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Reply to @scott: Scott, like you I'm a fan of Templeton Global Bond (wife and I both own it). Since you seem to have been a fan of that fund for a while, let me ask you -- does it ever concern you that the fund is generally 99% sovereigns?
Occasio…
To a good extent, Bruce brought this on himself.
He did little to stem the flow of hot money coming in and seemed to seek out publicity wherever he could get it ("...to communicate more efficiently with shareholders..." was his argument). Sure, …
In taxable
Bought a small bit of FESGX yesterday in taxable, while also selling out of a small position in OAKEX. I'm taking Grantham at his word and guessing that over the near term small cap international is not the place to be for the medium ter…
Arrogance, greed, selfishness, cowardice, apathy.
Never imagined I'd live to see a mess like this.
Still don't understand all the origins, much less the consequences. But I very much have the sense that we're watching the sun set.
We are adrift.
Skipper, I'd put some international bonds in there too and maybe a dividend stock fund. I think you're too light on international currencies and international exposure. FWIW.
Romick addressed this on FPACX's most recent conference call. He has no intentions to close the fund. He's finding there are advantages to having a larger fund that aren't available to smaller funds. Also thinks small caps aren't where the action…
I suppose this would be a problem with holding any mutual fund from the same shop. I own two Oakmark funds, however (OAKEX and OAKBX), while holding OAKGX in taxable. I did a quick look about 6-9 months ago and found only about a 15%-20% overlap i…
Janus funds have always freaked me out a little bit. Aside from their legal issues, wasn't there a period where something like 80% of their funds were basically all the same portfolio?
I've looked at their offerings from time to time, but could ne…
On your original Brillo story -- my brother-in-law refers to this as "the silent inflation".
Andy Rooney has done stories on this for years -- how a #8 (or whatever it is) can of coffee is smaller than what it used to be, but is claimed to make the…
AJ -- thanks. And, to be clear on OSTIX -- its not just that its corporates, its lower-grade (HY) corporates. Short duration, and rigorously evaluated using the Osterweis methodology; but from a larger report I obtained from Osterweis it appears t…
On YACKX not being apple-to-apples with FAIRX -- I'm assuming your logic here is that YACKX is a good old-fashioned value-oriented stock picking fund, while Bruce goes beyond seeking out "undervalued" and looks into distressed assets and covers his …
Slightly tangential, but I've read that a few funds are trying to do some of what BB is doing with FAIRX -- find ways to turn mutual funds into broader-based instruments that can do special private equity deals & etc. I think Romick of FPA has …
I think Arnott was short treasuries in PAUCX.
No matter. I respect Gross as an investor; but other than that, I wouldn't trust him as far as I could throw him (and his shareholder letters are juvenile).
You know, its not even the "micro cap" issue.
Take a look.
Most all of Royce's funds are allowed to invest up to 20% international. That figure is an increase from their previous guideline of 10%. But regardless -- all of Royce's funds are be…
There are very few funds today who act as fiduciaries first, profit-making machines, second. Very few. Royce was one of the good ones. That has changed in very short order. Their fees have gone up as well. Such a shame what has happened to this…
I thought DFA had a micro-cap index? In my experience decent micro-cap funds are had to come by.
Anyway, good points on Royce. My wife and I both own a Royce fund or two. I'm always on the lookout for alternates, because they've changed quite a …
Sounds like your issue is with Islam and radical theocratic Islamic groups, not a fund which tries to invest in accordance with widely-held Islamic principles.
If there is a connection between Amana and AQ/MB, that would be deeply unfortunate.
…
I've seen the Amana funds covered in the press before. The "Islamic principles" angle is not a gimmick. Kaiser was approached by a group of Muslims who asked his help in constructing investment vehicles suited to their beliefs. Thus, the Amana fu…
Great points, rono.
I go back and forth on the whole metals/commodities issue in an attempt to try and get my head around it.
GMO's latest investor letter might be of interest to you -- makes an extremely bullish case for commodities of all sorts …
FWIW -- Buffett and Munger had a few interesting comments on gold at the Berkshire Hathaway meeting. To paraphrase:
1. (From Buffett): Total world value of gold would be a cube 67x67 (meters?); for the same price to purchase that cube, you could…
This presentation can also really, really ruin your day. You can't help but watch this and think the only thing you should be investing in is gold bullion. And guns. And guns made from gold.
"The whole world is basically broke".
"Historically t…
FWIW...Jim Rickards thinks the whole world is basically broke, and that the US could force the world back onto a gold standard and that we would win the ensuing "gold war". Of course, there would be much pain and large scale civil unrest in the pro…
I guess I read the original poster's comment as "...hey, I've just moved all my money out of FAIRX into Fairholme focused credit...what did I just buy...?".
Stagflation could be the more serious risk here.
If one goes long the usual hedges, at what point does one jump off the train?
An acquaintance who works in financial services commented to me midway through the Bear, Stearns/2008-2009 crisis "...do…
JPM put out a research report on the meaning/impact of rating agency cautionary statements.
Off the top of my head, for AAA-rated sovereigns, there is a less than 50% chance of a full downgrade (think it was 43%, but the n was pretty small, and 4…
I don't get that either -- prior to 2008, Tweedy's funds did okay. With respect to international, at least, 2008 took them down, less so than many stock funds, but they also took a surprisingly large shot in the chops. Further, Tweedy's internatio…
