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Cash outperformed most everything today. Be glad you have some. Though I’ll guess longer dated investment grade bonds had a better day.
Commodities & the metals started out hot this morning , but slid to flat / negative near the end.
Energy g…
At one time the price of nat gas ran opposite that of crude oil on many days. That’s partially because the gas was a necessary (somewhat unwanted) byproduct of oil drilling / fracking and the market for gas was saturated - so they needed to sell …
“Regulators suspect that investment banks have been tipping off their top clients, who jump in and sell ahead of that wave … In many deals examined by the Journal, the stock-price slide began in late morning or early afternoon, around the time selle…
Currency War - from Wikipedia
Thought I remembered something about this from history class. ISTM the financial plight of some European nations (Germany in particular) led, albeit indirectly, to the outbreak of WW II. Some of this financial weak…
@TheShadow … Re above ... Your spell checker must have changed “inept” to “incept”.
PS - And I do remember when @Old_Joe was messing with the stuff. Don’t know whether that’s bad or good (that I can remember back that far).
Also, if yen strengthens, is FXY a buy?
The operative term there is “IF”.
I’ve never had any luck playing the currency markets. If I understand @Crash correctly and their inflation rate is 1/2 % (0.50%) than I do understand the money printing goi…
Here’s a really “odd” way to look at it - but I do. - You’ve got a predetermined allocation model. Within that model are held set percentages of cash, bonds, equities and other assets. Those assets work together to generate an overall return. In my…
Even with an allocation model I feel “lost” most of the time. I can’t even begin to imagine how “winging it” might feel.
I do have discretion to play around in the 5-10% “speculative” component. That’s filled to the max 10% with (3 different) equi…
The VIX dropped below 20 this morning. “Happy days are here again … ”
@Bobpa said, “ … and if you are holding cash right now, how are you feeling about this market that seemingly only wants to go up?”
How am I feeling? Stick to the allocation …
I should clarify that my reassessment of inflation assets was triggered largely by global events. Six months ago I thought a lot of industrial metals, agriculture, and especially energy assets were quite overvalued. That was before Russia invaded Uk…
I confess to being “a day late and a dollar short”. Missed out on the energy play - after oil topped $60. Decent exposure to broad based commodities thru a couple allocation funds. And of course own the precious metals miners. Looked and looked thi…
It is tricky but there is a system to it.
Most bond funds accrue dividends daily but pay them monthly. If one sells mid-month, then one gets proportional dividends. NAV is not impacted by distribution.
Some bond funds and most equity/hybrid funds …
Thanks @Mark for digging up the link. The cut and paste came via circuitous route from a Kindle reader. No link,
Very good article. I can’t help thinking that was an intentional dive. As one person quoted near the end says “Planes just don’t do tha…
My impression with bond funds is you still get a portion of the interest based on how many days you held it during the quarter, although this would not be true with a stock paying dividends.
Thank you. I agree as far as that goes. At a fund house I…
FWIW - Opening paragraphs from the WSJ’s coverage Saturday.
It was one of the fastest descents of a commercial aviation jetliner in history. China Eastern Airlines Flight MU5735 had been flying normally for just over an hour on Monday when it sud…
Can’t help noting. Bloomberg this evening is showing the U.S. 10 year treasury at 2.47% and the 30 year just slightly higher at 2.58%. Makes no sense at all!
EDIT - Worse than I thought. At 10 PM Sunday: U.S. 30 year 2.61% / U.S. 5 year 2.59%
…
@Old_Joe -
9 crew members is a lot for the passenger load. I heard there was a second co-pilot along to “observe.” Possible foul play? I don’t know.
However, I wanted to ask you whether a sudden decompression might have led to the disaster? Mig…
We don't have any large screen or high definition video equipment, so we contract for the cheapest service tier provided by AT&T Uverse. All we really wanted when we signed up was reasonably fast internet browsing and email.
Than you might enjoy…
If you want laddering, DRSK maintains 90-95% in an investment grade corporate bond ladder and invests the remainder in equity call options. Up 7% annual since inception in August 2018. Held up extremely well during the 1st quarter 2020. I own …
Sounds like it’s getting easy to make money in this racket. Anybody flippin?
“Tommy Hilfiger Gets $50 Million for Aspen Ski Home”
“In Aspen’s booming luxury market, fashion designer Tommy Hilfiger has sold a slopeside mansion for $50 million, roug…
Naw - Can’t recall encountering that before. But, merchants typically do everything within their power to apply the “debit” function rather than the credit card function to a purchase, provided your particular card functions in both respects. In fac…
Bonds or not, I finished slightly ahead of my tri-fund benchmark today. That’s all I really care about at day’s end. Things go up. Things go down.
Good discussion everyone.
Yes - Dom De Marco, who passed away recently, sounds like a remarkable human being. The story’s not really about pizza at all, but about devotion, perfectionism and love of one’s trade.
Thanks @Old_Joe
Sully was at 10,000 - 11,000 feet if I remember correctly. Don’t know - but guess the air density a lot less at 29,000. There’s a report this morning that a wing part was found 6 miles away. from impact sight. Not surprising, as I’…
It’s a delicious item that my diet usually forbids. But it makes a great “emergency” meal at 1 or 2 in the morning while stranded in some distant place due to an airline snafu. I agree the best are found in NYC having indulged in one a few years …
Thanks for the analysis @MikeM. Sounds good. My rambling was mostly defensiveness since I’ve held on to my modest bond fund holdings (mainly DODLX) and even added a bit this week (PRIHX). I’d have been better to quote young Mark Twain who as an ap…
@Old_Joe, You read my mind. I had considered sending you a personal query. I agree with your summation. But I’m puzzled by something I just read of the incident:
“It is very likely that the aircraft lost power at cruising altitude, resulting in t…
My … take on bond funds is, they will continue to go down in total return as long as the FED is raising rates.
As of today the “Fed” has raised interest rates exactly once since 2018, and that one increase was in the amount of 0.25%. The Federal …
Crash said: “Very recently, i read a post, here or elsewhere, expressing that it makes sense to buy-back some beaten-down bond funds that you are convinced are otherwise solid, good investments. Then, in effect, the dividends are worth more than "fa…
The reason I hold a very small exposure to Canadian miner Wheaton (WPM) is because they’re heavier than most on silver mining. However, it’s lagged gold for years and so WPM has actually been trying to increase gold production and become less engage…
I referenced this a couple weeks ago and was told by someone I “hadn’t been to enough rodeos.”
:)
Bond funds are hurting big time this year. I’d expect such from longer dated ones. But some shorter term and intermediate term funds are getting b…
@MikeM. -
ISTM what you stated is essentially correct. One might nitpick and try to factor in the effect of new money flowing into that fund, as the higher returns and renewed stability would likely affect new investment. Since it’s unlikely rate…
It’s a fascinating game going on. Yeah - The Fed most always likes to jawbone first. The various statements are also a way of testing the markets to try and figure out how they would react to decisions being contemplated.
It’s mystifying why equi…
