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.
After insuring home and autos with Amica for more than 30 years, Consumers top-rated insurer, I switched to Liberty Mutual. Amica would not budge on their high rates to retain me. I've been satisfied with Liberty Mutual who gave me a Northwestern Un…
Consumers recent issue addresses cost of owning various brands. Audi is high, but not the highest. BMW is the worst, with VW about in the middle. You could have driven a Camry for very little. We are a Honda family looking for a late-model Accord to…
@davidrmoran is correct about a discount or premium continuing to grow even though it seems to defy logic. M*'s quote page for any CEF provides a lot of information about current discount/premium, the historical d/p, and the 1-year Z-Statistic, a me…
Just finishing "Return to Glory," the story of Ford's return to Le Man 24-hour race in 2016. The author correctly points out how the design of racing cars has positively affected passenger cars. Both racing cars and our daily drivers are indeed coco…
I'm not a linker, but here's a candid (read: foul-mouthed) conversation between Scaramucci and Ryan Lizza from the New Yorker.
https://www.newyorker.com/news/ryan-lizza/anthony-scaramucci-called-me-to-unload-about-white-house-leakers-reince-priebus-…
It's going a lot faster than in that hot summer of '73 when I remember having a TV on at work to keep up with the Watergate hearings. Anyone remember how Anthony (the Bag Man) Ulasawicz's testimony had us transfixed? Sadly, it was a national nightma…
I almost always try to sell the shares, in a fund or a stock, that result in the least amount of taxes. I also sell losers at the end of the year to help off-set taxable gains. I like BobC's suggestion of gifting a highly appreciated asset.
I do hold them both. My MACSX holding followed Foster to SFGIX and when MSMLX disappointed, my small cap money went to Grandeur Peak. Decided to keep a fairly small position in MAPIX. It's a solid fund and my only Matthews position.
Glad you're OK, VF. Those deployed airbags reminded me of an accident I had in Detroit on the way to a school in CT. Not my fault, but the whole family was really shaken. Off to Atlanta next month with youngest daughter who is transferring from UM. …
There's GQGPX, managed by Rajiv Jain, who made his mark elsewhere in the same way that Louis Kaufman did. Investors do chase performance and/or a star. Don't know for a fact, but think EM might be a tough asset class to offer to the public without e…
I have no stats to back up my opinion, yet I wonder if this is not an example of the disappearance of another small cap from the investable universe. Two places where I shop, Panera and Whole Foods, are being bought. Probably should follow Ted's exa…
Cut back on two three-year performance laggards, WSVIX and BRUFX. Using some proceeds to make my annual contribution to GPMCX and to initiate position in RPGAX. Thanks to those who contributed to discussion on global allocation funds. I particularly…
"Moonglow" by Michael Chabon. At the risk of being repetitive, "A Gentleman in Moscow," by Amor Towles, a former money manager introduced to MFOers by Ed Studzinski, was the novel of the year for me. Wading through the final volume of Proust's "In S…
FWIIW, I reduced my position again this year in WSVIX, having held since inception. SCV seems to be a tough area to make money. Maybe this is due to the previously discussed reduction in total number of small caps available to managers. I did not re…
One can never be sure of how to take comments made in this or other fora. If I attacked Foster's fund, it would be a surprise to me. I owned his Matthews fund for several years and followed him to Seafarer. I've had a sizeable EM allocation since be…
I have been using 8 Cree LED retrofits in our recessed lighting in kitchen and office since 2008. I could not be more satisfied. Now that the individual units can be had for about $22 at Lowe's, I've done the rest of the house. Also recently put LED…
Likely that fares will increase or stay high as result of this agreement. We have a daughter in Seoul to visit. Delta has non-stop service from Detroit, but it's around $1600, just as @Crash notes. That's probably for a 32" seat...
The linked article doesn't mention it, but there is a retail version of this fund (GQGPX), NTF at TDA and Schwab, with an ER of 1.33%. Seems to have attracted about $130M. Can't dispute the record Jain compiled at Vontobel.
CEFs are more work than OEFs and one never can be sure if volatility is due to underlying holdings changing value or whether some large holder dumped or bought shares. When the rats jump ship, they don't even send a tweet before leaping. In my limit…
SOR since Romick took it over has had a persistent discount, often double digits. It may never go away. Returns have been "muted," as they say. You would not know we've been in a bull market if you looked at only SOR's returns. Trading volume is low…
PBS is a different animal at pledge time. They ask you to donate so that you can keep on seeing the old music programs they play only during pledge time.
We are in our early 70's. We already have just about everything we need and the far greater concern is getting rid of stuff. Our kids don't want our things and they are typical of young adults today; a local consignment store has confirmed this tren…
This was a "story" fund that fooled me for a while, but I bailed out long ago. Seemed those two guys had the pedigree and the smarts to run a good value fund.
FWIIW, the Ringling Museum of Circus History in Sarasota FL is worth a visit. The Ringling mansion and art museum are also on site as monuments to American capitalism in search of legitimacy through imitation of European civilization.
Almost bought some DLEUX last week; still on my radar. Added to MOAT on dip, and a "nutty" small cap I've owned for quite a while. Those who check out JBSS may appreciate my attempt at humor. Sold GFMRX at beginning of month. Happy with current 8% y…
Both TDA and Schwab report gain as if all distributions were part of cost. This causes severe under reporting of gain, especially for funds that make monthly or quarterly distributions. I compute my total return by breaking out original cost of purc…
When this fund opened in 2015, I said I didn't see how Brown Capital could succeed with an international small cap fund, especially given the same managers' tepid performance in the Brown large cap international (BCIIX) fund. However, BCSVX has real…
GISOX is small/mid cap international. I think you might look at it because the excellent Grandeur Peak sm cap int'l (GPIOX) is closed, but you get some of the same managers with the Stalwarts fund. ISMRX is a good choice also. Its record as a MF is …
The difference between the two versions of the Overseas fund is 0.25%, or $12.50 per year on a $5000 position. I own WSVIX directly with Walthausen where the savings is 0.25%, so I'm not consistent. Own GPMCX directly because that's the only option.…
