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.
HDCCX is a long-biased commodity fund that is actively managed, and unique in that it is actively managed (most such funds are passively managed.) HDCCX can short, but again, it is long-biased. RYMFX is a trend-following fund that follows a set of c…
People have complained about the amount of information that facebook posts about people, and you have this thing now where people can "check in" where they currently are...I mean, people can look at it in terms of advertising or other elements, but …
I don't care about social networking in the slightest - I find so much of it to be small talk, and I don't need to tell people about every little moment of my day. However, my view is that they may be viewed - from a different investment perspective…
I don't like RYFOX. I think what Rydex is doing in terms of offering alternative assets to the retail investor is great, but I question whether some of the products are either not nimble enough or too basic. Their alternative stock funds (market neu…
Not really investing books, but investing world books, two newer books: "The Asylum" (largely about NYMEX traders) and "Zero Sum Game" (about the Chicago Exchanges) are entertaining reads about the characters in these exchanges.
I question whether anyone thought that the largest holder of US debt OVERALL was the Chinese. The thought they were the largest FOREIGN holder. Still, another country holding 10% of our debt is still not minor - they are - for use of a better term -…
I'm actually selling an individual (and volatile) EM stock and moving to either one or both funds (although multi-asset, is a little more interesting to me.) This would not be a big position. So, the idea is still EM, just looking to move towards le…
I won't go quite so far on the US Treasury Debt portion (although some of my funds do have some holdings), but otherwise I really agree strongly that a very diverse basket of asset classes (and strategies; managed futures, etc) are the way to go.
My question on the Wisdomtree EM Currency fund is is it a static allocation? I don't believe it's a dynamic/actively managed fund, so you are just going with the tides; you would be getting EM currency exposure with the EM local debt fund, and at le…
It's not necessarily viewing it in that manner. I don't disagree that other countries have very significant issues (which I've said in the past; but as noted today, China seems to see something in Spain, investing in 25B Euros worth of Spanish debt,…
Yeah, I mean Ivy has great flexibility and other funds can do all sorts of things, but if the desired product is a low-risk allocation product that has a history of significant yield, then Pimco AA/AA works. It's not going to hit home runs, but it w…
The Ivy fund is not without risk, certainly (and has been heavy EM in the recent past), but it does have the ability to hedge and has occasionally hedged the fund to some degree in the past shorting index futures on various international markets.
T…
I think a fund with as flexible a mandate as the Blackrock fund has can - in theory - take on more money given the amount of various asset classes that can be invested in. However, it's a matter of whether the management can effectively steer a ship…
So, if the debt ceiling isn't passed I don't believe I'll be changing my investments - I think that it'll only be further erosion of confidence from foreign creditors (and raising the debt ceiling isn't helping either, but it kicks the can down the …
My views are viewed as rather extreme, but my issue is this: I continue to believe that if there is a "tipping point" someday with the debt situation, it will be external in nature. We're already monetizing debt, I wouldn't be surprised if there was…
I like Toqueville (TGLDX) for a longer-term play; UNWPX is a more aggressive and volatile fund, but is an excellent fund with a very good manager. USERX is a calmer fund from US Global. First Eagle also has a Gold fund.
Thank you for the notes regarding the fund. :-)
This ("Dividends paid quarterly (if they're not absorbed in trading costs.") is probably why I'm still waiting for a quarterly dividend to happen.
My allocation changes frequently and one of my goals for the next few years is to be a little less active. However, my portfolio will likely not be streamlined any time soon - there are quite a few small positions and some small to the point of cons…
And additionally, I'm not saying that the AQR funds are the bestest funds ever, but I think they're very good and in terms of momentum and alternatives, I have a lot of confidence in Cliff Asness and company over the long haul.
Risk Parity, International, Global and Diversified Arbitrage are NTF/No minimum at Etrade for IRA's (non-IRAs are $5K for the other 3 or $1M for Risk Parity; Managed Futures is actually $5K NTF at Etrade for either/or; the rest (the momentum funds) …
Takes a little bit of getting used to coming from the old board, but there's a lot I like (such as the ability to edit posts.)
This is from a 30-something.
Excellent comments from Bob C.
I do like the Rydex Long/Short Commodity fund in the managed futures space due to some added features beyond the monthly rebalancing (to quote from the interview: "RH: The fund has a reversion test to avoid over-boug…
In terms of a hedge against inflation, HDCCX is a good choice. In terms of a hedge against existing commodity positions, I think that gets a little tougher, given a number of factors, including geopolitical risk and the fact that, in this market, th…
Happy to help! Hope it continues to do well. There could certainly be sigificant dips in commodities, but between monetary policy and supply issues (continued development over ag land, increasing lack of fresh water, populaton growth) that will like…
Managed Futures funds are generally positioned as "all-weather" vehicles and are more long/short funds. The only issue with managed futures funds (especially more basic funds like the Rydex Managed Futures fund) is that they do best with a consisten…
HDCCX is long-biased, but has the ability to short. It is actively managed and presents itself as heavily focused on controlling risk, despite the fact that it can use significant leverage. I definitely see it as a more flexible fund than the Pimco …
