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.
@Observant1: I know that you are familiar with VCPAX and while it does not meet all
your desirable characteristics, it looks like a good core-plus bond fund with a low ER of 20 bps.
Thanks, Mona!
From Heather Cox Richardson's Letters from an American newsletter:
"Today, with the popularity of President Donald J. Trump and his administration dropping, Trump’s disastrous performance at the United Nations, the return of comedian Jimmy Kimmel t…
Trump often falsely claims he was a target of witch hunts.
Yet, that is exactly what he is doing here.
Trump has weaponized the DOJ to persecute his perceived enemies.
He needs to be STOPPED!
"My first investment book was Andrew Tobias’ The Only Investment Guide You’ll Ever Need."
I've read this book early in my investment journey long ago (mid-to-late 90s).
From Markets A.M. newsletter by Gunjan Banerji.
On this day in 1974, John C. Bogle incorporates the Vanguard Group of Investment Cos.
to administer–and be owned by–the Vanguard family of mutual funds.
For the first time, large numbers of investors …
Past performance is not indicative of future results.
Sharpe/Sortino ratios and standard deviation are snapshots in time and can vary in the future.
Caution should be used when evaluating some specialized (non-vanilla) bond funds.
These bond funds m…
"I have noticed that many subscription links end up as open at MSN.
But there must be a delay.
When I posted the WSJ link, I also looked for a MSN link but didn't find any.
If I search now (title followed by MSN), I can find the link you posted."
M…
"What possible rational reason could there be to halt such a project?
Particularly one so far along."
It made no sense to kill this project.
But Trump hates renewable energy and loves oil & gas!
I'm saddened by this news.
I've enjoyed reading Mr. Clements since his WSJ days.
He died much too young.
Alternate link below.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/investment/jonathan-clements-longtime-wsj-columnist-dies-at-62/ar-AA1N5AAO
"why haven’t smart folks who know better stood up for the rule of law and the constitution?"
I see three potential reasons:
a) they're afraid of losing their jobs or not being re-elected
b) they're afraid of being violently targeted (including thei…
Old_Joe,
Thanks for the link to the excellent NYT article by Peter Baker.
"As President Trump threatens a wide-ranging crackdown on mainstream media institutions
and political opponents, his aides and allies have cast the administration’s moves as…
"Back to my initial question - Do you think the stampede into IG corporates (and shrinking premium)
is a sign of investor appetite for risk?"
Not neccessarily.
It may just indicate that investors prefer IG corporates instead of Treasuries despite r…
On Friday, the BLS postponed releasing an annual report regarding consumer expenditures.
This latest development brings additional concerns about the agency's operations
after Donald J. Trump fired the BLS commissioner last month.
https://www.msn.c…
From today's Markets A.M. newsletter by Spencer Jakab.
State Street strategists note that equity exposure for institutions and U.S. households is at or near record highs.
This information seems to contradict the equity outflows reported by Morningst…
[snip]
From Friday’s WSJ: ”In another sign this week’s rate cut lifted investor confidence and appetite for risk,
the premium that investors demand to hold investment-grade-rated companies’ bonds
instead of Treasurys hit its lowest level since 1998.…
"U.S. Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer and his counterpart in the House of Representatives,
Hakeem Jeffries, on Saturday demanded a meeting with President Donald Trump
to avoid a government shutdown when funding ends on September 30.
In a lett…
Charlie Kirk didn't deserve to get killed.
But yes, he definitely was not a saint!
Mr. Kirk is being canonized only because he was well-liked by Trump and other prominent Republicans.
"But when Rep. Melissa Hortman and her husband were slain in an …
The Week in Charts (09/19/25)
The most important charts and themes in markets and investing...
00:00 Intro
00:24 Topics
00:58 Back to Easing
09:26 What’s More Bullish: Rate Cuts or Rate Hikes?
14:21 Is the Small Cap Breakout Finally Here?
20:32 Ani…
"Senate Repubs voted down the Dem stopgap plan too.
Each party voted down the other's proposal, by party-line vote, except for two Repubs and one Dem."
Thanks for providing this additional information!
I always used HDD.
Several years ago I changed everything to SSD other than my 1TB HDD for backups.
My laptop recently started spewing SSD messages that it may be failing.
I never knew SSD has limited use, apparently there are only so many read/wri…
@FD1000,
Trump is an incompetent president who is incapable of leading the country effectively.
He has divided U.S. residents with his all-encompassing pursuit of absolute power.
Some prominent Republican figures are now voicing concerns regarding …
"In recent years, antifa has been used in reference to participants in left-wing protests against police brutality and racism in the United States from the mid-2010s and to counter-demonstrators at the 2017 Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, …
I didn't realize that Western Digital spun off its SSD division into SanDisk earlier this year.
They are now focusing on HDDs.
"Meanwhile, Western Digital is focusing on the evolving opportunities in the HDD market.
'As AI accelerates and impacts i…
"No, democracy and the First Amendment aren't in jeopardy."
Your assertion is factually inaccurate.
Democracy and the First Amendment are under assault by the Trump administration.
"Lib hypocrisy has been on display in the last several days."
Rea…
The Week in Charts (09/12/25)
The most important charts and themes in markets and investing...
00:00 Intro
00:21 Topics
00:37 Easy Money Is Back
06:35 Ignoring Inflation
11:48 Jobs Market at Inflection Point
18:37 Easing Into a Mania
25:11 Spending…
"but they said that starting a ETF is expensive so unless something has changed, these things have to recoup so much before they just shut em down."
I've read that an ETF needs to have ~$100M AUM to be economically viable for the sponsoring firm.
I…
I'd guess that the vast majority of the 988 ETFs that launched over the past year are also worthless.
"Of the 988 ETFs that launched over the past year, 530 fell into at least one of 7 types:
Leveraged/inverse (208), single-stock (181), buffer (140…
The U.S. has declined under the second Trump regime.
Many U.S. residents are rightfully concerned about Trump's policies and executive overreach.
Our country's competitive advantages have been diminished in many important ways.
It will take some tim…
