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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.
  • Money Market Rates - interesting again?
    @larryB, sloppy updates. I just checked in my account,
    SNVXX 7-day yield 0.45% as of 4/7/22,
    SWVXX 7-day yield 0.60% as of 6/27/22.
    These data are either stale or wrong.
    Schwab website is showing 1.07% and 1.19%, respectively. https://www.schwab.com/money-market-funds
  • Money Market Rates - interesting again?
    @YBB. I am logged on to my Schwab account right now. SWVXX value advantage money fund is reported to have a 7 day yield of 1.19% under the research tab. However I own this fund and my position reports a yield of .6%. I have asked Schwab to explain this to me and tell me what’s going on and for days they claim “technical problems “. SNVXX showing 1.07%. But who knows?
  • Money Market Rates - interesting again?
    M-mkt ERs are quite different:
    Vanguard VMFXX 0.11% (core/settlement)
    Schwab SNVXX 0.35% (no core/settlement m-mkt funds at Schwab)
    Fidelity SPAXX 0.42% (core/settlement) (Fido also has policy of sequentially tapping other better Fido m-mkt funds)
    Keep an eye on 3-mo Treasury rates, $IRX (scale is 10x),
    https://stockcharts.com/h-sc/ui?s=$IRX&p=D&yr=1&mn=0&dy=0&id=p99540670730
  • Money Market Rates - interesting again?
    I just looked at take home after taxes ( Mass tax is 5%)
    At Schwab Short term treasuries look the best with 3 mo 1.47 vs Schwab MM 1.11
    Their muni MM at my tax rate is 0.64% pretty pathetic!
    I guess the spread at 3mos implies that rates will be much higher by then, or is it just Schwab's fee etc?
  • Mutual Fund Comparison Sites?
    Portfolio Visualizer is a great site. Each PV run (linkable) provides an in-depth analysis of 3-4 portfolios or tickers (1 fund portfolios).
    But PV is also trying to monetize. Basic/free signup that allowed storing portfolios was eliminated a while ago & it now has only subscription tiers. Free/unsigned access for analyses/runs still remains and portfolios can be saved on Excel & uploaded for PV runs. How long this will continue? I don't know.
    This is a common business model - provide free software services, debug & develop software features, switch to subscriptions when enough people have sign up. This is what M* has been doing too - out of free services came M* Office, M* Direct, now M* Investor.
    For charting, free Stockcharts is quite good. Yahoo Finance is OK for quotes & historical data, but its price-only charts (without reinvestments) are of limited value; they are also not linkable. Yahoo login is also finicky due to past business tie-ins and ownership changes.
  • Mutual Fund Comparison Sites?
    I frequently used the old M* Performance charts to compare mutual funds.
    You can see if Portfolio Visualizer (Backtest Portfolio) meets your needs.
    It allows you to compare up to four funds simultaneously when a benchmark is specified.
    Yearly returns are listed along with annualized returns for the 1 yr., 3 yr., 5 yr., and 10 yr. periods.
    Annualized standard deviation for the 3 yr. and 5 yr. periods is also listed.
    The following data is provided for the full evaluation period: CAGR, Best Year, Worst Year. Max. Drawdown, Sharpe Ratio, and Sortino Ratio, etc.
  • Oldest mutual funds: name changes
    mfs, do you have a blog or other publication outlet? I want to follow :-)
    Astonishing about the T. Rowe Price acquisition. A reminder that any time there is an old date for a name that doesn't match slightly younger yearbooks, Morningstar or Wiedenberger, then probably there is a merger of this kind, following perhaps arcane SEC rules about 'a fair rendition of the full history.' Or not, as in the two examples from your earlier post.
    I can add one tidbit. The "Administered Fund Second" is in Table 264 of the 1939 SEC report, established 1934. The 1946 Wiedenberger yearbook indicates that Axe Houghton took it over and made it part of AH A. AH A and B were still separate as of 1966 (my latest W*). AH B was very small in 1946, too small for Wiedenberger to discuss, but had come into its own by 1955.
    My guess is that both A and B were consolidated prior to the T. Rowe Price merger, but that's supposition. Both were balanced funds, at least by 1955.
  • Mutual Fund Comparison Sites?
    Fidelity's site will give similar comparison data, but only for funds they sell. That includes all funds and share classes the sell, not just their NTF funds. But it omits funds like Admiral shares of Vanguard's actively managed funds (e.g. VWIAX).
    https://fundresearch.fidelity.com/fund-screener/results/compare/overview/averageAnnualReturnsYear3/desc/1?order=tickers&tab=sn&tickers=VWINX
    You'll find one month and three month performance on the short term performance tab. No weekly performance, no 15 year performance.
    On the Morningstar site, until it vanishes later this year is the actual fund compare tool. This gives YTD, 1 month, 1, 3, 5 year data. But not 3 month, 10 or 15 year performance figures.
    https://www.morningstar.com/funds/screener-compare
    Alternatively, if you have premium membership, you can use the premium fund screener (specify precise funds by screening on tickers). The performance tab gives YTD, 4 week, 1, 3, and 5 year data. But not 3 month, 10 or 15 year performance figures.
