Search found 34723 matches
- Fri Apr 20, 2018 9:17 pm
- Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
- Topic: I’m still not a fan of international bond funds
- Replies: 19
- Views: 919
Re: I’m still not a fan of international bond funds
I think an interesting question is: how does it benefit Vanguard to offer these funds?
- Fri Apr 20, 2018 5:47 pm
- Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
- Topic: Interesting S & P 500 facts
- Replies: 9
- Views: 1566
Re: Interesting S & P 500 facts
but it is not an index of the 500 largest-cap stocks. Do you by chance know what the largest-cap companies are that are not included? Not offhand. But the list of the CRSP Large-Cap Index constituents is here . For the S&P 500, we can use either Wikipedia's list or the list of holdings of the Vangu...
- Fri Apr 20, 2018 3:34 pm
- Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
- Topic: Interesting S & P 500 facts
- Replies: 9
- Views: 1566
Re: Interesting S & P 500 facts
I think this is an interesting fact about the S&P 500: it is about 99% US, 1% international. Not 100% US. It doesn't actually matter; inclusion is based on being listed on a US stock exchange; and the "international" companies are in many cases former US companies that moved their legal domiciles ov...
- Fri Apr 20, 2018 3:18 pm
- Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
- Topic: How much off MSRP should one expect?
- Replies: 15
- Views: 889
Re: How much off MSRP should one expect?
A perfect example of asymmetrical information. It depends on the demand for the car, which you might not know. It depends on how overpriced the MSRP is to begin with, which might not be the same for every car. It depends on what factory incentives, SPFs, whatever they call them, the dealer gets for ...
- Fri Apr 20, 2018 2:21 pm
- Forum: Investing - Help with Personal Investments
- Topic: Anyone invest in I Bonds and why?
- Replies: 39
- Views: 4402
Re: Anyone invest in I Bonds and why?
I invest in them because they are the lowest-risk investment I know. Unlike bank accounts, they are protected against inflation. An absolutely key feature, which many people do not understand, is that although they are called "bonds," unlike normal marketable bonds they are free from interest rate r...
- Fri Apr 20, 2018 9:14 am
- Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
- Topic: We crush stock indexes, Yale claims
- Replies: 98
- Views: 10777
Re: We crush stock indexes, Yale claims
Since I have no way I can invest directly in Yale's endowment fund, and no way I, as a "mass affluent" retail investor can duplicate the fund's investments personally, it's all irrelevant and there's no reason to care. I can either ignore it, or I can get suckered by various people and products flin...
- Thu Apr 19, 2018 9:21 pm
- Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
- Topic: Lack of FDIC Insurance a big deal?
- Replies: 39
- Views: 2944
Re: Lack of FDIC Insurance a big deal?
https://imgur.com/KPMKxBQ.png Briefly: In ye olde days, meaning in between about 1952 to 1973, inflation was low. Since the Depression, banks had been tightly regulated. One issue was that banks borrowed short (paying interest on bank accounts) and loaned long (30-year fixed-rate mortgages). That w...
- Thu Apr 19, 2018 6:58 pm
- Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
- Topic: Interesting S & P 500 facts
- Replies: 9
- Views: 1566
Re: Interesting S & P 500 facts
Inclusion in the S&P 500 isn't based strictly on market cap. Depending on definitions, it contains 10%-15% mid-cap. It is an index that is predominantly and on average large-cap stocks, it is "a large-cap index," but it is not an index of the 500 largest-cap stocks. S&P says that it is an index of "...
- Thu Apr 19, 2018 3:10 pm
- Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
- Topic: Factor in evaluating Physicians
- Replies: 85
- Views: 3856
Re: Factor in evaluating Physicians
The issue, it seems to me, is the bias (especially woth drugs) of receiving compensation related to prescribing expensive drugs from the manufacturers. Do you really think that the average physician is going to be influenced adversely by a pizza or sub-sandwich lunch for him/her and some of the off...
