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The portfolio diversification argument for investing in CCFs is nothing more than a red herring. I'm not a gold bug, but the data show that gold has actually been a better diversifier than CCFs. Gold has a lower correlation to both stocks and bonds than CCFs, and has protected against market downdra...

Using the data from Simba's spreadsheet, a portfolio allocated 50/50 between the S&P500 and 5Yr Treasuries had an average annual return of 9.64% for the 41 years 1972-2012, rebalanced annually. If 5% of the equity allocation had been placed in commodity futures, the average annual return would h...

If you're a believer in the Permanent Portfolio, then the answer is YES (in capital letters), assuming you think of gold as a commodity-like investment. That approach has you 25% in gold. I figure at the puny allocation to commodities often recommended, such as 5%, it won't make much difference whet...

Good news. Thanks for the update. I've learned something new.

Leverage means more than just borrowing money. The author is using the term in the broad sense, referring to the fact that PIMCO is attempting to add returns to it's commodity fund by taking on additional risk with the collateral. They forgot that this multiplies losses as well as gains. In finance,...

The value of an annuity or pension is driven more by mortality than interest rates. Think of it as a pool of money divided over annuitants with the managing company retaining any investment return. As such the value of a COLA pension should be annual payments x life expectancy, for a fixed pension ...

Not to worry, Nisiprius. Here's a schematic of how the fund works:

I did a little analysis once that convinced me that the "age in bonds" guideline had some flaws. One problem is that this conservative strategy can backfire if you're loaded up on bonds when you're 90 and bonds tank because of rising rates; which is what Bogle is warning about now. Bonds a...

I think the author is pointing out that funds often adopt the practice of investing in riskier securities because they are constrained from using leverage to boost returns. I don''t know where I heard that, maybe here. Security risk is used as a proxy for leverage. That's what PIMCO is effectively d...

Here's the author's own response to question about leverage" While I agree with your assertion that investors understand the term "leverage" to describe a fund that borrows money to enhance returns, the fact that PCRAX's cash collateral is being invested in assets (some riskier than o...

Here's how the article defines leverage: It’s therefore a matter of perception and how one defines leverage. When you hold a commodity ETF, the requirement is that all cash collateral be invested in cash or cash equivalents. Any departure from this, by definition, represents the introduction of leve...

beanstock wrote:One downside of most apps is you have to allow them to gain access to all sorts of info from your phone to be able to use them. They are in a way malware/adware.

That's probably why they are mostly free.

Memo to smartphone owners - watch your back. In the news lately that 1.6 million smartphone owners had their phone stolen last year, often by getting knocked over the head while using it in public. Apple is now going to include a "kill switch" in iPhones so a stolen phone can be permanentl...

Most investors who own PIMCO's real return commodity fund (PCRAX, PCRIX) think they are investing in a commodity futures fund. Turns out they are investing in a leveraged hybrid bond/commodity fund. Not a very good option for investors who are seeking commodity exposure in order to diversify their p...

I'm nominating Victoria for the Silver Medal. I think she knows whereof she speaks. Insightful, profound, but OGD wins in the actionability category and therefore takes home the gold. :beer By the way, can you nominate someone else for the Silver Medal and give me the Bronze? Studies show that Bron...

I'm nominating Victoria for the Silver Medal. I think she knows whereof she speaks. Insightful, profound, but OGD wins in the actionability category and therefore takes home the gold.

Right. The dreaded ring delay is gone when GC is unchecked, even when data is ON (well actually I get a 1-ring delay which I think is the "normal"). I just hope it doesn't reappear and that I'm not being duped by those gremlins again. Also, the delay is gone going the other way -- from the...

Browser, it seems you've stumbled upon a dark corner of technology :) Two things I can think of: Is your phone configured to make wifi calls when possible? T-mobile has that option, but it's rather laggy. If you go to google.com/voice, is your cell the very first phone listed? before gchat and any ...

The key to solving Browser's issue is to understand how ringing is triggered in the originating phone. In the traditional telephony, the initiating phone does not start ringing until the wired network has located the destination phone and figured out whether the destination phone is free or busy. M...

This is kinda a longish post, but bear with me if you are interested in the problem I've been having with Google Voice on my smartphone with AirVoice Wireless service. I have the plan that includes 500MB of data per month. In my previous post I said I suddenly could not make GV calls from the smartp...

You know, as for dealer service, I've always paid up to take my car to a dealer. But you have to take on faith that they actually do the service work they bill you for, and now I'm not so sure. I just decided to change the engine and cabin filters in my car. That has supposedly been done on a regula...

Perhaps it has to do with the additional time necessary for the signal to travel to yet another tower before bouncing to your provider's tower and then to you? Some physicist here might tell me that is ridiculous, but I'm just speculating. I once had two phones with different providers for a few da...

Just a heads up on PureTalk. They have the cheapest 1G plan but they don't cut you off when you've used that up. Instead you get charged for the overage, which is a little pricey. If you go with them, you'll have to keep close track of your monthly data useage. AirVoice just cuts you off -- I know b...

I don't know why yours takes so long. Is the cellphone the very first phone you have configured in your GV? It almost sounds like it might be trying to ring another phone first (GV can try them in turn). Hmmm. I had a google voice number several years ago when I first heard about it. At that time y...

Just wanted to share a story. I was getting my car serviced at a local dealer and was intrigued by the dealer's ad that said that they will pay above blue book values for all trade-ins. I got a free estimate of my trade-in value, which said it was worth $3,000, but they would pay me $2,000 extra so...

Actually, as a pure phone, my 5 year old second-hand ebay-purchased stupidphone worked better than my iPhone 3G.... the volume and clarity of the calls was better , less lag time, battery stayed charged forever, smaller and more comfortable, and the flip keyboard was easier and more error-free to u...

