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.
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…
I was living on the east coast when the mountain erupted.
Would have loved to visit St. Helens before this cataclysmic event occurred.
The volcanic ash traveled far and wide!
Asset-weighted fees have declined precipitously for mutual funds/ETFs.
Thank you Jack Bogle and Vanguard!
Some investment firms are now "gently nudging" investors towards private equity,
private debt, and interval funds mostly to increase their prof…
The eruption was a major force of nature!
It's amazing how quickly (in geological time) the environment started to recover.
A group of us climbed to the summit of Mount St. Helens in the early-to-mid 1990s.
It was a non-technical scramble but there …
Until recently, it seems many in Congress have been silent regarding Trump's crypto corruption.
I'm glad that Sen. Blumenthal is raising awareness of this important issue.
I think it's fair to say presidential corruption is at unprecedented levels.
• Trump Organization's cryptocurrency empire
• Qatar's "gift" of $400 million luxury jet to replace Air Force One
• Trump Organization planning to build luxury golf reso…
At Davfor. sma3 ‘s post is valuable , relevant and belongs where the most folks will see it. Right where it is posted ! If you don’t like it,,,, close your eyes. It simply is not your role to tell people where to post.
@larryB,
The posts from s…
"March 2025 coda: I am very sympathetic to the argument that much of our national dialogue
and decision-making, just at the moment, is dominated by self-blinded ideologues, self-important amateurs,
lickspittles, pompous mountebanks, braying popinjay…
The Week in Charts (05/16/25)
The most important charts and themes in markets and investing, including:
00:00 Intro
00:53 Topics
01:52 Both Sides Blinked
04:58 One of the Greatest Comebacks in Market History
08:25 What a Difference a Month Makes
12…
I just noticed that @yogibearbull previously started a thread for the Moody's downgrade.
https://www.mutualfundobserver.com/discuss/discussion/63963/moody-s-downgraded-us-debt-from-aaa-to-aa1#latest
@hank,
Thanks for the link.
Several important points are listed below.
• You can disagree with someone's opinions, but calling that person an idiot or a profane name
is a violation of forum etiquette.
• Posting the same thing over and over again …
Mr. Munger was definitely not a fan of cryptocurrency!
“'Sometimes I call it crypto crappo, sometimes I call it crypto sh—.
It’s just ridiculous that anybody would buy this stuff,' Munger said at the annual shareholder meeting
of Daily Journal Corp…
