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.
Do you believe the numbers?
No I don't, not the numbers in the Wolf Street piece. From that writing:
Overall CPI rose by 0.31% (+3.8% annualized) in September from August. So not a benign inflation reading, but the second worst since January.
The…
It may be a long time before we see inflation at 3% again.
Y/Y trend:
April: 2.3%
May: 2.4%
June: 2.7%
July: 2.7%
Aug: 2.9%
Sept: 3.0%
Source: BLS CPI-U database https://data.bls.gov/toppicks?survey=cu
Thanks for notifying Chip & David!
Yes, thank you. I also noticed the same behaviour.
There's a tendency when one sees something to assume someone else has already seen it and acted accordingly. Something to keep in mind when things happen.…
Why don't government MM ETFs maintain a stable NAV?
I can understand prime MM ETFs not maintaining a stable NAV. They can't preclude institutions from buying shares on the secondary market and prime MMFs that are open to institutions must have …
their NAVs fluctuate a bit around $1
The actual NAVs of all OEF MMFs fluctuate a bit around $1, but retail and government MMFs are allowed to claim "a stable net asset value per share or stable price per share, by virtue of either the amortized cos…
Schwab's MMF rates:
https://www.schwab.com/money-market-funds
Merrill's (third party) MMF rates:
https://olui2.fs.ml.com/Publish/Content/application/pdf/GWMOL/ICCRateSheet.pdf
Vanguard MMFs (usually the best rates and only a $3K min required)
http…
My reaction to the article echoes others'. My precise thought, one third of the way through reading it was: And how exactly is this news?
Actually it was Trump who said back in April: "Well, maybe the children will have two dolls instead of 30 dol…
Securitized AAA isn't the same as genuine AAA (only 2 companies).
There is a difference between securitized and structured.
Securitized debt is debt created when a financial institution pools multiple loans together and issues its own debt instrum…
The news appears credible. Further, private insurers (Medicare Advantage) may be stuck paying covered medical expenses even if they don't receive payments from the government.
MA plans directly reimburse providers for care in accordance with contr…
Soon to be Abel's Berkshire.
Under an environmental compliance strategy spearheaded by Greg Abel, chairman and chief executive of Berkshire Hathaway Energy, the company’s utilities have repeatedly and successfully resisted calls to install SCR scrub…
Surely you understand that figure
Reference points are most effective when people have incorporated an intuitive sense of them. Manhattan is barely two miles from side to side, while San Francisco is seven miles wide. (I've walked both.) This di…
Right now, China produces more air pollution than the rest of the world combined
What's the definition of "air polution"? For example, China is responsible for "only" 30.1% of all global greenhouse gas emissions (2023 data; see Table 1 on p. 10 o…
I agree that the cap on I bond purchases limits their usefulness as a major portion of one's portfolio. But since you were looking only at I bonds purchased in 2021 (when the caps were in place) you might replace those I bonds with new, better (hi…
Curiously, one of those more attractive options is ... I bonds.
Swapping your current 0% (fixed rate) I-bond for a new one paying 1.1% will cover the early withdrawal penalty (3 months interest) in about 8 months (3.98% vs 2.86%). After that, you'…
BDC and REITs may have similarities for investors
Isn't the point of publishing ERs in a prospectus to inform investors?
but they have different business structure, so they have different treatments by SEC.
They usually do not fall under the Inve…
I'm happy to discuss what expenses should be counted as fund expenses. But we can do without the rhetoric, especially in the passive voice: "There is concern that" (which comes from the cited article).
The second line of Zweig's piece reads: "A …
Speaking of underpayment - what’s the verdict if you pay quarterly some amount but then take an IRA withdrawal in December and up your estimated in December & March accordingly? I’ll research.
Research shows - General rule: You can avoid an un…
It's about time they separated out MBS funds (e.g. VFIIX). Lipper has had separate GNMA and US Mortgage categories for quite awhile. And separating out securitized bond funds from general bond funds is also helpful.
