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.
"A planned Christmas Eve jazz concert at the Kennedy Center, a holiday tradition dating back more than 20
years, has been canceled. The show's host, musician Chuck Redd, says that he called off the performance
in the wake of the White House announci…
"The warehouse plan would be the next step in President Donald Trump’s campaign to detain and deport
millions of immigrants, which began with a scramble to expand the nation’s immigrant detention system,
the largest in the world. Armed with $45 bill…
Robert Reich wrote:
"Ninety-three years ago, in March 1933, the Nazis established their first concentration camp
in what is now Dachau, Poland. Other camps were soon established in Buchenwald and Sachsenhausen."
"Initially, the Nazi’s put into the…
Vanguard's PRIMECAP-managed funds have performed very well YTD (as of 12/24 market close).
VPCCX: 32.00%
VPMAX: 31.52%
VHCAX: 27.90%
Edit: Updated YTD performance to reflect 12/24 returns.
"The most common way thieves drain money from gift cards is by shoplifting them from supermarkets
and other retailers and then manipulating the package to steal the card information.
The compromised cards are then placed back in stores, and the stol…
Daniel Shear started managing PRMTX solo in March 2025.
Excerpts from the M* PRMTX report (12/19/2025) are below.
"Shear has introduced several changes since taking over, reshaping the portfolio's sector, style,
and geographic profile. Historically…
"American team management structure is unique in MF industry."
Some (all?) of the founders of PRIMECAP Management formerly worked at AF.
Like AF, PRIMECAP also uses an approach where individual portfolio managers
manage "sleeves" of a mutual fund i…
From Markets A.M. newsletter by Spencer Jakab.
On this day in 1877, Thomas Edison filed for a U.S. patent on his "speaking machine,"
later known as the phonograph. A few days earlier, he had brought a model of the device to the offices
of Scientifi…
That bro works so hard he doesn't have time to shave
Not to worry.
It's rumored that Mr. Plotkin will receive a Norelco Multigroom 9000 in his Christmas stocking.
He'll just need to step away from the 10-K reports, 10-Q reports, and free cash flow p…
"Fifty-five years later, after surviving bouts of extreme weather, changing consumer tastes
and global trade disruptions, the Westside, Iowa, farmer faces an unexpected risk from the man
he backed for U.S. president: Donald Trump."
"Eight ranchers …
I'm in general agreement with the author regarding the exclusion of certain investment types.¹
My portfolio does not include the following investments:
1) Dedicated REITs
2) Sector funds
3) Alternative investments
4) Dedicated high-yield bond funds …
The DOXLX Fact Sheet from 09/30/2025 indicates that the U.S. is the largest country at 53.6%.¹,²
Emerging Markets comprise 20.6% of the fund.¹
¹ The Fund may classify a company or issuer in a different category than the Index.
The Fund usually cl…
"The Fed may seek to keep long term rates low by ramping up QE (buying longer dated bonds)."
I'm concerned about this as well.
Since the Fed's easing cycle began in 2024, long-term rates have actually gone up.
There is a high probability that the F…
The Year the Job Market Hit a Wall
"The U.S. labor market is ending 2025 on a sour note.
While companies didn’t resort to full-scale layoffs, many did trim head count, especially later in the year.
Many also stopped hiring. Fewer employees quit job…
"In a new YouGov poll conducted for The Economist, fewer than half of Republicans
say they 'strongly approve' of Trump, and only a third of Republicans approve strongly
of his handling of inflation and prices."
"All of this adds up to a president w…
The 60 Minutes "Inside CECOT" segment was available on Global TV in Canada but has since been removed.
A viewer recorded the segment (~14 min.) which can be watched using the link below.
This video may be taken down at any time — several correspondi…
Thank you as always for keeping this thread alive.
I've usually found something of value in each posting.
You're welcome.
I'm glad that you found something of value in Charlie Bilello's content.
"This will be pushed a big news, as another innovation. me say ho-hum (-:)."
This change is definitely not a big innovation but it does provide some minor improvements.
I wonder why it took Invesco so long to convert QQQ from a UIT structure to an …
The Trump administration claims "national security risk" to justify actions against everything it dislikes.
But when a national security risk actually exists — China buying Nvidia H200 chips —
the administration allows it.
The network might as well just remove the first letter from their name since this is total BS.
I'm glad that Ms. Alfonsi spoke truth to power.
Walter Cronkite is rolling over in his grave and I'm sure Dan Rather isn't too pleased either.
From Markets A.M. newsletter by Spencer Jakab.
On this day in 1973, oil ministers of OPEC’s six Persian Gulf member countries
announced at a meeting in Tehran that they would unilaterally raise the price of crude oil
to $7 per barrel–and that it wo…
"Now, we have another year of data, and this is how the forecasts of equity analysts (bottom-up)
and equity strategists (top-down) fared in 2024. At the start of 2024, equity analysts expected the S&P 500
to rise by 7.9%, while strategists were …
"I'm a big fan of BBBMX/BBBIX, but the duration, while miniscule,
is about three times that of the funds linked to by @msf."
I have a T-Bill maturing in early January.
The proceeds will be funneled into BBBIX.
BBBMX was previously held in a differe…
"After almost a year of Trump’s second term, I and many other people — including, very likely, you —
are feeling exhausted, distraught, and sickened by what’s happened to our country and the world."
"As Times columnist Bret Stephens puts it, we are…
Dedicated CLO funds now reside in the new Morningstar "Securitized Bond - Focused" category.
This category also includes funds which focus on commercial mortgages and Asset-Backed Securities.
Fidelity Fund Screener
Rick Steves' Europe travel company has been financially successful.
Mr. Steves has donated significant funds to help improve society and the lives of individuals.
He has been actively involved in philanthropy for years.
Community Initiatives
• Tri…
Thanks @msf - a lot to try and digest.
From the Guggenheim piece,
"CLOs are governed by a series of coverage tests that measure the adequacy
of the collateral balance and the cash flows generated by the underlying bank loans."
Question 1: Who d…
M*: "Default risk is remote for AAA CLO tranches"
Janus: "Due to the credit enhancement features within CLO structures,
there has never been a realized loss in any senior AAA, junior AAA, or AA rated CLO"
I previously read that no AAA CLOs have def…
The Week in Charts (12/19/25)
The most important charts and themes in markets and investing...
00:00 Intro
00:17 Topics
01:12 A Confusing Labor Market
10:49 Distorted Inflation Data
17:13 An Unnecessary & Unwarranted Easing
22:16 The Return of …
President Obama's music, book and film picks for 2025.
I enjoy watching good movies.
I recently saw one of Obama's film picks — One Battle After Another — which was very good.
There are several other films on his list that I wanted to see but missed…
