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.
Coincidentally, PBS News Hour aired a segment this evening regarding a lawsuit filed against DOGE.
The Arizona Attorney General discusses multiple issues raised by 14 attorneys general.
PBS Video
Trump covets absolute power and wants to excise our system of checks and balances
enshrined in the Constitution. Congress has abdicated its constitutional responsibilities thus far.
At this juncture, we can only hope the judicial branch is capable o…
"There is no question State and Gov are too big. Don't fight it, instead, join forces to cut as many as we can."
"Sure, any time you fire a huge %, you will make a mistake. So what? You fired 20% and later you find you made a mistake; you hire 2% …
I've maintained exposure to international equities for many years.
MIEIX (CIT clone) is my core foreign fund which I've owned for years
while ARDBX is an auxiliary fund owned for under a year.
International equity funds have underperformed domestic …
"There are a number of users who constantly post off-topic discussions, and these ideas often have little to do with the purpose of this site. Even the off-topic forum should primarily focus on subjects related to investing, like shopping or travel,…
I believe information presented in the blogs and videos is materially the same¹.
The video often seem to be available several days prior to the corresponding blog.
Charlie Bilello does not maintain a regular publishing schedule.
The Week in Charts …
The Week in Charts (02/17/25)
The most important charts and themes in markets and investing, including:
00:00 Intro
00:54 Topics
01:44 Eggflation Is Back
07:19 Fed on Hold
10:30 Another Record High for Earnings
14:28 Everything Is Up
17:21 Why Home…
@Shostakovich
The application should be readily accessible online.
Requiring senior management approval (which could take several weeks)
to send an application form would be a huge disincentive for me.
This entire process seems ridiculous.
J.P. Morgan estimates the U.S. Dollar is near multi-decade highs (adjusted for inflation differentials).
U.S. stocks have outperformed international stocks for an unusually lengthy period.
Domestic vs. international stock performance tends to be cyc…
"I try to distinguish between customer unfriendly brokerages (for which Vanguard seems to qualify)
and customer unfriendly fund families."
Vanguard funds are "investor-friendly" but their brokerage leaves a lot to be desired.
New Vanguard CEO Salim…
It seems many Americans are not yearning to eliminate government programs.
From Heather Cox Richardson's Letters from an American (02/15/2025):
"When asked, Americans say they don’t actually want to get rid of government programs. A late January po…
"More than 95% of "news" from the 24/7 media is useless and redundant."
More than 95% of posts from certain individuals are useless and redundant.
Perhaps these inane posts could be readily disregarded if only they were not ubiquitous.
"So the best way to explain the sudden closure of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau,
as I see it, is as part of an effort to make predatory finance great again."
This isn't surprising when we have a money-grubbing grifter par excellence in t…
Small investors may have access to Collective Investment Trusts (CITs) via their 401(k) plans.
https://www.morningstar.com/personal-finance/dont-know-about-cits-you-probably-should
If an E.T.F. was closed, Authorized Participants (APs) would be unable to effectively
support E.T.F. creation/redemption mechanisms to maintain NAV/Price stability.
On August 24, 2015, exchange traded products (ETPs) experienced a real life st…
Trump is obviously a petty individual who seeks retribution for any perceived slights.
I'm also perplexed how many so-called Christians can support this vile human being.
yes in 2024, i meant baird strategic, there is no baird select.
other than the high(ish) fees, i was not comfortable with their stake in charter school bonds.
maybe that becomes a homerum with no DOE.
[snip]
BSNIX has a 0.30% expense ratio with a …
@a2z
Have you considered Baird Strategic Municipal Bond Fund?
I'm not sure how the fund's targeted duration would align with your preferred 1 yr. - 8 yr. period.
"It targets an average maturity in the short to
intermediate-term range, investing …
After tax returns for the Primecap-managed Vanguard funds have been exceptionally disappointing for well over a decade due in part to heavy redemptions.
Funds managed by the Primecap team are best held in tax-advantaged accounts.
It's not uncommon…
American Funds' R6 share classes may also be available via certain Health Savings Accounts.
RERGX, RNPGX, RGAGX, and RLBGX are available in my H.S.A. for example.
American Balanced has 19 classes!
NTF/no-load at Fido & Schwab is BALFX, ER 0.62%
Cheapest is Retirement R6 RLBGX, ER 0.25%
Numerous mutual funds from American Funds have far too many share classes!
I'm not a fan of tactical allocation funds either.
A fund that adjusts its asset allocation based on varying market conditions sounds great in theory.
However, many tactical allocation funds fail to deliver good long-term performance
on an absolute …
VWELX and RLBGX have very similar expense ratios. The expense ratios are 0.26% and 0.25% respectively.
RLBGX compares favorably to VWELX over the trailing 3 year, 5 year, and 10 year periods ending Jan. 2025.
ABALX also performs well vs. VWELX but c…
Maybe they could keep the fees the same and have a functioning website and good customer service.
This former Vanguard customer would have preferred these improvements
rather than lowering expense ratios a couple of bps.
Heather Cox Richardson's Letters from an American (Feb. 2, 2025)
"Today Ellen Knickmeyer of the Associated Press reported that yesterday two top security officials from the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) tried to stop people ass…
Heather Cox Richardson's Letters from an American (Feb. 2, 2025)
"On Friday, James E. Dennehy of the FBI’s New York field office told his staff that they are 'in a battle of our own, as good people are being walked out of the F.B.I. and others are…
The systematic destruction of a democratic government is something we all need to watch out for as in the case of today’s Hungary.
Unfortunately, it's happening right before our eyes!
Yes, these people were only faithfully performing their duties.
The orange-colored, thin-skinned autocrat's feelings were hurt
and unfortunately they are now subject to nasty consequences
from the Felonious Skunk™ (not to be confused with jazz piani…
The situation is unfortunate since the tariffs were unnecessary.
Terrible outcomes often occur when the "best and brightest" are hired to perform critical jobs!
We must only have the highest standards for those who work in the West Wing.
Only the h…
If the stock market enters correction territory in the near-term due to tariffs,
Trump may rescind tariffs and quickly declare victory based on an inconsequential outcome.
He has a strong preference to be associated with robust stock market returns.
Or his double-dealing, grifting, corruption, lobbying other governments as a private citizen, etc, etc, etc.
Laws are only good if they are not only enacted, but enforced --- and they're often not, especially when it's convenient for those in char…
“There are some things so dear, some things so precious, some things so eternally true,
that they are worth dying for.
And I submit to you that if a man has not discovered something that he will die for,
he isn’t fit to live.”
- Dr. Martin Luther…
"At what point is Trump considered to be a national security threat?"
It has been abundantly clear that Trump is a national security threat
since his inept and criminal mishandling of classified documents.
And yet the Teflon-Don got away scot-free …
"From the WSJ - Pentagon releases name of third helicopter crew member - after unexplainable delay."
Trump and Hegseth blamed this accident on DEI programs.
Cpt. Rebecca M. Lobach's family requested that her name not be disclosed.
I believe they di…
I've listened to David Rosenberg in the past but haven't viewed the current Wealthtrack episode.
Rosenberg is smart, experienced, and articulate.
IIRC, he has been bearish for a very long time.
Fortunately, his analysis/assertions did not influence …
