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.
Thanks, @Ted, for making it clear that others were wrong in taking shots at you for how you voted in 2016. You are true to your principles. In 1968 I cast an absentee write-in ballot for my favorite candidate and I learned from a press clipping my …
Interesting speculation on MSNBC late EDT; two participants picked Dan Coats, another a combination of 2 or 3 people, and a third said a "deputy something" at one level lower than the senior WH personnel.
@PRESSmUP: Did you sell ROSOX because GSIHX has done so much better over almost equal time since their inception dates? I sold the former a few months ago.
My take is that the Times vetted this person carefully before publishing the piece. The existence of a resistance movement squares with repeated previous reports of massive leaking from the WH. You can keep calling the Times "failing," but it's obvi…
@Hank: I think Honda got the memo. Our 2017 Accord Hybrid does not have any volume or tuning knobs and learning the touch screen is not easy, surely not while under way! I have learned to use the controls on the steering wheel for volume, preset sta…
I could envision funds making early distributions to avoid a spate a selling. I dare say that even most experienced long-term investors are not thinking about year-end distributions on Labor Day, thereby giving an opening to less-than-scrupulous fun…
I think it was Bush II whose administration proposed privatizing a part of SS (25% IIRC) and making wage earners participate in 401K-like vehicles. I recall that idea going nowhere. It may be that many Americans who could benefit from investment sav…
BOA, where I have checking, calls transfers to accounts at other banks ACH Transfers. The current fees are $3 for 3 business days, $10 for next business day, and $30 for a wire transfer, same day. BOA does not charge if you transfer to another perso…
I think @Nod has a good point. Healthy eating and enough exercise are in this country the domains of those who have the means to pursue the proper lifestyle. Lousy, unhealthy food is cheap, widely advertised, and easily procured. You don't have to b…
@MikeW: I’d be interested in any conclusions you might reach regarding Harbor’s success hiring and firing sub-advisors. I used to also own Harbor Mid Cap Value and Harbor Global Growth. I’m pretty sure Harbor fired Marsico from the latter. Beyond th…
It seems the capital gains will be long term, so that would be the best type of gains to have for tax purposes. However, funds are not required to distribute in the most tax-favorable manner.
I used to own the fund until it became a stinker. I thin…
Ease up. It’s not rocket science, as the saying goes, and a liberal arts major can certainly learn to suggest mutual funds precisely because liberal arts majors are taught how to learn in a serious undergrad program. Better their advice than that of…
Honda minivans since 1999; Honda Accord for second car since 2010; 1993 Nissan 300ZX convertible for my fun. Short driving season and unpaved roads in MI limit sports car enjoyment.
Along with others here, I have a "healthy" dose of health care in my active portfolio. CELG has been on a roller coaster, but my basis is so low as to make a sale unpalatable, even when it dropped. Also hold HQL, which has underperformed in recent y…
Interesting points made here. I don't want to paraphrase @msf (because he's perfectly clear in his writing), but the idea that "volatility" has become synonymous with a decline in securities is missing a dimension. Pundits frequently warn us about c…
Good point @rforno. Give people free chips at the casino; no matter, because the house will come out ahead in the end. Brokerage stocks swooning today is no doubt evidence of this irrationality.
@davidmoran: I had been reading that piece on Singer just before you posted the link. I think your comment is that Singer’s fund has achieved the same performance as if one had been invested in JNJ or the Contra fund for 40years. I usually finish wh…
@BrianW: thanks for linking that article and asking whether or not it's appropriate to bring up the President in this context. I believe we have a man in office who disregards the precedents set out by many presidents before him and in so doing caus…
I'm very happy with Chuck and he's better looking than Boggle. The banking, debit card, and ACH transfers to external accounts for free are big assets for me. I don't like the work involved, but I am considering transferring our smaller accounts tha…
@Derf: I can't recall how I found out, but after opening my account in 2015, I made purchases in 2016 and 2017 for $6K each year. I'm pretty sure GP announced it and $6K is the yearly limit. Someone may remember what the maximum opening purchase lim…
@sea: GPMCX is 50% invested in Asia, although not a great deal in emerging Asia. It's a bad year for the region's stock markets. The fund is under $40M, turned over about 46% according to latest report, so I hope the managers are spotting some ineff…
Sold CCAPX two weeks ago. I no longer think Ryan Caldwell's allocation techniques fit my style. Keeping RPGAX and BRUFX. Used a part of that cash to initiate a position in the New Germany Fund (GF) when the discount widened as the Turkish lira crisi…
You raise a good point, @bee. I have heard the old saw about undervalued dividend stocks, namely that I'm "getting paid" while the stock languishes. At today's yields, that makes for a long wait before the re-invested dividends and the hoped-for app…
Very enlightening comparisons among these funds. While it does not have the long-term record of the cubes, RYT has been my choice in technology. For the last three years it has been a winner.
Thanks for posting those links, @Old_Skeet. I think Saut is one of the smartest commentators going and what comes through on this travelog is how modest he is and how much credit he gives to others in the business. The anti-Cramer, maybe?
I agree with you, @hank, that going into (or back into for me) EM is risky. M* recently made Tencent (TCEHY) a 5 star stock, one that a lot of EM and Asia funds hold, and which continues its descent. A classic falling knife, but enticing in the way …
I join @Tarwheel in lamenting what we humans have failed to do to protect ourselves and our planet. The saddest experience I've had in this area in the last couple of weeks is reading "Losing Earth" (https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2018/08/01/ma…
@newgirl: my advice based on the questions you have asked and what you've said about your holdings is to do a portfolio review first, as opposed to looking at individual stocks that one of your funds holds. The three funds you mention definitely hav…
@hank: You make good points about supporting good journalism. We receive the New Yorker and the New York Review of Books, both of which have wonderful writers and actively promote their authors online. I followed someone's advice here to track down …
The FMI connection makes geographical sense; both companies are located in Milwaukee and degrees from Madison are common among Provident's personnel. Don't want to date myself, but in New England where I grew up the University of Wisconsin had a som…
"Information on closed-end funds is far more limited than
their more popular relatives, mutual funds and exchange-
traded funds," thus reads the first line of a decent summary of sources of information:
http://www.aaii.com/investing/article/web-si…
