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.
I wouldn't rely primarily on current AI technology to pick stocks or funds.
I was playing around with Perplexity the other day to assess some mutual funds.
My queries were detailed and specific but Perplexity returned results outside of the paramete…
From Markets A.M. newsletter by Aaron Back.
On this day in 1958, American Express introduced its charge card, which was made of paper printed
with purple ink to match the color of Amex’s travelers’ checks. (Plastic came along in 1959.)
The $6 annu…
Excerpts from Heather Cox Richardson's Letters from an American
regarding Trump's Quantico speech to top military leaders:
For the next 70 minutes, he spoke slowly, slurring words, delivering to the hundreds of professionals who had rushed from ar…
From The Independent Vanguard Adviser newsletter:
"The U.S. government has shut down 20 times since the mid-1970s, according to data from the
House of Representatives. The S&P 500 averaged a microscopic 0.04% gain during those closures.
However…
Do as we like or get the hell out!
Since Mr. Hegseth is unqualified and incompetent, this is very concerning.
But it's just one more example of the Trump regime's ill-conceived actions which are detrimental
to our military, foreign relationships, ec…
From Markets A.M. newsletter by Jinjoo Lee.
On this day in 1981, Uncle Sam issued new 20-year Treasury bonds at a 15.78% yield,
an all-time high rate for any U.S. government issue.
Analysts expected that yields would have to go higher “to attract s…
When I mention "core bond fund", I am referring to the largest bond fund position in my portfolio.
My search domain includes the following M* bond categories:
interm. core-plus, global bond, corporate bond, short-term bond, nontraditional bond, and …
@msf,
I didn't realize Vanguard's patent also applied to actively managed funds.
I recall previously reading that it only applied to index funds.
Thanks for the correction!
The Week in Charts (09/27/25)
The most important charts and themes in markets and investing...
00:00 Intro
00:19 Topics
01:09 The Fed Has an Inflation Problem
06:38 A Stronger US Consumer Lifting GDP
12:42 Powell on Stock Prices: "Fairly Highly Val…
"In reality, most everything that they can get from your car, they already could get from your phone.
Location, acceleration, deceleration, cornering forces.
They can even tell if you were distracted from phone usage history."
@DrVenture,
Mobile …
My current, somewhat older vehicle (2011 model year) doesn't have an infotainment system
or electronic roadside assistance so it should not be susceptible to automakers' data collection.
It really irritates me when companies harvest our private data…
One reason bond prices are increasing is that many investors expect further Fed rate cuts.
What would transpire if inflation became worrisome and the Fed hiked rates in the months ahead?
It appears that certain bonds are "priced for perfection."
The…
From Markets A.M. newsletter by Telis Demos.
On this day in 1987, Charles Schwab launched its IPO, selling 8 million shares
of stock to the public at an original price of $16.50 apiece.
Just 20 days later, the crash of 1987 hit.
The stock market pl…
new slogan :
Vanguard proudly offers Agency cost at the lowest cost!
IVA 2025 review of ~50 managers :
22 : (more than half): $0 invested in their own funds.
7 : $1m invested in one of their funds.
[check out that last high conviction allocation…
"There are so many media outlets, some posing as expert voices,
that paint everything in the US as if it’s going down the drain.
In my opinion, some people make investment decisions based on politics
and the grim stories the media feeds them."
Some…
[snip]
There’s a group that loves to tarnish the US, and they did so from 2017 to 2021 and again in 2025.
This isn't about "tarnishing" the U.S. nor is this thread intended to be a partisan political discourse.
“There is investor demand for these products,” said SEC Chair Paul Atkins at last Thursday’s meeting.
“But, we also must have appropriate guardrails.”
Is there widespread public demand for private investments or are firms just seeking additional ma…
"We should have done what Brazil did to their butthead."
Donald J. Trump sought foreign interference (Ukraine) in the 2016 election, he incited an insurrection
after losing the 2020 election, he needlessly put the country at risk by the illegal sei…
Daniel P. Wiener, former editor of the defunct The Independent Adviser for Vanguard Investors newsletter, shares his private market investing experiences.
"Private equity, venture capital, private debt, real estate investment trusts, and their def…
"I seem to be the only one concerned about putting a large number of the defense leadership
of the United States in the same location. Isn't that rather risky in terms of unnecessary risk of,
maybe remote but real, deadly consequences."
Anna,
You…
From Markets A.M. newsletter by Spencer Jakab.
On this day in 2001, Enron CEO Kenneth Lay led an online employee chat
in which he urged the company’s workers to “talk up the stock.”
He declared: “My personal belief is that Enron stock is an incred…
From the Markets A.M newsletter by Spencer Jakab.
Williams-Sonoma, Wayfair, RH: Shares of furniture and home-goods retailers fell in off-hours trading
after President Trump announced tariffs on imported items such as kitchen cabinets and upholster…
Yes, we caught the PBS News Hour tonight also. Trump didn't do well, did he?
No, Donald J. Trump did not fare well in this evening's reporting.
This is often the case when the cold facts of Trump's inappropriate actions are disclosed.
Ex-Trump White House attorney Ty Cobb was a guest on the PBS News Hour tonight.
An excerpt from his conversation is below.
"This process was worse than unusual. It was wholly un-American and really despicable in the way it was done. America's long …
According to the WP article, this is a highly unusual directive.
Since Mr. Hegseth is exceedingly unqualified to be Defense Secretary,
I have concerns regarding the results of this "special" meeting.
An email address was required to read the article…
"On the one hand, one can stretch boundaries a bit to avoid lagging.
OTOH, one tries to avoid taking on fundamental risks regardless of how well behaved the fund appears to be. Performance, even risk adjusted performance is not the end all."
Very w…
My question starts with why do you need a core bond fund?
I looked at CBLDX and IMO, it's better than all the funds above.
I checked from 1-1-2020 and it's number one.
For one year it's not number 1, but it's still among the top.
And it's the best r…
Here are several funds which are/were being considered ... WCPBX
I was going to ask how you would purchase WCPBX, or in the alternative say wow, I'm impressed, $1M min in most places.
But upon checking, I see that Vanguard offers it with a $500 m…
So I queried MFO P with my morning coffee, because I like queries. Here is what I came up with:
Basic Info
• Asset Universe: Mutual Funds
• SubType: Bond
• Age, years: 10+
Index? No Index Funds
More Basic Info
• Share Class: All Classes (Note: Th…