As for all the private securi…
Yes I did realize that. But it was still worth commenting on. Especially since I generally feel that companies can be redeemed. Heartland is almost alone in how it stands by its man. And a 44% drop in a short term fund! Even Schwab Yield Plus …
Many people vowed they would not invest in Janus funds after its participation in the early 2000s market timing scandal. But there were a lot of changes made at the top of Janus. Heartland was and is at the other end of the spectrum. So I haven't…
Perhaps this is overstating things a bit, but I view the pricing of funds like these as Madoff-light. Like Madoff's portfolios, funds like these can make the ride look smoother than it is. When done with a light touch, it is legal. Business judg…
their continued service revenue for installed products
Well, for some of their installed products. They have a Korean subsidiary that manufactured our building's elevator. A few years ago our property manager was looking for a company to service …
That's exactly how ETFs are designed to work. Only Authorized Participants can redeem shares "in very large aggregations [creation units] worth millions of dollars". Retail investors "buy and sell [] ETF shares in the secondary market [on exchan…
There may be a way around that. Mins are typically reduced when one goes through third parties. Though as yogi mentioned, that likely means working with an advisor.
For example, Schwab shows a $1 min. But if you try to place an order, it says:
…
If a fund manager invests in a fund, it is possibly because they have confidence in their work. (If you want something done right, do it yourself.) Perhaps, or perhaps they overestimate their skills. Or perhaps they view investing in their fund …
With no price discovery, what else would you call a price but a guess? Perhaps an educated guess or a best guess?
Swedroe cites to this Investopedia piece on Level 3 valuations:
asset values based on models and unobservable inputs. Assumptions fro…
It's not just that CCLFX is an interval fund. It's also that the supposed lack of volatility of the NAV is due to the somewhat fictitious fair value pricing of a mostly illiquid portfolio (typical of interval funds).
The Fund calculates its NAV o…
He’ll probably correct something I said here.
Is that a challenge? :-)
I suppose sometimes I nitpick, but I usually just respond to things that, as I wrote, seem "weird".
Not necessarily. There are actually several production methods for making steel- for example, the electric-arc method.
There's also cement manufacturing to deal with. Cement manufacturing is already efficient (see section 2.1 in link below) and car…
A little more detail: Prior to SEC Rule 6c-11 in 2019, every ETF had to apply to the SEC for "exemptive relief" because ETFs don't follow every single rule governing OEFs. Even now, Rule 6c-11 still requires funds that want to offer an ETF share c…
Definitely wasn’t knowingly providing false information.
I appreciate that and wasn't suggesting otherwise. Just that the numbers looked weird. Thanks for the response.
Vanguard's patent for mutual fund ETF share classes — which applied only to index funds
It applied only to index funds when the patent was approved because there were only index ETFs in 2003. But the patent was generally applicable to all funds, …
It has underperformed both VWELX and VBINX
???
PRWCX 5 year performance (through 9/26/25): 11.65% (annualized)
VWELX 5 year performance (through 9/26/25): 10.52%
VBINX 5 year performance (through 9/26/25): 9.25%
Portfolio Visualizer gives similar…
We have an overhead fan but it just filters air back into the kitchen. Opening windows helps a little.
Our city recently started requiring gas detectors near (but not too near) gas appliances. This is primarily to detect gas leaks regardless of w…
In the case of housing upgrades you’re looking at higher costs for insurance, heat & utilities, maintenance, property taxes, and probably other.
Housing extensions could very likely trigger higher taxes and insurance. Upgrades, maybe not.
…
There's a fair amount hidden under the covers here. Not that the conclusions aren't sound, but some of the reasoning bears scrutiny.
Thinking in terms of COLA annuities, I agree with the conclusion that "buying" more SS by delaying benefits is bet…
Nice proposal - wording changes that help clarify SS benefits.
And something one sees too rarely these days:Earlier this month, the House Ways and Means Committee advanced the Claiming Age Clarity Act, a bipartisan bill, in a 41 to 1 vote
I had fun with the query
Exactly! That's a big motivator in commenting on some threads.
I may have a sense of what Observant1 is looking for. As I tried to prune my portfolio I sought a reasonably behaved solid bond fund to anchor the fixed in…
Here are several funds which are/were being considered ... WCPBX
I was going to ask how you would purchase WCPBX, or in the alternative say wow, I'm impressed, $1M min in most places.
But upon checking, I see that Vanguard offers it with a $500 m…
