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.
Given the strong chance that the U.S. economy will barely crawl the next 2-3 years (maybe even a small recession in 2014?), and the fact that much of Europe is already in recession and could be in the dumps for a long time, where else is there besid…
We would be cautious buyers of equities. For sure dollar-cost-averaging. We would purchase bonds at 100% of the allocation targets. I am not smart enough to know when the dust has settled. At some point folks should do re-balancing, but that is …
Reply to @Soupkitchen: Hi Soupkitchen. We continue to hold PRPFX in many of our conservative client accounts. It provides some ownership in assets that these folks otherwise would not have, such as gold, silver, foreign currency, real estate. We …
HYPE??? To think that CNBC would actually hype something? Oh, for shame! These folks would never hype something for ratings, would they? LOL! I still remember watching Bloomberg when the 'flash crash' occurred. Their so-called man-on-the-floor…
We target around a 4-5% position in CEF for many client accounts and will be buyers at the end of June if current trends continue, to keep the target allocation in place. Our goal is not to play short-term pricing opportunities, but rather to maint…
Technicians are able to produce pretty much whatever result they want by choosing the kinds of numbers they include in the research undertaken. While I would not say that we are in an over-sold point, I would also not buy into the extreme over-boug…
Do not use any of the three funds mentioned. We have used FPACX, TIBIX, PAUIX, and IVAEX as go-anywhere options, since the funds have all had a pretty wide mix of holdings over the years. And each of these have characteristics that might appeal to …
Good alternative-strategies funds can, indeed, be taxing on an investor's patience. The fact is that many of these look just plain boring...until a period of heavy selling pressure hits. We have struggled with how to incorporate managed futures in…
Slick, I would absolutely hold the bonds, at least until the 2016 call date. If the issuers of the bonds were in potential doo-doo, thei prices would not be moving north. So I would sit tight and be happy collecting the very attractive tax-free in…
Reply to @Daves: Good question. The Fed really only controls the Fed Funds Rate. While the Fed can have some effect on longer-term interest rates, these are often more market-related. That is the reason I would look carefully at a bond fund's ave…
I think everyone here at MFO understands his basic message, and it is valid. But it is very important for investors to understand the definition of 'duration' and the relationship of a bond fund's duration to changes in interest rates. Owning mid …
The media love to create a scary headline, even when there is nothing to back it up, at least in the way they intend. That was certainly the case here. They think most people who watch CNBC and the other market-babble shows are only interested in …
My guess is that very few folks have heard of Goldman Sachs Rising Dividend GSRLX. Very good upside capture with limited downside exposure. Alpha of 2.72 and Beta of 0.72. I am not really interested in any large cap value fund that has a downside …
Looking at our client portfolios, the positions in Price Capital Appreciation PRWCX, Vanguard Wellington VWELX, and Loomis Bond LSBDX are probably 20+ years. But other long-held funds include Osterweis OSTFX, Artisan Mid Cap ARTMX, First Eagle SGOV…
Randynevin, we have used CEF for years in client accounts. Yes, it is a mix of gold (55%) and silver (45%) bullion, so you do not get just gold exposure. But it is taxed like an ordinary mutual fund, with no K1 tax filing expenses/annoyances. We …
Reply to @Mark: Hi Mark. According to the most recent information I have, 19% of GSRLX is in energy, with 12 positions: Sunoco Logistics, Western Gas, Williams Partners, Enerptise Products, Energy Transfer, El Paso Pipeline, Markwest, Plains All Am…
Rather than own individual MLPs or even MLP funds/etfs, we like owning a more diversified fund in which MLPs make up a significant portion of the holdings. We have researched, interviewed, and are now using Goldman Sachs Rising Dividend GSRLX. It …
Depending on where your account is custodied, you might be able to access all of the following as ntf: SGOVX, ARTIX, ICEIX, OAKIX. Others to consider for higher growth potential might be QFVIX, WAIOX and WAIGX. They have higher expense ratios, bu…
I agree with David. Bear market funds don't make much sense to me. But I do think some allocation to quality long-short equity and bond managers can be a good thing. We would allocate 15-20% to 'alternative' funds. These could be a lot of differ…
