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.
M* Interactive Charts have improved a lot since their introduction. Main problem is that they cannot be linked with URLs. I posted this note a while ago. Each site has +/- points - they give us what they want to give, not what we want to get. But, f…
KWEB fell -9.98% just on Friday on dual fears: 1) The SEC starting to list Chinese companies that may be delisted, 2) On realization after Russia-Ukraine war what a huge disaster any China-Taiwan flareup may mean for the huge China weight in the EMs…
I don't think so.
It may be just a warning for the new arms supply caravans moving openly through the Western Ukraine border and/or gifted old MIG planes flying through the Western Ukraine borders.
Until the last few days, the Western Ukraine had …
Deferred income annuities (DIAs) can be used for any purpose, LTC included. DIA from IRA, 401k/403b are called QLAC - there used to be a thorny RMD issue for DIAs from deferred accounts and laws were streamlined a few years ago to eliminate those co…
Not sure about 40% in commodities, but newer multi-asset funds have stocks + bonds + alternatives (that include commodities). Stock and bond portions may be more aggressive than those in typical 60-40 fund. Commodities are very volatile and little o…
Major indexes are now showing a downward channel of lower-highs and lower-lows. In the chart, change time to YTD if it defaults to 1 Yr.
https://stockcharts.com/h-perf/ui?s=$SPX&compare=$COMPQ,$INDU,$TRAN,IWM&id=p53659391262
This may not be as huge a problem that the media is making it out to be.
Insurance companies and funds sell CDSs (i.e. insurance on underlying bonds) in normal times and pocket the premium MOST of the time. But they have to pay up SOMETIMES. The CD…
$80 may be a critical level for XLE, but its all-time high is higher. And if it cannot breakout beyond $80 this time, it may never. It may be a reversal today, or not.
M* XLE Price 1/1/07-
Stockcharts _XLE 1/1/07-
Yep, the markets may be a bit unstable here. Look at various "VIXs" and the related implied daily volatilities (most of the time; and 2x and 3x quite possible).
SP500 VIX 32.45, daily +/- 1.71%
Nasdaq-100 VXN 35.34, daily +/- 1.86%
Oil OVX 73.25, d…
Commodities are volatile. They have been red hot, but they don't just go up, and today they sank (temporary?). Many commodity indexes (and ETFs) are heavy in energy or some other sector. There are commodity ETFs that dynamically select commodities w…
M* Fund Quickrank seems to show YTD as of today. There is no single category for bonds, but there are typical M* bond categories of corporate bonds, intermediate core, intermediate core-plus, HY, EM, multisector, etc.
BTW, in the multisector catego…
WTI shorts made lot of money in 2020 when futures went below deeply below 0. Problem was entirely local - WTI futures contracts have physical delivery (unlike Brent futures that are settles with money only), WTI contracts were expiring and Cushing, …
Inflation-expectations at FRED. One problem is that the headline inflation (CPI or PCE) doesn't include that from food, energy and housing. So, we are OK if we don't eat, don't drive and live in the woods (-:).
https://fred.stlouisfed.org/graph/?g=M…
Shale oil production was cut back drastically in 2020. Now the US shale oil producers are not rushing in to produce when they see huge backwardation in the oil futures market (it takes several months for new shale oil to bring to the market), with W…
YTD damage continues getting worse (change time to YTD in the link below if it defaults to 1 Yr). https://stockcharts.com/h-perf/ui?s=$SPX&compare=$COMPQ,$INDU,$TRAN,IWM&id=p05528334466
Terrible sounding death-cross (50-dMA crossing 200-dM…
Point about some errors/discrepancies in brokerage info is well-taken. That info needs to be double-checked.
I find the class information on Purchase tab to be more correct and useful. Then, I know that many Class A shares are now no-load/NTF at F…
Lot of the old M* pages still work EXCEPT Quote tab, etc and old Chart tabs don't allow multiple charts anymore. Particularly, the Purchase tab works. In the page links below, change tickers in the URLs only, do not use Search box and do not click o…
Tested a buy order for PMEFX at Fido with various amounts. It gives ERROR message:
Error:(019832) The security you are trying to buy cannot be traded. You can search for tradable funds using the Mutual Fund Evaluator.
Old M* Purchase screen remains surprisingly updated for class info and most brokerage availability info. Above, I used that - started with ANNPX, found ANZAX, then verified availability at Fido and Schwab. For checking other funds, replace ticker in…
There are 22 new entries for 2022, so there should be 22 out from the 2021 list. But Barron's didn't think that was a worthwhile exercise to focus on who didn't make it this year. In most other Top XYZ lists, Barron's mentions who is in, and who is …
Also ANZAX min is $2,500
That is at Fido. BTW, Fido has eliminated min for many of its own funds.
Schwab no-load/NTF min for MOST funds is $100 (sometimes even $1) including for ANZAX.
Among the fund families, Capital Group (American Funds) had/has most Russia exposure.
https://www.reuters.com/markets/europe/us-investment-manager-capital-group-was-among-top-exposed-russia-data-2022-03-02/
"NEW YORK, March 2 (Reuters) - Capital Gr…
That is why the newer term-structure CEFs are attractive. Their discounts WILL disappear after their specified terms. So, on selloffs, these can be accumulated with more confidence than the older CEFs some of which have persistent discounts. For mor…
CEFs are the oldest form of funds around. But they are complex. So, followed mutual funds/OEFs, ETFs, interval-funds, etc. CEFs develop premiums/discounts and many are leveraged (so better know what you are doing). A newer development is CEFs with t…
There are 529 rules on who get the 1099-Q.
In any event, keep records on tracing of the money. So, in this case, your check to parents and parent's check for college tuition.
Just a flight to safety. Real-time 10-yr yield is in this chart below (rate scale 10x in the main panel). The bottom panel for 10Y-2Y spread (EOD) is with regular scale.
https://stockcharts.com/h-sc/ui?s=$TNX&p=D&b=5&g=0&…
@MikeM, the monthly asset snapshot data presented included changes from price declines and asset outflows.
But ICI also has data on monthly (and weekly) fund flows. For January, there were outflows from all broad categories of mutual funds. The pi…
1/31/22
There is a noticeable decrease in stock allocations. These are gross industry statistics and even small shifts mean billions.
OEFs: Stocks 53.6%, Hybrids 7.0%, Bonds 21.4%, M-Mkt 18.0%
ETFs: Stocks 82.0%, Hybrids 0.6%, Bonds 17.4%, M-Mkt …
Major indexes closed the week flat/up. Closing lows were on Wednesday and intraday lows on Thursday morning. If you were watching the action on Thursday morning, Nasdaq Comp/ONEQ and Nasdaq-100/QQQ even touched the bear market territory for a few mi…
Luckily, ETFs cannot have classes. But they can come up with more ETFs, also ETNs, CEFs, if they want (I have not heard of such plans).
But some American Funds mutual funds (OEFs) have one-and-a-half dozen or more classes. It was a laugh when they …
M* article from Auguat, 2021, https://www.morningstar.com/articles/1056134/capital-groups-fashionably-late-entry-to-the-etf-party
"Capital Group, the parent of American Funds, expects to introduce its first suite of exchange-traded funds early next…