    However, you can create a custom view to display all the time periods you are used to getting.
    https://www.morningstar.com/funds/screener-premium
  • Mutual Fund Comparison Sites?
    Once the M* "Performance" page changed to its current self, I kept using the old link to the page to compare up to 6 funds at a time. It seems that link is no longer working/supported.
    Any suggestions on other sites that have a good comparison tool with similar performance data as the old M* Performance page? The M* compare tool included daily, 1 week, 1 month, 3 month, YTD, 1 year, 3 year, 5 year, 10 year and 15 year performance data. Sure miss it already!
  • Oldest mutual funds: name changes
    Not sure if it's had the same name?
    That would be a good guess. But it wasn't quite a name change. Kiplinger says that T. Rowe Price only started its first mutual fund in 1950.
    https://www.kiplinger.com/article/investing/t041-c009-s002-top-funds-from-t-rowe-price.html
    In 1992, T. Rowe Price buried the real history of this fund (which existed at the time) and substituted the history of a different fund, Axe-Houghton Fund B, which had an earlier inception date. In short, RPBAX was created well after 1939, but you'll never know when.
    According to RPBAX's SAI,
    On August 31, 1992, the T. Rowe Price Balanced Fund acquired substantially all of the assets of the Axe-Houghton Fund B, a series of Axe-Houghton Funds, Inc. As a result of this acquisition, the SEC requires that the historical performance information of the Balanced Fund be based on the performance of Fund B. Therefore, all performance information of the Balanced Fund prior to September 1, 1992, reflects the performance of Fund B and investment managers other than T. Rowe Price.
    In 1992, the NYTimes reported:
    T. Rowe Price, a large no-load family ... took over six funds with total assets of $546 million from the struggling insurance company USF&G.
    ...
    five [of the] USF&G funds, and the funds they have been mingled with, are Axe-Houghton Growth, now part of T. Rowe Price New America Growth; Axe-Houghton Income, into T. Rowe Price New Income; RMC European Emerging Companies, T. Rowe Price European Stock; Axe-Houghton Fund B, T. Rowe Price Balanced; USF&G Cash Reserves, T. Rowe Price Prime Reserve.
    https://www.nytimes.com/1992/10/03/your-money/IHT-briefcase.html
    Here's a little bit more about Axe-Houghton Fund B and USF&G:
    Prior to 1992, Axe-Houghton Associates was named Axe Core Investors, and was wholly-owned by Axe-Houghton Management, a subsidiary of insurer USF&G. Axe-Houghton Management’s services included mutual funds and institutional asset management. In 1992, concurrent with USF&G’s sale of Axe-Houghton Management’s mutual fund business to T. Rowe Price Associates, Inc., senior management of Axe-Core Investors purchased the institutional asset management business of Axe-Houghton Management. Axe-Core Investors subsequently changed its name to Axe-Houghton Associates. In 1993, the Hoenig Group Inc., a publicly-traded financial services company, purchased Axe-Houghton Associates.
    http://www.managerreview.com/su_companydetails.php?iCompanyId=906&CompanyName=Axe-Houghton Assoc.
    Axe-Houghton Fund B apparently dates back to August 5, 1938, but it might not have been offered for sale until its stated 1939 inception date. I'll leave it for others to resolve that minor discrepancy.
    https://opencorporates.com/companies/us_de/366229
  • AAII Sentiment Survey, 6/22/22
    Juxtaposed against this contrarian indicator (i.e. "Bearish sentiments" = bullish price action), is a quarterly stat tracked by Fred.gov. As of Q1, corporate equities as a % of household wealth was still sitting quite high.
    Between the expressed AAII bearish sentiments and the apparent bullish positioning, it suggests to me we have a ways to go before we reach a capitulation bottom. -- My reading of virtually every domestic and EAFE index suggests the trend is still inexorably "down" (until its not).
    And then, of course, there is the Fed. -- The actual tightening has presumably only just begun (QT only commenced in June). To quote Marty Zweig: "don't fight the Fed".
  • M* screwing everything up again
    +1 hank Congratulations on ditching Morningstar !
  • Oldest mutual funds: name changes
    T. Rowe Price Balanced Fund RPBAX was formed in 1939. Don't have a link other than the TRP website for the fund. Not sure if it's had the same name?
  • Dead Cat Bounce
    Late last week uptick is more like relief rally. Everything is down again on Monday. Listened to @hank’s Wall Street Week posting again. This year will be not be easy to get back to positive territory given that S&P 500 is down 18% and total bond index is down 11%. Earning season is coming in July.
  • U.S. pending home sales rebound in May, reversing a six-month decline
    “The numbers: U.S. pending-home sales rose in May by 0.7%, according to the monthly index released Monday by the National Association of Realtors. Analysts polled by the Wall Street Journal had forecast the pending home sales index to drop by 4%. This increase breaks a six-month decline, and comes as mortgage rates continue to rise. - MarketWatch
    Could be folks are trying to get out ahead of steeper rate increases they may think are coming.
  • Looking to Buy: Old Wiesenberger yearbooks
    Before Morningstar there was the Wiesenberger annual yearbook, "Investment Companies." First published about 1941, it tailed off about 2000.
