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 @Kenster1_GlobalValue:
Since you mentioned tax-deferred accounts, it is worth pointing out that many (but not all) global funds pass through to investors the foreign tax credit. This means that in a taxable account, you get a dollar-for…
Comments/questions about a couple of funds you suggested:
MDISX - any reason for not recommending its sibling, MQIFX? Similar performance, smaller asset base (and somewhat smaller average market cap), lower cost (ER). But also somewhat higher tu…
I'd like to thank everyone for their thoughtful responses, from the very specific individual issue comments to the broad sector questions. All very helpful.
As I've commented (often, I think), I'm not one who generally goes for individual stocks …
Reply to @scott: Thanks for the detailed response. I appreciate the information and the observations.
I had taken a brief look at INF (Brookfield's CEF), but not BIP. It looks like an interesting operation (and as you said, a pure play, looking…
Reply to @MaxBialystock: Hard to figure out whether you're channeling
Henry Ford ("There is one rule for the industrialist ... Make the best quality of goods possible at the lowest cost possible, paying the highest wages possible"), or
Ronald Re…
Looking at the funds you currently own, you seem to have a preference for more diversified (not concentrated), moderate to low expense, value-leaning funds. Something I can identify with.
I mention this because when I look through the better perf…
Reply to @hank:
I agree with you that TRP is a quality fund house. Not only in their funds, but how they treat their customers. I have always found them extremely helpful and diligent. I had the pleasure of participating in what might be calle…
Reply to @hank:
From Ben Franklin: "A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds, adored by little statesmen and philosophers and divines."
Hmm. Guess Emerson stole it:-) http://www.goodreads.com/quotes/353571-a-foolish-consistency-is…
My guess is that these metrics are magnitudes, not vectors. That is, they describe the certainty of the direction, but without the direction (+/-). I infer this from the fact that there is no negative direction - the scale goes from 0 to 100, no…
Reply to @ron:
We're talking about cash or cash-like vehicles. There isn't (as far as I can see) a single short term muni CEF. In addition, leverage increases the volatility of the market price:
- With over 100% long term bond exposure, the N…
Reply to @Hogan:
Traditionally, tax-free accounts (for cash, typically tax free MMFs) have been good for people in the higher tax brackets - you'd get about 80-85% of the yield, so if you were above the 15% bracket, these would be better.
The prob…
The latest data Scount is providing appears to be March 31st - see their fact sheet and holdings.
This is where the reported -2.7 year duration comes from. M* does not analyze the portfolios for duration, but relies upon the fund-provided figure.…
Reply to @Hrux:
Different funds, IMHO with different roles. Here's the conclusion of a post I wrote in another thread (on FPA going noload): New Income can serve as a good conservative bond fund. River Park can serve as a cash+ fund. Different ob…
As promised here are some more details/suggestions:
HSA Administrators - the information you have appears very dated. HSA Administrators used to work with Resource Bank, Virginia Beach, VA (see, e.g. this 2006 page from Arkansas BC/BS, that links…
Reply to @SlowLane: There are at least three different issues you might be raising:
1) Rates on a an immediate fixed annuity - here I agree with you; one is really locked in forever.
2) Rates on a deferred fixed annuity. Not as much of a prob…
Annuities, properly used, can be good things.
People complain about the "loss of flexibility" by annuitizing. But if you have to self insure against running out of cash, you are similarly boxing yourself in. You have to be more conservative w…
Most appropriate thread. I've been doing research myself. Sent email via websites to a few different providers. Only one to reply was HSA bank, confirming my read of their fees.
HSA bank (#1 in your list) charges $2.50/mo for the bank account…
Reply to @Maurice: HSAs survive. HDHPs are more questionable - I've seen the issue raised but no clear answers yet. (The problem IMHO is the min level of coverage required of all health plans, though current HDHPs already provide for preventive …
Any thoughts on Meridian Growth MERDX, once Meade and Schaub (last seen at Janus Triton JGMAX JGMCX JANIX JSMGX JGMNX JGMRX JGMIX JATTX ) take over the lead management duties?
