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davfor
Thanks. She is well now and back to her daily volunteering.....
@Mark Thanks for your response to my comment. It has prompted a lively discussion of issues I had not considered. My rereading of the article and the excerpt from the WSJ article posted above both suggest the law would likely result in negative t…
Passage of this bill would force taxable account investors to buy and hold onto individual stocks to continue to receive some of the advantages available through tax-deferred retirement accounts. That would uncomfortably alter the investing landsca…
The portfolio diversification, future rate uncertainty, and portfolio volatility reduction aspects of the case for owning some high grade bonds continues to have appeal (see @bee article above). The stock market is richly valued. I don't know how …
This is a wide ranging review of current thinking about the ongoing transformation. Here are a few examples:
The party Central Committee shifted its economic emphasis “from efficiency to fairness” in late 2020, a researcher at a Beijing think tank …
A little more background info....
The fall of the almost $2 billion Infinity Q Diversified Alpha Fund is a reminder to investors about the risks that can lurk in their holdings and the heavy costs and frustrations that liquidating funds bring.
Wha…
Did a little more checking. VWINX inception date was actually 6/30/1970.
Here is a look at the 10-year treasury trend from 1973 to 1982.
And here is a look at VWINX performance from 1973 to 1982 compared to S&P500 and VWESX (Vanguard Long-T…
Just another general comment about AKREX and PGIRX (a somewhat close cousin to POLRX). Both under performed in 2020 as the stock market melted up in response to central bank and fiscal policy interventions. That doesn't concern or surprise me. Thi…
Have owned AKREX for many years and PGIRX since inception of fund. No thoughts of selling either. This quote reflects much of the basic approach each of these funds takes:
We believe in owning exceptional businesses for as long as they remain so, …
We are looking at building a portfolio that can not be changed for 5 years looking ahead from today (other than rebalancing). It might be helpful to include VWINX in the mix because it doesn't rely on a five year continuation from today of out-perf…
It seems like time tested VWINX deserves a spot in a Catastrophe Portfolio, particularly if the goal is to minimize tinkering with it after it has been set up.
Today the Fed (and other central banks across the globe) is part of the market.
The Fed and the stock market are for now co-dependent and planning to live in a somewhat lower interest rate world. The pandemic and the Fed's more inclusive employment…
A short South China Morning Post article with a few examples of how these terms are being put to work by Chinese regulators. The depth, breadth, and expected duration of the crackdown somewhat surprise me. But, suspect most Chinese businesses will…
Out of curiosity, just checked which OEF holdings contribute significantly to my bond allocation (other than RPHYX which I use as a cash substitute -- NTF at Fido so easy to sell and buy). FWIW, in high to low order:
SVARX, RCTIX, CRAAX, PTIAX, PO…
Today the Fed (and other central banks across the globe) is part of the market.
This is a conclusion I adopted in February 2019 ( Powell Put ). It became clear to me at that point the Fed had given up on reviving traditional interest rates. T…
My "cash account" currently includes RPHYX, ICSH, and FZFXX. I was at 67% equities at the start of the year but am currently up to 70% despite some previous YTD stock trimming. Thus, the thought of trimming stocks back again now to add a little mo…
I remember shopping for a mortgage loan in the spring of 2007 when we were purchasing a winter home on the gulf coast of Florida. One lender (not the one we selected) didn't want to see any documentation of household income...what the application f…
Nothing new here. Just a few general thoughts......
**Megastars come and go as winning active investment approaches evolve (the market inevitably figures out how to outwit them).
**It's probably better for active managers to invest heavily in the…
A big part of the reason confronting the climate change challenge continues to be so difficult:
A Texas Solution to Global Warming: Use More Air-Conditioning
It makes sense to me to focus more on methane emissions.
Here is a little more on a big picture problem created by the disconnect between the lack of widespread understanding and concern and the potential for long-term global necessity.:
It’s preci…
Here is a Summary of a recently released Global Commons Survey. The Survey measures the level of responder awareness regarding changes deemed crucial by members of the scientific community to limit climate change. And it looks at barriers to takin…
Yes. It is assumed this headline will be taken with a grain of salt. It is perhaps an exaggeration and is at least an over generalization. But, it does point to the potential for trading apps to impact investor behavior in reckless ways, includin…
That chart and the comment provide a useful big picture explanation for at least part of what has changed in the UK in recent decades. They also speak more generally to the potential staying power of the global climate change challenge.
Here is an…
The population increased in the 1980's. My hunch is the 1980's drop was at least somewhat related to the continuing decline in coal consumption and the related 84/85 coal strike and its aftermath (Iron Lady time).
this is cool --- the UK's 1850 levels
Yes. That is encouraging. The image doesn't show up on my computer....just the word "image". But going to the link I sleuthed when previewing this reply provides the image. Weird....
https://pbs.twimg.co…
Yes, it's just supposed to keep us even-steven. But I can choose NOT to spend that 6.2% and INVEST it! Yaba daba doo.
And you have had a year to adjust your spending habits by making substitutions for and perhaps eliminating less important items.…
I made a mid-career return to graduate school in the mid-1980's in applied economics. My focus was on public policy analysis related to non-renewable and very slowly renewable natural resources. My basic take-away from that experience was that dis…
In case you haven't checked it out, CEF Connect is another site you might want to visit. One thing I like is the pricing information tab display of premium/discount trends through various time periods:
The authors acknowledged the attention grabbing aspect of their headline when they stated "European natural gas rates have surged more than 1,000% from a record low in May 2020 due to the pandemic, while Asian LNG rates have jumped about six-fold in…
interesting...noticed the ticker symbol for my prior link above didn't match up with BGHIX even though the name appeared on the surface to be correct.
Then read this report that indicates managers and investment strategies will remain unchanged: D…
Per FIDO: BGHIX BRANDYWINEGLOBAL HIGH YIELD I
deleted link...see additional comment below...
I considered selling before the second scheduled voting date on the takeover, but have hung on and will now take a look at the combined fund compositi…
Agree about the Roth IRA investment idea. Established Roth IRA in our son's name in 2005 when he was 23. Tax free compounding through the decades is a real perk especially when coupled with the potential for taking tax free withdrawals down the ro…
Short summary of research note...
Bank of America (BofA) called central bank digital currencies “a much more effective payment system than cash,” in a research paper published Wednesday.
...CBDCs could “replace cash completely in the (distant) futu…
Per @msf:
IMHO, the key distinction between cryptocurrencies and central bank digital encrypted currencies is that the latter are ultimately issued by central banks.
That makes sense to me. Relatedly, the stability of each CBDC will be directly lin…
A couple of definitions:
cryptocurrency: a digital currency in which transactions are verified and records maintained by a decentralized system using cryptography, rather than by a centralized authority.
"decentralized cryptocurrencies such as bit…
@bee thanks for the informative CBDC post
Re cryptocurrencies:
"Cryptocurrency is like taking the worst parts of today's capitalist system (eg. corruption, fraud, inequality) and using software to technically limit the use of interventions (eg. a…
It feels like the market's current worries are beginning to test Grantham's "sell the news" theory.
Wall Street’s New Fear Is That the Economy Has Already Peaked