    Readers of John Bogle may recognize the name: his historical compilations drew on Wiesenberger, especially the 30-year returns study he mounted in preparation for launching the S&P 500 index fund.
    I've been picking up copies on the used book market (only the 1943 volume is free to read on books.google.com). I have pretty good spacing, enough for my needs, from 1943 through 1966. (Goal is to assemble historical returns for funds no longer in M*; Wiesenberger gives trailing ten year returns, so I only need a volume every N years).
    My university library has all the volumes after 1952, but it is a couple hundreds of miles away and an overnight stay to access. That trip would cost me some hundreds of dollars plus the discomforts of travel, and I'd inevitably forget to copy something. Meh.
    It occurred to me that members of this forum might have older copies no longer of use, which would save me that trip.
    I would like to buy anything prior to 1946 (excepting 1943), and also, anything from 1971 to 1977.
    If interested, please message me. I paid $30 to $40 each for the older volumes, would expect to pay more for the fatter volumes published in the 1970s. If you want it to be a donation to MFO instead, that's fine too. (I'll donate for scans of key pages, even, if you are the fortunate person who owns a complete set of Wiesenberger.)
    I'm not a reseller, BTW; these will sit on my shelf next to old copies of Moody's, old copies of the SBBI, old copies of Poor's Railroad Manuals, etc.
    Its good to be retired with discretionary income to spend on hobbies :-)
  • Oldest mutual funds: name changes
    Pioneer Fund was founded in 1928 by Philip Carret as the Fidelity Mutual Trust (not on any list in the SEC study).
    https://www.corporateknights.com/responsible-investing/a-short-history-of-responsible-investing/

    On p. 735, both Loomis-Sayles Mutual Fund, Inc. and Loomis-Sayles Second Fund, Inc. appear. Only the "second" fund appears on p. 877's short list.
    "Prior to establishing CGM, Mr. Heebner was at Loomis, Sayles & Company where he managed [CGM Mutual Fund], then known as Loomis Sayles Mutual Fund."
    https://cgmfunds.com/cgm-docs/2021-12-31-mutual-annual.pdf
    Likewise, on p. 738 is listed "Second Investment Fund of Security Management Co. (predecessor of Broad Street Investing Co., Inc., The)". Broad Street Investing Corp. was the name of Seligman Common Stock Fund prior to April 26, 1982.
    https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/14358/000001435800000002/0000014358-00-000002.txt
    https://www.referenceforbusiness.com/history2/65/J-W-Seligman-Co-Inc.html
    The Security Management Company has presented to shareholders in its First and Second Investment Funds a plan for the combining of the two funds into a single corporation to be called the Broad Street Investing Company. It will be organized in Maryland with 500,000 shares of common stocks of no-par value. ...
    NYTimes, October 14, 1929, p. 44
    https://www.nytimes.com/1929/10/14/archives/investment-fund-merger-security-management-plans-to-unite-two-in.html
    There's a much more complete list of investment trusts and investment companies in Appendix A of Part 1 of the SEC study, starting on p. 114.
    https://play.google.com/store/books/details?id=1CoWAQAAMAAJ
    I really appreciate it, mfs. I had not looked at Part I of the SEC report. Glad I found mutualfundobserver.com!
  • Money Market Rates - interesting again?
    VG MM up to 1.38 and will go up after next hike.
  • Oldest mutual funds: name changes
    Pioneer Fund was founded in 1928 by Philip Carret as the Fidelity Mutual Trust (not on any list in the SEC study).
    https://www.corporateknights.com/responsible-investing/a-short-history-of-responsible-investing/

    On p. 735, both Loomis-Sayles Mutual Fund, Inc. and Loomis-Sayles Second Fund, Inc. appear. Only the "second" fund appears on p. 877's short list.
    "Prior to establishing CGM, Mr. Heebner was at Loomis, Sayles & Company where he managed [CGM Mutual Fund], then known as Loomis Sayles Mutual Fund."
    https://cgmfunds.com/cgm-docs/2021-12-31-mutual-annual.pdf
    Likewise, on p. 738 is listed "Second Investment Fund of Security Management Co. (predecessor of Broad Street Investing Co., Inc., The)". Broad Street Investing Corp. was the name of Seligman Common Stock Fund prior to April 26, 1982.
    https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/14358/000001435800000002/0000014358-00-000002.txt
    https://www.referenceforbusiness.com/history2/65/J-W-Seligman-Co-Inc.html
    The Security Management Company has presented to shareholders in its First and Second Investment Funds a plan for the combining of the two funds into a single corporation to be called the Broad Street Investing Company. It will be organized in Maryland with 500,000 shares of common stocks of no-par value. ...
    NYTimes, October 14, 1929, p. 44
    https://www.nytimes.com/1929/10/14/archives/investment-fund-merger-security-management-plans-to-unite-two-in.html
    There's a much more complete list of investment trusts and investment companies in Appendix A of Part 1 of the SEC study, starting on p. 114.
    https://play.google.com/store/books/details?id=1CoWAQAAMAAJ