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 read the New Yorker article after posting.
It very effectively depicts the culture at Boeing and the FAA which led to the two tragic plane crashes.
What a mess!
The FAA should never have certified the 737 Max with such a major design flaw.
I'm very disappointed in how Boeing handled this entire situation.
Boeing once was a proud engineering-driven company.
However, their culture started to deteriorate after…
"An examination of Mr. Perdue’s stock trading during his six years in office reveals that he has been the Senate’s most prolific stock trader by far, sometimes reporting 20 or more transactions in a single day."
I think it's safe to assume his cons…
AFAIK, S&P is the only major index provider that has this requirement. It's why the 600 index tends to be a bit conservative relative to its peers like the R2K. Something else distinctive about the S&P methodology is that it is not strictly …
At the end of the video, Mr. Trump improbably described himself as the defender of America’s election system, saying he had been told that the single most important accomplishment of his presidency would be protecting the integrity of the voting sys…
@wxman123,
My comments were generic and not directed towards any particular political party or president.
You may be conflating the economy with the stock market.
They are not one and the same.
Values for some important economic indicators are list…
The DOW is an archaic, price-weighted index which does not accurately represent the economy.
DOW 30K is not a great milestone and is of little significance.
This just happens to be a nice, round number that certain writers unjustifiably emphasized. …
The S&P 500 has generated excellent returns over the trailing 10 years.
However, its performance the preceding 10 years (11-27-2000 to 11-26-2010) was subpar.
Small Caps (IWM), REITs (VGSIX), International (VGTSX), Emerging Markets (VEIEX), and …
Christine Benz from Morningstar has also examined asset class correlations.
I believe this is her latest article on the subject.
The PDFs linked below depict historical asset class correlations over various time periods.
1 Yr
3 Yr
5 Yr
10 Yr
15 Yr
IJR and VTMSX should track pretty closely, because they're both based on the S&P 600. The former is a pure index fund that is designed to track the index. The latter "purchases stocks included in the S&P SmallCap 600 Index—an index that …
I just checked Vanguard Tax-Managed Small Cap Fund (VTMSX).
Returns for the past month and three months are 14.35% and 17.57% respectively.
VTMSX was clobbered earlier this year (-32.24%, Q1 2020) but is now up 6.07% YTD.
Mr. Hasenstab was a star bond fund manager several years ago.
The long-term returns for TPINX and GIM were exceptional.
Here are some quotes extracted from Karin Anderson's GIM analysis for Morningstar:
12-18-2014
"From Michael Hasenstab's start…
Trump will never concede in the traditional sense.
He and his cohorts will blame the election loss on various unsubstantiated "fraudulent" activities.
Trump's actions are undermining a bedrock of our democracy - free and fair elections.
Many Trump…
I made two partial exchanges today to tamp down a bit of risk.
My domestic/foreign stock allocation did not change materially.
Roth IRA
VWILX >>> VDIGX
401k
S&P 500 CIT >>> MIEIX
From a recent Barron's article (paywalled):
"Jerome Dodson, the founder of Parnassus Investments and a titan of sustainable investing, is stepping back at the firm he founded."
"Dodson, who is 77, is leaving the Parnassus Endeavor Fund (ticker: PA…
I prefer unhedged international stock funds.
As the article excerpt mentions, hedged/unhedged funds should generate similar long-term returns.
Although hedging costs have declined over the years, they still are a drag on performance.
The dollar ha…
I've looked at PIMIX before. $125B AUM. I stayed away. That's just beyond bloated. Just my preference.
Although Pimco can manage funds with considerable AUM better than most firms, I agree that PIMIX has become too bloated. The legacy RMBS that hel…
@ProtonAnalyst33,
I like Baillie Gifford as an investment firm.
The firm is privately owned, their funds are team-managed with reasonable expenses, and fund performance is often good. I previously owned BGEGX via Fidelity. I believe Baillie Gifford…
I never heard of Victory Capital (VC) until they bought USAA Asset Management.
VC susbsequently replaced MFS on the USAA World Growth Fund and the USAA International Fund.
I'm fairly certain other changes were made as well.
I don't currently own any Matthews funds (previously owned MAPIX and MAPTX).
The recent spate of personnel turnover is very concerning.
Does anyone know the true root cause?
@Derf,
IIRC, the Medallion signature guarantee was a Fidelity requirement although the completed paperwork was sent to Vanguard. I don't know what criteria is used to determine whether or not a Medallion signature guarantee is needed.
I transferred my Roth IRA from Fidelity to Vanguard last year.
I initiated the transfer online at Vanguard but couldn't finish it online since a medallion signature guarantee was required. I printed the paperwork, went to my credit union to obtain a…
Artisan Partners often has good management teams for their funds.
However, the fund's expense ratios could be reduced.
As Sven mentioned, there are not many options in the foreign small cap value category.
This is an interesting development.
P.S. -…
Life imitates art imitating life: Years ago IBM had an IBM 9000 computer, made by its IBM Instruments division in Danbury, CT. ["HAL" is "IBM" with a one-letter shift.]
There is a book about the rise and fall of IBM Instruments.
I haven't read it b…
I also believe inflation may increase in a few years (don't know when).
In August, the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) rose 1.3% over the last 12 months.
The 10-Year Breakeven Inflation rate is only 1.66% today.
Some commonly …
There are currently three Phase 3 trials in the U.S. and six Phase 3 trials held elsewhere.
I will wait a while after the first vaccine candidate is approved before getting vaccinated.
The first approved vaccine may not be the most effective.
In the…
"As clinical trials continue across the world for a COVID-19 vaccine, many employers are asking whether they will be able to require employees to take the vaccine when it becomes available in the United States. Like with so many questions surroundin…
@Observant1, Interesting concept at that time, kinda like the 1992 USA Dream Team. Invested with their International fund but found there nothing special but many downsides to it.
@Sven,
The Master Select International Fund intrigued me but …
Long time ago I invested with their Master Select International fund and left several years later. The concept of running a fund utilizing multiple "star" money mangers was interesting but there is no synergistic between between the stock picks.
…
FWIW, I still maintain that there should be a separate, distinct, "Political Discussions" category, and that category should not be included in "Discussions+".
Then no one who did not deliberately choose that category would ever need to see it.
I …
Yesterday the PBS Newshour had a very informative segment about our nations response to the coronavirus pandemic. It is approximately 8 minutes in length.
Link
Delete - sorry
How does one delete one's own post? I haven't been able to work it out.
I don't know if there is a way to entirely delete one's own post.
You can select the edit option (upper-right gear), delete the original content, and replace i…
