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.
I took some profits in MGGPX because of its overweight in my holdings, then I added PWJZX. I also reduced ARTYX a bit. As has been noted here before, ARTYX has a big chunk of US stocks, so it can be seen as a global fund.
@stillers: I didn’t intend to bring out the Keith Jackson in you. I transposed the fund symbols on the chart I (mis)used last night. My bad. MSSMX has superior LT performance to DVSMX. The MS fund did have one sickening decline in the past year that…
@JonGaltill: DMCRX is closed, but you can get the same managers in their SCG (DVSMX) and SMID (DSMDX) funds. The performance of the former has been superior to MSSMX.
@hank: thanks for the good laugh. Since it is time to think about taxes, I’m wondering if I could satisfy my yearning to travel by going to NYC or elsewhere to attend a Crypto Conference, with travel costs deducted as an “investment expense.”
I’m also thankful to have the write-up on REMIX. Last year I committed a hefty sum to TMSRX, thinking I’d be satisfied if it out-performed cash. What I discovered was that I was less than thrilled with performance of 0.94% YTD, given that the fund h…
@LewisBraham and @rono: in the case of Manchin, it may not be party affiliation but the state he represents. A close friend, native of SE MI, moved a few years ago to WVA because his spouse got a new job. He says it’s an entirely different world th…
Individual stocks and ETFs that I trade fairly frequently represent 5-6% of our liquid assets. The rest is in MFs and the hard-to-classify TIAA « guaranteed ».
DAPP’s second largest holding is COIN. If @rono bought in a trough, I can see why he might be riding a wave. VanEck has some decent ETFs, including my all time fave MOAT.
Thanks for that link, @johnN. Hard to believe there are 12 ETFs for this “space” and harder to believe that I was able to read a Kiplinger article from beginning to end without getting lost as one does at IKEA.
Today’s M* has an article devoted to contrarian plays, with China one of them. There’s a list of stocks and a couple of Matthews funds for the adventuresome.
https://www.morningstar.com/articles/1062165/3-investing-ideas-for-contrarians
@Derf: Yes, indeed. I organized pickets one year and carried my 2-year-old daughter on the line another. We had a number of strikes.
It's worth saying that before MI became a "right-to-work" state, the consequences for striking illegally (i.e., aga…
Picking up on Old_Joe’s comment about the lack of leadership from organized labor in this new state of affairs, the General Strike, ISTM that the relationship between labor and management has normally been one of bickering and threats followed by an…
TIAA is good about telling me about RMDs. I don’t know if your relative refused to heed the advice or was incapable of doing so. Strikes me that with an account that size he would have been assigned a “wealth manager” as a matter of course. Whether …
The State of MI retired teachers healthcare premiums have actually declined over the last couple of years, but the deductibles and out-of-pocket costs have risen, very substantially. Items like urgent care or ER visits are very costly now, and the …
@hank: I get your sarcasm and share your disappointment. What occurred to me is that the wealthy you describe also have plenty of dough to give to political candidates who pass low tax policies and favor charter schools over those that the general p…
Thanks for that link, @Mark. Very perceptive view of ESG investing and whether or not buying “good” companies or funds actually does any good or leads to higher returns.
The markets would be no more than casinos if they operated around the clock. I can’t imagine individual investors profiting from longer hours because, as in gambling, the house always wins. I believe hedge funds and professional traders can access s…
@rono: there’s a brand-new ETF, MOTE, the VanEck Morningstar ESG Moat ETF. It tracks the M* US Sustainability Moat Focus Index. The original MOAT fund in this series has done great, while the derivatives (MOTI, GOAT, etc) are less successful.
Thanks for the query @rono. I really like BIAWX as a sustainable growth fund. As I am a plant-based food eater, I am concerned about how conventional food production may be harmful to us and to the planet. No meat, no dairy, no chemicals if possibl…
Thanks @stillers for the memories. Because I moved to MI in 1970 I don’t get to see the NYG games on tv unless they are getting national coverage. As a reward I get the Lions, who managed to add yet another chapter to a long-running serial devoted t…
While I have no experience in selling land, I think I would contact a real estate company with a nationwide presence. Berkshire Hathaway signs are popping up in SE MI where I live, but there are other franchises as well. @Old_Joe's idea about workin…
@carew388: a member tipped me off to AIEQ the other day. It bears watching. An MFO search on the symbol reveals that @Ted, our late colleague, mentioned the fund when it came to market in 2018. Your comment wasn’t off-topic.
I wonder, @msf, if the success utilities had starting in the 70s might be related to the southward and southwestward movement of the US population. As you correctly point out, ignoring climate change and an unswerving faith that the Colorado river w…
Wonder why it ever closed. $1B in assets spread among 535 or so stocks, mainly LCV. The only thing it ever left in its dust is 8 former managers/analysts but not its bogey.
If, in fact, the proposed legislation aims to levy CG taxes on the big traders and big financial firms that benefit from the tax loophole, I might favor it. OTOH, if the individual shareholder, “the little guy,” were to bear the burden of yearly CG…
It’s hard to expect our elected senators and representatives to enact regulations governing the trading of stocks by public officials. Look at how the Senate did nothing about Burr of NC and his flagrant violations of rules on securities that benefi…
@David: when you put the managers names on the marquee, as you did, they remind me of some law firm that has its crappy office near a traffic court and a bail bondsman’s hole-in-the-wall.
