differences as of Thursday. It's a good thing M* doesn't operate a brokerage, given their many technical gaffes.
I have experienced the same stale price data with respect to a mutual fund I have listed on M*'s non-premium portfolio manager and suspect that there's another glitch in their systems -- they've experienced quite a few lately. I thought it might be…
Looking once again at those investor reports brings back awful memories. (That's possibly a good thing in the current environment.) It wasn't just MBIA; TAVFX went long on Ambac, Radian, MGIC, and added to its pain by investing in MBIA bonds. I r…
I was a TAVFX shareholder for quite awhile. Alas, everything Mr. Whitman thought he knew about value investing proved false in the case of the mortgage insurance companies he bought before, during, and after the housing crisis. I got out in time, …
Attempts to maintain my chosen level of asset diversification are defeated by the constant increases in equity valuations. It's a nice problem to have.
Today Sen. Schumer described yesterday's events as "an insurrection against the United States, incited by the president." I agree and have relayed messages to his office, as well as to that of my own Senator (I seem to have only one at the moment) …
Sure -- M* screws up a lot. To be fair, there's a whole lot of data that gets dumped on them each day but that's true for brokerage firms, the Bloombergs and other financial websites of the world, as well as many others. M* seems particularly susc…
I had the same problem as the original poster (and others) but now I don't. I didn't change anything and assumed this was a M* issue (things like that usually are). Maybe they fixed it so if it affected you, try again.
Someone dropped $25 million into this fund last Friday (the difference between Thursday and Friday AUM, not accounted for by market move). Perhaps someone who read the MFO profile? At any rate, fine Sharpe ratio and historical upside/downside capt…
Former Schwab executive here. Trust me, Schwab's goal is to make money: that's a fact, not a criticism. There are many ways to attract clients in order to do that, including fair pricing, responsive customer service, and a superior online experien…
Not trying to pile on Matthews, because I don't currently own any of their funds, but another PM recently departed after co-managing the Pacific Tiger fund for several years. He was replaced by two people, one of whom had earlier been at Matthews b…
I've been impressed by the approach taken by Grandeur Peak (as well as by the performance). They seem interested in serving their clients, not merely themselves. In tough markets, like 4th quarter 2018, they may drop like a rock but seem to recove…
Schwab Total Stock Market Index Fund -- SWTSX: 0.03% expense ratio (10x less than the Price version). Schwab has a very good website and local branches. Personally, I'd steer clear of actively managed funds for reasons of cost and the fact that mo…
I haven't seen much evidence of layoffs in the six-figure pay space but, possibly related, reports around here say that residential rents in San Francisco and Silicon Valley have tumbled 10 - 15% year-over-year. That's down from a ridiculously high…
The shareholder letter immediately preceding this latest one touted FMI's outperformance in down markets. Oops. All three of their funds dropped more than their benchmarks in this latest rout. They admit that they lag in up markets. That may not…
From a M* article posted today--
The most vulnerable strategies in the current environment have been flashing red well in advance. For example, AlphaCentric Income Opportunities (IOFIX), a multisector bond fund that has invested the majority of its…
I hope that people who are actually experts in the field, both within and outside of government, step up and call him out on this delusional perspective.
Vanguard's site shows a P/E of 22.2 as of 2/29 so maybe it's updated. If it's forward looking though, especially in this environment, I wouldn't set much stock in any number.
OAKIX is a really volatile fund. Sometimes that's good, often not. I used to own it; held it for years until its dramatic ups and frequent downs got the better of me. I wanted a smoother ride, even at the potential cost of some measure of lost retu…
If an investor waits until s/he has "a solid view on where this virus is headed" any opportunity will be long gone. As advice that's not even worth two cents.
Yeah, for a firm that has always said "we want the returns of our foreign investments to reflect our stock-picking ability rather than currency fluctuations" this makes little sense. They've essentially decided to come out with a fund that's subject…
Lots of interesting nuggets in here. I'm impressed that the puny operating expenses I pay buy all of this effort and attention. PG&E and Bayer, among others, get called out for board-level inadequacies.