Reply to @hank:
I've started reading through the 698 page proposal. Interesting, and moderately light reading (at least it's not like reading regulations - much more direct, narrative style).
A couple of interesting items in the first 50 pages (…
Thanks for the response. I guess I was asking how this site (mutualfundobserver.com) resolves the ticker symbols.
My typo (thanks for catching that) is just one reason why I feel it's better if people say what fund they're talking about. As …
Reply to @hank: When in doubt (and it's a good idea in general), go to the source. Here's the SEC's press release on the subject.
Here's the actual proposal (File No. S7-03-13, 698 pages!), comments received by the SEC to date, and how to submit …
AMatMFO, meet detrick. Detrick, meet AMatMFO.
Detrick started a thread where he asked how to select among fund options he has in his HealthEquity HSA. One of those options is FDSAX (SunAmerica Focused Div Strategy). So that could give you a way…
Detrick, meet AMatMFO. AMatMFO, meet detrick.
AMatMFO recently started a thread on a particular fund in your set of offerings - SunAmerica Focused Div Strategy (FDSAX). In this thread you'll find some positive comments about the fund that go be…
Reply to @hawkmountain:
From Forbes:The authorized generic will be manufactured by Pfizer and supplied to Watson in all dosage strengths.
Watson will market and distribute the product in the U.S., and Pfizer will receive a share of the net sales.…
Reply to @Anna:
Sorry, I wasn't being clear. I was speaking about reimporation - the process of getting lower retail prices by purchasing internationally (specifically, from Canadian pharmacies). Sort of like grey market.
There have been vario…
Reply to @Old_Joe:
Yeah, I know about Safeway. Years ago, my insurer offered me a deal where they'd charge a lower co-pay if I'd get a 2x dosage pill and split it. They'd even pay for the pill splitter, but it had to be one of two models. Safew…
Unfortunately, none of this is particularly surprising (except to those who feel that the market would be better served with fewer regulations, just as Alan Greenspan was shocked by banks not acting to keep their own houses clean).
What's particula…
Reply to @BannedfromBogleheads: You wrote:
"Although it is true that most mutual fund families (such as the Royce Fund) are Delaware trusts, the "portfolios" (or whatever the trust chooses to call them) are also regulated investment companies which …
This is what you get from a company that chooses to "think different."
Official residence in one political entity (for the Apple subsidiary, that's Ireland), doing business in a second (the US), and not paying tax in either. Isn't that what peopl…
Reply to @fundalarm: You say potato, I say po-tah-to. You say markup, I say embedded commission.
"In the bond market, bond prices include commission, which is computed as a percentage of the bond's price. The difference between what you pay and w…
Reply to @BannedfromBogleheads:
Sigh. This is one of those issues that I haven't had enough interest in to research all the details (i.e. to connect all the dots), and this thread hasn't changed that. That said, here's what I can say confident…
Reply to @Shostakovich:
Worth mentioning about the turnover - more turnover (because the fund focuses on bonds that are about to mature/be called) means more research has to be done, meaning higher management costs.
Trading costs are not includ…
The Gallup article MJG linked to appears to provide the exact poll question asked. What the answer means depends on how each person polled responded. The question remains ambiguous, though I think we can surmise how most people would interpret (…
Like any other taxpayer, the trust can invest in stocks or tax-aware stock funds (that minimize capital gains and take care that all income dividends are qualified). It could also invest in muni bonds (or funds), though the trust would then be una…
How fast do you want people to respond? You didn't really describe the situation fully, as I'll explain.
Short answer, yes.
Longer answer - you talk about doing an exchange, but you also talk about a $75 fee. Every post I've ever seen about do…
For the rest of the story - there appear to be only 17 Class C share class funds in the broad-basket commodity category (screening for that category, looking for funds with back end loads, and eliminating the few remaining class B shares). So one …
Reply to @Investor:
Wow. Thanks!
I went right to your links on the name change; those articles seem to confirm my suspicion that when you wrote that the lawsuits "caused" the name change, what you meant was from a PR, not a legal, perspective. …
