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.
Support MFO
Donate through PayPal
MikeM
I know you are not a fan of his, Mona (understatement :) )
Another Bills fan!!! Junkster just sent me a note saying the same. GO BILLS! They will be right down the road from me when training camp starts next week at St. John Fisher College. But tickets sold out in hours, so I won't be going. Are you from the area, Western NY?
Reply to @Kenster1_GlobalValue: Totally agree. I just don't get the negative vibe on Grandeur Peak based on this review. Selling GPGOX or any of their funds based on this would be silly IM
Reply to @VintageFreak: I think you are correct that it is a marketing spiel, but it is based on their business plan which appears sound. I don't think there is anything wrong with outlining the company they want to be. They are saying the plan all …
David's advice is right-on though for myself, I'm not sure about the L/S part.
I don't consider myself one of the qualified, but I'll give my 2-cents. I don't think getting into a conservative or moderate mutual fund is a gamble, as you called it, …
You've gotten some great feed-back from the group, so I thought I'd try my luck with a more focused portfolio reply... fwiw.
Many of us on this board can be classified as fund-junkies, accumulating more funds than we need just because we "think" we…
I guess I'd start by using M* instant x-ray to find out where you are and compare to where you want to be. As you said, way to many funds and many of them overlap, especially the EM and global funds. I'm not much into global funds but I do own GPGOX…
Reply to @Hogan: If you do get to Niagara-on-the-Lake and if you like English Tea, the Prince of Wales Hotel does it really well. After that you can walkout the hotel door and take a horse drawn carriage ride though the village. Pretty good Winery …
Reply to @Hogan: I also love Toronto. Haven't been there in a few years, but at one time my wife and I would take a weekend trip once a year. Loved Young Street and their China Town is pretty good too.
If you ever had the time, our new favorite ea…
Reply to @catch22: Hi Catch. Gee, I'm not advocating non-treatment or self treatment at all. If I had that sinus infection, I would be at my doctor's office getting antibiotics. I would have to pay for the visit and the drugs out of pocket. Out of p…
Reply to @equalizer: I think you are right-on with holding insurance for catastrophic care or in other words, having high deductible policies.
I switched to a CDHP plan about 3 years ago. I was nervous and hesitant at the time, but it's been a gre…
I guess anyone can come up with possible reasons but I'll throw my 2 cents out there.
I think there has always been movement or volatility based on words the Fed might use or any other high profile administrator or bureaucrat for that matter. What …
Reply to @Maurice: Hi Maurice. Totally agree with you on not putting much value in the short time frame. The post was just a general observance over a particularly volatile last 3 months. It actually surprised me that many of these widely talked abo…
Reply to @Investor: Hi Investor. Glad to have you back in the States.
I'm incline to cut Hrux/ Heather some slack. I was young once, really I was :) , and at one time I couldn't see why everyone else just couldn't see the "obvious" view that I had.…
I'm having a hard time figuring out exactly what funds on the F-squared site you are talking about. Are you talking about the Virtus funds or are you pointing out the financial companies investment philosophy? I looked at the VADIX fund and I guess …
Reply to @Hrux: Hi Heather, I appreciate your well researched perspective. I accept that we do re-hash many of the same funds here at MFO so hearing new names is great. Thanks for moving from lurker to poster. You have a lot to add.
I've read and …
Reply to @David_Snowball: Looking forward to it . Thanks. One thing I think I notice about the 3 month winners like MFLDX and losers like AQRIX and PAUDX are their play on EM bonds and currency in particular. MFLDX is on the short side of the bet. T…
Fracking is a big debate here in N.Y. state. It is already being done in neighboring Pennsylvania. But just yesterday in our Rochester newspaper the headline was,
"NY, Pa study finds impure wells...Fracking linked to methane in water... drinking wa…
Sure stocks are cheaper but this was kind of anticipated, wasn't it? A few of us have pulled back a lot or a little to cash. Skeeter, you yourself were looking at the S&P500 going to 1575 before you started buying. That would be about a 9-10% dr…
Reply to @hank: Hi Hank. I followed Skeeter's lead in April-May and cut equities back from about 52% down to just under 40%. Cut my PIMIX from 10% to 5% too. I suspect an equity pull back in the 10% range, maybe more. If it doesn't happen I'll still…
I wouldn't discredit the sell in May idea quiet yet. We still have a long hot summer to go and Mr. Market is down over the last month - some sectors down worst the others. As of yesterday, my REIT fund, CSRSX, is down over 1 month about 11%. My EM f…
fwiw, I've been using Ally Bank (formerly GMAC) for the last 7 years and I'm very pleased. Rates are higher than you will get at a brick and mortar bank. On top of their stated rate, they will add .25% to CD's you roll over for another term. For exa…
Reply to @DlphcOracl: Sad to say, but I tend to agree with you. Investing in so called "frontier" countries is more of a gamble then an investment - to me. You are not only betting on a specific corporation or business or even a countries economic c…
Really enjoying your conference updates David. I'm wondering if some how you expect to summarize what you've seen and heard and as you do when you profile an individual fund, give 'comment' and 'bottom line'. Your "gut-feel" on overall managers outl…
fwiw: I hold MACSX and have a smaller amount in MAINX. If I had to pick 3 funds I wouldn't want to be without, MACSX would be one of them. FGBRX is my international bond fund of choice. I don't think I really need MAINX, but I'm betting the Asia bon…
Reply to @InformalEconomist: I am interested in PAFGX also, if only because my 401k is a TRP account and I like them as a mutual fund company. I first wanted to say the M* thread you posted was just amateur opinions and don't carry much weight. But …
I really like your format Joe. I generally don't read 90% of the articles posted here because they tend to be scattered and haphazard. But I'm guessing this took you some time to put together. Tough commitment to do every day.
Nice work.
Reply to @flume: Farrell has had the same doom&gloom prediction for many years. I think his articles are useless, if not detrimental to investors. There is no indication of a bubble in stocks right now. There may be in the future, but that's jus…
Sold 1/2 my PGDIX last week and 1/2 my PIMIX today. Both now at 5%. Put the money in VMRXX for now. Holding equities at around 38-40%.
I'm kind of surprised some people are buying anything right now. I think we just started this correction with mo…
Wow Bob, I remember those mortgage rates. We bought our first home in 1978. I can't remember exactly what the rate was, but I think it was in the 12% range. We also had to pay PMI on top of that because we didn't have 20% to put down. One big diffe…
Hi Jim. The S&P500 and the Russell2000 are up 16 and 17% respectively in the last 3 years (over the time you stopped investing?). So I guess I'd say it's worth investing. And I don't get the tax thing. If you make 10% return on stocks and pay 2…
Worst one? I'm tired of bashing the Hussman fund, HSGFX, but it fits your question.
But I'll also throw precious metal/miner funds into the mix. Not worth holding IMHO. I've owned USAGX and TGLDX in the past and I know I personally don't have the …
Mark, I think you should post more. With your experience you have a lot to share.
I also dumped HSGFX in 2010. I wouldn't invest in it again even though I think the market will correct in the coming months - just like I don't want to invest in a f…
Reply to @tigerman3: If you like graphs and charts, I found these 2 web pages with a bunch showing "economic cycles" info and "market cycles" information. If you Google market cycles you'll get dates and durations.
https://www.google.com/search?q=…
