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.
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LewisBraham
Hi Hank,
Your satire came across very well. Don't worry about the user name.
Best,
Lewis
@BobC Bogle has never advocated pulling money from your retirement accounts because of potential low returns. Quite the opposite. He advocates similarly to you to maximize your retirement investments and minimize your costs to prepare for a low retu…
If I were seeking financial advice, I think I would trust someone named Jack Bogle more than someone who calls himself "The Linkster." Bogle's calculations are based on earnings growth, dividend yields and valuation. Those are the fundamental units …
Here's the thing. War is economically a lot like any other government spending program that stimulates growth and consumption. But I'd rather spend my tax dollars building schools, hospitals, bridges and roads in the U.S. than on bullets and bombs a…
The more a company resembles a monopoly, the less it will care about its brand image or its end product. If there is a choice only between United and one or two other carriers, they are less likely to care whether you like them or not. It's also pos…
I've heard of people who invest in it, but their investment gets depleted very quickly. There are also storage costs to rolling the futures so you are perpetually in contango and never get high enough.
@Ted You only worked for the money you invested, not the profit you received. Someone else produced that profit. And they are putting more than their money--their financial capital--at risk when they work to make those profits for you. They are putt…
@Ted When you receive a capital gains or dividend distribution from your mutual fund, how have you worked for that dividend or capital gain distribution? You may have worked for the $1,000 you put into the fund, but not for the $100 in profit you ge…
Good post, David.
@Ted Yes because we all know that the stock market functions in a vacuum and all that money made in our funds has no impact on the real world. Profits come via the magical profit fairy waiving her magic wand. It has nothing to do …
I agree the article didn't explain exponential tech well. Here are better explanations:
bigthink.com/think-tank/steven-kotlers-six-ds-of-exponential-entrepreneurship
https://ishares.com/us/literature/product-brief/ishares-exponential-technologies-e…
@mikeM,
Um, I came up with the Carnac bit. So you owe your fun to the guy you're telling to lighten up. The problem is there are strategists who get paid seven figures for these kinds of numerical predictions and many people take them seriously. In …
I think those making specific end of year predictions should go to OTB and bet on the horses instead. Gentlemen/Ladies, this is investing, not a casino. Why not provide serious analysis of the market, economy, sectors, even individual companies inst…
Umm, UAL doesn't have much blood on it. The stock is up 27% annualized over the last five years and is close to its five year high. It's no bargain anymore. You could make a better case for WFC, although it too is only about 11% below its five-year …
It sounds like what you really need is a financial planner with estate planning, investment and tax expertise. You can search for fee-only ones with specific specialties here:
findanadvisor.napfa.org/Home.aspx
Interesting pieces on the incident:
https://theatlantic.com/business/archive/2017/04/united-video-scandal-law/522552/
https://usatoday.com/story/opinion/2017/04/10/overbooking-airlines-fault-passengers-tellusatoday/100305334/
Although overbooking…
Actually Ares Capital (ARCC)--described inaccurately in the story--invests primarily in the debt of private companies, not equity. Only a handful of these BDC securities in the U.S. and proxies in foreign markets invest mainly in private equity.
Why are these Social Security proposals always floated right when markets are peaking instead of at their bottoms like in 2009? Also, if you are a regulator looking to investigate Microsoft, Exxon or Bank of America for dirty dealing, what sort of p…
@MJG So basically, you didn't read the article and are passing judgement on it. Makes sense. And it is hardly a "distinction without a difference" on a site devoted to undiscovered funds, that there is a tiny fund--Fuller and Thaler's FTHNX--knockin…
@MJG The only problem is this isn't what the story was really about. It was about how mutual funds like Undiscovered Managers Behavioral Value UBVAX and Fuller & Thaler Behavioral Small-Cap Equity FTHNX use behavioral finance techniques to tr…
From the NPR article: He says Barnes & Noble also invested in beefing up its online sales. Eventually, it also developed its own e-reader, the Nook.
Borders did not. Instead, it expanded its physical plant, refurbished its stores and outsourced…
@MJG
We are all greedy, lazy bastards. Wall Street is even more so. That doesn't make them evil. They are just more money motivated than we are.
cyn·i·cism ˈsinəˌsizəm/noun
noun: cynicism; noun: Cynicism
1. an inclination to believe that peo…
Click here
https://bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-07-30/the-amount-of-etf-shares-being-traded-has-eclipsed-u-s-gdp
Then click here:
sifma.org/factbook/
The amount of speculation--paper trading hands--versus the amount of actual capital raised to…
Click here
https://bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-07-30/the-amount-of-etf-shares-being-traded-has-eclipsed-u-s-gdp
Then click here:
sifma.org/factbook/
The amount of speculation--paper trading hands--versus the amount of actual capital raised to…
I could do without iPhones, Netflix, Chevy pickups and wide screen TVs. Grocery stores yeah I need those, but local groceries could easily exist without Wall Street. Capitalism could still exist without Wall Street. And even local banks and credit u…
From the article:
Chinese strategy is to reach Trump through his family. The FT describes the background.
China seems to have grasped that the best way to influence Mr Trump is via his family. Chinese diplomats have gone out of their way to co…
@VintageFreak
Insurance companies already do sell catastrophic portfolio insurance via annuities that have high water marks and guaranteed rates of return. Although they don't disclose how they insure that your annuity portfolio doesn't lose more t…
Basically an out of the money put option is cheap insurance that only pays off if the worst happens. It is the financial equivalent of catastrophic insurance. It will do nothing in a normal market but if the market goes down 15% or 20% it can save y…
