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 guys,
I think you're both correct. The author cites a lot of good reasons that no doubt impact the willingness, or lackthereof, of average citizens to invest. er, #6 is too far down the list.
The game is rigged. Period. Deal with it. …
Howdy Mark,
Geez, trying to avoid the Grand Ole Party in Tampa, you decide you'd rather go to Key West for a bloody hurricane.
Reminds me of a story of John Muir who during his time in the high sierra, was once up around 10K+ when a winter storm…
Hi Anna/Mark,
Yeah, so much of this has been talked about for years in the finers circles (yeah, FA resembles that remark). That said, I did hear one political commentator yesterday refer to the 'celebration of ignorance' being marked by so many t…
Howdy Mark,
Great choice. The Last Resort. Pace of life so slow it doesn't even move. Invented the late brunch under the Banyan tree. EVERY day you must head down to Mallory Dock for the sunset. Hundreds gather for a worldclass eyeball freefor…
Howdy,
Spot on discussion. I quit watching Kudlow years ago and can no longer stand Kernan in the morning. I think he's sucking up to Ruppert. I watch Bloomberg for business news and even then I can still remember Gary Smith saying that he nev…
Howdy,
I was amazed that yesterday on CNBC all they talked about was going back to paper trading. It's not the software, nor computers that are the problem . . . things happen. The problem is the lack of accountability for the people, companies a…
Howdy folks,
Great discussion. Some of you have run the numbers on what comes first and that's crucial. However, the nut is having as much diversity in your retirement as possible . . . so that you have both additional options AND resiliency. …
Hi folks,
We just went with Consumer Cellular and got their one and only smart offering - a Motorola Bravo. It's OK for cheapskates and the digitally challenged (like the kid). Gee, we only switched over this past May as our contract expired with…
Howdy campers,
Natural resources are a key part of any portfolio - say 7-10% or so. However, with most people this is pretty much a fixed allocation as trading them is murder. I still have a tendency to nibble around the edges with momentum play…
Hi Mo,
Hope you're doing well. Indeed, I agree. Way too much gov't involved in economic things. The limited resources the states have should be spent for education, protecting the environment and building infrastructure. You take care of these …
Howdy folks,
Geez, I'm a lifelong democrat (voting that is)that voted for Obama and I really can't see any difference between him and Georgie. I'm not kidding. And you've got the reli-nazis wanting to roll back the bill of rights and the magna ca…
Hi guys,
I'm holding and looking for opps to pick up physical bullion in small quantities. I've been pretty much established in my position for years and repeat that 'everyone should have some gold in their overall wealth portfolio. 3% on up, dep…
Howdy folks,
Geez, Bill said, ""It's what we call the cleanest dirty sheet, and at the moment the cleanest dirty shirt is the United States," Gross told CNBC's "Street Signs." "It's Treasurys, it's those 1.75 percent 10-year Treasurys that are defi…
Howdy all,
I grabbed a little GASFX and FCG and we'll see what develops. I doubt anyone would get stopped out at these levels, but . . . it's down a tad today but that's OK.
peace,
rono
Geez, I've been planting trees.
Krugman has identified an issue but it's one of those myths that the spin doctors are producing. Oh, if we demonstrate fiscal responsibility and constraint - that we're getting our financial houses in tiptop order -…
Howdy,
How about Arnie? I think he's still in the top 10 of annual earners in sports. He's got a bunch of businesses and a finger in a lot of things. It's funny because we were just comparing him with Magic and the charisma being such a huge thi…
Howdy,
I concur with Mark and David. Off Topic is still generally investment and/or economic in nature OR things and events that impact our investments and economic lives. For example, at times things can devolve into politics, but ideally, the …
HI Mark,
And here's John Williams
http://www.shadowstats.com/
But of course they're dinking the numbers. Hedonic adjustments, weightings, etc. However, the CPI has been helped enormously by globalism and the internet. And aggregate demand is s…
Reply to @Old_Joe:
Hi Dan,
Hope you're doing well. American is the class of the loaded families but as you mention, they are thru an advisor (that guy getting the 5.75% off the top).
