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.
I invest mostly in mutual funds and ETFs but do own one individual stock.
I prefer to limit individual stocks to ≤ 5% of my total portfolio.
This offers protection against potentially large losses from overly concentrated positions.
Extremely concen…
The Week in Charts (08/15/23)
A tour of the markets covering the most important charts & themes, including...
00:00 Intro
00:29 The Streak is Broken (Inflation Report)
05:10 The Road to Prosperity (Real Wage Growth)
07:57 US vs. Europe (Inflati…
I'm glad Mr. Goodwin was able to make this trip.
It sounds like he had a great experience!
I don't think I'd spend $450K for any adventure unless my net worth
value contained eight digits to the left of the decimal point...
My preference is to use a local institution for checking and direct deposit.
I'm a member of a locally-based credit union with many nearby branches.
If any issues arise, I can readily speak to someone in person.
Over the years, I've found that CUs …
The Week in Charts (08/08/23)
A tour of the markets covering the most important charts & themes, including asset class performance through July, the slow normalization in the jobs market, why inflation is likely to rise, and much more.
Video
B…
"A Wellington spokesperson said that while Hong is stepping off the fund, he ‘is not leaving Wellington.’"
"'It has been anticipated that Liz would expand her portfolio management abilities and eventually assume full responsibility for the fund,’ t…
Buffett's investment process is focused on purchasing companies with competitive advantages
(wide moats) at a fair price and holding them "forever."
He believes that at least 98% of people who invest should extensively diversify and not trade.
FW…
Selecting the best mutual funds to achieve long-term financial goals remains a challenging task for investors. Russel Kinnel, Director of Manager Research for Morningstar, has dedicated nearly three decades to this endeavor. He oversees Morningstar’…
The Week in Charts (07/31/23)
A tour of the markets covering the most important charts & themes, including the 11th Fed hike,
an epic run in the Dow, active managers going leveraged long, and more...
Video
Blog
DuckDuckGo was founded in 2008 and has offered a search engine since then.
The company recently released a web browser for Windows (available in public beta).
Link
@Old_Joe,
Like you, I've been using Firefox, the DuckDuckGo search engine, and uBlo…
I'm conflicted as well.
I wouldn't own Phillip Morris stock (and some other stocks) directly.
I know some of my funds hold "questionable" stocks but I don't sell the funds solely for this reason.
It's difficult to find superior funds without applyi…
DuckDuckGo offers a search engine which provides substantially more privacy than Google.
They now also have their own web browser.
I'm not familiar with the browser but have used their search engine for years.
Their homepage provides additional det…
[snip]
And I totally agree with @Mark that it’s whatever makes someone comfortable and able to stay in the game. I’d guess we all have some idiosyncrasies that give us confidence to stay the course. ”Time in the market” is very important. So, wha…
The Week in Charts (07/24/23)
A tour of the markets covering the most important charts & themes, including the increase in bullish sentiment, multiple expansion and higher earnings expectations, the upcoming FOMC meeting, and more...
Video
Blog
I think Trump is now concerned that one or more cases against him (classified documents,
insurrection, Ga. election interference) may lead to incarceration.
This fear may be a major impetus (along with his lust for power?) for his presidential camp…
Boneheadedness? Yeah, count me in too. Too many stupid things to even remember. I imagine all of us (with the possible exception of FD) have done dumb stuff from time to time.
I'd say almost every investor has made mistakes at some point.
I've made …
The article written by @lewisbraham was informative.
Investors who chase star managers often don't properly
consider conditions which corresponded with success.
I'm guilty of doing this myself years ago...
"All of which illustrates a larger point:…
The Automatic Investment program allows purchasing additional shares for $5 at Fidelity.
IIRC, this can be setup to make a single purchase.
Automatic Investment is listed in GLFIX Transaction Fee footnotes (click Additional Important Information).
I…
I don't use hedging or shorting.
Many corresponding "alt" funds are expensive to own and they often don't perform well over longer time periods.
Having said that, I've noticed JHQAX (several others mentioned it) a while ago.
This fund seems to offer…
OJ, I want to note that FD has run some of the most popular threads, on several different forums over the years. He developed a large following from bond oef investors, with his monthly threads on Bond OEFs. He offered some detailed charts of bo…
May have to buy some of this GQHIX eventually. Continues to perform well within my risk toerance since inception. 2023 struggling. TDA/Schwab merger.....Schwab carries this at reasonable min.
Question: Anyone know the ticker of the Vontobel EM …
The Week in Charts (07/16/23)
A tour of the markets covering the most important charts & themes, including the persistent decline in inflation, active managers getting bullish again, the manufacturing construction boom, the mortgage predicament…
Isn't it amazing how much negative impact one or two individuals can have?
On another popular investment forum several years ago, one person's demeanor was abhorrent.
This person's actions resulted in the ultimate departure of multiple, knowledgeabl…
Recent FMIMX performance relative to the M* Mid-Cap Blend category has been very good.
For periods ending 06/30/2023:
YTD: 13.6% (top 10%)
1 Yr: 26.0% (top 3%)
3 Yr: 21.0% (top 1%)
"Color me skeptical (cynical?), but I suspect the real objective was not so much to expand the number of funds 'analyzed' as it was to decrease the number of funds intelligently analyzed (i.e. by real, human analysts)."
"Before M* introduced Q rati…
I would avoid all Matthews Asia funds in the near-term (possibly long-term).
There has been an exodus of talent at the firm over the past few years.
https://www.mutualfundobserver.com/discuss/discussion/comment/152046
https://www.mutualfundobserve…
[snip]
”The automated essays "analyzing" those funds where the "Q" is used is utterly comical.”
Yes - They sound computer written. There’s an uncomfortable “sameness” to the composition. They seem to rely a lot on total years of experience of a fun…
@hank,
You may want to check if your local library system offers online access to Proquest.
Library patrons should be able to access Barron's via Proquest.
Good story.
It appears FOMO may have influenced several of the profiled investors.
I was surprised by the number of Vanguard investors over age 74 who had nearly all their money in stocks.
"In taxable brokerage accounts at Vanguard, one-fifth of in…
ARDBX holds a lot of promise.
Artisan funds tend to perform well compared to their respective categories.
Both co-portfolio managers have extensive experience and were previously analysts
for the Artisan International Value and Global Value strateg…
