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.
Reply to @MaxBialystock:
Max,
I'm not sure what's behind your concern about politically correct behavior here, or what you mean by sounding inclusive.
My thoughts are:
--Kids, as they grow up, are often only acting out behavior that they see …
Reply to @MJG:
MJG and Catch:
In investing, we are often seeking superior "manager skill" and its potential for out-performance . . . except for those who suggest that there is no possibility of ever creating a model that might outperform the ult…
Reply to @scott:
Thanks for your explanations of your strategies, particularly how you would apply them for younger clients.
I was particularly interested by your inclusion of the absolute return-type funds (Marketfield, AQR Risk, Arbitrage Event…
Reply to @Old_Joe:
As an ex-principal, I know the kinds of huge challenges that teachers face in some schools and communities.
Bravo for saying that dedicated teachers deserve medals and support, rather than being constantly threatened with adm…
Reply to @InformalEconomist:
Agree with you, IE. It's a particular challenge in the US, where we have 50 different school curricula, and where education often seems to be a battleground for ideological jousting.
Ginko
Reply to @scott:
That's a really interesting portfolio, Scott. Cautious and quite hedged.
I'm surprised, though, at your recommended high allocation to fixed income. From the Grantham thread, I had thought that you were very negative on bonds a…
Gents,
Challenging questions, Old Joe.
You all seem to have a genuine concern for education so I'll pose a few questions that cross my mind. I'm going to be a bit of a gadfly here, but don't take this as criticisms, just as legitimate questions…
Considering that you want a fund that will diversify you away from stock, I would think that Pimco All Asset All Authority (PAUDX) is worth a close look. It's global in outlook, can invest--or short--any assets or asset class, as the name implies, …
Reply to @scott:
Response to your second part--
Re Japanese government bonds:
Japan’s very high bond/GDP ratio is a unique phenomenon. How high can this ratio go before it’s no longer “sustainable”? We just don’t know.
I think you realize now th…
Reply to @scott:
First part--
I understand your visceral reaction against government deficits. We intuitively think that the federal government needs to follow the same sort of “common sense” principles as a responsible household. And some popu…
Reply to @scott:
Scott,
You’ve effectively initiated started several threads here, and I think they’re all really interesting topics.
Re investments:
You say that diverse hard assets “not only gold, but also more importantly basic needs/strate…
Reply to @scott:
Scott,
Your response above were focused on whether demand for Japanese bonds might be less at some point in the future. I don't pretend to know the answer to that. Who would have thought that a 200% bond-to-GDP ratio, like Japa…
Max: Point well taken. There are apparently no safe harbors.
Scott: I'm totally puzzled by your comment that Japan had to "resort to giving out gold coins to investors in its bonds". Those words would seem to suggest that Japan couldn't find pe…
It's worth noting that Grantham is not saying to run from stock--GMO's asset allocation is still close to its benchmark of 60% equities.
Their recommendation though is stick to quality large cap stocks around the world. It's bonds that they avoid…
Reply to @bee:
Bee,
Help me to understand what you're saying, please. I don't understand how the QE programs could have been used to buy gold.
I believe I'm correct in saying that the Fed could, if it wanted to, simply buy gold with new electro…
Reply to @rono:
Rono,
Enjoyed your comments re: some people's mad love of gold; frustration over mostly bailing out bad guys; bogus supply-side tax-cut arguments; disappointment over the infrastructure plan having been shot down; the dismal grow…
Interesting points regarding gold . . .
I agree with the skepticism of Bee, Old Joe and Investor. So is gold some sort of archaic vestige of monies past? . . . is a speculative commodity? or is it something of fundamental and enduring value? …
Very interesting points, Rono.
I agree with you that monetary policy is very, very loose right now and that this is very painful for people who rely on bond income. It hurts all the more when inflation is higher that bond interest rates. (Reagan …
Hello Rono,
Enjoyed your description of the dollar as the least smelly fish around! There's a lot of truth to that. However, I just don't see why you see the dollar as a fundamentally sinking ship. As long as we're pursuing deflationary fiscal po…
Hello Maurice,
You said:
"For you and Washington to say that the US can expand the currency without regard to fundamentals (the result of inflation or even hyperinflation), is without precedent in the history of currency."
--Well, I certainly did …
Reply to @rono:
Rono,
I'm always very impressed by your thoughtful comments. I don't have any inkling over the direction that the dollar will take, but I'm always puzzled about the economics behind the thinking of the gold bugs, and about several…
MJG,
You raised a provocative question, but one which is based on a false dichotomy: that the Keynesian and the Austrian approaches are in opposition. While there certainly is some degree of truth to that, your question is based on misrepresenting…
Cullen Roche's blog, "The Pragmatic Capitalist", has a provocative selection of commentaries, graphs and opinions from a variety of sources. While he makes his views known, he also posts contrary views. What's especially rich about this blog is th…
These are not just funds of funds. Both are absolute return funds (see Morningstar analysis), i.e., they use a mix of short strategies, options, or other methods in order to limit potential downside risk. They can also use leverage. Absolute retu…
I've invested in this fund for the past three years, but am now looking more seriously at Pimco Global Multi-Asset. If you graph it against Arnott's AAAA, it is quite similar, but M* portfolio analysis shows that they're following different methods…
