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.
And who is the biggest hater of ethanol in fuel? Conservatives, because it smells of "liberal values". Will ethanol mandates be next to go?
Nah. Often the pocketbook wins over loathing. Just a month ago ...
Grassley, Ernst, Klobuchar Introduce L…
Original link appears to be link back to this page. Here's a link to the quoted story:
Reuters story. Via AgWeek (subscription not required) using Facebook referral link (so disabling ad blocker not required)
Regarding corn, from the NYTimes (su…
There are two different dimensions to the question of pros and cons:
1) ETFs vs mutual funds generally, and
2) Conversion benefits specific to this fund
As to the latter, reading the proxy helps.
https://www.akrefund.com/documents/proxy/
The very …
There's an old adage about legal strategy.
https://quoteinvestigator.com/2010/07/04/legal-adage/
If the law is on your side, pound the law.
The alleged conduct didn't take place while she was a Fed governor. Oops.
If the facts are on your side, p…
I'm trying to understand how adding a screen reduces turnover as claimed. Since the proprietary index starts with the investible US equity universe and filters out the 14% least fundamentally sound securities, it seems to me that any turnover compa…
Giving some more thought to risk and needs ...
Derivatives - in a sense, insurance policies are derivatives - they value depends on the state of the asset being insured. Insure a car against vandalism and the value of the car plus policy is consta…
Since you're retiring mid-year, you don't have any choice in the matter. You have to front load to get full benefit from your 401(k). But others who are working a full year, have a choice whether to front load (if they're maxing out).
The plu…
Morningstar Category for Funds Definitions (April 2025) can also be found here (download not required):
https://advisor.morningstar.com/Enterprise/VTC/MorningstarCategoryClassificationUSFunds_April2025.pdf
PDF Host does seem to be working for me t…
I agree that securitization per se does not create derivatives, at least the way many (me included) think of them. While securitization can create (or diminish) risk via structuring (e.g. tranches), risk in securitized assets also comes from the u…
Securitized securities often carry another form of derivative risk, though it is hidden.
A mortgage borrower can usually prepay the mortgage, whether that's to refinance at a lower rate or because the borrower is selling the underlying property t…
The Fund’s investments in derivative instruments, specifically options, swap agreements and forward currency contracts (collectively, “Derivatives”) are generally used to reduce exposure to, or “hedge” against, market volatilities and other risks.
…
That's good to know. Vanguard shows it as closed, but that could be because the fund is closed except to existing shareholders. Are you able to purchase additional shares or just hold it at Vanguard?
Electronic or paper check, there are just some funds that one has to get from the sponsor. Many actively managed Vanguard Admiral class shares are not available through third parties. Likewise, TRP class I shares (e.g. TRAIX) are not readily avail…
The site works, but it doesn't find this document. I've tried searching the site for Morningstar Methodology, MPRS, and various other terms but haven't come up with a relevant document. Just lots of COVID stuff and lots of M* reports on individu…
https://pdfhost.io/v/E..d~yHtX_MStar_MPRS_102024
Response received: The document is missing
If you own a home in an area that is at risk for 100 year floods, it is not safe simply because you haven't had a flood in the past couple of decades that y…
At least I understand the asset backing up securitised car loans. What's the asset behind student loans?
"Consumer ABS are backed by cash flows from personal financial assets, such as student loans, credit card receivables, and auto loans."
https:/…
2008 = Collateralized loan obligations
2008 = Collateralized debt obligations.
More than just substituting one word ("debt") for a seemingly synonymous one ("loan"), these are different types of instruments. Though in some significant ways (stru…
https://www.ssa.gov/manage-benefits/request-withhold-taxes
By paying by credit card that gets 2% back (e.g. Fidelity, Wells Fargo, Citibank) or more (BofA), the government pays me for paying online. Sure it's a petty amount but it's just a minor …
Don't know exactly. That was Anna's phrasing. I figured that it is a modest (mid-range) SS income stream plus a small amount of interest on bank accounts and withdrawals as needed from a T-IRA. I suppose it could also include some part time inc…
From Nationwide's website:
https://nationwide.onlineprospectus.net/NW/921925608NW/index.php
...
