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.
Reply to @Maurice: Chip looked at this before we pulled the plug. Her best guess was that there were two or three ongoing anonymous contributors; that is, people who signed as Anonymous_David on several occasions.
Reply to @MJG: Both links work for me. Perhaps the fact that the data is stored on a server named "Blob" has something to do with the sluggish response.
Ted has consistently, but quietly, expressed the opinion that boards such as this are strengthened when they remain focused on the topic at hand. His concern is, as long has been, maintaining rich, thoughtful and well-informed discussions about mut…
I tend to move really slowly in realigning my portfolio. Among the things I could imagine doing:
1. noticeably increasing my allocation to River Park Short-Term High Yield (RPHYX). The rationale is that I'm way low on "cash" in my non-retirement…
Reply to @Maurice: Watching a bit makes all the sense in the world to me. Mr. Foster has agreed to a follow-up piece once he's had a few months of operation, a portfolio in place and all that.
Thanks, too, for the kind words. We're trying hard…
Good question. I might ask Chip to strike the Amazon text because it is confusing. At base, physical and digital products both generate revenue for the site. The "expiration date" on digital is different from the one of physical.
Thanks for the …
I'll be curious to hear your take on Fund Reveal, one of the three sites we reviewed as being worthwhile. At base, the site is run by two guys who worked deep inside Fidelity. They didn't do money management, but what I think of as operations mana…
I think of this as the tyranny of the blank page. These guys have to produce something of a specified length, on a predetermined publication schedule and so you occasionally end up with "huh?" articles. Here's the fundamental insight: there are ye…
Reply to @kevindow: This site claims to have the annual projections back to 2000, in case that helps. http://norbertc1.wordpress.com/gmo-model-simulation/
David
Hi, catch!
Good catch. But it's gone for a little bit. What you saw was a working draft of the page. Chip had it up so she could make formatting changes while Junior and I worked on finishing the text (the first two profiles are done but the thi…
Hi, hank.
Opened to the public around May, from what I can tell. Price's retirement funds routinely allocate 5% to PRAFX. I've contacted Price's p.r. folks for an explanation of the decision but they are one of the least responsive communication …
Reply to @scott: For what it's worth, the RiverNorth folks remain noncommittal on the CEF. It's "still in the works" but they won't go any farther than that.
Reply to @Investor: Hadn't thought of it in those terms. Thanks.
Mostly I think of the Portfolio Allocator as Morningstar's single worst feature since it won't give you a recommendation unless you enter a value in every box. That is, you need …
Reply to @Accipiter: Thanks, big guy! Flagged it and will probably drop it from the final profile unless folks think there are enough paying customers to warrant inclusion.
Reply to @icyone: The remarkable Chip, our redoubtable tech director, is one step ahead of us already. She's recreated most of this list as part of our Amazon store. Folks can click on Resources -> Books -> good reads: non-investing or try t…
Depends on what floats your boat.
The Clumsiest People in Europe, a collection of travel writing by a crazed Victorian woman, made me laugh until I cried. She never traveled five miles from her house, and educated her thousands of readers based on…
Reply to @tgeno: It's good to hear from you, and sad to hear of your tribulations. I'm not sure whether it's reassuring or not to know that many share the experiences and are deeply sympathetic.
There are an increasing number of non-traditional …
Mr. Parrish, the manager in question, co-manages Henssler Equity Investor
(HEQFX). Pretty solid large cap fund, good overall, a bit better on the downside than on the upside. He argues that earnings will continue to race ahead.
GMO, which seems s…
Reply to @mnzdedwards: Jeez, Mike, you made a sharp observation and asked a perfectly reasonable question. The mere fact that I felt the need to check with Eric, and that he wanted to talk through his logic, reflects the thoughtfulness of the origi…
Reply to @mnzdedwards: Andrew is stuck at an airport and offered up "a second rant." At base, he notes that high quality small caps are at their highest valuations ever and that it does feel stupid to be plodding along when your benchmark is racing…
Hi, guys.
Mr. Cinnamond says that it's simply a matter of valuations. He's not finding attractively priced new names right now, and his current holdings have appreciated enough that they're not compelling buys. It's not, he stresses, a problem wi…
Reply to @claimui: You might be confusing BRUSX and BRSIX. BRUSX closed to new investors at $23.5 million and closed to existing investors at $47 million. It has reopened to existing investors who purchase direct from Bridgeway, but not to new fol…
And they're really raking in the assets. That's impressive given the skittishness about equities in general and new funds in particular. More so because of their commitment not to raid Wasatch's client list.
David
Lipper is, by the way, one of the fund rating sites that we're profiling in our new "web's most notable sites" services. Junior's written them with questions about cool site features and any research that might validate their ratings. We'll keep y…
Too, you might like at the discussion of the fund in the Launch Alert section of my February commentary: http://www.mutualfundobserver.com/2012/01/february-1-2012/
David
Reply to @kevindow: My concerns are likewise (add the fact that the manager has not, traditionally at least, had any investment in his fund), though a large number of folks have faith in PRPFX and have profited handsomely from their stakes in the fu…
It's in the pipeline. It's just a question of whether it ends up in March or April. I'm trying to maintain balance in the number and categories of fund we profile each month. But definitely in the pipeline.
As ever,
David
Reply to @kevindow: I've always rather more thought of it as our site, than mine. The discussion boards benefit hundreds of people - they drive three-quarters of site traffic except right at the beginning of the month - but derive their vitality fr…
Hi, Derf.
The other term for "following its benchmark" is "hugging an index."
Perhaps the question is "is the fund manager doing what I hired him or her to do?" Several of my income-oriented funds (HSTRX, RPSIX, RPHYX) are supposed to generate mi…
