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Yooz guys!!!!! Rono, yer making me giggle about the MASH tv episode I remember, when Hawkeye and Trapper John created a G.I. out of thin air. Gave him a dogtag number and everything else. What was his religion? They had to put it on the form. Hawkey…
Fascinating, OJ. I'm not surprised. So in some respects, clergy-types are non-persons. The friggin' corporations have more rights protected than myself, depening on the scenario. Sucks big. What's more interesting to me would be a conversation about…
I'm glad, along the same lines---that I did not sign-on to my denomination's 90-day prescrip. refill mail-order arrangement. The pills would still be looking for me. They made it look appealing by seeing to it that we were charged MORE to just go to…
I'm pissed, but the alternatives all require me to do MORE, not LESS. The electronic funds transfer ACH thing (like "direct deposit") means I give them more control, not less. And I have avoided doing that up till now, and I'm 57--- because ever sin…
Yes, Maurice, you're correct. I am referring to our only joint investment account which a normal, regular, taxable investment thing. Obviously, BNY Mellon handles all of this, too. When I got the call-back last evening, it showed up on Caller I.D. a…
Berwyn. yes. BERIX is managed by those two and a couple of others, too. Berwyn is all equity, BERIX = balanced. The news confirms my rather high opinion of these guys and their ability to manage their funds well. Which is why I'll be looking to buy-…
Reply to @NickF: This I did not know. I appreciate the added information about risk. And that sort of fee---the $75 thing--- is the very reason I still buy my funds---up till now, at least, DIRECTLY from the fund houses as a retail buyer. DIRECTLY.
Good question about the convertibles, AJ. I'll watch to see if you get a response, too. I guess in broad terms they are "convertible" bonds which, at a particular "strike" price, are converted (or CAN be converted) into equity shares? But even if TH…
Giggling at your closing remark, Investor. Ya, me too: I own both, but I own about 12X MORE MAPIX than MACSX. And MACSX is at present my ONLY taxable, regular, non-retirement animal.
I appreciate the input, guys. I will at least do this: to check and see if there is a Fido shop in the vicinity. I'm not in the boonies anymore, and my new town sits right along the Mass. Turnpike. I-90. Very handy, that way.I don't mind volunteerin…
I do use FB quite a bit. My internet safety and privacy tools---used very often for cleaning and maintenance purposes, include:
-AVG Free edition.
-Malwarebytes (free)
-Spyware Blaster (free)
-SUPERAntispyware (free)
-CCleaner (free)
All of these …
OK, so...Fidelity then... In US dollars? I will assume that.... Fund managers will (hopefully) follow their fund's mandate. There are a bunch of "go anywhere" bond funds, but I tend to at least go as far as to choose the SECTORS I want to be in, and…
MFLDX, OK, got it. Am I stupid or just naive to resist such strategies? (Long/short funds, inverse, in-and-out constant churning sorts of funds?)...? I see your point, nevertheless.
I think you're right about the volatility thing, Scott, and your choice of funds. My portfolio is still way too concentrated, but once I get the opportunity (when a particular, expected thing finally happens,) I'll be buying BERIX in serious amounts…
Along the same lines, Accipter/Maurice: Chris Hedges on the Corporate State's takeover of our political, economic lives:
http://www.facebook.com/Israpalestine/posts/305646269473795?notif_t=share_reply
Next dividend will be .22 cents, growing 10% from the present .20 cents. I saw the announcement just a week or two ago. I'm holding it, not buying more. Ethical qualms. But though PFE was in the doldrums for several months, it surged just lately at …
I've wondered about stuff like this many times, with an eye on the day when I will want to keep my money invested in USA mutual funds but withdraw dividends in Filipino pesos, living over there. Hmmmmm.
First of all, PayPal: I don't trust them, tho…
Cathy, so sorry to hear of your mother's passing on. And good luck with that "gig," attempting to work with your sister, who has been less than helpful. My aunt would have been 90 just yesterday, but died in the Spring. Never married, never any chil…
"...keep moving forward, on balance," over the long haul? OK, I can agree--- if we're talking in geologic time-frames. I am cynical, short-term and medium-term. It will take another generation at least to fix the political gridlock and to slow down …
I could "ring in' and offer my usual scathing criticism of Big Business. But by now it's "old news," like behaving as if I'm "shocked, SHOCKED! To find out there's GAMBLING going on here!" (Claude Rains, "Casablanca.") The suits with the deep pocket…
I sympathize, believe me, hank. But I've also encountered another sort of snafu: the special, super-dooper, high-cost-postal-rate package gets QUICKLY to its destination, as we are led to expect. But once there, there is no expedited treatment given…
What I recall most clearly were the years Billy Bulger served as State Insurance Commissioner. After that, I moved away to school and everything else and stayed away for a long time---until just lately. Every single time the Springfield paper report…
Most of us clergy who have served small churches and earning below the denomination's median get our pension pegged to the median. That makes sense. When we're tal;king about Bulger and $200,000 per year, I want to vomit. What a greasy, sleazy, slic…
I'm in Mass. also. This is interesting to learn, Maurice. Ya, and I was recently pushed into retirement, to be perfectly blunt about it--- so that my own pension, though ostensibly never-ending because it is an old fashioned traditional Defined Bene…
Hey, Ginko: "inclusive:" means always needing to re-phrase everything in your head so that some generic substitute gets used once you open your mouth. For example, switching from "Man" for Mankind to Humankind. Or the Human Race. And one never uses …
Yes, I'm smarter than Kellie Pickler. (Spelling?) Apparently, so are most OTHER people, too. Wow. Such ignorance. I hate to mention the dumb blonde jokes, but... And about education, teaching, standardized tests: if teachers find they must "teach to…
For Circa33: For lower volatility, you might also look at BERIX, and for high dividend, see DLTNX and PREMX. And DODIX: solid, conservative, quarterly pay-outs. (BERIX holds both stocks and bonds.) I'm not holding much more than $100K right now, mys…
Hey, budlite. I cannot help but to recommend BERIX. But do NOT put all your eggs in a single basket! Link from Morningstar:
http://quote.morningstar.com/fund/f.aspx?pgid=hetopquote&t=berix