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.
@yogibearbull,
You might enjoy this book (The Prosperous Retirement):
Reviewed here (in greater detail):
https://retirementresearcher.com/retirement-spending-increases-decreases-time/
An important simplifying assumption in William Bengen’s researc…
Global Shocks author Nicholas Sargen says Trump’s tariff policies are of historic proportions with lasting consequences for the global economy and financial markets.
https://youtu.be/29N3ttSKXqU
@Old_Joe said,
• Schwab does it by creating situations where they, not the customer, use the customer's money.
• If Schwab stops doing that, then they will just figure out some other way to do what they need to.
• That's life!
Somehow you seem OK wi…
Schwab paid millions to buy USAA Brokerage accounts when I was a account holder at USAA. USAA pocketed those millions (nothing came to the account holders) and Schwab eliminated a competing platform (in this case, USAA Brokerage), so this recent cla…
April 18th Episode:
Award-winning bond manager Mary Ellen Stanek is finding unusual opportunities in the recent bond market turmoil. She shares what they are and her advice to investors on handling unsettling markets.
April 11th Episode:
Managing investment risk has never been more important. Award-winning financial advisor Mark Cortazzo shares his strategies for avoiding, transferring and mitigating market risk to avoid permanent losses.
Second ARTKX - good international value fund.
FMIJX - an international value fund choice if you are extremely patient and purchase at the right price. Over last 10 yr FMIJX provided index like (VXUS) return with less volatility.
VWIGX - Internationa…
Help me with the reasons for why foreign countries hold US Treasuries.
Trade is one very big reason.
The US, for many years, exported US inflation by buying cheaper imports from around the world.
These countries, in turn, brought US Treasuries to…
@Sven said,
I understand that iPhones have very high profit margins
I looked into Apple's "economic footprint" and discovered that Apple exceeds the government revenues of Switzerland, Norway and Russia. Only 9 countries are larger economic entitie…
Article explains the "Major Questions Doctrine" that might come into play with Trumps Tariffs and the Courts.
https://vox.com/scotus/407051/supreme-court-trump-tariffs-major-questions
Apr 5, 2025 Episode:
Retired Treasury bond manager Robert Kessler has always been skeptical of Wall Street’s “stocks for the long term” mantra. He explains why he is completely out of stocks in his personal portfolio—and why you should consider doin…
@JD_co
Trade with Russia has dropped from $30B to $3B over the last 4 years. Pay attention to sanctions rolling back going forward.
Interesting Fact sheet:
https://tradingeconomics.com/united-states/imports/russia
Part 2 with Ed Yardeni:
Ed Yardeni reflects on the remarkable resilience of the US economy and markets over the years despite what happens in Washington and around the world.
https://youtu.be/gYLoUWIjISM
March 22nd Episode:
Trump tariffs are upending financial markets, causing influential economist and strategist Ed Yardeni to turn from bullish to cautious.
https://youtu.be/9QLvhdYJ9-Y
March 1st episode (re-broadcasted from July 2024):
As mutual funds mark their 100th anniversary do they still work for investors? Answers from Morningstar’s mutual fund maven, Russ Kinnel.
Feb 22nd Episode:
Social Security guru Mary Beth Franklin discusses the program’s financial challenges and outlook, plus individual strategies to maximize its benefits.
https://youtu.be/A3DmGfXgDgg
Its funny what we consider "employment" and what we consider important "statistics".
I stopped my "full time career employment" at age 51. I spent the next 7 years caring for my elderly mom. I went from a well paying 8 hour job to a non-paying 24 h…
With a little work on your part going forward (self managing) you can eliminate the advisor's 1% annual fee.
Going forward think of the 1% savings this way,
As a retiree, this 1% annual fee equates to a 25% savings of your 4% Safe Withdrawal Rate…
Feb 15th Episode:
“Rethinking Investing” is legendary financial consultant Charley Ellis’ “eureka” moment when all his investment wisdom and experience came together in one short volume.
ONE INVESTMENT
ELLIS: LONG, LONG RUN INVESTMENT
Buy a lo…
Inflation is the delta to new price levels. When inflation "inflates prices", prices of things often remain at these new price levels until the next round of inflation deltas prices higher.
The 70's saw inflation step up over and over again. That …
@PRESSmUP
That was a great read. I sometimes forget what I post, so thanks for the reminder.
Information has to be timed to be most impactful.
Great timing with that one for me.
Thanks.
Feb 8th Episode:
Going against the consensus again, influential economist David Rosenberg explains why inflation will be lower and the Fed will have to cut interest rates more than expected in the year ahead.
Some links from the interview:
BeigeBook…
Most are going down only 1 basis point. Not sure why it's generating this level of media coverage ... it's a non-issue for most people who wouldn't even notice.
Headline:
Vanguard drop it's fees 50%
- that's the kinda hype going from 1.5 basis poi…
Feb 1st Episode:
Outspoken and influential market economist David Rosenberg reflects on the extraordinary bull market of the last two years and why he isn’t changing his bearish outlook.
News of DeepSeek rattling Utilities' AI opportunities
CEG (-18%) and VST (-24%) down double digits @ 11AM EST
technology/artificial-intelligence/what-is-deepseek-why-is-it-disrupting-ai-sector
@msf
I wanted to share this article regarding the use of direct indexing investing (author uses a Fidelity product) for the purpose of tax loss harvesting to manage losses and unrealized gains to manage LT capital gains taxes.
articles/direct-inde…
Institutions weigh in on their 10 year forecast across (4) asset allocations:
how-far-out-of-whack-are-fund-investors-asset-allocations-800-billion-give-or-take
Jan 25th Episode:
Strategas’ Chief Investment Strategist, Jason Trennert has a long track record of calling major investment themes. He shares his predictions for 2025.
https://www.yahoo.com/finance/news/every-major-wall-street-analysts-151341739.html
Click on "Story Continues" to see full chart of predictions that I've been unable to Copy/Paste here.
Very interesting prediction by Giroux.
I came across this "sentiment" indicator (1/23/25) with respect to NYSE A-D Line showing signs of YTD divergence.
From the link:
The reason why analysts pay so much attention to breadth indicators like the A-D Line is that most times they will d…
I came across this quote from the Crossing Wall Street blog today:
Not too long ago, Wall Street assumed that the Federal Reserve would be slashing interest rates this year. That may not be the case. The Fed meets again next week, and you can forget…
