MFOHome About Commentary Discussions Funds The Best Resources Support Us!

Howdy, Stranger!

It looks like you're new here. If you want to get involved, click one of these buttons!

Sign In Register
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.
  • Proposed HSSA - Health Savings for Seniors Act
    Watch proposed bipartisan changes to the HSA for seniors, called HSSA (Health Savings for Seniors Act), that will ALLOW contributions to the HSA when on Medicare, but DISALLOW (1) Using the HSA for Medicare premiums, (2) Eliminate penalty-free withdrawals after 65 for nonmedical use (the current Triple+ benefit will just become Triple). It revives a similar 2019 proposal that didn't go anywhere.
    https://www.cnbc.com/2022/04/18/medicare-enrollees-could-put-money-in-hsa-plans-under-house-bill.html
    https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/personalfinance/new-bill-would-let-seniors-save-for-medical-care-tax-free/ar-AAWoHsz
    https://401kspecialistmag.com/bill-seeks-to-expand-hsas-to-seniors-covered-by-medicare/
    https://bera.house.gov/sites/bera.house.gov/files/documents/BERA_030_xml.pdf
    yogibearbull yogibearbull in Other Investing
  • NETFLIX
    Quick... without looking... name (5) "current" shows or movies only on Netflix that you binge watch or can't miss.
    If you are unable to do that, you have your answer. Content is king.
    Spending more than 14 billion on content "should" make you the clear winner.
    Edit Add: "...In a letter to shareholders, Netflix attributed its subscriber loss to a number of factors, including a slowdown in the adoption of broadband and smart TVs; password sharing among households; and increased competition from both traditional cable and broadcast TV and other emerging streaming services. It also cited macroeconomic factors including increased inflation and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, which prompted Netflix to shut down its service in Russia, reversing the modest subscriber growth in the European region by a loss of 700,000 Russian accounts." <-- This is commonly known as the EBTKS method of explanation. What's concerning is that other than the invasion, none of this information is new or should be new to management. </blockquote>
    Well, not quite Everything But The Kitchen Sink...
    NO direct mention in the NFLX statement of the OP's suggestion (commonly known as the WAG method of explanation?) of the root cause, and one of two reasons why I posted the article and excerpt.
    The other reason is I've found it's usually a good thing (for me at least) to do at least a little reading/research on a topic (unless you're an expert, of course) that one openly comments on but of which one may have little real understanding/knowledge.
    Granted, the OP did at least get a conversation started on the stock of the day.
    stillers stillers in Other Investing
  • NETFLIX
    https://www.cnbc.com/2022/04/19/netflix-warns-password-sharing-crackdown-is-coming.html
    stillers stillers in Other Investing
  • Bank of America Brian Moynihan Interview - Insightful on General Market
    @hank read your first sentence "talking his book" and immediately thought of Dimon and Mike Wilson/MS... so I doubt BM does that. He's had plenty of opportunity to do it. They are both strategic but I think they are both honest during these interviews.
    @PRESSmUP I agree 100%.
    JonGaltIII in Other Investing
  • Price Funds to Have In-House Status at Schwab
    The moment I read the the Thread Subject "Price Funds to Have In-House Status at Schwab"... I immediately thought oh boy I may need to open a Schwab account but I'm happy with just managing Fidelity. The reason I thought "oh boy..." was for 1 reason only... PRWCX... but {{sigh}} @yogibearbull answered that straight away. Yes many Price funds are No-Load at Fido. Interesting post, nevertheless.
    JonGaltIII in Fund Discussions
  • Price Funds to Have In-House Status at Schwab
    Unclear what exclusivity of the deal means. I just checked that many Price funds remain no-load/NTF at Fido too.
    https://fundresearch.fidelity.com/fund-screener/results/table/management-fees/averageAnnualReturnsYear3/desc/1?assetClass=&amp;category=&amp;fundFamily=0C00001YZ8&amp;ntf=Y&amp;order=assetClass,category,ntf,fundFamily
    yogibearbull yogibearbull in Fund Discussions
  • Price Funds to Have In-House Status at Schwab

