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.
Support MFO
Donate through PayPal
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
Are we approaching China’s model on private companies, state-run companies?
The Chip Act was passed in 2022 to encourage domestic investment on semiconductor manufacturing. Results is mixed after 3 years that shows re-sourcing manufacturing is n…
It is all about painting a narrative of a robust economy and lower rate would make it even better. Musk said about Bessent being a two time loser as a money manager, and perhaps there some truth to it.
Cannot imagine to deploy our military on our very own citizens and cities under the pretense of civic unrest. Notice that he is doing it now in the BLUE states.
Thank you @yogibb for the data. The full impact of tariffs has been delayed due to front-loading of imported goods. In coming months, the full effect will show up in goods price as well as higher CPI. This morning the wholesale prices was reported t…
I concur with @crash that we are also at a modest exposure to US stocks. Even though the emotion behind FOMO persists, bonds are more compelling for us. For once, our are over-weighing to oversea exposure on stocks and bonds have benefited our cons…
a2z said:
i now see giroux more now as a conservative but opportunistic asset allocater rather than stock picker.
I agree. Very opportunistic is a good description of his approach. As an example, he started buying utility stocks as a “pick and s…
On June commentary this year, our MFO contributor, @lynnbolin22 recommended VGYAX for conservative global investors.
https://mutualfundobserver.com/2025/06/investing-internationally-for-the-timid-investor/
Going forward, this fund will perform bet…
Thank you. One has to wonder why Vanguard would venture down the internal fund path while the survival rate is truly terrible. One of the graph indicates 90% of alternatives survive 1-3 years.
Yet many university endowments have sizable alloca…
Doesn’t look encouraging for the broader market going forward. Can you blame them for the uncertainties resulting from the tariffs in their planning. Read on Bloomberg that the smaller companies are having even harder time with their oversea suppli…
Here is Lewis Braham’s article without the paywall. Noted that the table of internal funds is missing.
https://msn.com/en-us/money/savingandinvesting/interval-funds-charge-big-fees-vanguard-is-looking-to-challenge-that/ar-AA1JZFzu#:~:text=Vanguard…
Is the sky falling? No. But things are very cloudy.
Thanks @sma3. The CPI data will release next week.
The CPI for July is expected to have climbed 2.8% on an annual basis, according to a Reuters poll of economists. Investors will be watching to …
To @yogibb’s point on mutual fund shops. The analyst support at PIMCO is far deeper comparing to those of smaller shops such as Oakmark. Case in point, when Bill Gross, the bond king, left PIMCO and went to Janus Henderson, the equivalent Janus fu…
Thank you. Very interesting on the divergence between the two groups as shown in the first graph. In my opinion, there is too many instability on the market to say the momentum is trending upward.
I asked AI and it said that response is well meaning but could cause inflation and is national security threat, so we should cut spending and then cut taxes.
Isn’t this scenario and AI response exactly what is happening in 2025??
Exactly! That is…
Let’s take on Harvard’s model and take this administration to court as the allegation is pure non-sense.
After all, the state of California has one of the most capable governor, Gavin Newsom.
Let’s take on Harvard’s model to take this administration to court as pure non-sense.
After all, the state of California has one of the most capable governor, Gavin Newsom.
Thanks for the data, @catch22. No wonder many people are living paycheck to paycheck. Enough said.
Something can be said about the older generations where they manage to live within their means while save for retirement and send their kids to co…
The mRNA approach to enable COVID-19 vaccines development is nothing short of a miracle; let alone millions of lives it saved. RFK and his followers are well known anti-vaxxer and this came as no surprise. Wait until there is another mass outbreak …
I watch the money flow since February and they are pivoting away from the US. It would be a mess when the big treasury holders are selling their holding.
The impact of tariffs is showing up now in higher prices among food, retail goods, and services. And the full effect has yet to come. Little room for the FED to cut rate in September with the weak labor market (over the last several months) while w…
Excerpt from Professor Heather Cox Richardson’s newsletter this morning:
President Donald J. Trump’s firing of the commissioner of labor statistics on Friday for announcing that job growth has slowed dramatically has drawn a level of attention to T…
Agree that is a rare moment to see Vanguard models.
We have over-weighed international stock allocation relative to US since late 2024. Additionally we moved our bonds towards oversea in light of increased federal debt and treasury downgrade.
Thank you @yogibb. M* portfolio X-ray was useful when it was available for T. Rowe Price customers. These days it is available only for high net worth customers.
Fidelity brokerage offers a basic tool with limited capabilities.
Future market is down for Friday, August 1, 2025.
https://finviz.com/futures.ashx
So much wins as he sent out tariffs letters to many counties before the artificial August 1st deadline. Most notable countries are India 25%, Canada 35%, and Switze…
In my opinion bonds present better opportunities than that of stocks. For now i am comfortable with our asset allocation and this watching on the sideline.
@Mona, importing companies can either absorb the added tariffs (impact their earning) or pas…
From LizAnn Sonder’s interview, she expects the tariff will lower the earning growth, slows the economy, and the higher import prices get pass onto the consumers. The declining USD against other major currencies may be another factor.
youtube.com…
Data centers require lots of water for cooling purposes in addition to electricity. The western states are having another dry years. Are there more sustaining ways to operate these data centers ?
Thank you, @Observant1. It was an excellent interview, and LizAnn answered many questions with much details.
Here is 2025 best performing stocks in S&P 500, and they are not the Magnificat 7.
https://slickcharts.com/sp500/performance
Edits:…
Think of it. AI + facial recognition. What a combination.
The Jason Bourne films showed the surveillance capability in order to identify and track individuals in various locations. Today, the AI used by FBI can identify individuals who is wearing…
From Hank’s link. It is lope-sided in favor of Japan’s auto industry.
The new deal includes access for American cars in Japan, but that isn’t much of a carrot. American companies sold only 16,000 cars in Japan, a mere 0.35% of that country’s tota…
This is a diversion tactics to avoid the Epstein’s files. This is the real thing that potentially can brings down this administration. .
Edit: what is known of Trump in the public space is simply creepy. John Dean of Nixon administration once s…
