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.
ObamaCare Enrollees Face A Rude Awakening In Two Weeks
"A 25-year-old living in the state's vast "Inland Empire" who makes $18,000 a year will end up paying an average of $1,080 a year — after subsidies — for a Silver plan that comes with $3,000 i…
The steepening of the yield curve may be setting up the next great buy in fixed income, at some point down the road.
Fwiw, Pimco's been defensive on rates in most of their investment vehicles for many months now.
AndyJ,
Do you think it is too ea…
Hey folks. Was hoping to get some advice. As you know, Seafarer is closing as of the end of the month. I have a position in the fund at Schwab. Unfortunately, Schwab tells me that they are currently in negotiations with Seafarer in regards to wh…
I am still holding ARTMX in a taxable account and it too has not performed well in the past 3-5 years. To add insult to injury, from 2013 to 2015 it has distributed LTCG's of 8% to 16% of NAV and with an ER of 1.19%.
I will cut the cord this year b…
Interesting choice. It looks like you've highlighted the key difference between the two funds. Though I might add that as a consequence, DBLFX's broad allocations (government, corporate, securitized) hew much more closely to that of the typical f…
Hi John,
Great to see you posting again!
Being you seem to be familiar with American Century funds, what are your thoughts of purchasing TWEIX at this time?
Mona
Thanks, but I'll take BCOIX over this fund.
Nearly identical in most metrics (duration, credit quality, credit breakdown, number of bonds/bonds in top 10%, country breakdown). TIORX is long and short in cash, but with same net cash as BCOIX (n…
msf,
On the retail level, do you see a lot of migration from Vanguard Prime Money Market and their muni money markets to Vanguard Federal Money Market (settlement fund)?
Mona
Why not simply move to cash in the sweep? No money market at all? With this much money moving to the same source would negative rates be a possibility.
At Vanguard the sweep account is Federal Money Market Fund. Fidelity is also switching. Howeve…
Meh. Not seeing what size has to do with it, pro or con.
"Investors have poured $3 billion into the fund over the past six months and its assets have nearly doubled in the past three years"
Don Kilbride runs a concentrated portfolio of around 45 h…
Glad we got in on the admiral shares when we did, but at 30 billion, even though it's a large/giant cap type of fund, that's a lot of assets. It would be great if VG would also close Wellington...
Vanguard Dividend Growth only comes in one flavor a…
There was a possibility that VG may have added one more shop to manage part of the funds as they have done in other cases. But the manager's exceptional performance made them stay put and close ( joining the ranks of closed funds vpccx, vhcox, vpmc…
PressmUP , I see that solution putting more strain on medicare. If they're just hanging around waiting for medicare to kick in I think they should have saved a few more $$$ to pay for their health insurance prior to retirement !
Derf …
MJG,
Thanks much for all the answers to my questions.
Of course I would not ask you for the names of specific funds and "active fund components of my portfolio to approximately the one-third level" is certainly specific for me.
I appreciate your …
MJG,
Thanks for your post.
Would you kindly go into more detail regarding your thoughts of a portfolio split that includes both active and Index holdings.
Domestic equities? Internationals? Bonds? Percentage split?
Thanks.
Mona
Junkster is a Luddite. Never owned a smart phone or has ever texted. Still likes to use his VCR to record. What a dinosaur.
Junkster, you got me beat. I have never owned a smart phone, but about a year ago started texting. Now here is a challenge…
Vanguard is doing if not the same thing, something very similar.
"With Vanguard Voice Verification™, you'll be able to call us, verify your identity, and let us know who you are with just the sound of your voice. The service records your voice spea…
I agree and hope that with the Costco/Visa partnership, comes the American Express support and backing that we became accustomed to.
Ever since the announcement of the divorce with Costco, American Express has handled Costco American Express cardh…
However, unless one has a particular need to carry Amex, I don't see a strong reason to get the Schwab Amex. I'll pass.
The only American Express cards that I have are a Costco Business card and a personal Costco Cash Back card. The Costco Busines…
Until July 1. Costco card and Costo change from Amex to Visa at the same time.
http://www.marketwatch.com/story/5-things-to-know-about-the-costco-and-amex-breakup-2016-02-11
Until June 20.
Hi, Mona.
Because risk moderation is generally tax-inefficient and for some of the asset classes that interest me (Asia income, for example) there aren't any tax-efficient vehicles. You could try to invest in low-beta stocks and a low-turnover fun…
In my case, I have positions in SFGIX, MACSX and MAINX in my non-retirement portfolio and FTEMX in my retirement one.
For what that's worth,
David
Hi David,
Why relatively tax-inefficient funds in your non-retirement portfolio?
Mona
@BenWP , when you mentioned the TF for PTIAX, I had to go back and look at my purchase history. I'm with Schwab also. I was pretty sure one reason I bought was because it was NTF. Sure enough, my history shows I did not pay a TF, and that was only a…
Should we be surprised about healthcare lagging? Given that Republicans have tried over sixty times to repeal the ACA without having any coherent replacement proposal, should we be surprised that the healthcare industry is uncertain about the futur…
As an aside, I talked Friday with Steve Romick, the lead manager of FPACX, about why the fund remains open. One of his arguments is that managing a closed fund is harder than you'd think. All funds are subject to regular redemptions. In an open fund…
Andrew Foster dropped a note in my mailbox this afternoon to inform me that the 4th Qtr Portfolio review for SFGIX has been posted. As most know, Mr. Foster worked in Asia for some time before his days at Mathews and reacts (and doesn't react) to As…
AndyJ and Junkster,
I see that PTIAX is down 0.98% in the past 3 trading days, while DLTNX has fared much better and PMZDX is holding its own.
Could the munis be the culprit for the drop in PTIAX? Lower credit quality and higher percentage of non…
We don't get very venturesome with our fiduciary accounts, but we have used MAPIX for many years and never been disappointed. We tell clients MAPIX is "the chicken way to invest in China".
Hi BobC,
I thought MACSX is "the chicken way to invest in…
My preference is to use tried and true, historically proven methods for evaluating and guiding investment actions....reading chicken entrails.
An order for a big slug of VWINX was made today....dipping the toes in the equity space.
Hi Press,
With …
