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.
Building on @catch22’s observations.
One distortion (err perhaps “half truth”) a decade or two ago was the belief somehow conveyed to workers - especially the non-unionized - that foreign workers were taking their jobs away and lowering their stan…
Big fan of Roth conversions. Did 3 - all post retirement, Couple nice features: No RMDs + when you need a large amount all at once for a major purchase the $$ is easily accessible w/o having to worry about the tax hit.
As sma3 alludes, the best i…
Abstracts written by ChatGPT fool scientists (Article: The Guardian)
PBS News Hour on Saturday aired a segment in which they interviewed a college professor in the language arts specifically about the problem of receiving fake essays from students.…
For future government employees, including those working as or for xxTUS, I hope a lesson is being learned. I find the two cases to be different but, still, they both are also stupid (and I hate stupid in people who should be more). I remember how m…
Got the ol' alternate facts thing working there.
”When you're in trouble
Go into your dance …
“Give 'em the old three ring circus
Stun and stagger 'em
Though you are stiffer than a girder
They let you get away with murder”
- From “Chicago”
Thanks @Crash & @carew388
Neither MAINX (+3% 1 year) or MICPX (-1.65% -1 year) appears to have a terrible one year stretch. Most everything related to EM got clocked last year. Not familiar with Matthews funds - but recall some favorable me…
I’d be interested in their reasons if anyone knows. Seems odd at a glance. Maybe worried about geo-politics / stability of area? Or, have they replaced these with a better product(s)? I’ve noticed some EM stock funds turning up in recent months …
This won’t go down easy. Likely to help Trump defuse / mitigate his transgressions in the public eye, even though very different from a legal perspective. Dug-up a scholarly work which examines the tendency of people to lump into one category basi…
@Observant1 - I’m glad you and others continue to share your holdings. No intent here to impugn or discourage that practice. I too have acquired some great funds after others wrote about them here. So my decision to no longer share is strictly per…
”Too many George Santos impersonators have infiltrated some of these forums.”
Hi Gary. I don’t know whether your reference was to me or not. But inasmuch as I’d earlier alluded to some profitable personal investments and inasmuch as others might co…
”Our very first bill will repeal the funding for 87,000 new IRS agents,” Mr. McCarthy said after being chosen as speaker after a 15-ballot election that was the longest since the Civil War. “You see, we believe government should be to help you, not …
Sounds like @Level5 has his act together. Nice approach me thinks.
Can’t emphasize enough the relevance of age & situation to this whole topic. As one nears 80, unless there’s some extenuating circumstance (growing portfolio for heirs, having m…
Joseph McCarthy / What a horrible episode in our history.
Then there was JP McCarthy who ruled the Detroit airwaves for many years. I’m sure @catch22 remembers.
@catch22 - Do you have a chart showing the relative performance for the next 7 years? My guess is that those lines will pretty much converge again before this episode is all finished, as they did in 2018 and 2020. More aggressive funds tend to le…
Wikipedia Biography - George Santos.
There’s something vaguely likable about this guy. Certainly has a vivid imagination! And he must have sized up his constituency accurately and concluded quite correctly they were as dumb (or apathetic) as a fen…
Real estate funds bounced today.Some gained around 4%. Possibly a sign of a coming turn-around .., ?
Took profits from a mining stock today and parked the sum in a conservative income-oriented real estate fund (ASRAX) where it remains still within…
@Derf
The friends uncle had an old John Deere, single cylinder (putt, putt, putt) tractor …
So that’s why they sounded that way! Always wondered. Spent 1-2 weeks a summer on farms in the Saginaw Valley region as a kid. Several relatives owned sizab…
Thanks Mark. Great article. I don’t doubt Hulbert’s overall premise. But you know what they say about ”In the long run …”.
Gosh - depends on what all you’re invested in as well as age, risk profile, etc, Curiously, a very speculative stock (one …
WSJ Story: ”Liquor Brands Bet Thrifty Drinkers Will Keep Making At-Home Cocktails”
”Many Americans took to mixing cocktails at home during the pandemic, boosting liquor sales. Now, with inflation squeezing disposable incomes, big distillers are b…
Can't wait for the "Florida, Home of Failed Dictators" t-shirts and bumper stickers.
+1 Maybe that’s why I stopped going there … (Add cockroaches to that sticker. :))
Story (Originally published in the WSJ) -
The overseer of one of the largest public pension funds in the US is demanding an explanation from crisis-hit Southwest Airlines — New York State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli wants to know how the carrier p…
”Our very first bill will repeal the funding for 87,000 new IRS agents,” Mr. McCarthy said after being chosen as speaker after a 15-ballot election that was the longest since the Civil War. “You see, we believe government should be to help you, not …
“… but another important factor is the massive shift that is occurring from actively managed mutual funds to cheaper indexed ETFs. Especially in areas that are bread and butter styles of investments such as large-cap stocks, investors are tired of …
how whiskies are ‘made’, from the getgo, all of them
and then more water
This one already cut
Good to know! Most interesting. Thanks. Do enjoy many of the 40% ones - both blended and single malt. Quite often buy couple different Tomatin singl…
Thanks @Obsevant1. Couldn’t help noting that 5 funds from TRP comprise close to a quarter of the list.
I hope it’s OK to supplement this thread with a reference to @LewisBraham’s excellent article in the current issue of Barrons (”Investors Red…
MikeM said “ (@hank, do you still own that one?)”
@MikeM - Yes, still own PRPFX. It’s 10.4% of portfolio, equally weighted along with NLSAX, CVSIX and TRRIX* - all relatively “sleep-easy” funds. (TRRIX’s dismal 2022 was, I suspect, an aberration…
Think this post is supposed to be joke!
Yes @Sven. My post of the classic Geiko caveman commercial was supposed to be a joke. It was meant as a play on the writer’s emphasis on simplicity - “AANA is amazingly simple.”
I was also alluding to what…
Possibly we’ve been all wrong here over the years with all the deep mutual fund analysis, the “What are you Buying and Selling?” threads - all those damn sophisticated charts and what not.
Been thinking of putting my investments at higher risk so my attention and anxiety is diverted to something that feels a bit more under my control. I need a break from worrying about my country, its people, its liberties, its sanity, its morality, i…
@Crash - Yes, Steve Rattner of Willet Advisors. Thanks for the correction. Had him confused with the fella from Evercore Investments who has a similar cautionary take and also appears on WSW. Both top notch.
https://stevenrattner.com/bio/
I doubt…
Thanks @yogibearbull for clearing it up. My limited perception came from looking at TAIL. Supposed to hedge against volatility. Didn’t help me any when I held it early in 2022. Just looked and it’s down 10-11% for past year. As LB noted for me way…
I’ve been trying to listen to this episode late at night for couple days now. Unfortunately, I can’t seem to get through Larry’s piece without falling asleep - so have yet to finish it. I suspect that in written transcript form it would be easier…
Some comments on this from Randall Forsyth this week:
”In the narrow, parochial terms of the stock market, the precedent of the vicious fight over the debt ceiling in the summer of 2011 coincided with a 10%-plus drop in the S&P 500 index. The f…
Feeling “Whiplash” anyone?
James Stack notes in his January 9 update to subscribers that day to day volatility (S&P) over past 12 months is the 3rd highest in the last 60 years. It is exceeded only by 2008 and 2002.
Wow. I thought it was just…
