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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.
  • A Portfolio Review Question
    Look, it seems pretty clear that when the Fed begins moving the Fed Funds Rate higher, that it will be in small 1/4% increments. I do not buy into the deflation argument at all, and I am not convinced that Mr. Gundlach is any more visionary than was Mr. Gross. Successful money managers are right more than they are wrong, but they seldom talk about about their mistakes. For Mr. Gundlach's scenario to play out, there have to be a lot of ducks lined up and falling at just the right time.
    As an aside, the Saudis real goal is to destroy the economies of Iran and Russia, two countries that would love to see the Saudis gone. And that is a much bigger goal than to hurt the U.S. energy renaissance.
    As for owning risk assets, historically these have done pretty well during periods of rising interest rates. The problem for the so-called gurus is that most of them were in grade school the last time we saw rising rates and real inflation.
  • A Portfolio Review Question
    Howdy @bflotomny
    The below two links are nice compostion views of the two funds you currently hold; and you may click on other header tabs for more information.
    Both fund's equity holdings are towards the large cap area and the bond sectors are investment grade with varying percentage mixes between gov't and corp. Both funds are U.S. centric focused; with a touch of foreign equity and bonds.
    --- VWIAX / VWINX is about 35/65 split of equity/bond with a 2.9% yield
    --- VWELX is about 65/35 split of equity/bond with a 2.3% yield
    I don't find added value/performance/risk protection from the other 3 funds you noted; versus your two current holdings. The yields of these 3 range from 2.4-2.8%, the equity portions are large cap and the bond sectors are also investment grade.
    IMO, you would only be swapping around equity and bond holdings that are very similar in type among other funds, versus what you now have.
    The combination of your funds, VWIAX and VWELX ,is basically a 50/50 U.S. centered equity/bond holding with low expenses, proven management and decent total returns over a long period of time.
    I agree with @kevindow to maintain the current funds; which give you a moderate allocation and IMO is fine for your age bracket, of which I am a part, too.
    And yes, anything could affect these funds; including rising interest rates. I would be confident that management will "adjust" holdings as needed.
    I'm sure you are aware of the above; so I am mostly writing outloud from my quick look regarding your question. There is always something to learn. I/we don't hold either of these funds.
    VWELX composition
    VWIAX/VWINX composition
    Take care,
    Catch
  • A New Twist on an Easy All-in-One Fund (GAA)
    Here's link to the fact sheet for GAA...
    Cambria Global Asset Allocation (GAA)
    The Cambria Global Asset Allocation EtF targets investing in approximately 29 EtFs that
    reflect the global universe of assets consisting of domestic and foreign stocks, bonds, real
    estate, commodities and currencies.
  • The 5 Best Fidelity Funds for 2015
    FYI: But fear not. My list of the best Fidelity funds for 2015 is designed to help you complement your existing portfolio or deliver a standalone portfolio that both runs the gamut and still delivers reasonable returns.
    Before I get to my picks, let me state unabashedly and categorically that I invest in actively managed funds for three reasons: (1) My chosen active managers tend to beat their benchmarks in both bull and bear markets. (2) Fidelity’s low-cost, no-load, shareholder-focused lineup is second to none. (3) The best way to own any ETF (including Fidelity’s own commission free offerings) is only in tandem with a superior actively managed fund. In the topsy-turvy marketplace of 2015, having the following Fidelity experts help you pursue growth and income investments at home and globally isn’t just recommended. I think it’s required.
    Regards,
    Ted
    http://investorplace.com/2014/12/5-best-fidelity-funds-2015/print
  • MAPIX dividend update.
    So M* has it 4% above its benchmark and 0.16% below its category YTD, and 1.66% below its category for the last 12 months: even the best funds have a stretch of underperformance now and then, this strikes me as not bad for a fund with an excellent long-term record and superior downside protection (beat its category by 16 points in 2008.)
  • dsenx explainer
    Thanks both of you. I do not follow MA charts enough to make that sort of decision, but I can tell when things have swung to some extent. I will be selling other things next year and moving more into DSENX; the 13-month thing is most impressive, but then 13 months is not a long time.
  • Liquid Alts. How much of your portfolio should be in them?
    @JohnChisum
    Thanks for the link to dailyalts.com. Looks interesting, and I have bookmarked this site.
