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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Sven
Lynn,
Thank you so much. I am planning on a 3-year ladder since I am a year away from retirement. Lots of spreadsheet work to calculate the income replacement needed. This ladder will create a steady income stream. So thank you for all your help.
I moved back to high quality bond funds this year. Some of which you covered in the SA article. For now, I will stay with agency bonds to the bond ladder. I will pick active managers for corporate bonds.
Sven
@John, this is exact platform the current party ran on and won - debt restructuring and no more austerity. Greece is in no position to "demand" rather than bargaing.
I agree with Scott analysis that Apple is not becoming a bank. Apple Pay will bring in steady and increasing revenue stream without having to build the infrastructure (Scott's railroad analogy).
@Bee, my teenage kids are well verse with Apple dev…
China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) was probing investors who used stock index futures to short the market.
Shorting an index is a common trading practice in stock markets, so NOT sure that is the only cause of the steep decline. There ar…
As for the topic, I'm not sure location of a fund company results in added insights but that's just me.
In today's digital age where information and connectivity are readily available, the company location is less important comparing to the past. E…
@Old_Joe, Same in our household. We have migrated to Mac over ten years ago, but we have not running issues you have experienced. Unfortunately we are still using Windows at work and it take an army of IT support for maintance.
For ultimate sec…
Due to their conservative nature Vanguard has much lower allocation to PR bonds. The High Yield Tax-free bond fund has the highest exposure fund at 1.8%.
@Catch, the article is pretty funny and sad at the same time.
And for a €3 you supposedly get a postcard sent from Alex Tsipras, the Greek Prime Minister.
Some of China’s biggest state firms were found to have falsified revenue and profits, while some state lenders doled out loans to unqualified borrowers, the nation’s auditor said amid an intensifying crackdown on corruption.
http://bloomberg.com/new…
@msf, wonder how insurance companies would pay for these "experimental" procedures? My personal experience with the largest insurance company is that they are very conservative.
Current events with Chinese markets and Puerto Rico would added volatility in the near term. Greece sitution is likely priced into the market. Don't think all this will lead to market correction though.
If these news cause lost sleep, you need…
Same here. This maybe a stretch. Isn't spreading the risk of subprime mortgages among credit worthy ones in individual security a good thing back in 2007-2008?
@Scott and Bee, these large number of new accounts came from novice investors. The propensity or love of gambling in the world of investing is a bad combination. Not sure if Chinese citizens can invest their $$ outside of China. Beware that the b…
@Ted, congratulation to your fund pick - 70%! Unlike the late 90's, many biotech firms are actually producing products cannot be manufactured by traditional drug companies while making good profits. Like you I also invest with T. Rowe Price Healt…
Not being nitpicky, but the picture of the biotech lab is pretty impressive...
The biotech companies within healthcare sector has been doing well in the last several years, not just 2015.
Moreover, REITs often move in a different direction from stocks or bonds. In the past three decades, REITs’ rolling 36-month correlation with other stocks—a measure of whether their returns moved independently of one another, or in tandem—has ranged…
@Mo, agree with you there. Enjoyed visiting Greece in the past, but there are serious structural problems remained from the past. They are experiencing high unemployment since 2007 (especially among the younger generations) and the educated ones l…
Have been adding to Franklin Mutual European fund, MEURX for awhile. Like the currency hedging in the fund. Europe is in early phase of recovery and there is more to go vs US.
Also added to Vanguard Health Care ETF, VHT.
No changes to bond a…
The bigger issue of Greece's problem is the situation can spread to other weaker EU countries including Italy, Portugal, Spain, and (possibly) Ireland. Ultimately survivability of EURO as the single common currency becomes a question mark.
…
@Old_Skeet, my hat off to you! My parents have done similar thing when we were growing up and we maintained a lush veggie garden water largely from rain water.
Additionally, if it gets to the point where we have to discuss as a nation that we have to start figuring out a way to send water by rail to California... geez.
@Scott, really like your investment idea on water.
I think getting water to US is m…
The security breach is more expansive including security clearance application. This could compromise intelligent agents working oversea.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/chinese-hack-of-government-network-compromises-secur…
Even Yale/Harvard endowments are not using 200 investment vehicles. Read elsewhere that Calpers failed to keep up with the expected return in recent years and thus they ventured into hedge funds without knowing the cost and benefits.
I do miss Craftsman's tools. Now they are all Markita and DeWalt. As such, I have no interest in Fairholme funds while BRK.B has done very well in the same time period (no drama).
Unfortunately this is the dark side of capitalism. Management team gets rewarded when they cut cost (as in domestic human capital) that ultimately leads to higher stock price and large bonus, regardless of the quality of the products or services th…
These countries already have serious structural problems to begin with. Thus It is unrealistic for IMF (particularly Germany) to expect them to meet their debt obligation. The run on the banks scenario already started in Greece. Ted posted a simi…
@MJG, I too have been working with Portfolio Visualizer for awhile. In addition, I have access to Financial Engine from work that open my eyes on back-testing.
