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.
"Moonglow" by Michael Chabon. At the risk of being repetitive, "A Gentleman in Moscow," by Amor Towles, a former money manager introduced to MFOers by Ed Studzinski, was the novel of the year for me. Wading through the final volume of Proust's "In S…
FWIIW, I reduced my position again this year in WSVIX, having held since inception. SCV seems to be a tough area to make money. Maybe this is due to the previously discussed reduction in total number of small caps available to managers. I did not re…
One can never be sure of how to take comments made in this or other fora. If I attacked Foster's fund, it would be a surprise to me. I owned his Matthews fund for several years and followed him to Seafarer. I've had a sizeable EM allocation since be…
I have been using 8 Cree LED retrofits in our recessed lighting in kitchen and office since 2008. I could not be more satisfied. Now that the individual units can be had for about $22 at Lowe's, I've done the rest of the house. Also recently put LED…
Likely that fares will increase or stay high as result of this agreement. We have a daughter in Seoul to visit. Delta has non-stop service from Detroit, but it's around $1600, just as @Crash notes. That's probably for a 32" seat...
The linked article doesn't mention it, but there is a retail version of this fund (GQGPX), NTF at TDA and Schwab, with an ER of 1.33%. Seems to have attracted about $130M. Can't dispute the record Jain compiled at Vontobel.
CEFs are more work than OEFs and one never can be sure if volatility is due to underlying holdings changing value or whether some large holder dumped or bought shares. When the rats jump ship, they don't even send a tweet before leaping. In my limit…
SOR since Romick took it over has had a persistent discount, often double digits. It may never go away. Returns have been "muted," as they say. You would not know we've been in a bull market if you looked at only SOR's returns. Trading volume is low…
PBS is a different animal at pledge time. They ask you to donate so that you can keep on seeing the old music programs they play only during pledge time.
We are in our early 70's. We already have just about everything we need and the far greater concern is getting rid of stuff. Our kids don't want our things and they are typical of young adults today; a local consignment store has confirmed this tren…
This was a "story" fund that fooled me for a while, but I bailed out long ago. Seemed those two guys had the pedigree and the smarts to run a good value fund.
FWIIW, the Ringling Museum of Circus History in Sarasota FL is worth a visit. The Ringling mansion and art museum are also on site as monuments to American capitalism in search of legitimacy through imitation of European civilization.
Almost bought some DLEUX last week; still on my radar. Added to MOAT on dip, and a "nutty" small cap I've owned for quite a while. Those who check out JBSS may appreciate my attempt at humor. Sold GFMRX at beginning of month. Happy with current 8% y…
Both TDA and Schwab report gain as if all distributions were part of cost. This causes severe under reporting of gain, especially for funds that make monthly or quarterly distributions. I compute my total return by breaking out original cost of purc…
When this fund opened in 2015, I said I didn't see how Brown Capital could succeed with an international small cap fund, especially given the same managers' tepid performance in the Brown large cap international (BCIIX) fund. However, BCSVX has real…
GISOX is small/mid cap international. I think you might look at it because the excellent Grandeur Peak sm cap int'l (GPIOX) is closed, but you get some of the same managers with the Stalwarts fund. ISMRX is a good choice also. Its record as a MF is …
The difference between the two versions of the Overseas fund is 0.25%, or $12.50 per year on a $5000 position. I own WSVIX directly with Walthausen where the savings is 0.25%, so I'm not consistent. Own GPMCX directly because that's the only option.…
@ Crash: I was a bit surprised to learn the other day that an investment in the French market (le CAC 40) in 2007 would have earned just about zilch in the last 10 years. Not surprising a European fund would have done poorly.
I was going to pass on Rondure, but I decided to take a position in the Overseas fund. The fund symbol ROSOX was the clincher (wry smile). I did very well investing early with the boys at Grandeur Peak, but trimmed my positions eventually. I did no…
I also like AKREX and own it. Understand your attraction to the Buffalo and Scout funds; unfortunately they did not perform as I expected when I owned them.
@msf: Thanks for reminding me why I am no longer a BoA credit card customer. Never have we had a card that was compromised more often, requiring issuance of a new card. Worst experience was the day we arrived in Vienna to find the card refused; beli…
I wish Schwab had been able to keep offering the 2% cash-back on all transactions VISA card. The proceeds went right into my brokerage account. Can't remember when it was dropped.
We have an account at Schwab and 5 accounts at TD Ameritrade. Both companies are good and I would not reject the idea of being moved to TDA, especially if you don't have to initiate transfers. The latter can be a hassle, so I'd avoid them. Service, …
@Ted: was also looking at FAX (and FEO and LGI) and found that discounts have really shrunk in recent months. Do you pay much heed to premium/discount in your CEF trades?
Let's be pedantic for a minute: "congress" also means the "act of coming together," and "sexual intercourse." What could possible be wrong with that? It sure sounds better than "Rondure."
You would think this manager was a genius, the portfolio looks nice, but lift up a corner of the tarp covering it and find weak performance. Sold quite some time ago.
@DavidV: I wonder about the differences among MFs that mix up assets. Every fund is a hybrid by at least one of the definitions offered in above links because every fund I know of holds cash and either stocks or bonds, and many "equity" funds have "…