    Right here, right now, with domestic equities fully valued, developed foreign equities in a definite funk, and interest rates destined to increase over the next 12 months, I would have no problem owning a 10-20% position in Alts -- as long as they continue to perform. At this time, we own a 10% position in PQTIX (investor ER 1.15%), and I am considering the purchase of a 10% position in QLEIX (investor ER 1.39%).
    @Junkster
    Conditions like 2008 will inevitably occur in the future, and just like in 2008, common investors like us -- who likely overestimate our abilities -- and the "professionals" will be caught by surprise.
    I continue to think that investors can obtain adequate downside protection with a wise mix of relatively low-cost equity, balanced and bond OEFs/ETFs, such as: MOAT, RPV, SCHD, VDIGX, VASVX, VSTCX, VMNVX, SPLV, EFAV, TOLSX, GLFOX, DODGX, DODFX, DODWX, DODBX, PRWCX, VWENX, HBLIX, WHGIX, VWIAX, PIMIX, PIGIX, MWTIX, DBLFX, DBLTX, DBLEX and RSIVX . But I remain open to relatively low-cost alternative funds, such as PQTIX, QLEIX, AQRIX, LMAPX, CRUMX, and even BG's JUCIX. As for the Alts, I am willing to be very, very patient, and track and track, and resist the temptation to be an early investor, but if the Alt fund continues to impress, I am willing to pull the trigger and buy.
    Kevin
  • dsenx explainer
    @davidrmoran
    I would not overthink this fund, as it continues to be above its 20/50/100EMAs. This fund is working and I would have no problem owning it until the charts break down.
    Kevin
  • A Portfolio Review Question
    I think you might be interested in this. I think it is correct and you have time to adjust your portfolio.
    http://www.forbes.com/sites/schifrin...dlach-king-me/
    Here is the new bond king’s view of the world today:
    The Fed may raise the federal funds rate for the wrong reasons.
    “They don’t really need the rates to be higher, but they seem to want to reload the gun so they aren’t stuck at zero without any tools.”
    Deflationary forces will accelerate if the Fed raises rates.
    “With a tightening, the dollar is going to not just be strong, but it will run up like a scalded dog. If that happens, then commodity prices are going down, we will import deflation and you will see an episode of deflationary scare.”
    The long end of the Treasury curve will stay put and possibly go down further.
    “There’s a 30% chance that importing deflation creates a panic into Treasurys creating a ‘melt-up,’ moving rates to German Bund levels today of around 1%.
    It’s not okay to own risk assets when the Fed starts hiking rates.
    “What is fascinating is, if you sell junk bonds and buy Treasurys, the minute the Fed hikes the first time, going back to 1980, in every case you did well.”
    Don’t be surprised to see the yield curve flatten and possibly invert.
    “Long rates have done nothing but fall. That tells me the market is saying to the Fed, ‘Go ahead, make my day.’ The curve is going to invert when and if fed funds hit 2.5 to 3%.”
    Be long the dollar, especially in emerging market bonds.
    “We have been all dollar [denominated in our foreign bond holdings] since 2011. For a while it didn’t really matter, but now it matters a lot. If you are nondollar you are really in trouble.”
    Stay away from homebuilders, TIPs and mortgage REITs, and oil will fall further.
    “I am convinced the Saudis want the price of a barrel of oil to go to $70. They don’t care if they run a short-term deficit if it slows down U.S. fracking and turns the screws on countries in their region that mean them harm.”
    As we get closer to 2020 interest rates and inflation (and taxes) could really start rising.
    “We are in the calm right now before the hurricane. I’m talking about the aging of the great powers, which is undeniable and can’t be quickly reversed. The retiree-to-worker ratios, the size of labor forces globally. China will have no one in the labor force. Italy’s losing 39% of labor force in the next generation and a half. Japan has an implosion of working population and no immigration. Russia is facing one of the greatest demographic crisis in the history of the world, absent famine, war and disease. It’s pretty bad. Italy has no hope,” says Gundlach matter-of-factly.
    “The Federal Reserve bought the bonds from the deficits of 2011, 2012 and 2013, and those will roll off increasingly over time. Come 2020 you are not just financing massive entitlements like Social Security and Medicare but also old debt. No one talks about that. It’s a big deal. China doesn’t have the demographics to buy that debt. Who’s going to buy it?”
    The coming debt storm–which Gundlach says is too early to worry about tactically–will hit financial markets just as DoubleLine approaches its tenth anniversary in business.
