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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.
  • The Four Best Bond Funds To Own Now
    FYI: Bond yields have nowhere to go but up, and that means bond prices will fall. These funds take unconventional approaches to avoiding losses and boosting returns.
    Regards,
    Ted
    http://portal.kiplinger.com/printstory.php?pid=12521
  • TRAMX TRP Africa/Middle East
    TRAMX. Fund Manager Oliver Bell has rescued this fund. Now, even the numbers going 5 years back look good. Of course it's volatile, political uncertainty, nutso crazies in that region doing violent, stupid things. But the fund thrives, even if stalled a bit very recently.
    http://quotes.morningstar.com/fund/f?t=TRAMX&region=USA
  • 11th June, '14: down day, all around. Which of yours dropped LEAST?
    (EDIT to show this is about 12th June.) ...And the small-caps are taking it in the shorts, down 0.75% or so, today. Eventually, I'll be adding to IRA. It'll be one or the other or a combination of: MAPOX (balanced), MSCFX (small-cap), PRESX (Dev. Europe) and/or PRWCX (balanced). I have other choices, particularly in Matthews. But my Matthews stuff has been doing well. I want to buy discounted shares.
  • 11th June, '14: down day, all around. Which of yours dropped LEAST?
    Another blah day. However, not doing anything. Nothing to buy, don't want to sell anything (especially not the oils w/oil pushing past $105). Just sitting on my hands.
  • Columbia Acorn Emerging Markets Fund closing to new investors
    http://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/2110/000119312514233448/d743683d497.htm
    497 1 d743683d497.htm COLUMBIA ACORN TRUST
    COLUMBIA ACORN TRUST
    Columbia Acorn Emerging Markets FundSM
    (the “Fund”)
    Supplement dated June 12, 2014 to the Fund’s Prospectus
    and Statement of Additional Information (“SAI”) dated May 1, 2014
    COLUMBIA ACORN EMERGING MARKETS FUND CLOSING
    TO MOST NEW INVESTORS AND NEW ACCOUNTS
    Effective as of the close of business on July 11, 2014 (the “Closing Date”), the Fund will close to most new investors and new accounts, subject to certain limited exceptions, as described below.
    These changes will affect new investors seeking to purchase Fund shares directly or through third party intermediaries. The Fund reserves the right to re-open the Fund to new investors or new accounts and to otherwise modify the extent to which sales of Fund shares are limited. If you have any questions about your ability to purchase shares of the Fund, please call Columbia Management Investment Services Corp. (the “Transfer Agent”) at 800.345.6611.
    Accordingly, effective as of the date of this supplement, the Fund’s prospectus is hereby supplemented as follows:
    (1) The following footnote is added to the table that appears under the heading Summary of the Fund – Purchase and Sale of Fund Shares – Minimum Initial Investment:
    ± Effective July 11, 2014, the Fund is generally closed to new investors and new accounts. See Buying, Selling and Exchanging Shares — Buying Shares — Eligible Investors — Fund Generally Closed to New Investors and New Accounts in the prospectus for more information.
    (2) The following is added immediately above the table that appears under the heading Choosing a Share Class – Summary of Share Class Features:
    Effective as of the close of business on July 11, 2014 (the “Closing Date”), the Fund is generally closed to new investors and new accounts, except that, subject to the eligibility requirements of the Fund’s various share classes: (i) shareholders who had opened and funded an account with the Fund as of the Closing Date may continue to make additional purchases of Fund shares in their existing accounts; (ii) a retirement plan generally may continue to make additional purchases of Fund shares and to add new accounts that may purchase Fund shares if the retirement plan or a retirement plan with the same or an affiliated plan sponsor holding Fund shares at the plan level had invested in the Fund as of the Closing Date; and (iii) a discretionary wrap program or similar advisory program that held Fund shares as of the Closing Date generally may continue to make additional purchases of Fund shares and add new accounts that may purchase Fund shares. There is no minimum additional investment for any share class. See Buying, Selling and Exchanging Shares — Buying Shares — Eligible Investors — Fund Generally Closed to New Investors and New Accounts for more information.
