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.
Quote - On the essence of value investing:
In their fiscal year 2000 Annual Letter to Shareholders, Leucadia National Corporation’s former chairman, Ian Cumming, and former president, Joseph Steinberg, spoke to this dynamic, likening themselves to …
If you want to be exempt from Federal income taxes, Muni's are an option (generally exempt).
U.S. Treasury bonds interest is typically taxable at the federal level - only exempt from state and local income taxes, as mentioned prior.
Building up CGBL, a "balanced" ETF for my taxable account. If anybody has a better suggestion for a Balanced product in a taxable acct, love to hear it.
Pairing it with HELO for it's wonderful hedging ("laddered option overlay") to supposedly lim…
https://www.troweprice.com/personal-investing/tools/fund-research/PRCFX#content-performance
These were the very initial allocations for PRCFX when Total Assets were only $25M:
Holdings at Nov 30, 2023:
Domestic Bonds 51%
Domestic Stocks 40%
…
When I owned it, REMIX lost -5% one day back in Nov-2021. I assumed it had "gone ex" and that maybe there was a Distribution of some kind.
I assumed wrong.
Sold it shortly thereafter.
"Average family premiums for health insurance, based on the Kaiser Family Foundation’s 2023 Employer Health Benefits Survey, over a 39-year period (ages 26-65) came to $934,752."
The US healthcare system is broken. And it ain't getting fixed anyti…
Any suggestions as to which mutual funds one should buy in order to reach that top 1% level?
The 1% don't buy mutual funds (in taxable accounts) because rich people do not pay taxes. Only the 99% pay those.
https://awealthofcommonsense.com/2023/11/my-sacreligious-personal-finance-beliefs/
"The Wall Street Journal recently shared research on how much money people need to make to be happy:
In the survey, most people said it would take a pretty signific…
The average person would need a salary of about $284,164 every year to be happy, according to the survey, but the results did vary by generation.
That would be nice for average household. Realistically how many families meet that income level?
A…
Feeling bearish after hearing that "Cramer broadly agrees with Bank of America’s bullish analysis, says next year could bring gains for the S&P 500".
Will only add to CBLDX for now. Equities have already rebounded nicely.
There are signs that the continued "strong consumer spending" phenomenon is starting to wilt, at least on the lower end of the economic spectrum. Walmart and a few other retailers have taken notice.
Early signs that inflation is catching up to p…
Fido has 5 year "call protected" CDs for as high as 5.05% (issued by Wells Fargo and Morgan Stanley). Those are worthy of consideration. I ignore all the callable CDs for reasons you mention.
Regarding PDI, PDO, PAXS.... these ETFs have estimated Div Income yields of approx. 13% to 17%. Very nice. Now if the stock market tanks, I would assume these bond funds also tank hard as well (highly volatile, leveraged and hold allocation to no…
Its comforting to know that others share a similar view. I view Trump as one of the biggest threats to the safety and security of this country, and yet he still has his many "loyalists". Amazing times. It's no wonder politicians view us as shee…
It's all about clown cars and arranging deck chairs. Plus lots of investor pessimism. My ETF limit orders are getting filled. Added some FSMEX. Good times! Cheers to even better times ahead.
Investors have become skittish. The stage seems se…
We might be stuck in the "malaise" period for equities. After accounting for inflation, the real returns might not be kind.
Bonds could easily end up outperforming equities these next few years, though long-term bonds might endure some addition…
A few things come to mind:
1) Consumers are still spending. What inflation?
2) US markets will always attract cash from all over the world. Still viewed as most solid and stable.
3) If asset bubbles were to burst, the perception is that t…
Japanese equities are a tough sell. Japan keeps popping up each year as a contrarian play. There is a stigma there. Maybe they can shake it, but it would probably take continued progress.
That was an interesting day. FINALLY some volatility.
Started small positions in FSMEX (an oldie but goody) and DIVO.
Added to SCHD, JEPI, FUTY (ended +1%), FMIL, FNILX, FMSDX, FPHAX, etc.
Inverted yield curves pointing to a recession? …
Other than Utilities, Real Estate equities are the only other down sector in the 1 year. Medical devices sector (IHI, FSMEX) is near 52-week low.
"Charts are fun".
It took the threat of a govt shutdown to get us off the recent highs? The 1 red flag for me has been the recent complacency in the equities market. That being said, I'd be shocked to see stocks make any major downward moves (i.e. -20% off highs …
Bonds really got clocked today. That rattled some equities.
Explains why so many of my FUTY (Utilities ETF) limit orders got filled today. Can't find good value in many other sectors.
Inspired by @Baseball_Fan's CBLDX suggestion, starting a position. Hate the $49.95 fee at Fido, but love the 8.8% yield on short-term securities. The Fed probably cannot do much additional "tightening" this year. Right? Just in case, I'll add an…
To Yogi's point, you are deluding yourself if you think you will get better customer service when trading Mutual Funds directly. Their back-office custodians (clearing) are not any better. Its the same story, different portals.
Still letting this quote sink in....
"CHILDS: Pharma companies spent $6 billion on TV drug ads in 2016, but they spent $20 billion advertising directly to doctors, pushing drugs that we don't see on TV, like the addictive ones."