    Giant pension funds and endowments are typically plodding in the redeployment of assets because it often requires coordinating board meetings, soliciting bids from new firms, listening to presentations and gathering votes. But with tens of billions likely to shift out of PIMCO over the next few months, DoubleLine is buzzing with activity. The task at hand is proving to existing clients and to new ones that the drama days are over and DoubleLine is all grown up.
  • MAPIX dividend update.
    The 3.14% was through 9/30/14. The 1.38% was through yesterday and assume OJ's reflects today's decline and hence 1.05%
  • MAPIX dividend update.
    Our good friends at M* have it up by 1.05% YTD. Any way you look at this, it ain't too hot. (Then again, M* didn't really say which year, either.)
  • dsenx explainer
    Hey David, I didn't mean all down days, just a few here and there, which surprised me because of how well it charts overall. But after hearing the presentation, it seemed to make sense that every once in a while, it must be that one of the invested sectors takes an outsized hit or the bond sleeve drops a little in price.
    It's still on the shortlist at this house for the U.S. stock piece in a rollover IRA that'll happen later in '15.
  • MAPIX dividend update.
    Matthews has MAPIX up 3.14% YTD versus Reuters and Bloomie up 1.38%
    ???
  • dsenx explainer
    @AJ,
    Thanks for insight, interesting especially about down days. But if you chart it by month back to its inception, ~13 I believe, it stays consistently ahead of everything I care to measure it against (SPY, SCHD, PRBLX, FLPSX, FCNTX, YAFFX), per every month accumulation. Weird.
    I guess this is what it's supposed to do. Trying to find flaws before I commit more, including downside protection if any.
  • MAPIX dividend update.

    This morning I recieved another email from Matthews Asia regarding the lack of a dividend with MAPIX. I had asked a second question as to how further distributions would be handled with this investment decision. The answer is in the second paragraph.
    "The lack of an income distribution for the Matthews Asia Dividend Fund is primarily due to the tax treatment of PFICs under the U.S. tax code. Even if a holding in a PFIC has not been sold, that PFIC position is typically marked to market and any gain or loss is treated as either an addition or a reduction to distribution income for that quarter. In the case of the Matthews Asia Dividend Fund, it is expected that certain PFIC holdings will reduce the distribution income to zero for the fourth quarter of 2014."
    "Barring any changes in the U.S. tax code, it is expected that PFIC holdings in the Matthews Asia Dividend Fund will receive similar treatment with respect to any future distributions. Please note that due to the complexity of the U.S. tax code, different tax treatment than that described above may be possible for certain PFIC holdings."
    So, it seems imply that future distributions may not happen with this PFIC investment they have taken on. The tax treatment is so severe with PFICs as they explained in the first paragraph.
    I hope those of you holding MAPIX will find this information useful.
  • A Portfolio Review Question
    I'm recently retired and currently in Vanguard Wellesley and Wellington at 50stk/50bds. I’m concerned with the potential of increasing rates to negatively impact my portfolio. The PF is small, and is used mainly for the extras. My SS & pensions cover daily expenses except travel and yearly expenses like auto insurance ect. I’d like some feedback on this portfolio vs. W/W.
    Wellesley: vwiax 25%
    Wellington: vwelx 38%
    Intermediate Bond Index: vbiix OR Dodge Income dodix 15%
    Equity & Income: veipx 8%
    High Dividend Yield: vhdyx 8%
    Should I stick with W/W or make the shift to this new portfolio?
  • And how some funds may be affected today. Yes, just one day; but a nasty looking graphic.....
    This doesn't seem like a high-conviction sell-off. Visa up, Apple up, a lot of things that would just continue to be dumped are being bought up.
    I haven't noticed a disorderly rise in Cocoa this year, but maybe Amazon sellers raising prices into prime time?
    If you want to invest in Cocoa, there's no real way to invest directly. Nestle/Hershey, but it becomes their success/failure in passing off price increases. Cocoa futures via an ETF, but so many commodity futures ETFs result in K-1s.
  • Liquid Alts. How much of your portfolio should be in them?
    84 new funds in 2014
    No alt's on this house's shopping list.
    My meddling may cause enough portfolio damage; let alone my meddling within someone else's meddling, too; and we both get it wrong. And, yes; there will be a few winners here and there, but how to choose today, who would be the winner(s) going forward?
    Catch