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.
As has been pointed out LSGLX (a dog of a fund in its category for many a year) is not managed by Fuss. While I respect Fuss and his ex sidekick Gaffney, no one can predict or forecast so I have always adhered to the wisdom of Benton Davis that the…
Old-Skeet, I would love to have to pay up and 2% isn't out of the question. 1% I think is a total, complete, and utter impossibility, but then I have been wrong many times before.
This year I have been hiking primarily along the Mountains-To-Se…
heezsafe, I am in a generous mood today, must have been that mountain air last week. Last deal I will make. Yes, will gladly send you $250 if the 10 Year hits 2% before 3%. But that will have to be closing basis, not intraday. Junk corporates got…
Dex, if the 10 year goes to 1% before 3% send my your address and I will send you a check for $500. In no way, shape or form do I see that occurring but would be thrilled and the $500 would be a small pittance to what I would make on such a move.
Good point Jerry about 401(k) So here's a link including IRAs. Still not real encouraging
http://www.fidelity.com/inside-fidelity/employer-services/fidelity-analysis-highlights-balances-and-contribution-rates-of-combined-retirement-savings
And …
Never being a fan of conventional wisdom - buy and hold, don't overtrade, diversify, you can't beat the market, etc. etc. - of the 12,000,000 401(k) accounts administered by Fidelity a mere 4/10 of 1% are over a million dollars. So as not to ruffl…
Indeed, bonds of many sorts, especially Treasuries, haven't looked good since Labor Day. And if we get some type of surprise blowout employment report tomorrow it could get worse. Just in case, I raised some cash, but hope tomorrow runs counter…
>>>>>@Junkster: I am paying close attention to your words of wisdom...
"...if you want to succeed in this game, you have to become your own expert and listen only to yourself and the message of the market."
Bitzer, even though I disagree with about 99.99% of what I read on this fine board as to what it takes to accumulate wealth, I completely understand where you are coming from and have learned (finally) not to criticize other viewpoints. Best of luck.
Nine Reasons To Just Say No To Managed Futures
http://www.forbes.com/sites/greatspeculations/2012/07/31/nine-reasons-to-just-say-no-to-managed-futures/
Fooling Some of the People All the Time
http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=127…
Meanwhile, back in the real world and flying under the rader screen all year, junk munis are already up 13% to 14%+ (EIHYX/NHMRX) How sick is this? Here I am on a great hiking vacation (12 miles today among the highest peaks of the east) and I a…
Of the 21 asset classes shown, junk corporates came in fourth but with only about half and less the volatility of the three that beat it. It was also like that volatility-wise in the 80s and 90s with junk. That's the allure of junk and it also mak…
I completely understand the gist of the article and I can't argue against its merits. But in this game of accumulating wealth , one shoe does not fit all. For some cash *IS* trash and always will be. As a shorter term trader/investor my motto has…
The inhabitants of this board who have been around the investment game for the past 20 years must be *above* average investors. That's because I can't imagine any of them
earning a mere 2% to 3% per annum over that time frame. In fact, I can't i…
MJG, going back in time a bit. Over the 10 years ending March 31, 1999 only 2 newsletter timing strategies out of 59 tracked by Mark Hulbert were able to beat the returns of a buy and hold strategy in the Wilshire 5000 Index. Over the previous fiv…
I am one of the more aggressive yet most conservative on this board. As for SPLV from its closing high to its recent intraday low it declined 5.1%. I realize we are all different here and whatever suits our personality etc. and there is no right o…
So far the results are a bit distressing from a contrarian point of view. If you asked at the beginning of January which would come first 3.50% or 2.50%, I bet you would have received something like 95% (or higher) for 3.50%. Higher rates were a…
I am not a fan of diversification and even less a fan of fund of funds. As for IRNIX it makes no sense. I count 24 of its 25 top holdings as junk corporate funds. That category has returned 3.19% YTD with many greater than that. The woeful IRNIX…
Ted is 77 years old and as he has mentioned several times not in the best of health. I might be a bit more onery too if I had a host of health problems (and was 77 years young) So we should probably cut him some slack.
Put me in the self indulgent camp too. I love wealth/money because (and probably more than anyone on this board) I saw the other side. It was years of extreme poverty - minimum wage jobs, no money for food/monthly rent, having to always pawn my TV,…
This is the last thread I ever thought I would participate in... but the Finger Lakes and Jim Boeheim? In my very younger days worked in Victor, lived in Fairport and then Canandaigua right near the lake. As a result of that venture, now have fam…
All these fancy schmancy annuities. I still think if you go that route nothing beats an immediate fixed annuity. I mean it sounds crazy (at least to me as a 67 year old male) for a 65 year old male to buy something that doesn't kick in until they …
Next to the tax free compounding of capital in an IRA etc., I can't think of any better way to build wealth than to be 100% debt free (and that includes no mortgage!)
To play the Party Pooper here, Roger Maris and Mickey Mantle didn't get together until 1960 and Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton until 1963 among just a few that should have been Lost In The Sixties. Some of us here actually lived in the Fifitie…
Dex, I hope so. I watch HYD and HYMB intraday but they don't hold a candle to the open end junk munis. For instance, several are outperforming HYD by 2 to 3 percentage points YTD. I am not a fan of ETFs. During the recent selloff HYD declined ne…
http://blogs.barrons.com/incomeinvesting/2014/07/23/lack-of-liquidity-hampering-high-yield-rebound/?mod=BOL_hp_blog_ii
More on the most hated asset class. I hate em too but when everyone hates something that is less than 1% off all time highs it h…
I was a commodities broker 40 years ago. Their returns (funds) since the 70s (allowing for the ones that vanished) is woeful. One glance at Morningstar's Commodity Broad Basket category for the past 3 and 5 years tells it all. Over the intervening…
Maybe I can say this better than what I posted and deleted over the weekend. If you held this fund since inception you are ahead of the S&P. But besides being -4.54% YTD it has also underperformed the S&P by 8.12% and 6.65% per annum over …
I haven't been a fan of corporate junk this year preferring municipal junk. But I agree with the above and have stated it before that it seems everyone and their mother hates junk. Marty Fridson highlighted in one of the links above is the acknowl…
A lot of dire forecasts for junk bonds in the various links of Ted original link above. Here's some more negative comments, these coming from Michael Aneiro's column in this week's Barron's. Mr. Aneiro has been a regular Cassandra on junk bonds fo…
What that's old saying about different strokes for different folks?
Edit: Thought I better delete the rest of my post as no need to ruffle feathers. We all have different strategies, risk tolerances, and goals. What feels comfortable for one i…
Diversification never seems to work for me. After today all I hold is NHMRX (90%) and LSFYX in my IRA and ABTYX in my taxable. I am not one for sitting tight (when a position is moving against me) but in hindsight (where we are all brilliant) shou…
Do junk bond funds count or are we just talking about equity funds? Junk bonds had their worst year/largest drawdown on record in 08 yet by August of 2009 the Merrill Lynch High Yield Master II Index was back to hitting all time highs. I haven't …
