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.
By contrast, THIS is an over-hyped story. I do not hold a formal CS or computing degree despite a successful career in the IT/cyber industry. Neither do many of those I learned from along the way. Heck, the best person on my team back then had j…
Speaking as a cybersecurity professional (20 years)[1] and now an academic, I can most certainly report the Equifax incident is *not* being over-hyped. This is a massive failure on several levels plus demonstrable incompetence by the Equifax IT org…
73% in financial stocks, most of which are non-cumulative distributions. No thank you .... I'm not giving Wall Street banks a loan for them to reneg on 'interest' payments to me WHEN (not if) they get into deep trouble again.
(x-posted also @ M*)
OH. MY. GAWDS.
For those looking to freeze their credit reporting data this weekend, you may find it pathetically interesting to note that the scheme Equifax uses to generate the PIN for you to thaw the freeze is, I kid you no…
I just typed 'test' (as my name) and '654321' (as my partial SSN) into the Equifax 'are you affected' website.
It says I may have been impacted. Oh really?
Other random BS variations inputted were either "affected" or "not affected." What kin…
LOL. I was thinking it would be an Irma TV news coverage drinking game. :)
Reporter standing outside in the rain & wind? Sip.
Photo of horizontal palm trees blowing? Sip.
Mention of "storm surge"? Drink.
Photos of traffic jams on the inte…
@MSF that's a fair assessment. That said I do wonder how many people do self-employed 401X accounts instead of IRAs .... or even know about them? I bet most people assume that 401X accounts are only available to employees of 'big businesses' and…
You miss my point. What I'm saying is that the IRA contribution rules assume a person will always be at or greater than their present salary levels -- which is not always the case.
Let's say you're self employed with an IRA which you contribute t…
I'm sure something will happen to retirement accounts at some point. For politicians[1], despite the potential backlash, it's just too tempting not to touch that enticing pool of restricted money.
Sadly there's still no talk of INCREASING the amo…
It's loaded up with companies that make hats? /sarcasm
Politics and investing 'themes' don't mix. Josh Brown did a good writeup on this the other day:
MAGA Muppet Bait
http://thereformedbroker.com/2017/09/01/maga-muppet-bait/
Capitalism can be crazy sometimes. Unless the next set of phones can drive me to work, slice bread, cook my meals, make my bed, and do my laundry while still making calls and sending emails at the same time, I see absolutely no chance of me buyin…
Exactly. Let the volatility pick up and premiums will come back on calls. I had to go out to Feb '18 to write a decent covered call as part of an options collar hedge I put on BA recently. So you can still find decent premiums if you either go …
An interesting question might be: "What are some unusual settings in which you've executed trades?"
I've placed, modified, or cancelled 'tactical' orders/trades[1] on my (secured) phones from trains, parking garages, and yes, even once while curl…
I mainly do my investing from my personal Macs .... but I'll also do tactical trades from my phone if the opportunity presents itself -- not all the time, ie on big news/drop days and I'm not near my laptop or desktop computers and I need to put a t…
OK, I can see the private placements thing -- thanks for the info.
I've owned 1000$ denominated preferreds before ... but sure, they're probably out of the range of most people.
So it buys preferreds. I don't see how this is any different from other preferred ETFs, though at a much higher ER (.85).
"institutional preferred securities market" .... is that marketing piffle? Their fact sheet suggests it's loaded with stuff …
It's interesting how many fund companies never see "reducing fund fees" as a way of attracting new money.....I say this as a shareholder of TWEIX, too.
The problem is that many people don't look at the par value of preferreds, just see the yield and pounce. Most savvy preferred investors will *rarely* buy a preferred trading more than one dividend payment above its call value (ie, $25).
That …
FWIW saying I don't think charging $20 fees on accounts under 10K is a horrific thing or TRP being greedy. If anything, it helps encourage people to build longer-term positions and not trade in/out of funds quickly, generate needless churn/paperwor…
Related item:
http://www.mutualfundobserver.com/discuss/discussion/34807/will-jeffrey-gundlach-s-trump-like-approach-on-twitter-work-in-financial-services#latest
I think it's farcical and makes him look like a Trump-wannabe, yes. While perhaps acceptable to him in cultivating his image, were I an investor I am always leery of fund managers who work so hard on their PR 'rock star' status and media 'optics' …
Giroux' second act? Interesting reading -- definitely worth keeping an eye on, thanks for posting the announcement. I hold PRWCX and been very pleased w/it ... though this looks to be the opposite of it, being more debt/FI-heavy than equity heavy.…
Responding briefly -- and reserve the right to quit the discussion at any time if I feel it's going off the rails into political noise.
I think the first few CEOs that quit the WH council did the right thing based on principle -- certainly the Merc…
I'm on both sites and find value in both forum communities. Is there noise that I ignore on both sites? Absolutely ... but it's well worth navigating for the nuggets of useful crowdsourced wisdom. I've leard a lot from ppl on both sites, frankly.
…
These days I'd definitely make sure they're a RIA and not a broker. When it comes to products, advice, and service the former has customer's best interests in mind; the 'broker' has their firm's best interests in mind. (although there are always e…
I think Mattis-Kelly-McMaster are solid bulwarks against him totally going off the nuclear rails. But even if some of them take a principled stand, he can always fire them and others until he gets yes-folks to do his work ... be it fire Mueller or …
It's all okay, no big deal, ha ha ha ha .... remember he's (still) new to this politics stuff....
To quote C-3P0, "this isn't very reassuring." *bangs head*
Trump’s Threat to North Korea Was Improvised
By PETER BAKER and GLENN THRUSH …
I would say that some, maybe many, here do not really know many, much less have as children, hardworking nose-down millennials. But generalizing from media reporting is ever so much funner.
Perhaps. But as faculty at a public university I see this …
How much nuclear devastation can be fitted in-between golf rounds? Stay tuned, live from Bedminster.
Dear Orange has met his equal in Dear Leader. Both are full of bluster and bloviation, relatively clueless about the world, and have their finger…
I have heard that some insurance companies give a greater discount to "new" customers. That translates to teasers, which I'd rather avoid. Once they have their clutches on you, the rates go up. Makes me leery to change companies. Haven't heard g…
And yet it's still a core holding in various Parnassus accounts. How bad does Wells Fargo's "G" have to get before Parnassus feels their "ESG" investing philosphy has been violated, and finally drop it from their portfolios?
Since the mid-90s and my first car, I've had GEICO (or their partners) for auto, condo, and umbrella policies. Not having an agent to talk to is fine by me ... I've never had problems with their call centers when filing claims or updating my poli…
JoJo, agree completely. Even today, as a debt-free GenX'er with a nice salary and comfortable but modest lifestyle, that once-a-week dinner delivery on the weekend still feels like a treat to me. But to do it every day? Sheesh.
Ahd the uber-expe…
I had an '05 Acura MDX for 11 years and loved it - low TCO and great ride. I tried a BMW x3 SUV and after 3 years hated it -- not only were there so many others on the road, but I needed more legroom following foot surgery. (You can't remove the s…
Excellent advice - always good to re-read stuff like that.
When I first got into futures and options, a retired futures trader told me that amateurs focus first on the possibility of reward; professionals (and those that tend to last in the indust…
