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.
Howdy good people,
I've found it easier here in Wacousta to think in terms of investment portfolio(s) vs. wealth portfolio. What really matters folks? For me it's overall wealth and where it lies.
And that of course leads us to the Elder Baron…
None of us ever will. The only person lost that I think I knew was a poster named Maureen at Salil's. We based this upon her tremendous knowledge of technical investing but also that she never posted again. Never.
RIP for all those we lost and b…
Howdy,
Whelp, Datwah pensions are actually quite spartan compared to other cities and states. The multiplier is 2.5 and they don't appear to allow spiking like some places. The largest problem with Detroits pension is that it's underfunded and t…
And Lansing has some blame. They've been very racist since Coleman Young was elected. Lots of blame to go around. And what's a kick is that their pensions aren't really that high relative to the rest of the country.
It'll be an intersesting te…
Reply to @johnN:
Indeed, this is the model going foward, although I'm hesitant to credit it to Texas, TYVM. My God, they still eat paste.
You can take care of your employees now and later very easily without incurring any legacy costs. DC pensio…
Howdy folks,
Where muni bond funds have taken a hit is to the principal thereby increasing their yield but quite a blow nevertheless. Besides the obvious bankruptcy of Detroit you had the negotiations leading up to it by Off, the Emergency Mgr app…
Howdy campers,
Just got back from the Hard Assets conf in NYC where I met Old Nick. Sponsors and attendees off about 2/3 from previous years. Only the hard corps left. Heard a lot of quality speakers. Ian McAvity (one of the originals with Cent…
Hi Hank,
The basic reason why is that none of the fundamentals driving this bull market in gold have changed. In addition, you have a very split market in pm's between the paper price and the street price. The paper price is driven by futures a…
Hi investor,
With physical bullion purchases and sales there is always the premium to deal with. It varies with size and volume but also with the quality of the bullion. Consider it the mark up between wholesale and retail. The vigorish, if you…
Howdy,
I stopped watching Kudlow years ago and haven't been able to stand Kernan for several. That's OK. I prefer Bloomberg - more information on the screen and less noise. I remember Gary Smith telling us back on FundVision that he always watch…
Geez, I wish.
With the paper price drop recently, sales of AGEs (and I would presume ASEs) have soared. They're halting sales of 1/10 oz eagles and not 1/4, 1/2 or 1 oz. - so far.
All along the $200 price crash in the POG has smelled more mar…
Reply to @Old_Joe:
Hi Joe,
How about we let other folks around the world take care of things for a while? Geez, if we took that wasted natdef $ and spent it on infrastructure, it would create jobs and serve as a boost to the economy. Not like t…
Hi Mark,
Hope you guys are warm and dry.
They've started to talk on CNBC about aggregate demand - or lack thereof. Today there was a round table discuss led by Brian saying that perhaps the goals and objectives of corporations are all wrong - tha…
Yeppers, I'm with Anna on this one Bob. Our problem is not entitlements, although they have some issues, and it's not the welfare state. It's the gd military defense spending and how we somehow think we have the manifest destiny to be the worlds p…
Howdy,
Gold stocks have underperformed bullion pretty much for this entire bull run. For this to reverse, you'd have to see much lower prices for bullion and a continued bull market in equities.
I do question that statement that 'gold bugs have…
Reply to @Mark:
Howdy,
You may be correct, Mark. Only time will tell. I still like the concept for a core holding, but to some degree each of us builds this sort of approach into our asset allocation. We want to have growth but security and wa…
Howdy folks,
Sure, PRPFX will take a hit with the fall in the POG but by design, other holdings are supposed to counteract it. I'm still holding it in most of my accounts in the ~7-10% range.
And I'll keep holding it. And just for disclosure sak…
Howdy all,
Greg. I have not even considered doing anything with PRPFX. It is and will always be a core holding of mine.
As for the POG and POS, these are paper prices and we have to see what is happening to physical gold and silver, both suppl…
Howdy folks,
I'm with Bob on this one. As I've been saying for years, there is a place in every portfolio for some gold as an investment of 5% or so with more than that being speculative. I still believe this very strongly if not more so. Well, …
Howdy,
Scott brings up a huge point that was never taken into the equation - the albatross of student debt around all the would be investors, home buyers, consumers, . . .
peace,
rono
Reply to @GregFromBoston:
Hi Greg,
Hope you're doing well. I think it's probably a combination of inertia and fear. For younger workers with only a 401K, they'll probably contribute and ride out any down turns. Most of the boomers that are stil…
Howdy,
Thought I responded last night but . . .
You all knew that this was coming and you really need to plan for it. Of course they're going to try to raise revenue any and all ways possible. They have no choice. Note, that they will also hav…
Howdy,
I think you can make a Japan play without really sticking your neck out by buying a pan-asian fund that INCLUDES japan. Most do not. Check Matthews Asian Growth MPACX, or MAPIX for more conservative or MATFX for more aggressive. They're a…
Here you go. Seems the common folk are protected, uninsured depostors are screwed - not more than 40% at one bank and well and truly screwed at the other. teehehe '-)
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-03-24/cyprus-said-to-reach-tentative-deal-to…
Hi Hank,
Recall back just after this occurred, the British gov't announced it was suspending all automatic pension deposits to Cyprus for British expats. Of what other arrangements they might have made I'm unaware but I thought it was a bold state…
Howdy,
I concur with most in that they will NOT tax the Roth IRAs. Oh, they're a filthy scumbag lot, but they won't screw us that way because it would also screw themselves. In all honesty, they most often do things in a 'grandfathered' manner. …
arrrrgh,
Just after the election one of their city council members was shown on TV telling the Pres, that they got him elected and it was time for him to bail them out. I was humiliated. Sorry. Well bred peeps dont' do that stuff. Bad form a…
Howdy i,
Norway happens to be one of the best run countries on the planet. It would be a better world if more countries looked to Norway for leadership.
peace,
rono
Howdy Scott,
Good stuff. Was at a conference today and they were talking about land use residential patterns in the coming decade or so and it's all revolving around the boomers exiting the 'big house' and moving into retirement. This results in…
Howdy rw,
Some good ideas and they do need to take action but I'll have to wait and see.
#2 should be dealth with by the Land Bank program which allows the 'city' to seize property with back taxes in as little as a year and get a scrubbed title …
Howdy folks,
If it happens in Cyprus it can and probably will happen here. How about a tax on IRAs and 401Ks? Brokerage accts? Hey, we've got to balance the budget and that's where all the money is? Sleep tight boys and girls. Hope your be…
Not nice, Joe, ;-)
Yeah, he seems to be a good choice by the Gov. However, I really do not see how he can avoid bankruptcy. Sorry, I love Detroit, but when you build and operate a city for 3M and you're down to 700K the legacy costs are enormous…
Rats. I had a postie get throttled.
I believe folks should take profits based upon their ability to sleep. Rebalancing and reallocation all play a role, but as Bob just said, when you hit a a double or triple, bleeding down some of the gains is…
All y'all can laugh at Illinois but that's just the tip of the iceberg. The real problem with underfunded pensions is with the cities and counties around the country. Most states don't have this much of a problem with their state pension systems …
Reply to @Mark:
I was ranting. Sorry. Actually, the top corporations should have to eat them. I've listened to all their crap for years now, how they're the job creators so they should be exempt from everything. feh. Seems to me as they're th…
Howdy Scott,
Good stuff as ususal. The great irony about this is that as we continue past peak oil and it becomes continually more and more expensive to - find, and/or retrieve, and/or refine, and/or transport - the cost of fuel will increase. Ah…