As soon as you guys solve the phone # = SiM issue, can you get to work on the "GV lag" issue? I still can't figure it out. The called phone using the GV number doesn't start to ring until the fourth ring of the calling phone. Then I only get 2 rings on the called phone before the calling p...

I notice these big nationwide car dealership networks, like Auto Nation, are growing. They recruit local dealerships who join the network. I'm thinking these large networks will be able to offer bulk pricing and local pickup anywhere they have a member dealership. And they will have pricing power be...

I've got a Sony with an aluminum case, and of course those iPhones have them too. But I quickly found out it doesn't make any difference because you have to get a case right away to protect the thing, so the phone could be made out of macrame and it wouldn't make much difference.

MY ASSUMPTION (please tell me if I am right or wrong): A SIM card is not married to a particular phone number. So if I lose my phone number, and get a new number with ST, I can continue using the AT+T SIM with the new number. I've seen differing opinions but believe the phone # is burned into the S...

Haven't bought a car at this point -- decided to wait awhile and if I do buy it will be next winter when I'm back in Phoenix. I'll lean very heavily toward those dealerships that post their discount pricing right on their website for each car in inventory. I may try to use that pricing as leverage i...

Kill two birds with one stone. Get a cellphone that can act as a hotspot and a cellphone plan that accommodates your data needs. If you try to use free WiFi most of the time you only need a limited data plan. When you're not near WiFi, you can use the phone hotspot to connect to the internet.

That's what I thought, but calls to the AirVoice number are handled by the AirVoice voicemail message even if I have selected the Google Voice option on the smartphone. Far as I can tell, I have to have both voicemails set up and there's no way to redirect calls coming in to the Airvoice number to ...

I don't think dealerships are necessary, or are becoming a lot less necessary, in today's world. If I wanted to go into business I think the last thing I'd ask myself is "What kind of business can I start that 98% of my customers will hate?" You would think somebody would have figured out ...

Thanks again for all of your help--I just spoke with a customer service representative with American Century Investment's IRA team (which is the current custodian of the beneficiary IRA), and they were familiar with this type of beneficiary change and said for the trustee to send in a letter of ins...

The setting is about which voicemail to use with your AirVoice number. I don't think there's a way to have your GV number go there as well. So if you want a single "voicemail bin" it has to be Google Voice. It's much nicer anyway (visual, with transcripts). That's what I thought, but call...

Here's where I'm having problems with the voicemail message. In settings on the smartphone, it gives me choice between (1) using the voicemail message from my carrier (AirVoice) or (2) Google Voice. (I've installed the Google Voice app on the phone). Since I had a voicemail message already set up on...

Victoria - when you try out the Google Voice number let me know how your voicemail works. I'm using my new GV number with my phone and when it goes to voicemail there is a message like "The google subscriber that you are calling is not available. Please leave a message". I don't especially...

Victoria - yes. I guess since it's a VM number you won't be able to get it back later by reverse-porting the GV number if you want an undo. If you had a contract number currently, you would be able to do that.

Challenges to assignment of IRAs and qualified retirement plans to beneficiaries of trusts are limited to custodians and customer service reps who have not been fully trained in this area. There have been no indications whatsoever that the IRS has any problem with this. Custodian resistance is the ...

I gotta tell you though, I've gone online with several dealers in this area and seen the very cars I looked at in their lot with an "instant savings" online price that was thousands below list. Literally, click and buy. For example, one dealer regularly has Nissan Muranos with list of $42K...

If I am currently using a number with a mobile provider and port it to GV, will I still be able to continue using it with the same provider as if I have not ported it? Or the provider will "lose" this number from their pool of numbers, and it will have to assign me another number? In the ...

I'm full of questions today. Another one I have pertains to the area code to select from your new service provider. I've moved to Arizona and have friends and family I talk with back in the midwest. Some of them are on pay-by-the-minute landline long distance plans and have suggested that I use thei...

Google Voice problem: I just got a GV number and testing it on my smartphone. When I call the smartphone using the GV number, there is a lag of 3 rings on the calling phone before the smartphone starts to ring. After 5 rings on the calling phone, it goes to voicemail and I've only gotten 2 rings on...

On a somewhat related topic, as I queried upthread, apparently you CAN port your existing cellphone number to Google Voice: Number porting is a feature in which your existing mobile number will become your Google Voice number. It allows you to take advantage of the full set of the Google Voice featu...

It does seem to be a GV issue. Just wondering if others have experienced it. Most people probably wouldn't be calling their own GV number to see what happens. They might be experiencing the lag but don't know it. You get the full number of rings on the phone being called with GV, so it seems everyth...

Google Voice problem: I just got a GV number and testing it on my smartphone. When I call the smartphone using the GV number, there is a lag of 3 rings on the calling phone before the smartphone starts to ring. After 5 rings on the calling phone, it goes to voicemail and I've only gotten 2 rings on...

Many/most states have franchise laws that more or less require automakers to sell only through dealers. This is the main reason there isn't an "Amazon" service for purchasing new cars. However there are also "buying services" operating in most states that you can use to avoid th...

Wow, this is interesting news. I had no idea you could do this. I have a testamentary trust set up in my will, in which my IRAs are to be managed by a trust that comes into existence if there are any minor children who become heirs. It sounds like it might be possible for the trustee, at the trustee...

Recently, I've been new car shopping, spending quite of bit of time at it. As part of the process, I began getting on dealer websites. Here in Phoenix, you can browse the complete inventory of available cars, you can get immediate discount pricing, you can negotiate if you want, and you could even p...