- Thu Apr 19, 2018 2:20 pm
- Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
- Topic: Factor in evaluating Physicians
- Replies: 85
- Views: 3856
Re: Factor in evaluating Physicians
I see nearly every doctor from my city on this list. What am I supposed to do with this knowledge? Be aware of it; perhaps be ready to at least ask a question or two if your doctor is recommending a drug that's being advertised direct-to-the-consumer on TV, for which there are old equivalents; and ...
- Thu Apr 19, 2018 8:17 am
- Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
- Topic: Unimpressive category averages of managed futures, multialternative, market neutral, etc.
- Replies: 82
- Views: 4983
Re: Unimpressive category averages of managed futures, multialternative, market neutral, etc.
With regard to the nature of the BTOP50 index, I emailed BarclayHedge with some questions and received a reply saying: --returns are net of fees --the April return as of April 18 reflects an estimate of the Index return from April 1 - 17 based on the daily returns of he underlying funds. --The advis...
- Thu Apr 19, 2018 8:11 am
- Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
- Topic: Goof? Prime MM, "retail," "Admiral," $5 million minimum?
- Replies: 20
- Views: 2544
Re: Goof? Prime MM, "retail," "Admiral," $5 million minimum?
[And a later edit - I found Vanguard's announcement of the name change from Institutional to Admiral - https://pressroom.vanguard.com/news/Press_Release_Vanguard_Prime_Tax_Exempt_MMF_for_Indiv_06.16.15.html Bingo. Thanks to Dantes and to whose who pointed out that institutions can't hold this any m...
- Thu Apr 19, 2018 6:38 am
- Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
- Topic: Lack of FDIC Insurance a big deal?
- Replies: 39
- Views: 2944
Re: Lack of FDIC Insurance a big deal?
It's not totally meaningless. As far as I know, to date, there has been exactly one money market mutual fund that has ever collapsed, and oddly enough it was the grandaddy of them all, the Reserve Primary Money Market Fund. The final outcome was that all of the fund's investors eventually got almost...
- Thu Apr 19, 2018 6:10 am
- Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
- Topic: Goof? Prime MM, "retail," "Admiral," $5 million minimum?
- Replies: 20
- Views: 2544
- Thu Apr 19, 2018 5:52 am
- Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
- Topic: Goof? Prime MM, "retail," "Admiral," $5 million minimum?
- Replies: 20
- Views: 2544
Goof? Prime MM, "retail," "Admiral," $5 million minimum?
Do you think this is a goof and someone typed "Admiral" when they meant to type "Institutional?" It's too rich for my blood, that's for sure. VMMRX web page https://imgur.com/t53FTHQ.png It's "fund number" 0066; the best evidence I see of a goof is that the actual HTML page title code is "<TITLE>Van...
- Thu Apr 19, 2018 5:47 am
- Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
- Topic: The cost of maintaining stable NAV in money market funds
- Replies: 5
- Views: 669
Re: The cost of maintaining stable NAV in money market funds
Tangentially, I was surprised to realize that the Vanguard Prime Money Market Fund currently has the highest expense ratio of all the mutual funds I hold. It's not that it's a big deal or worth fussing about, but... does know where to find past expense ratios? I'm almost sure that it used have the l...
- Wed Apr 18, 2018 7:55 pm
- Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
- Topic: How to argue for S&P
- Replies: 15
- Views: 923
Re: How to argue for S&P
Very likely the people who select funds for your 401(k) only choose funds that have outperformed in the past, so it's 20/20 hindsight. The problem is that there's no evidence that outperformance persists. For example, Morningstar has officially acknowledged that its star ratings do not show persiste...
- Wed Apr 18, 2018 4:05 pm
- Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
- Topic: Unimpressive category averages of managed futures, multialternative, market neutral, etc.
- Replies: 82
- Views: 4983
Re: Unimpressive category averages of managed futures, multialternative, market neutral, etc.
Barclay BTOP50 Index The BTOP50 Index seeks to replicate the overall composition of the managed futures industry with regard to trading style and overall market exposure. The BTOP50 employs a top-down approach in selecting its constituents. The largest investable trading advisor programs, as measur...
- Wed Apr 18, 2018 3:59 pm
- Forum: Investing - Help with Personal Investments
- Topic: Please help me with arguments for/against actively managed...
