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LewisBraham
Hi Hank,
Your satire came across very well. Don't worry about the user name.
Best,
Lewis
@John: Here is research from Princeton University on sugar's addictiveness: princeton.edu/main/news/archive/S22/88/56G31/index.xml?section=topstories
Here's an Article in the New York Times: nytimes.com/2014/12/23/opinion/sugar-season-its-everywhere…
@Old Joe. The highly addictive nature and toxicity of sugar was discussed on 60 Minutes in this segment. : cbsnews.com/news/is-sugar-toxic-01-04-2012/
The addictive nature is discussed starting on minute 9:56. But 60 Minutes and the universities doi…
@Tampa: I merely stated the facts, Tampa, not asserted any morality to them. Addictive products tend to be immensely profitable ones. And it's no accident by the way that Philip Morris, now Altria also once owned a snack food business. Sugar has bee…
The drug dealing business has always been extremely profitable because the supply-demand equation bucks the fundamental marginal utility law of economics. If you're an addict, the more drugs you have, the more you want. So it's no surprise that Altr…
Given the fact that investors basically doubled their money in the stock market under Obama and lost about half of it under Bush, I wonder why there is all this hatred directed at him on a mutual fund discussion board. If someone says race, the hate…
You're right, John. Vanguard as an indexer can't sell shares. It also means as an an indexer it is the ultimate long-term investor holding shares essentially forever. Therefore these issues of corporate governance at companies matter a great deal. J…
@Ted Given the fact that the world's largest mutual fund company just changed its policies regarding how it discloses its proxy votes, this horse seems very much alive.
While I applaud this step in the right direction by Vanguard, it is not enough in my view. As usual, I am in agreement with Bogle. If you own shares of a Vanguard 500 Index fund, you are also owners of its underlying stocks--Apple, Exxon, Walmart. W…
The bigger point to Vanguard's lackluster stance on environmental issues and how it affects all fund shareholders is already in the story:
"Institutional investors often scoff at such proposals as irrelevant to shareholders. But there’s ample evid…
LLJB,
My impression from interviewing EGA's people is it was a lack of investor interest, but I wouldn't be surprised if they also lacked much of a marketing budget as a small ETF shop. The thing is the primary investors of ETFs are financial planne…
Saying "shareholder proposals are not in the shareholders interest" is a rather Orwellian remark. I would think shareholder proposals regarding excess executive compensation, which is what the original AFSCME studies measured and found Vanguard lack…
Bay,
It is the aggregate numbers that matter more than individual cases, and the last time it was checked Vanguard had one of the worst records of voting for executive compensation and against shareholder proposals to reign that compensation in. But…
The notion that Vanguard is doing much in the way of corporate activism seems dubious still to me. In the past they've been one of the biggest enablers of corporate excess, rubber stamping almost every pay package for CEOs put before them:afscme.org…
The stock market and the economy have historically done better under Democratic control than Republican: forbes.com/sites/adamhartung/2012/10/10/want-a-better-economy-history-says-vote-democrat/
Scott,
While Sprott Resource's performance as a company is poor, this ETF's benchmark was co-developed with Zacks Investment Research. So it is not completely a Sprott endeavor. Also, while it's always possible to screw up managing any fund, in mos…
ibartman, you're welcome. Regarding the IELG vs DFEOX comparison, one year's performance isn't very meaningful, but it doesn't surprise me that DFEOX has done well. DFA is a very interesting shop and has unique advantages other index/quant shops don…
Heezsafe,
If you want to get into the rather tiresome free vs anti-free content debate again, I suggest you read this: https://nplusonemag.com/issue-20/the-intellectual-situation/the-free-and-the-antifree/
I'm sorry but I'm not into writing about E…
Hi ibartman,
I think the Morningstar article on hidden quality in dividend ETFs makes a lot of sense with some caveats. The author rightly points readers not just to dividend paying ETFs but ones that emphasize sustainable dividends as high dividen…
There's a part of me that agrees with you, Crash. But why stop with intellectual property if it's all BS in your view? Have you heard of usufruct laws? I'm going to come over to your house and squat in your backyard.
Since it was my writing Ted copied and pasted, I feel justified in weighing in here. I personally don't like the idea of any MFO member being monitored for every post they make. If we're all honorable people, it should be up to members as a group to…
Jlev,
Vanguard does have performance-based fees for its active funds, but these adjustments are usually relatively small in either direction so that Vanguard still has the edge over many ETFs. Also, it is in most cases a win-win situations because t…
Thanks for your support MFO members. I noticed the Vanguard story has been flagged and edited so that all of my content hasn't been copied, but this Fidelity one hasn't. It would be nice if this one could be changed as well.
Thanks for your support MFO members. I'm glad to see David flagged and edited this thread. I am happy to have readers but I need to maintain the integrity of my work and the publications I write for. Maybe next time instead of copying the text you c…
While I greatly appreciate MFO members' interest in my articles, I find it inconsiderate and disrespectful of my craft as a writer and work as a journalist that you post the entirety of my texts on your site instead of just a paragraph and a hyperli…
While I greatly appreciate MFO members' interest in my articles, I find it inconsiderate and disrespectful of my craft as a writer and work as a journalist that you post the entirety of my texts on your site instead of just a paragraph and a hyperli…