Reply to @Sven: Not sure it is the process, but it is certainly the manager and his team. My experience is that while a similar process might be used by several funds, in the end it's the ability and talent of the manager that comes to the top. Th…
Unfortunately some top options are not available NTF at Fidelity (SGOVX, CIGIX, IGIIX). But you do have some good managers from which to select: ARTIX, FIGFX, WAIGX, WAIOX, PIPDX, OAKIX for large cap. For emerging markets, it is hard to beat WAEMX…
Interesting that Thornburg THDIX is up more than 8% ytd, and Wasatch WAEMX is up almost 3%. This article reflects the medias' focus on short-term numbers. Too bad a lot of people will read this sort of thing and jump ship. Heaven forbid any secto…
We agree with the concept and like the following flexible bond fund options: Osterweis OSTIX, BlackRock BSIIX, Goldman GSZIX, Loomis LSBDX. We think (and hope) that EM bond funds could be an ok option, too. We currently use Goldman GIMDX and Templ…
We continue to use Oppenheimer ODVYX for most client EM exposure. We also have a chunk of dollars in Wasatch WAEMX. For more specific regional coverage, we use Matthews MAPIX. It is a kind of 'chicken' way to invest in China. For discussion boar…
Why not hire a manager who decides what the 'best' place is? I confess I am not smart enough to make these decisions. We would rather let the folks at Osterweis, Loomis, BlackRock, Goldman and others allocate for us. It could be very dicey to be …
Agree that encouraging growth is the clear way to go. However, there are some folk who believe that higher taxes should be a large part of the package. And there are others who believe higher taxes kill growth, since most jobs are created in small…
Our philosophy is that ANY time is a good time to capture profits. That doesn't mean you should grab every thousand in capital gains. But rather we would look at a holding and evaluate 1) what was the total amount invested, 2) what is the gain, 3)…
We hold buillion at 5% of a portfolio, as a hedge against government policy stupidity. If it dips much below 4% we buy more. If it gets to 8% we sell back to 5%. Pretty simple. We use CEF for our bullion choice.
There really is no "safe" option. Even CDs and cash have risks - inflation, tax, interest rate risk. Folks who owned "safe" 1-yr CDs or Treasuries in 2012 actually had negative returns after inflation and taxes were considered. As another poster …
I love the comment from M* that their star ratings should "not be considered buy or sell signals". It's funny, if only because of the way fund companies use the same star ratings, and M* knows this. Does anyone really think M* doesn't look at thei…
I have been around along time, but in my experience, TRP funds have never laid an egg when it comes to appointing managers. I can remember when there was a change at PRWCX a while back, and M* panicked a bit. Same with a couple other TRP funds. T…
This best-and-worst attempt is just plain bizarre. The reason some managers are so successful is that they can identify "bad" stocks they believe are poised for better times. Creating a list of funds based on "safe" or "dangerous" holdings seems t…
Hi ducrow. I've been at this for almost 30 years now. One thing I have learned is to not make any buy/sell decisions based on a fund's M* rating. Keep in mind that M* must force every fund into a category they have created. More than occasionall…
I think rono is on track here. I mean, the initial cuts, IF they happen, are such a teeny part of the total expected annual spending as to be silly. And from what I have garnered, not a small part of the "cuts" could simply be a reduction in futur…
We look at a fund's Tax Cost Ratio. For example, EFA has a tcr of 0.53 and 0.50 over the last 3 and 5 year periods as of January 31. I think that provides a good base to evaluate actively-managed, diversified international larcap funds. In terms …
These are pretty good rules. I would quibble with his use of only looking at the broad S&P (and not even considering all the remaining investment universe) and a few other things. But this is a very good read.
FWIW, why should the goal be to "beat the market"? I don't get it. Every investor's goal is going to be somewhat different. My goal is to be able to have the cash flow I desire in retirement. What with Social Security, 401k, and (fortunately for…
M* puts WhiteBox Long Short Equity in their Market Neutral. But their returns have been anything but market-neutral like. 2008 was -18%, 2009 was +54%, 2010 was -5%, 2011 was +2%, and 2012 was +4%. The outlier years are indicative to me that this…
