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.
The Week in Charts (05/30/25)
The most important charts and themes in markets and investing, including:
00:00 Intro
00:18 Topics
01:30 "Sell in May and Go Away"
05:43 The "TACO Trade"
09:26 Who Holds the Power to Impose Tariffs?
11:40 The Fastest G…
"The Trump administration on Wednesday rolled back a guideline that urged companies
to exercise 'extreme care' in offering cryptocurrency in their 401(k) plans.
It is a win for Fidelity Investments, which is a major player in crypto brokerage servic…
"Inter leads Value Inter..."
VTRIX is an actively managed fund while VXUS is a passively managed index fund.
Comparing iShares MSCI EAFE Value (EFV) to iShares MSCI EAFE (EFA)
and iShares MSCI EAFE Growth (EFG) may yield more relevant results.
htt…
The S&P 500 is currently tilted more towards growth than value.
The predominance of the Magnificent 7 stocks has been a large influence in recent years.
I don't how the S&P 500 has been balanced between growth and value stocks historically.
…
The Court of International Trade ruling doesn't affect tariffs for automobiles, aluminum, or steel.
These particular tariffs were not implemented via the IEEPA.
Unfortunately, Trump could deploy other laws to impose tariffs.
https://www.reuters.com…
“'The Worldwide and Retaliatory Tariff Orders exceed any authority granted to the President
by IEEPA to regulate importation by means of tariffs,' the court wrote,
referring to the 1977 International Emergency Economic Powers Act."
The Trump admini…
Jeff DeMaso from The Independent Vanguard Adviser recently wrote about private investments.
Everyone can read part of this article but the entire article can only be read by paying subscribers.
Executive Summary: Private markets are being pitched a…
Fuhgeddaboudit if you are not a loyal acolyte or are not wealthy!
The stench of the Felonious Skunk permeates the atmosphere once again.
"This is not at all how pardons normally work. Pardons are normally reserved for people who show remorse
for a …
The following article provides several suggestions on how to secure your retirement portfolio
when market anxiety is high.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/top-stocks/market-anxiety-is-running-high-how-to-secure-your-retirement-portfolio/ar-AA1Fk9bO
As msf alluded to, some funds initially invested in small caps/mid caps but migrated to large caps as AUM grew.
This can be problematic for investors who used these funds to fill specific roles within their portfolios.
I considered a dedicated CLO fund in recent years.
A post with my thoughts is linked below.
https://www.mutualfundobserver.com/discuss/discussion/comment/191039/#Comment_191039
Barron's recently published a story about covered-call funds.
JEPI and JEPQ were both mentioned.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/topstocks/these-funds-offer-low-volatility-and-10-yields-there-s-a-trade-off/ar-AA1F6xo9
European stocks have done really well this year.
VGK (Europe) returned 17.9% while EZU (Eurozone) returned 22.1%.
Stock markets in Poland, Austria, Greece, and Spain generated returns greater than 32%.
Returns are as of 5/13/2025.
https://bilello.b…
"President Trump hosted a gathering on Thursday with the highest-paying customers
of his personal cryptocurrency business, sparking bipartisan concerns that he's selling access
to the presidency for personal profit. Geoff Bennett discussed the event…
The Week in Charts (05/23/25)
The most important charts and themes in markets and investing, including:
00:00 Intro
00:56 Topics
01:36 Goodbye Triple-A
06:42 The One, Big, Ugly Deficit
21:02 A Bond Market Revolt
29:08 The World Strikes Back
45:53 R…
Link to WaPo article referenced in OP for non-subscribers.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/politics/government/trump-s-tax-bill-plan-adds-to-federal-debt-prompting-investor-backlash/ar-AA1FielS
Politics aside, this bill is fiscally irresponsible.
Our national debt was 124% of GDP as of 2024.
The government now spends more on interest than it does on national defense or Medicare.
The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO) projects th…
I do not have alternate access to M* Portfolio Manager but still have free access from years ago.
You're correct - Morningstar Investing Center does not provide access to Portfolio Manager via the library.
Are you referring to M* Portfolio Manager?
IIRC, I gained access to Portfolio Manager after creating a free account on the M* website years ago.
Multiple watchlists for various fund categories were created via the tool and are still monitored today.…
The author wrote this article as a follow-up.
So, in summary, past pre-fee returns seemed to forecast future pre-fee returns,
and expense ratios were a strong predictor of subsequent net returns.
What if you were to combine the two by grouping fun…
Jeffrey Ptak from M* discovered that the Redwood Private Real Estate Debt interval fund
recorded a loss on just three days since its June 2023 inception.
This fund gained 7.2% a year from 07/01/2023 - 04/30/2025 with a standard deviation of just 0.5…
The growing size of the U.S. debt, and the concerns over how much more it will increase,
is very much on the minds of investors, markets and lawmakers.
The developments were tied in part to Moody’s announcement that it was downgrading
the U.S. credi…
@hank,
Thanks for the update regarding The Humble Investor by Daniel Rasmussen.
I placed a hold on the book in two different library systems.
The Humble Investor is "on order" in both systems - availability may take a few weeks.
I look forward to …
Moody's downgrade of U.S. government debt is kind of a non-event.
The other two major credit rating agencies already downgraded this debt years ago.
However, we should heed Moody's rationale.
Here is their rationale, in part:
"Over more than a de…
"Tonight, late on a Sunday night, the House Budget Committee passed what Republicans are calling their 'Big, Beautiful Bill' to enact Trump’s agenda although it had failed on Friday when far-right Republicans voted against it, complaining it did not…
Jason Zweig believes alternative assets do not belong in 401(k)s.
"Whether we’re talking about a smaller firm like Redwood or the giants of alternative investing,
the same rule applies: Assets that don’t trade every day aren’t low risk just becaus…
"I wonder how much is due to funds reducing fees and how much is due to changes in investor behavior."
Good observations.
I think it's a combination of both factors noted above.
Following info is from M* 2024 US Fund Fee Study Executive Summary (l…