    1
    --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    (3) The following is added as the first sub-section under the heading Buying, Selling and Exchanging Shares — Buying Shares — Eligible Investors:
    Fund Generally Closed to New Investors and New Accounts
    The Fund is generally closed to new investors and new accounts effective as of the Closing Date, subject to the following limited exceptions:
    • Shareholders who had opened and funded an account with the Fund as of the Closing Date may continue to make additional purchases of Fund shares in their existing accounts, subject to the eligibility requirements of the Fund’s various share classes.
    • A retirement plan generally may continue to make additional purchases of Fund shares and to add new accounts that may purchase Fund shares if the retirement plan or a retirement plan with the same or an affiliated plan sponsor holding Fund shares at the plan level had invested in the Fund as of the Closing Date, subject to the eligibility requirements of the Fund’s various share classes. A retirement plan that has approved the Fund as an investment option as of the Closing Date may open an account and make purchases of Fund shares and add new accounts, even if the retirement plan had not opened an account as of the Closing Date, provided that it opened its initial account with the Fund prior to October 9, 2014.
    • A discretionary wrap program or similar advisory program that holds Fund shares as of the Closing Date generally may continue to make additional purchases of Fund shares and add new accounts that may purchase Fund shares, subject to the eligibility requirements of the Fund’s various share classes.
    • A discretionary wrap program and discretionary model retirement asset allocation program that follows an asset allocation model that included the Fund as an investment option as of the Closing Date may open an account and make additional purchases of Fund shares and add new accounts.
    • A Columbia Management state tuition plan organized under Section 529 of the Internal Revenue Code that had accounts that held Fund shares as of the Closing Date may continue to make additional purchases of Fund shares and to add new accounts that may purchase Fund shares, subject to the eligibility requirements of the Fund’s various share classes.
    In the event that an order to purchase shares is received by the Fund or the Transfer Agent after the Closing Date from a new investor or a new account that is not eligible to purchase shares, the order will be refused by the Fund or the Transfer Agent and any money that the Fund or the Transfer Agent received with the order will be returned to the investor, account or selling agent, as appropriate, without interest.
    The Fund reserves the right to re-open the Fund to new investors or new accounts and to otherwise modify the extent to which sales of Fund shares are limited...
    2
  • 11th June, '14: down day, all around. Which of yours dropped LEAST?
    This AM 6/12
    The big action is in oil amid terror troubles in Iraq, with WTI crude up 1.5% to $105.99 per barrel. Gold, however, sees little bounce, up $3 per ounce to $1,264.
    Micron Technology, Inc up near 5% yesterday lifted PVSAX and PYSAX to gains.Many Ivy funds also hold Micron.Like Scott, dividend closed end funds FAM and PGZ saw gains along with precious metals.
  • 11th June, '14: down day, all around. Which of yours dropped LEAST?
    Hmm.
    HCP, SCHN for stocks,,,both up actually.
    RSIIX and WBMIX for funds.
    Think you are doing better than me YTD.
    Well done!
    Thanks, Charles. If you're right, I won't complain. PREMX (TRP EM bonds) actually has been doing maybe more than its fair share. YTD +8.53%
    PRWCX: +6.24% MAPOX +4.55%
    MAPIX +3.59%.
    Bonds doing better than equities in my portfolio. Well, DLFNX not so much. Still rather good at +4.37% YTD.
    "Break a leg," everyone.
  • 11th June, '14: down day, all around. Which of yours dropped LEAST?
    It was a sea of red for me although I am up 5.7% YTD. MAINX was the least down, just a penny.
  • Third Avenue Value and small cap
    @dryflower: Many have gone through the questioning expressed in your post. After furrowing my brow for about 5 years, I said good-bye to TAVFX. My deeper fear was that Marty Whitman and crew had gone into Asia without the knowledge base of, say, a Matthews fund family.
    I am basically relieved to be done with TAVFX and TAVIX. They were both great for a while. But things change.
    Good luck with your decision making.
  • It's A Low, Low, Low, Low Rate World
    Dearth of deals leads Oaktree to cut fund size: Seeking Alpha
    Jun 11 2014, 15:52 ET | About: Oaktree Capital Group (OAK)
    Struggling to find deals for its latest distressed-debt investment fund, Oaktree Capital (OAK -1.3%) has cut its $3B asset-raising target all the way to about $1.8B, reports Bloomberg. The firm also plans to shorten the investment period to 3 years from 5.
