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'm in the Seattle area and use State Farm for home/auto/umbrella insurance.
My auto insurance increased over 25% since Jan 2023.
My home policy will renew in July.
Hopefully I'm in a good ZIP code!
Thanks, BaluBalu!
Here's the Portfolio Visualizer Backtest with JEPIX replacing JHEQX.
The time period is relatively short - from Sep 2018 to Apr 2024.
https://www.portfoliovisualizer.com/backtest-portfolio?s=y&sl=5bYshExt5XmyluRKegSyN8
You did a good job providing evidence of why the SP500 is what most should hold.
Shouldn't an individual investor's circumstances and risk tolerance / risk capacity be considered?
While S&P 500 index funds are an excellent choice for US large c…
@larryB,
I consider multiple criteria when selecting funds.
These criteria include expense ratios, quality of management/analyst teams, investment firm behavior,
trailing returns, max. drawdown, and worst year.
As I approach retirement, there is i…
On a related note, M* recently published an article regarding tech stock dividends.
https://www.morningstar.com/stocks/tech-stock-dividends-are-changing-face-dividend-growth-investing?
Just noticed I received the following email regarding a Dell portal breach.
Hello,
Dell Technologies takes the privacy and confidentiality of your information seriously. We are currently investigating an incident involving a Dell portal, which co…
The JEPI fund managers also run JHEQX which has an inception date of 12/13/2013.
These two funds are not clones.
JEPI is "designed to provide current income while maintaining prospects for capital appreciation."
JHEQX is "designed to provide capital…
Charlie Bilello customarily posted The Week In Charts videos to his own YouTube channel.
https://www.youtube.com/@charlie_bilello/videos
The three most recent The Week In Charts videos were posted only to his employer's YouTube channel.
https://www…
The Week in Charts (05/05/24)
The most important charts and themes in markets, including...
00:00 Intro
00:24 Topics
01:15 Labor Market Cooling
04:18 Bad News Is Good News?
07:31 Will the Unwind Ever Happen?
09:20 The Next Fed Move
13:04 Manufactur…
"Vanguard wants investors to pay more, and at the same time, they’re giving us less. Just as we were learning that fees were on the rise, Vanguard’s technology was frustrating shareholders yet again.
On May 1 — the same day the new fee schedule was …
Is Clare Hart one of the best fund managers?
Dunno but she recently received the 2024 US Morningstar Outstanding Portfolio Manager Award.
"Morningstar Manager Research analysts chose Hart from a list of three nominees who have run investment strate…
TCAF had net assets of $1.4b as of 05/07/2024 according to the TRP website.
Also, Russel Kinnel¹ recently bought TCAF and VYM.
These are the only two ETFs he owns.
https://www.morningstar.com/etfs/2-great-large-cap-etfs
¹ Russel Kinnel is direct…
Dodge & Cox (D&C) is a fine privately owned firm founded in 1930.
Their mutual funds are team-managed and have low expenses out of the gate.
Long-term performance for most D&C funds was good the last time I checked.
I own DOXIX in my 401…
Harry Sit created a guide for transferring Vanguard accounts for those who already decided to leave for one reason or another. Everyone should make their own decisions and many should perhaps stay at Vanguard.
https://thefinancebuff.com/steps-before…
From davidrmoran's post:
"This order has potential for volatile performance and/or significant tracking error and may have higher expense ratios, lower liquidity or higher risk of fund closure than other similar funds in the same peer group."
It's …
Robert Berger at X/Twitter.
https://youtu.be/QLBZoqTtQZ4
Good analysis by Robert Berger.
Paraphrasing here:
Flagship client used to mean something. Today it doesn't mean as much.
And now you add fees and all of this is happening and I ask you what…
Crash,
If a foreign country doesn't have a tax agreement with the U.S., it will withold a percentage of a U.S. investor's foreign dividends. This is different than a brokerage imposing fees for ADR / foreign security dividends.
Vanguard's funds are overwhelmingly low-cost.
However, it feels as though investors are now being nickled and dimed by Vanguard Brokerage Services.
A $100 account closure and transfer fee is excessive IMHO.
Also, is it customary for other brokerages…
The judge would have preferred a larger fine but New York law stipulates
a maximum fine of $1,000 for each count of criminal contempt.
Maybe imprisonment would change his behavior?
I've long said this scoundrel belongs in the big house not the White…
[snip]
It may be too late to buy now. A year ago, the Treasury Dept said that you had to buy on the second-to-last trading day to get the April rate. I don't know whether that was a one-time exception or whether you must always place an order …
PIMIX outperformance was largely due to MBS acquistions in the aftermath of the Global Financial Crisis.
Messrs. Ivascyn and Murata backed up the proverbial truck. Kudos to them!
This may have been a once-in-a-generation opportunity.
PIMIX returns h…
The Week in Charts (04/19/24)
The most important charts and themes in markets, including...
00:00 Intro
00:14 Topics
00:46 When the Levee Breaks
07:21 The Other Side of Mania
12:01 The Large/Small Divide
15:19 Netflix Numbers
19:14 When Valuation M…
@Observant1, free Instant X-Ray is gone. But X-Ray still exists within the old M* Portfolio (Premium) and the new M* Investor (subscription).
Some of the reported problems may be just due to the old M* Portfolio Premium subscription expiring and ne…
M* Investment Research Center was replaced by M* Investing Center in 2023.
Portfolio X-Ray was retired (at least in Investing Center) after the platform upgrade.
I thought Portfolio X-Ray was a great tool and was very disappointed.
It seems I am using I bonds differently from several other people. So far, I haven't sold any, though I suggested a "swap" (buy new one with higher rate than an older one I would sell).
I regard them as long term cash, since they only accumula…
David Enna's TIPSwatch site is an excellent resource for information regarding TIPS and Series I bonds.
I previously scheduled an I Bond purchase on 04/26 via the Treasury Direct website.
The current 1.3% fixed rate is attractive and it may decrease…
@MikeM,
Thanks for the info.
CGBL may be a good option for those who don't have access to RLBGX.
Edit/Add:
After reading your post, I did some additional research.
CGBL has the same general approach as the mutual fund but it's not a clone.
The m…
As Sven mentioned, you may want to check if your local library provides online access to M* Investing Center.
Fund analyst reports are accessible via Investing Center.
The quant-generated reports are not very useful but reports written by human ana…
The cost for my auto insurance increased 8.98% from Jan 2023 to Jul 2023.
The cost increased another 17.60% from Jul 2023 to Jan 2024!
During this period, I drove the same vehicle and there were no
blemishes in my driving history.
My homeowners in…
I doubt that it will be this weekend- the house bill needs to return to the Senate and be reconciled with the original Senate version- sometime next week at best, I think.
On this subject, I want to recognize the leadership of GOP Speaker Johnson. …