"Vanguard Variable Insurance Fund Equity Index
Portfolio"
I think you meant:
https://nationwide.onlineprospectus.net/NW/921925301NW/index.php
The Nation…
TIAA/CREF VAs at MFO are longer than elsewhere, including at the TIAA website
TIAA website shows CREF Stock Account (all classes) back to fund inception, 7/31/1952. Like M*, for newer share classes, "the performance shown prior to the [share clas…
There are no tickers for insurance products because they are not products that are traded or even regulated by SEC. However, there are still symbols for them which M* recognizes. Yahoo doesn't recognize them.
The symbols won't get you to M* fund…
Very old Morningstar risk scores were within the categories and were quite confusing to use.
Like star ratings, risk ratings are subject to distortion with funds that are difficult to classify.
I'm not a big fan of ETFs, feeling that they have as many downsides as upsides. Still, trading high volume ultrashort ETFs seems to be much easier than trading most ETFs. Narrow spreads (a point or two) and good intraday price stability. So even…
Lots of good funds mentioned here. We went through this exercise not too long ago. Here's my post from Aug 9 where I suggest PYLMX (mentioned by WABAC in this thread) and BBBIX and RPHIX (mentioned by Chinfist here). I also commented on the app…
People with working class retirement income get the ability to deduct $1K worth of charitable deductions without itemizing (starting in 2026). Only matters if their income is greater than the standard deduction.
Since their tax brackets are low…
It's all Biden's fault.
Yeah. I thought about pointing out that Biden never had a month where the number of jobs dropped. But it wouldn't be fair to mention that without giving Trump some credit.
Trump handed Biden an economy with so few people…
President Donald J. Trump’s firing of the commissioner of labor statistics ... for announcing that job growth has slowed dramatically
It turns out that he was right. After the firing Trump got what he wanted - another June job growth revision. …
The screener includes filters on (3 year) standard deviation and 3 year Sharpe ratio so that you can prune high volatility funds before you even start reviewing and sorting the search results.
The filters allow you to set any min and max you want b…
Its odd to me that mutual funds would include private equity investments if mutual funds calculate a daily NAV.
We've seen this question before in a different context. Fair value pricing was also questioned by many people (including people here II…
Where are you with illegal redistricting?
Any specific illegal redistricting you have in mind here?
Generally speaking, mid-decade redistricting is not illegal. League of United Latin American Citizens v. Perry, 548 U.S. 399 (2006). Redistric…
As a retired investor, "I dislike volatility!", to quote keppelbay. Especially in the current uncertain market and political environment, preserving capital is more important to me than chasing returns on capital. I prefer to err on the side of cau…
Regarding the infrastructure fund, this could be reflective of infrastructure moving into another phase. With all the political noise (e.g. FEMA not funding disaster reconstruction, alternative energy projects cancelled, bridge construction threat…
There's a theory that so long as this "each wronged person must sue individually" rule holds, Trump won't appeal losses.
That's because only the few people, or at most few states, that win in court will have their rights vindicated. So long as h…
If you have the same after-tax starting value at $78K, then a percentage-based tax is a linear operator. It doesn't matter if you double the money first and then apply the tax, or apply the tax and then double the money.
Correct. This addresses t…
I'm currently trying to help a friend plan investments and cash flows for the next decade, when they will go from retirement pre-SS, to retirement w/SS, to retirement w/SS and RMDs. They also have two inherited IRAs, one traditional, one Roth.
How…
Trump v CASA - this is birthright citizenship case. The SC said that while plaintiffs can sue for citizenship, federal courts are not allowed to issue a nationwide injunction to cover all people born in the US. Rather, people born in the US will h…
firmly establishing the four eBay factors would also be necessary
Agreed. Though the Circuit Court seems to be saying that before considering whether an injunction is appropriate here, we must first ask whether the remedy of an injunction is even…
Contrast this with Fido which doesn’t even identify (or have a way of contacting them) a named rep on your account page.
Maybe you just don't rate :-)
On most of my pages, including summary, positions, activity, balances, docs is a little box in t…
Some unconventional thoughts on your allocation/drawdown plans, FWIW:
1. If all the money in your (future) RMDs will be taxed at the same rate, and if your RMDs will (along with other income including SS) will be less than your cash flow needs, th…