    This should improve availability of Price funds at Schwab. But PRWCX and its classes remain open only to existing customers.
    https://riabiz.com/a/2022/4/19/t-rowe-price-gains-house-brand-level-status-on-schwabs-active-fund-platform-and-will-pay-up-to-10-million-yearly-for-the-honor-but-the-deal-is-not-without-potential-conflicts-of-interest
    yogibearbull yogibearbull in Fund Discussions
  • NETFLIX
    "aimed at 14 year-olds"
    Exactly!
    Old_Joe Old_Joe in Other Investing
  • NETFLIX
    @Old_Joe has it in one bundle. Agreed. 100%. I'm in the same camp. We don't even have cable here. We use a Roku thingy. And 90% of the time watching, the NEWS is on. We have 3 choices for worldwide news on one channel: Al Jazeera, TRT (Turkish Radio & TV) and Bloomberg. And CTV from Canada, but every time I try it, "there are no LIVE programs available. Please try later." ..... After hunting and pecking around, I uncovered where some other news outlets are located in the line-up: CBS, ABC. CNN. Rarely, I can find some old favorite movies and documentaries.
    Netflix? Full of Korean chic-flix, romantic comedies, aimed at 14 year-olds. I watch Daniel Craig and Judy Dench. "James Bond." Only two choices. I re-watched "The Imitation Game" recently. But it's very difficult to find anything NEW that appeals. My demographic is not on their radar.... And as for a password-sharing crackdown? LOL Does Netflix think we cannot live without them? We are sharing a friend's password, already. If it goes away tomorrow, it won't be missed.
    Crash Crash in Other Investing
  • NETFLIX
    Quick... without looking... name (5) "current" shows or movies only on Netflix that you binge watch or can't miss.
    If you are unable to do that, you have your answer. Content is king.
    Spending more than 14 billion on content "should" make you the clear winner.
    Edit Add: "...In a letter to shareholders, Netflix attributed its subscriber loss to a number of factors, including a slowdown in the adoption of broadband and smart TVs; password sharing among households; and increased competition from both traditional cable and broadcast TV and other emerging streaming services. It also cited macroeconomic factors including increased inflation and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, which prompted Netflix to shut down its service in Russia, reversing the modest subscriber growth in the European region by a loss of 700,000 Russian accounts." <-- This is commonly known as the EBTKS method of explanation. What's concerning is that other than the invasion, none of this information is new or should be new to management.
    JonGaltIII in Other Investing
  • NETFLIX
    I bought a little at 220 this morning. I'm a sucker but just having fun.
    +1
    Unloaded 50% of my recent DKNG acquisitions yesterday on a nice bounce. Lowered my average cost to $16.75. But it’s having a “sissy fit” today - off 5%.
    Watching - At $15 - $15.50 I’d buy some more …
    We need a new investment category at MFO called “Crapshoots” :)
    hank in Other Investing
  • What are you buying - if anything?
    ASFYX looks more like straight equity managed futures with an FI overlay, with > 4% yield. But hard to tell, their only website I can find doesn't have the usual fund info, just an email address to query .. which I did. Fidelity has the A shares (AMFAX) NTF and load waived, $2,500 minimum. The $100k ASFYX minimum leaves me out too.
    I thought that Chesapeake fund sounded familiar; I owned it for a while in 2015, bought not long before it peaked and headed south. I guess there's a lesson in that.

