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.
@Mark- thanks for the research. Your first link is very interesting, and I think it's worth adding a short excerpt from that link:
"The topic of security clearance for elected officials has long been a complex one. Members of congress – even those …
@MikeM- Thanks, Mike. I completely agree that Monte Carlo surely can't hurt, and if that's all that you can use, it's much better than doing nothing.
@MJG: "facility failures that you identified were caused by shortfalls in their design as complet…
"I am an experienced user of Monte Carlo analyses. In the nuclear engineering discipline (one of my masters degrees is in that field), it is a frequently used tool."
@MJG: I expect that the nuclear engineers responsible for 3-mile Island, and Chern…
"Why you selected those fixed values puzzle me."
"I generally ran cash and bond income at 2% below the inflation rate, which was also a selected variable, and equity income at 2% above. Very conservative."
@MJG: Did you perhaps overlook the "very …
@MikeM - Hi there Mike- I think that msf has pretty well covered the general response to your questions. Because Monte Carlo simulation was not widely available during our working years, I designed (took me a while, I'll tell you) a "predictive" spr…
@hank- Non-user here also... never got into smoking at all, thank the gods. Never would have even noticed MJ without Ted mentioning it's current run. Trying to figure an arbitrary place to exit. $200?? Any thoughts? For sure that sucker is gonna dro…
"So a 3-4% hit to one asset means little to me."
@hank: Exactamundo. Now the good news! Ahead $178 on MJ! In less than two weeks! Why didn't somebody tell me about this before?? More fun than the slots and you don't even have to pull the handle! …
@Ted: Since you're determined to cheat, at least try and do it sort of professionally: How can anything have been "updated" at the times you specify when there was no edit at those times? You're a real clown, Ted.
@slick- Maybe what we need is a version of a Monte Carlo calculator to determine the chances of our longevity, which we could then match against the financial Monte Carlo results. That might radically change one of the major inputs to the financial …
Just a side-note- this is one of the best and most well-tempered discussions that I've seen here in a long time. Thanks very much to all participants!
Now carry on!
Speaking of "security purposes", the other day I came up with a positively brilliant scheme for generating those damned security codes that every site seems to ask for, and that are impossible to remember. Unfortunately, this will only work for thos…
"All Members of Congress have access to intelligence by virtue of their elected positions."
That may be true, but when the controlling majority of Congress cheerfully assumes voluntary fetters the paths to correcting the situation are very limited.
Talk about locking the barn door after the horses have bolted. At this point I doubt that there's more than 1% of the US population whose Social Security information hasn't been compromised in one way or another. Too little, and much too late.
Well, I'll certainly agree that the situation is less than desirable, but I'm not sure that I would agree that what we have now is a blatant usurping of power. Seems to me more on the order of a non-blatant attempt to moderate power. A group (presum…
@msf: While your suggested options are ethically unassailable, they are also, unfortunately, rather ineffective in the present situation. If it were possible to "persuade the President to do something different", then there would have been no need f…
Actually, we've already seen some results of selective "foot dragging" with respect to some orders which are suspect in their legality. A number of things with respect to the military, for instance, regarding various personnel directives which have …
"someone who wants to sow discord and chaos"
Are you seriously suggesting that "discord and chaos" is not already the "new normal" White House environment?
Again I ask: If the statements made in the article are truthful, please explain why it was …
"more risks than mf"
Maybe, maybe not. Depends on what you buy. If you go for max income "junk", yes, the risk may be higher because the high interest income presumably reflects that risk.
If you buy lower risk, lower income bonds in good solid co…
If serious about bonds, then JohnN has the right idea. Forget mutual funds, and buy the bonds directly. You then have total control over what to buy, when to buy, how long to hold, and when or if to sell. Barring a complete default, at the very mini…
"b" ?? Oh, I get it. Just a cheat to "boost" your post into the "discussion +" category even though that status was unearned. As usual, the rules are for everyone else, but not you. Sounds like your policies come straight from the White House.
@Old_Skeet
I'm a little unclear if was "treason" because it was anonymous, or because it was truthful, or because it was untruthful.
Seems to me that if it is untruthful, it could be considered treasonous whether it was anonymous or fully signed b…
I've been thinking about that last sentence in the news article: "The tariffs that Trump has imposed and threatened add up to $517 billion, more than the $505 billion in Chinese goods that entered the country last year."
So does that mean that if t…
