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.
The Individuals who benefited, mainly upper management, should be held responsible. Whatever happened to the personal responsibility they so readily espouse suddenly it becomes the collective who must pay.
I agree that overly generous pension benefits are partly to blame in some cities and states. However, every time employee benefits are increased what is usually also part of that compromise to shut down the legislative session down every single yea…
Reply to @MaxBialystock: Yes you are severely barbelled. Maybe add some VUSTX. PREMX and MAPIX will go down together in a catastrophic event or I could just be plain wrong :)
Reply to @MikeM: we are going on some kind of tour. I have a friend who lives there and he set us up. I just threw out the name Maid of the Mist I did hear the Canadian side is nicer though.
Reply to @Old_Joe: I think we are going to take the ferry over to the islands today and maybe go to the top of CN Tower. Then we are heading over to Ottawa to look around and we have tickets for Cirque Du Soleil Totem.
Yes I am reading MFO even on my vacation. Sitting in our hotel room in Toronto. Really liking this city--very walkable. Every time I hear some guest on CNBC publically say "job creators" I have to surmise that word never ever crosses their lips as …
Reply to @MaxBialystock: You and your 7 siblings are listed on your Dad's deed to his house? Are you and your siblings joint tenants or is it some type of transfer on death (TOD). You know if your siblings own it their spouses own the real estate …
Am I missing something? I associate "stashing cash" with a taxable account. I am not sure FPNIX would be a great place to stash your cash because of the interest income it would throwing off.
The ADR for the Brazilian homebuyer Gafisa GFA is still getting hammered just like the entire Bovespa. I'm so far down now just going to ride it down further at this point :).
I don't think I could disagree with Mr. Egan's analysis anymore than I do. I think everybody should have some indexing especially on the equity side, saying you can earn 3% to 4% with no correlation to the markets sounds like a guarantee to me, whi…
Are these leaks all trying to bake in expectations? We shall see. The most difficult thing the fed has to do has not been done yet (taper). As many have stated in other posts we are in uncharted waters. We need the private sector lending and innov…
I agree we are in uncharted territory. Most people just fall back on what they would personally do in a crisis and that is to stop spending money. What is not uncharted territory is a fed doing nothing or very little and a frozen banking system--th…
....I love investing in stocks when people still say "bloated markets". So is private sector bloat dumped on all the taxpayers who dont have a lobbyist more beneficial than public sector bloat that is the responsibility of all of us including those…
Thank you for the follow up post. If I find an interesting fund I enter it into a financial app I have on my Ipad and I follow it on the app especially on days when there is a big move in the market. You have enhanced my knowledge with your post t…
Reply to @Old_Joe: I think Bernanke's appointment or the new nominee's appointment will be a stage for both parties to argue over QE and the direction of the country. One side forgets the government supported private sector housing QE all the way …
I don't think you should try to value the market--too many variables. Professionally managed money has been trounced by passive investors since 2007. What you should do is invest an amount you are comfortable with investing. Are you able to withst…
The hardest part for us as investors is to put aside our political biases. Yet politics is woven into the fabric of the market. People throw around words like "freedom" and "fairness" but if you take the view that each side represents varying groups…
The market keeps going up because people sitting on the sidelines are slowly coming back in for a number of reasons. There are still are many people who hate this market so money will continue to drift in. As long as gold stays fairly high this i…
I live in Iowa the heart of farm country. The farm economy is great now and will be great until it is not. It just seems like a can't miss opportunity--when have we heard that before. The 1920s and the 1980s were absolutely terrible for farmers in…
Reply to @Ginko: I think an "extreme candidate" could win an election. I agree with you but a majority of Americans would dispute your characterization of extreme. To a certain extent Congress is playing its role to challenge the president on everyt…
Reply to @Ginko: "without fiscal stimulus, the economy will likely remain depressed and monetary policy will remain unchanged". I agree with your statement, but the counter arguments are not the views of "extreme" candidates? However, I do view i…
Reply to @Ginko: I agree the fed is somewhat isolated from the political process but I think you are naive to think the fed does not tilt towards the party in power--they do. I was careful to not say controlled by the party in power. So when we hav…
Reply to @msf: thanks for the write up on FMIJX. The fund has done well but no emerging markets explains some of the performance in comparison to other funds.
Reply to @bee: wow impressive list you did forget one other tax --and lets not forget it is truly a tax paid by working and retired people and that is the gambling tax--it is a voluntary tax that funds government so others like me don't have to pay …
Reply to @Investor: My posts about taxing Roths are pure speculation. I thinks things would have to get pretty bad for that to happen. I also agree that Roth account holders cut across the political spectrum which is a good thing for its survival.…
Reply to @Investor: if it comes to reneging on promises made to social security and Medicare recipients or reneging on promises about taxing Roth accounts-what side of that trade do you want to be on especially if most Roth accounts are held by peop…
Always be fearful of benefits that benefit a few and the constituency of one political party--this is why social security is hard to change because the recipients are in both political parties and also why means testing it is difficult because then …