    Yes, date them; don't get married! 8^b I think there's a window here if things are going to behave reasonably, rather than unpredictably. These types of funds weren't particularly productive when btd ruled the day. Right now they're looking pretty good.
    Agreed. Once in a great while they shine. In 2015, the only reason I made any $ that year was due to chunks I put into two AQR funds (Long-Short Equity and Market Neutral). Those are out of the question now due to major bumpups in minimum initial investments, so it's good to find others to fit the bill.
    But going through Fidelity, the Chesapeake fund doesn't allow auto-investing, which for me is a nonstarter in a TF fund. AMFAX does, though.
    AndyJ in Other Investing
  • Osterweis Acquires Zeo Funds
    Interesting development here: https://businesswire.com/news/home/20220419006059/en/Osterweis-Expands-Fixed-Income-Suite-With-Sustainability-Focused-Zeo-Capital-Advisors
    LewisBraham in Fund Discussions
  • NETFLIX
    A root cause is defined as a factor that caused a nonconformance and should be permanently eliminated through process improvement. The root cause is the core issue—the highest-level cause—that sets in motion the entire cause-and-effect reaction that ultimately leads to the problem(s).
    Here's the NYT article on the topic that provides a slightly different take on the causes. I did not see a mention of "the legalization of online sports betting across much of the country" but may have missed it?
    https://www.nytimes.com/2022/04/19/business/netflix-earnings-q1.html#:~:text=In a letter to shareholders,and other emerging streaming services.
    Excerpt:
    ...In a letter to shareholders, Netflix attributed its subscriber loss to a number of factors, including a slowdown in the adoption of broadband and smart TVs; password sharing among households; and increased competition from both traditional cable and broadcast TV and other emerging streaming services. It also cited macroeconomic factors including increased inflation and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, which prompted Netflix to shut down its service in Russia, reversing the modest subscriber growth in the European region by a loss of 700,000 Russian accounts.
    But a changing landscape in streaming may also be at play...
    stillers stillers in Other Investing
  • Templeton Global Income Fund (GIM) management under pressure
    Saba runs a FR/BL CEF BRW that trades at good discount.
    https://www.cefconnect.com/fund/BRW
    Saba also has an ETF CEFS that opportunistically owns CEFs at discounts. GIM is only a tiny weight now 0.60% (I think that it used to own more at one time). It doesn't list its own BRW. It has very high ER 2.90% but lot of it is from the underlying CEFs (1.10% management fees, rest from underlying CEFs + interest). I may just buy CEFS on the next big CEF selloff.
    http://portfolios.morningstar.com/fund/holdings?t=CEFS&region=usa&culture=en-US
    https://www.sabaetf.com/cefs
    yogibearbull yogibearbull in Fund Discussions
  • NETFLIX
    Lost subscribers for the first time ever during the first quarter. Double-digit stock loss yesterday and down over 38% today. Lots of reasons of course. To begin with, the stock is well know for running to extremes on both the up and down sides.
    But the “experts” jabbering on Bloomberg today are, IMHO, all missing the “elephant in the room”, lending a comedic air to the commentary. I think the root of NETFLIX’s subscriber loss is the legalization of online sports betting across much of the country. With a few dollars riding on a sports contest people are viewing more and more sports programming and less of the NETFLIX / Disney type offerings. Hastings himself has bemoaned the lack of sports programming in NETFLIX’s lineup. And … I believe the trend toward more sports betting / sports viewing will continue.
    All of the above said, when I see anything down 40% I start to salivate. But in this case I’ll not touch the online streaming menu.
    hank in Other Investing
  • Templeton Global Income Fund (GIM) management under pressure
    Proxy statement (the SEC is [sometimes] your friend):
    https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/828803/000082880322000016/gim2022proxystatementfinal.htm
    If Saba takes over, it will be interesting to compare the portfolios and returns of GIM and TGBAX going forward. Given such a sizeable change in GIM, such a comparison would be valid even though GIM was never a perfect clone of TGBAX.
    msf in Fund Discussions
  • Social security & IRMAA
    There aren't many places where the formula (add lines x, y, and z from form 1040) is stated, because generally it's SSA not the taxpayer who does this calculation. One place it is stated, linkably, is in the instructions for appealing an IRMAA decision.
    Your MAGI is your adjusted gross income as used on line 11 of IRS form 1040 plus your tax-exempt interest income as used on line 2a of IRS form 1040.
    https://www.ssa.gov/forms/ssa-44-ext.pdf
    Other health benefits (e.g. ACA premium credits, Medicaid, CHIP) have different formulations of MAGI:
    There is no uniform definition of MAGI; rather, the term has different definitions depending on the purpose for which it is being calculated. For each of these federal health programs, MAGI begins with adjusted gross income (AGI) as calculated for tax purposes. From there, various types of income are included (or, in the case of Medicaid, subtracted) to calculate MAGI for each particular program.
    The Use of Modified Adjusted Gross Income (MAGI) in Federal Health Programs, Dec 6, 2018.
    https://sgp.fas.org/crs/misc/R43861.pdf (Congressional Research Service)
    I haven't been able to find the second formula. The closest I can find is this IRS Worksheet 1-1 for ACA premium credits (aka subsidies): Pragmatically it likely sums to the same figure, because most people don't file Form 2555.
    AGI (1040 line 11) + tax exempt int. (line 2a) + foreign tax exclusion (Form 2555 lines 45 and 50)
    + nontaxable portion of SS (line 6a minus line 6b)
    https://www.irs.gov/instructions/i8962#en_US_2021_publink10007540
    Of course MAGI calculations for IRAs are substantially different. The MAGI formula for T-IRA deductibility requires one to add back the IRA deduction in calculating MAGI. The MAGI formula for Roth contribution eligibility lets you exclude Roth conversion amounts.
    T-IRA worksheet: https://www.irs.gov/publications/p590a#en_US_2021_publink100025076
    Roth IRA worksheet: https://www.irs.gov/publications/p590a#en_US_2021_publink100025085
    msf in Other Investing
  • AOK Ain’t OK
    I have suggested in past the Fidelity Asset Manager series for benchmarking. This series has equity allocations of 20%, 30%, 40%, 50%, 60%, 70%, 85%. https://www.fidelity.com/mutual-funds/fidelity-fund-portfolios/asset-manager-funds
    5 members of this Series are shown YTD (reset if defaults to 1 year) in Stockcharts and note the sharp mid-March dip, https://stockcharts.com/h-perf/ui?s=FASIX&compare=FAMRX,FASGX,FASMX,FTANX&id=p08325402070
    yogibearbull yogibearbull in Other Investing
  • AOK Ain’t OK
    I tried using AOK as my personal benchmark based on my 31% equity allocation. I am down .87% YTD as of today. I must be a (timid) genius. LOL. Another 30% er,,,, VTINX is also failing to provide protection. It seems obvious that a giant slug of bonds is doomed for the near future. As for providing ballast, as a certain cult advocates, a jar in my closet does it better.
    @larryB - To me a benchmark / tracker serves as a combination road map and sobriety meter. It helps point you in the direction you intend to go and helps confirm that’s where you’re headed and that you’re staying in the proper lane. Low volatility is important to me and so the benchmark makes for a nice comparison tool. Whether one owns anything in the benchmark ISTM is not important.
    I use a tri-fund tracker equally weighted among AOK, PRSIX and ABRZX. The only one I own is ABRZX which has significant commodity exposure. Beating the tri-fund tracker has been easy this year. But RIO, which I own, has turned south lately. So if commodities roll over and bonds recover some earlier losses, than the tracker should outperform.
    hank in Other Investing