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.
Looking at that list, it seems clear that some states do give more value for their taxes. Obviously there are lots of variables, but Masschusetts, for example, has public services that are probably as good or better than in NY, but isn't in the 10 h…
@JoJo @Maurice. I should have explained my logic better. IMHO, unless a fund has demonstrated downside protection in one (and preferably more than one) full-on bear market, or unless it has a straightforward strategy that is proven to do so (e.g. ho…
This is a fund that charges 2.27%, has never proven itself in a bear market, and has underperformed the S&P since inception. I fail to see the appeal. Then again, I fail to see the appeal of multialternative funds in general as opposed to say, h…
Don't think Dow 10K is likely, but not hard to imagine a scenario that gets us there: trade war, impeachment with Trump not going quietly & bringing his supporters into the streets, revelation that some big hedge fund is a Ponzi scheme & Tru…
Have to wait a day to see how SFGIX and other foreign funds hold up, especially ones with a lot in Asia, no? Most of the markets they're in were closed when Wall Street tanked, but most follow suit the next day...
I'm sitting tight. If we get down to 2400 or so on the S&P I may add. The US now feels a bit like an emerging market. You can't just look at the fundamentals. There's political risk too.
And I continue to watch PDI's performance in awe.
I feel that global allocation is really a form of market timing, especially if the fund can hold lots of cash, as most can. Tough to do right, but so's stockpicking...
No recession in sight, is there? I'm as wary of the mad child in the White House as anyone, but if the market continues to fall, gets rid of some of that overvaluation, it could be time to buy soon.
And yet... the bitcoin bubble popping, the revela…
@Mark Indeed, I've been watching PDI for a long time, waiting for a dip to buy, but it never comes... Incredible how it's risen even of late. Any idea how Ivascyn is positioned to do so well?
I lightened up a bit over the past two weeks, brought my equities down to 65% from 80%. Am considering raising a bit more. The economic fundamentals are great, but the wheels are coming off in the White House.
For melt up: great economic fundamentals, Fed that appears moderate to dovish, an administration eager to cut whatever taxes / regulations business wants it to
For "this is it": high valuations in nearly every market, several common signs of a peak…
Late last week I sold parts of my holdings in SFGIX and DSENX as well as my remaining tiny chunk of FAAFX. With that, I brought equities down to 70% of my portfolio from 80%.
Some of that is for personal reasons. I've been pretty much all in the m…
SUBFX is short duration and high quality, though down very slightly for the year. They have a history of waiting till the time is right, then buying higher risk assets when they're beating down. OSTIX is short duration and low quality, but they have…
The adults are all leaving. The unraveling has accelerated. It's going to be a bumpy ride. The US hasn't seen political instability like this for a while.
To get back to the original question, I think the markets are assuming that the tariffs, like so many other Trump initiatives (he never even got that ban on immigrants from Somalia etc. passed) will never come to be, especially since Ryan et al are …
@msf Thanks for the idea. It's something I'll look into, though I tend to like to keep it simple. And I'm leaning more toward raising the cash, especially after this weekend's tweets seem to indicate Trump really thinks he can win a trade war.
The …
@davidrmoran @msf, Yes, in principle I'm against market timing too, but there's a chunk of money I may need in about 12 months, to buy a house, if various plans work out... It would involve dialing down my equity holdings from 80% to about 65%. I gu…
@davidrmoran @msf So are you selling equities and other high risk assets? If we're headed for an all-out trade war, that can't be good for the markets.
@catch22 Thanks for the further charts & thoughts. I'm still feeling good about buying OSTIX, for my particular needs. Can I ask what bond funds you own? You've clearly done a lot of research & thinking on it. I'm hoping to move a pretty dec…
HI @catch22, Many thanks for the comparison funds. Looking at the chart, OSTIX still looks like it's had the balance of risk and reward that I'm looking for with that chunk of funds.
When you write "the HY switch happened 2013" do you mean that OS…
I just bought some OSTIX in my solo 401k. Thanks to @BobC for discussing it in various posts. It seems like a good place to park funds while waiting for a stock market pullback--and if that pullback doesn't come, I can live with the 5-6% return it's…
If I understand correctly, they're closing class D. So it's not about savings, it's about making the funds load only, unless you can afford the institutional class. Is that right?
I added to TDVFX and swapped half of my SFGIX for SIVLX. I like value, by temperament, and I also subscribe to the buy-a-newer-fund-from-a-great-shop theory. I'm pondering buying a little OSTIX. All this in tax-deferred, where I'm trying to concentr…
FTHNX fund has performed well, and anyone who owns it is surely happy. But I have 4 reasons for not buying it. 1) They've got, as @slick mentioned, a "sister fund" using this strategy, also in the small cap space, with $6.2 billion in assets 2) That…
I read somewhere that payroll taxes remain deductible. Can't high income tax states just move to payroll taxes instead? My impression is that this bill was written so quickly, gaming it is going to be child's play -- and skyward goes the deficit, wh…
It seems hard to believe that if this bill passes, which it looks like it will, it's going to last past the next time Democrats win power. So if I'm a business, I wouldn't make long-term decisions based on it. It's why tax reform worth the name has …
@bee The current estate tax only applies to estates over $11 million, and if you've got a halfway decent tax lawyer, you can probably shelter double that easily. So yes, the only Iowa farmers it currently applies to are big business owners.
