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.
@VintageFreak
My responsibility-to-others plate is a bit overflowing right now so can't help; but if you're willing to put in the time and work, I promise to read and thoroughly consider everything you report. Maybe something pops out and warrants d…
@AndyJ
Well, that's a rather stark assessment (took the words right outta my mind)! I guess, when it comes to managed futures in a MF wrapper, we're just not glass half-full kinda guys? :)
I'm afraid I'll have to withhold any commitment to his global macro strategies, until I learn more about the mental and physical well being of his pets, and what they think about the current situation (which he all-too conveniently omitted from his …
Headline key words trigger The Algos. Meanwhile, carbon-based fixed income traders say, "nah, I don't think so" and stay put.
@Charles Share buybacks are spent out, and balance sheet tricks work until they don't. From what little I've read that has…
@Tampabay Ha, hammer to nail, that's probably it, plus (I would add) an almost resolute belief that 2008-2009 never ever happened. :)
But to stay true to JohnN's post, several months ago I started to feel uncomfortable and, in step with what older …
@Ted Sorry, was that a little too harsh? It's just that I expected better from Oakmark, and find it all quite disappointing. And it doesn't help I'm having one of those "global disgusted" kind of days. It's a very pleasant afternoon outside; maybe I…
Oh, good Lord (or whoever) have mercy! Here we go again, justifying investments in criminal banking enterprises, who continue to use accounting gimmickry (FASB rule 157) to hide a bunch of 2008 toxic debt they still hold, and who continue to be caug…
Some here are referring to "cash equivalents" with words such as "TIPS, and related bonds [?]" and "low duration bond funds." Fascinating!! Please, describe for me, what could you possibly have used as your detour point to take you down this perditi…
I dunno; I also use Firefox (yes, recent update) and Barron's Gross interview came thru just fine, as do other things that Ted jumps thru hoops to set up. Perhaps the WSJ "knows" this workaround and doesn't allow their system to get fooled by it.
F…
@Junkster
Yeah, well, mind that channel. Last time I took a glance, it was narrowing (or is it? it's hard to tell). :)
Junk munis a fickle lover be.
The lack of attractive alternatives could dupe you into staying too long, ya know?
It is done; Ivascyn becomes new CIO.
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-09-26/pimco-picks-ivascyn-as-investment-chief-as-gross-departs.html
But what does this mean for Pimco Income (PONAX/PONDX) management? Will Alfred Murata take over sole manage…
Well, if you see this sort of (silly) talk perpetuated here and there in the next several weeks, then that's your sign: if you're in, prepare to leave, and if you're not in, stay away. The pump-and-dump will be on.
re. VASBX
FEL= a mere 3.75%
Contingent deferred sales charge= 0.50%, 18 frigin' months?(uh, I don't think so)
e.r.= 1.41% ["gross" expenses of 2.12%... indeed]
It's The Aston Way, writ large.
No thank you very much.... I'll pass.
@Old_Skeet What…
In a report that was just released entitled "Changes in U.S. Family Finances from 2010 to 2013: Evidence from the Survey of Consumer Finances", the Federal Reserve revealed that small business ownership in America "fell substantially" between 2010 a…
There is a DoubleLine webcast scheduled for this afternoon. Gundlach will be the presenter. I'm sure we'll be getting quite a bit more than soundbites from him then. I haven't liked the recent action either but don't know what, if anything, it means…
JS also had one of his infrequent commentaries in Reuters last week (toward the end, I think). When I see his name, I don't even read the byline; I just click on the link because I know it's gonna be some fun, whatever it's about.
@msf Thanks for your excellent commentary and for taking the time to do it.
The first and only time this came to my attention was shortly after the financial crisis. Schwab increased their fees, apparently for the distinct privilege of placing a MF…
@MikeM Who am I to begrudge another man's generosity, even when it comes less from a new-found agape for mankind and more from a residual EPO-like high that's lingering from his recent jauntings in the Appalachians? ;)
@Junkster Yes, that was unexpected, the response to Europe news. Ts should have shown at least some response upward. But then, today I see that Draghi essentially came in with some (more) QE--- although the ECB is quite reticent to call it that--- …
Ummmm, Firefox just issued their next version, version 32.0. Since I have automatic update, it was installed almost before I knew it. Some sites are "tending toward the slow side" for the download, so far, while some sites are fine.
Under Help, se…
During the Silly Seasons, I wish the ISM itself could be "seasonally adjusted." I'm not sure what that would entail, but it would be something more serious than a joke.
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2014-09-04/about-seasonally-adjusted-soaring-ism-…
How to find investments where the risk/reward has a positive skew? How to assess risk when it is not possible to measure even the variables you know must be in the equation, let alone the ones you know you might be missing? I find this essay to be o…
While most of the peek-a-boo snapshots I saw (circa 8) lacked redeeming value (IMO; sorry, I can't cite any ref. for it), I felt the "Verlander Phallus, in silhouette" was pure artistic portraiture. Almost iconic in form, it did not need to "get a l…
Bingo! It was Abnormal Returns, Wed. August 20th.
Finance
William Lazonick, “The buyback wave has gotten so big, in fact, that even shareholders—the presumed beneficiaries of all this corporate largesse—are getting worried.” (HBR)
http://hbr.org…
Oh my, JB strikes again! His head is so in the game, he just keeps getting better and better. "He's a bookmark!"
I came by the paper he attends last week. Almost posted it to MFO, but felt I couldn't do so in good conscience before reading the whol…
The Barrons and M* links go to articles that require a subscription and consequently are of no use to me. The info is inaccessible, I cannot mentally participate.
@LewisBraham I am glad that Ted's posting method agrees with you, and that you can re…
@ibartman Yeah, it's like that one Supreme Court decision re. pornography: you can't really define it but--- darn it--- you just know it went ya see it.
@Ted Of course, if you can't really define it, you better hope that's not one of the 3 question…
@Ted
1. would this be used as a hedge-a-"rooskie" for the Ukrainian bonds in your global/EM bond fund(s)? :)
2. probably want to stay away from denominating in the sovereign--- ruble not doing so hotsy-totsy lately....("like" new record low vs. dol…
Several months ago, I posted on the same thing happening, in a sizable way, with CLOs, but no one found it noteworthy. Little from 2007 way-of-doing-business has changed, just more non-rule rules.
http://www.mutualfundobserver.com/discuss/discussio…
Well, at first I saw the London Bridge on the Thames, but now that I've had a couple Dews, yeah, I'm seeing the mountains VF is seeing.
My guess is its the perf chart for the Ushba Pinnacle Retirement Fund, named after Mt. Ushba, the most beautiful…
Hey, given enough time, even the normally clueless dumb money crowd can get it together and figure out when the jig is up. But I read about this outflow somewhere else and I think most of it flowed back into their fixed income funds, i.e. a net zero…
@David_Snowball
Ah, the Bottomline spider caught in its own web. Probably a waste of breath to suggest another path, like a baseball manager offering positioning advice to a field umpire. As an umpire, I never appreciated that very much. :)
"How qu…
@rjb112 Yeah. Maybe, at some point, we could get @BobC (he's a licensed financial advisor with a number, isn't he?) to go register at Aston and take a peek under the privileged covers, just to see if the fund information available to advisors is "a…