    Given the lack of traditional distressed opportunities, Oaktree is spending more time on European nonperforming loans, shipping, commercial real estate, and energy, says Ronald Beck, a managing director at the firm. "You have to be very sector specific."
    "Financing is readily available and there's little corporate distress," lamented the firm's John Frank a few months back, adding Oaktree is more likely a seller than buyer in the current environment.
    Oaktree Capital Group LLC (OAK), the world’s biggest distressed-debt investor, cut the $3 billion goal on its next control investing fund by about 40 percent as it struggles to find deals amid an economic recovery, according to three people with knowledge of the matter.
    Given the lack of traditional distressed opportunities, Oaktree is spending more time on European nonperforming loans, shipping, commercial real estate and energy, said Ronald Beck, a managing director at the firm, on a panel at the SuperReturn U.S. conference in Boston this week. He pointed to anemic default rates and high-yield bonds trading above par.
    http://mobile.bloomberg.com/news/2014-06-11/oaktree-said-to-cut-fund-as-distressed-deals-diminish.html
  • on maintaining a vibrant and civil community
    If someone is going to post 10-15 +/- links in a day without text or reasoning, then fine - but they should be in one thread titled "Links: 6/11/14" (or whatever date.) Post however many links, in that thread, then the thread can continually be bumped to the top for each new link. That way, the board isn't just 85% link threads (and I think it does seem like 80-85% links lately.)
  • The Best Fixed- Income Investment
    Melrose Credit Union, Massachusetts. 2.25% rate, 2.27% yield. Still pathetically low. But insured, guaranteed. Lock your money up for 5 years and you're losing purchasing power, this way.
    ...I cannot recommend it, but if you have a minimum of $25,000 and willing to go 10 years out, you can get 3.8% here.
    http://www.israelbonds.com/invest/investments-current-rates.aspx
  • Pimco Real Estate Real Return Strategy Fund PETDX
    PETDX is leveraged real estate fund using treasuries and mortgage backed securities. Below is a MarketWatch perfomance table.
    Anyone have any experience with this fund?
    Symbol Fund Name 1 Wk 13 Wk YTD 1 Yr 3 Yr 5 Yr 10 Yr
    PETDX PIMCO:RE Rl Rtn;D -0.67% 10.13% 23.55% 8.84% 15.43% 30.40 12.87%
    prinx
  • The 7 Best Index Funds For Your Money
    Hmm. What's the appeal --- supposedly reduced risk? Its 08-09 slump is much worse than, say, PKW, VOO, presumably SCHD, PRBLX, and GABEX. And its $10k gain over the last 3-4-5y is like only a third to a half of theirs! Not even taking taxes on the yield into account. So what's your thinking here?
  • questions for the Morningstar interviews
    Thanks for the Bryan questions. I'd been curious about his decision to leave Waddell & Reed (was bloat an issue?), his take on HY valuations (including stuff in the portfolio other than HY bonds) and how he sees himself as distinctive. Had not thought to ask about the research team issue.
    The Litman Gregory gathering is crowded, but I can certainly raise the e.r. question and can angle to get to the ARBFX performance slump.
    I'll try, as before, to post highlights in the evening. I might, with Chip's help, be able to get stuff out during lulls throughout the day - I often have 15 minutes free there but almost never have 20.
    David
  • Leuthold: not all dividend strategies are created equal
    Hi, guys.
    The nice folks at the Leuthold Group share a copy of Perception for the Professional, their research publication for paying clients, with me each month. About 60 pages of data analyses and reports. Jun Zhu this month wrote "Dividend Paying Strategies -- Which is Best?" and the findings are interesting.
    Zhu notes that dividend-oriented strategies have been exceedingly popular, though many now fret that those stocks have been badly bid up. There's also a fear that dividend paying stocks lag when interest rates are rising. That turns out to be true, but not an investable insight: rate rising cycles tend to be triggered with little warning and last an average of nine months.
    Even allowing for a lag during the 20% of months in which rates have risen, the strategy works well over time. Zhu writes "In the falling rate and neutral months, dividend paying stocks outperformed non-dividend paying stocks by a large margin. Regardless of interest rate changes, from 1927 to 2013, dividend paying stocks were the winner."
