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.
If you go to the MFO Search box at the top of the Discussions page and enter BIAWX, you'll find that several members offered takes on the Brown Advisory fund in April. To wit:
The write-up on Brown Advisory Sustainable Growth is very revealing. I wa…
If that's not enough bad news, many outlets are reporting on an investigation into the 787, as in the Times:
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/06/28/business/boeing-787-dreamliner-investigation.html
As to who owns BA, I know that it's a big position in…
Interesting link, @davidmoran, to 2013 MFO commentary. The link to Sam Lee's M* article on CAPE is worthwhile, particularly where he says he'd prefer more history than just back to 2002. He was also very prescient in saying he'd feel more comfortabl…
Schwab. At 134.57, at 3:40PM, 134.48 bid and 134.75 ask, so a 27 cent spread. What I have found, if I'm buying, is to put in a pretty low offer, maybe a cent or two above the low of the day and hope to get that price at the end of the day. Volume is…
The Barclay's article linked by @msf helped me a lot in grasping how the CAPE sector rotation works. It's illuminating to see what sectors never made it in at all and that energy was in for only one month. If CAPE had a "value" tilt, sectors such as…
In the core or large-cap part of my portfolio, DSENX, has outperformed practically everything. AKREX and HNASX have gained more overall in the past five years, but DNSEX is a total-return machine due to its monthly distributions. Like @davidmoran, I…
Ditto my recent comments about M* being enthralled with certain value shops. I have no problem with them endorsing Vanguard Global Equity, but Oakmark Global and Causeway Global Value rank in the bottom 15% of similar funds for the five-year period.…
@hank: The senator from Illinois, Everett Dirkson, became famous for the remark, but I think he used "billion."
Just rode a newer A321 home from DC and it was really comfortable. If I flew regularly, I'd be inclined to seek that plane out.
@davidmoran: DSEEX routinely, monthly in fact, delivers almost 3% in distributions. Unless you buy a leveraged CEF, it's hard to find more yield than that. I don't mind reinvesting the distributions on my positions in DSENX; sometimes I'm buying che…
I agree with @Crash; I have let Grandeur Peak go and used some of the dough in WAGOX. As it stands now, from my quick review of their international and global funds, there's only one (Emerging Markets Select) that seems to invest in anything but sma…
M* seems infatuated with value funds. They have given a fair amount of coverage to the LSV family of funds, more coverage than the results warrant IMO. LSVEX (large), HIMVX (mid) and LSVQX (small) are all run my the same group of academic value quan…
Without researching the NYTimes archive, I still recall an editorial shortly before the 2016 election calling DT something like a "carnival barker" and a "con man." The behavior alluded to in @hank's post would seem to reinforce the accusation.
I use Dashlane to manage my passwords for desktop iMac and laptop MacBook. It's not free if you use it on more than one device. On my iPhone and iPad, Schwab access is via my fingerprint. Dashlane can also be set up for fingerprint recognition rathe…
Milk consumption has been declining steadily as more and more Americans and Europeans come to realize that animal fats can be harmful to our health and the raising of cattle harmful to the environment. For my part, I would not see conversions of Wis…
Thanks @lewis and @msf for confirming my correct decision some years ago to stay clear of Wintergreen. The smell of the tobacco was enough to deter me, but you have pointed out other good reasons.
Not that this is the only example, but the credibility gap between the administration and the public is so great that I have little faith in what our side says about the other.
The mutual fund marketplaces negotiate fees with the MF companies in return for marketing. Some of the fund companies don't want to play ball with the big enchiladas. BTW, I think ORNAX is a great holding; I happen to have it at Schwab.
It's an advantage plan, called BC/BS Medicare PPO. The annual deductible for a member is $1000, reduced to $900 if you answer a questionnaire satisfactorily. After paying the deductible, there is generally a 10% co-pay for almost all services. To th…
One thing to be prepared for once you begin Medicare and whatever options you choose: you will get reams of paper in the mail, especially the 8-page monthly summaries of your Rx usage related to Part D. Because Medicare and associated coverages are …
I am aware of other healthcare CEFs that provide a similar stream of dividends, not unlike equity-income funds. BME is the most successful while HQL and THQ (both Tekla) have steady distributions but lousy price appreciation. The CEF structure seems…
We're ghouls, I think. We like to pick over the skeletal remains of a fund. The cynic in me wonders how a fund with "strategic" and "value" in the name could possibly fail.
Michael Lewis's "The Fifth Risk" is a compilation of previous articles and some new material on the consequences of Trump's appointees to key government departments, as Lewis B alluded to. Truly frightening.
As to Herman Cain's candidacy for the Fe…
@Graust: Thanks from me also. When I entered DSENX in the M* chart an then compared to MOAT, results are different from doing the obverse. Long-term holders of DSENX should rejoice.
I don't know your appetite for risk or what place a SC fund would have in your holdings, so my suggestions might not fit for you. Here are the domestic SC's I currently hold and which are open to new investors: CCSMX, DVSMX, and FTHNX. Of the three,…
As the TV commercial for the PGA said, "These guys are good!" I refer to the really helpful comments of @davidmoran, @catch 22, and @Old_Joe, whose priceless instructions on linking include the word "paramecium." Now that's a species we haven't seen…
We have AKREX in three different family accounts. Latest shareholder letter points out that cash is building up because of new purchases. Now that AUM are north of $10B, it's no longer under the radar. For our money, the ER charged is well worth it.…
Here's an ungodly long link from a M* chart, showing that MOAT's cumulative performance over DSENX is about 20% for last 3 years. The 5 year period, not shown here, is similarly favorable for MOAT. I wish I could be as cool as @catch22 with my chart…
@catch22: that’s a great chart! In addition to demonstrating the CAPE strategy’s long term dominance, it also shows how much DSENX declined when the market went south. Several members wondered aloud here about the prospects of the fund in a down mar…
@MikeM and @davidmoran: I did overstate the performance figures for MOAT vs. DSENX. I relied on the "chart" function on M* which has cumulative performance. 3 years +22.76% for DSENX and +41.98% for MOAT, but the 5-year difference is not huge. MOAT …
I failed to link the Times article. However, the rule change the NCAA may enforce is to require the school receiving the transfer to lose a scholarship. As basketball scholarships are limited to 13 per year, the impact on the program is significant.…
Two of TT stars, Owens and Mooney, are graduate transfers. They play at TT even though they've graduated elsewhere but have "eligibility" remaining. As today's (failing) NYTimes points out, the NCAA may actually change this ludicrous rule. Are any o…
@rono: It is practically axiomatic in higher education that upper level administrators should not come from within the university. Take a look at Simon’s career and you’ll see she never worked anywhere but MSU, including during grad school. She does…
The write-up on Brown Advisory Sustainable Growth is very revealing. I was pleasantly surprised to find that the 33 stocks held by the fund are practically household names, ones that I feel very comfortable owning: Microsoft, Danahaer, American Towe…
I am with @MikeM in continuing my hefty allocation to healthcare. I used to own GLFOX, but I think it's too Europe-centric, even though I have nothing against global funds. I made a few bucks on CVS, but I'm out now. UNH is the top holding of my mai…
