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.
Gohmert represents the district in Texas I live in. This is a very conservative district, and Gohmert is strongly supported here for his deeply conservative philosophy. I find him an embarrassment and think the Republicans can do much better in th…
Here’s what PRWCX manager David Geroux said recently about IG bonds as an investment:
“What I would tell you about rates today is that the risk/reward on Treasuries or IG [investment grade] is so poor, it gets a situation where if rates stay static…
Hey hank, posters have flexibility to take threads in any direction they choose. My point is simply that this thread is about "Bond Funds", not "Allocation Funds". When you introduce Allocation Funds into the discussion, then it inevitably involve…
I find very little value anymore in the M* category criteria, or its star ratings. I have to look at performance charts, risk criteria, and a series of more specific fund characteristics, to find funds that fit a particular role I have for them in …
You were close @hank, -37.4 % !
Derf
Thanks @Derf. Unfortunately, I’d edited down the post for brevity before seeing your remark. But yes - I had speculated earlier that PRWCX had probably fallen mo…
I find very little that I am comfortable with, at present, for a long term buy and hold investment. As a result, I have become more of a reluctant trader, focusing on bond oef categories that are doing well overall, that I think will last at least …
Call me dense, but I have been trained/educated over the years, to shift from accumulation investing, to preservation of principal investing. That relates to the "age in bonds" principal, the older you get. What I was not trained/educated over the…
AndyJ:"Good posts, @dtconroe. That's my investing style too. Loving the hy munis right now, and the Semper (and others') bounceback has been great. All the best -- Former M* McMontana."
AndyJ/McMontana, So glad to know you are still posting. I rar…
hank: "I hope that better quality, longer duration bonds continue to suck air. Because if they begin to perform well in a meaningful way it means that other, riskier, markets (including junk bonds) are in a heap of trouble."
Depends on what kind of…
I am retired and at that stage of life where I have accumulated enough in my investments to live very comfortably. During the time I was accumulating investment principal, I was paying down expenses--have paid off my home, have paid off my cars, co…
Rbrt: "I think FD and I have discussed this before - we both think buying equity mutual funds is investing and we both think buying bond mutual funds in investing. However, I think buying a cash investment fund is also investing. FD does not."
Schw…
Mark: "Serious question - Do you anticipate these Black Swan periods in advance or do you sell after the initial presumed damage is already done? The, how do you decide that the downdraft is over with and the good re-entry opportunities are there fo…
My wife and I maintain a HY Checking account, maintaining a balance in the $10k to $15K range. We also maintain about 10% of our taxable brokerage account in bond oefs, that have a solid history of making more interest/total return than a standard …
I also sold JASVX/JASZZ yesterday. Time will tell if that was a good decision or not, but it was troublesome to me that this fund, and company, restructuring was not better communicated to fund owners, and not better understood by brokerages (Schwa…
When you consider "chasing this funds performance", I would suggest you determine what kind of investor you are. If you are a trader, and very good at trading, you may want to identify hot performing funds, with the understanding that you are very …
Attached is a reply from M* Poster Yogibearbull, who is probably the most respected and knowledgeable poster on M* regarding M* Performance Charts:
"I don't like new M* charts. They show reinvestments for mutual funds only, not for ETFs. And they c…
FD, I have not been following M* recently and am not familiar with the newer M* performance charts, but I have a hard time believing that the old M* performance charts are so inaccurate, that there is a difference of 3% peak to trough differences in…
FD:"My calculation for peak to trough...VCFIX -19.7% from M* new charts found (here) from 2/25 (10000) to 3/25 (8027.67). Stockchart gives me -19.85% for VCFAX(link)"
I used the performance chart system that Yogi sent out via email some time ago. …
FD: "I'm OK with VCFIX but the meltdown of over 18% was too much, even PIMIX was down less than that around 11%. I don't put a lot of faith in Schwab bond selections."
We all look at criteria a bit differently in our analysis of bond oef selections…
wxman: "GIBLX hasn't really "cooled off." It is a bond fund, and a darn good one
From the end of March 2020 to August 7, GIBLX had a steady increase in total return, with no downturns. From August 7 to the end of October, Giblx had a small downtur…
FD: "But I understand what you do and it suits your style"
I did quite a bit of trading this year, but limited my trading to more risk averse trades, consistent with my rather conservative Retirement objectives--bought GIBLX in a trade this year an…
The March crash has "complicated" SD, as a selection factor. Most of the M* Risk ratings are based on 3 and 5 year SD factors, and you have to look at the March crash impact on these risk ratings. There are all kinds of factors that impacted poor/…
For What It is Worth, BASIX is a very good NonTraditional Bond fund, that has a very favorable M* Fund Analyst Report, and has held up pretty well in 2020, and has a nice longer term performance record. Its portfolio has a very diversified mix of G…
"Derf">@dtconroe; Thanks for stopping in & comments.
Stay Safe, Derf
Hi Derf, I am not doing much posting these days, but do enjoy reading others posting. I expect to post a little more often af…
I don't look at M* ratings by category (Medal ratings) as a significant criteria for determining "Best" Bond funds. I think "Best" is only relevant to each individual investors portfolio criteria for what purpose/role an individual investor is atte…
With Trump, his wife, and Hope Hicks all testing positive for Covid 19, it is going to challenging for the market to be positive. I personally would be on the sidelines, to see how this is going to play out.
It just seems that there is too much uncertainty right now to risk much in bond investing. I prefer to let the election get resolved, hopefully see more certainty in the Covid 19 battle, see if we can provide essential government support to stabili…
I have multiple M* portfolios, set up in a custom view arrangement, to track multiple details for each fund. M* is currently working on the recent problem of users not being able to stay signed in. I also use Schwab which has some details I like. F…
"Mona"
dtconroe, may I ask which ones?
Mona
Mona, I moved money into SWNTX and SNTIX. I did have a buy order in for MWTIX for Monday, but after some additional analysis tonight, I cancelled that buy order--need to see more strength in the Interm…
"Mona">Are those of you investing in muni bond funds doing so in taxable accounts only?
Not all brokerage houses allow you to purchase a muni bond fund in a retirement account. I'm sure FD will comment on this.
Mona, I am with Schwab, and they …
dt, thanks for your post.
I, like yourself, work through Schwab (I also am with Vanguard). I have had this discussion with my Schwab Pinnacle Representative in Indianapolis. Besides the short term redemption fee that the fund may impose, based on …
I would just suggest that you research short term trading positions of bond oef funds you might consider for short term parking purposes. I have read poster comments of those who have attempted to use DHEIX in that manner. Diamond Hill issued warn…
PUCZX has dropped 1.36% in the last week, and PIMIX has dropped 1.01% in the last week--maybe you are right in that in at least the last week of this market correction, both of these multisector bond oefs were poor performers. JMUTX was down .58%--…
You may want to evaluate peak to trough performance, as a factor worth tracking in periods like this. If you look at your YTD charts, and you focus on the last week, PUCZX is dropping like a rock, and gives you some insight into how well it will pe…
I view PUCZX a step up in risk, compared to PIMIX. It does not have as good of a performance record in downmarkets, and it is much more heavily dependent on derivatives. If I were going to replace PIMIX, I would look at VCFAX/VCFIX as a better alte…
I use to have a M* Premium Membership when I used T.RowePrice extensively for my investments. T.Rowe would pay for that M* membership, and I enjoyed it, but I primarily valued the M* section that was free. Eventually, I switched to a full brokerag…