    Zhu argues that there are at least four distinct dividend oriented (or dividend-oriented? Drmoran notes that I over-hyphenate. Overhyphenate? Over hyphenate?) strategies that manifest themselves in funds and ETFs. They are:
    1. broad focus on dividend-paying stocks, which typically imposes simple size and liquidity requirements, then invests in dividend paying stocks.
    2. high dividend-yield, which targets the highest-yielding stocks.
    3. dividend growth, which requires consistent increases in payouts over 5-10 years.
    4. quality dividends, which adds screens for the quality of the firm's financial strength and management. Those might include debt load, return on equity, earnings stability and dividend coverage ratios.
    Leuthold tested those strategies by looking at the performance of dividend oriented ETFs from 1989 - 2014. They admit that few of the ETFs represent pure instances on one strategy of another, but most are strongly aligned with one of them.
    They found (1) the dividend strategies as a group substantially outperformed the S&P500 (12.2% annually versus 9.0%) with lower volatility (4.2% S.D. versus 4.3%), (2) that "companies which have raised dividends for 10 consecutive years are actualy the worst performers" and (3) the quality dividend strategy blew away the competition on returns without incurring heightened volatility.
    Quality dividend ETFs returned 14% annually with 4.1% S.D. The other three strategies clustered between 10.9% - 12.2% returns with S.D.s of 4.0 - 4.5%.
    Charles might be the one to ponder about the mutual fund implications of the research, since fund managers add the overlap of relative value and absolute value orientations. As I think about the funds we've profiled, Guinness Atkinson Inflation Managed Dividend (GAINX) strikes me as a quality dividend / relative value bunch while Beck, Mack and Oliver Partners (BMPEX) would qualify as quality dividend / absolute value.
    Leuthold's list of "quality" ETFs includes:
    Schwab US Dividend Equity (SCHD)
    iShares High Dividend Equity (HDV)
    FlexShares Quality Dividend Index (QDF)
    First Trust Value Line Dividend (FVD)
    WisdomTree US Dividend Growth (DGRW)
    FlexShares Quality Dividend Dynamic Index (QDYN, with the note this is a higher beta product)
    FlexShares Quality Dividend Defensive Index (QDEF, lower beta).
    For what interest it holds,
    David
  • Paul Merriman: The Best Investment Advice Ever
    FYI: As we ride off into the sunset, I don't know how many times I have linked this quote from John Bogle,"Why look for a needle in the haystack when you can buy the whole haystack?"
    Regards,
    Ted
    http://www.marketwatch.com/story/the-best-investment-advice-ever-2014-06-11/print?guid=66F0EAC8-0CE4-48BF-AC80-BA8F582B86C5
  • Guggenheim's Minerd Sees Rates Falling, Junk Bonds Getting Pricey
    More From Guggenheim
    Capital flows have come as a result of low yields in Europe, Japan and elsewhere.
    In Europe, the risk is that the euro will depreciate. That makes buying U.S. Treasury bonds and other U.S. assets attractive because the local currency could depreciate and interest rates are so significantly higher in the United States than in Europe. On June 6 in Germany, 10-year government bunds traded at 1.35 percent, compared with 10-year U.S. Treasuries at 2.58 percent, so, German investors seeking yield certainly want to look at the United States.
    For Japanese investors it is a similar picture — U.S. Treasuries at 2.58 percent look cheap compared with 10-year Japanese government bonds yielding 60 basis points. And legislation in Japan now allows larger allocations overseas by pension funds.
    Investment Implications
    With no pending crisis expected thanks to central bank liquidity and a bias among Fed policymakers to keep interest rates low, the recent bull market for credit spreads is alive and well, supported by surging capital inflows, which have also helped U.S. stocks hit fresh highs.
    http://guggenheimpartners.com/perspectives/media/central-banks-chart-a-course-for-overheating?utm_source=SilverpopMailing&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Market Perspectives - June 20
  • The Best Fixed- Income Investment
    M*'s Samuel Lee looked at 31 short-term bond ETFs and compared them with some bank CD rates, concluding that bank CDs are better right now. He notes that Synchrony Bank and Barclays offer 5-year CDs yielding 2.25%. "There is no better deal out there in fixed income," he says.