Gee, if you'd been around FundAlarm some 15 years back, perh…
Reply to @ibartman:
Howdy,
His previous advisor had him invested at 90% and he trusted him and just recently found out about this from his new advisor with the same custodian who thinks it's 'too aggressive' and that an annuity would be just the …
Howdy,
feh. Variable Annuities have their place, but it's very small and specialized and most often only for large random amounts of unexpected income - author, athlete, actor stuff. And Fixed Annuities are great in many more situations.
The …
Hi Dan,
Nopers, you're correct. I just went thru that with a light over a breakfast nook table - no dimmer. Rats.
I'm looking forward to the LEDs and further advances. feh. Sometimes, you've got to put your foot halfway up their asses to get t…
First to OJ and Mo,
Hey, if they CFLs are saving me money . . . first I concur that LED is where we're headed. 2nd, the industry had dragged their miserable rears for decades to do anything for lighting, so perhaps the mandate did well in forcing …
Geez,
I am a car guy. Born and lived most of my life in Lansing, MI home of Oldsmobile and now sitting on two brand new assembly plants making the baby Cadillacs and the Acadia/Traverse/Enclave 7 pax SUV. I spent 15 years as AdminMgr of the MDOT …
Howdy folks,
Great ideas. I've played both FSNGX and GASFX before and actually, want to hit it with dividends. GASFX would be the ticket, but this is coming in to off season for heating, but on season for a/c. Mutter, mutter.
How about the bloo…
Hi DPN,
First of all, congratulations on starting an IRA and also converting it to a Roth ASAP.
Initial IRAs are always difficult to work into a nice Asset Allocation because of contribution limits and mutual fund minimums. Per force, this will…
Hi OJ,
Raise some cash. Not everything, not huge, but raise some cash. When the Israelis attack Iran this spring, the markets will tank. However, I am thinking it will be a surgical one time and short series of very targeted high tech strikes. …
Howdy,
I have not checked out your site but just did and it appears to be a paid service. Here is PonyExpress Bob's - it's free. This is a momentum program that he maintains that shows all funds and ETFs and ranks them by the momentum they're s…
Geez, I'm with Bob on this. Years ago, Art from FundVision used to say, 'no one ever went broke taking profits'.
It is ALWAYS time to book profits. I'm not talking about leaving the game, just raking down some gains.
Folks, investing in stoc…
Howdy folks,
Hope everyone is doing well.
Individual investors are still pulling out. This includes 401K type pension monies. At the same time, many folks are buying both for dividends AND as a store of value. This category includes some huge…
Howdy,
I concur with Mike and Scott, you don't have to invest directly in China to win on their economic potential. You can buy a pan-Asian fund and get similar results AND benefit from any growth in the other countries.
Years ago, when China rea…
Howdy John,
Good stuff. Always loved the jackass and he's spot on. Sorry but I've been telling all y'all to cya for many moons.
As for the market too bullish - depends upon QE 3, 4, 5 . . . so long as they keeping filling the punch bowl, the par…
Howdy,
I'm a card carrying tree-huggin, dirt-munchin druid. However, I've never seen a decent environmental proposal or plan that wasn't cost beneficial. And I'll go so far as to state that any environmental suggestion that is not cost beneficial…
Howdy again,
And BTW, one other thing that is also helping to keep inflation from exploding is because the current velocity of money is around zero. No lending, no movement and no circulation. That's the bitch - they're printing money like crazy …
Howdy folks,
Yeppers, it was a good day in the neighborhood today. TYVM.
Gross is spot on. QE 3, 4, 5, 6 . . . nth. This means that they will indeed halve the value of the dollar thru monetizing the Unfunded Liabilities over the next ten years…
Howdy,
There are many others that can better comment on your specific funds but I'm sure you've done your homework, so let's talk about some basics.
The age old rule of thumb was to subtract your age from 100 and that should be your percentage of …
Howdy,
Back in the early 60's, rono could go to the grocery store and buy a loaf of bread with a quarter. This same silver quarter today is worth about 25 times face in melt value or about $6 or so. I can go to the store and get a couple of loave…
Hi OJ,
I concur and think the very best we can hope for is a lost decade - The Great Austerity - but the entire developed world this time, not just Japan. And I say best because one alternative is outright financial collapse leading to civil un…