- Replies: 34
- Views: 1547
Re: Please help me with arguments for/against actively managed...
There is a classic article out there called "Alpha Hunters and Beta Grazers" by Martin Leibowitz. It talks about under what conditions you should be active - "Alpha", and when passive - "Beta" It is here, Leibowitz, Martin A., Alpha Hunters and Beta Grazers. Financial Analysts Journal, Vol. 61, No....
- Wed Apr 18, 2018 3:52 pm
- Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
- Topic: Unimpressive category averages of managed futures, multialternative, market neutral, etc.
- Replies: 82
- Views: 4983
Re: Unimpressive category averages of managed futures, multialternative, market neutral, etc.
Lack_ey, I agree that the shape of the BTOP50 index looks more like some kind of continuous, smooth slowdown, not a corner at 2007. I'm not quite sure what the BTOP50 Index is; these don't seem to be mutual funds: AlphaGen Capital Limited (Long Short Agriculture Fund AlphaSimplex Group, LLC (Managed...
- Wed Apr 18, 2018 12:56 pm
- Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
- Topic: Unimpressive category averages of managed futures, multialternative, market neutral, etc.
- Replies: 82
- Views: 4983
Re: Unimpressive category averages of managed futures, multialternative, market neutral, etc.
...So, what am I to conclude? course of action?... In my case, my chosen course of action is: Ignore "innovative" mutual funds that, for the first time, finally bring to retail investors strategies and asset classes, formerly available only to sophisticated wealthy investors, hedge funds, and insti...
- Wed Apr 18, 2018 10:52 am
- Forum: Investing - Help with Personal Investments
- Topic: Weighted Expense Ratio Calculator
- Replies: 7
- Views: 635
Re: Weighted Expense Ratio Calculator
I just look at my list of holdings on Vanguard's websites, see that the highest expense ratio of any fund I own is 0.16%, figure the weighted ratio must be lower than that, and, frankly, feel that's all I need to know. The last time I calculated a weighted average expense ratio was when someone is f...
- Wed Apr 18, 2018 10:47 am
- Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
- Topic: Rise in rates continues - good for fixed income investors and banks
- Replies: 6
- Views: 1113
Re: Rise in rates continues - good for fixed income investors and banks
It also feels more like "normal equilibrium." And personally, at the moment, being a retiree with important cash and bond allocations, my unhappiness at the one-year return for Vanguard Total Bond and Vanguard Inflation-Protected Securities only having been 0.09% and 0.38% respectively, is tolerable...
- Wed Apr 18, 2018 9:52 am
- Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
- Topic: Theoretical question. What would happen if 100% of investors are buy and hold.
- Replies: 19
- Views: 1916
Re: Theoretical question. What would happen if 100% of investors are buy and hold.
This "theoretical question" is, in fact, a standard (and nonsensical) talking point that is often made as an attack on index funds. It makes as much sense as asking Theoretically, what would happen if every 100% of all Apple stockholders placed "sell" orders for all of their Apple shares? Theoretica...
- Wed Apr 18, 2018 7:16 am
- Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
- Topic: Unimpressive category averages of managed futures, multialternative, market neutral, etc.
- Replies: 82
- Views: 4983
Re: Unimpressive category averages of managed futures, multialternative, market neutral, etc.
...The raison d'etre of CTAs (commodity trading advisors, i.e. managed futures) has always been crisis alpha... Well, look at the chart. Both the index and the category average existed in 2008-2009. What do you mean by "crisis alpha?" If you mean that they stayed level instead of plunging in 2008-2...
- Wed Apr 18, 2018 7:07 am
- Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
- Topic: Unimpressive category averages of managed futures, multialternative, market neutral, etc.
- Replies: 82
- Views: 4983
Re: Unimpressive category averages of managed futures, multialternative, market neutral, etc.
Excellent thread. I'm late to the conversation. You may find these two links interesting: 1. https://s3.amazonaws.com/static.contentres.com/media/documents/1272fad4-2828-4f8e-9be2-0125290f17a7.pdf I don't find it interesting, I find it frustrating because I am 99.9% certain that it is just plain wr...
- Tue Apr 17, 2018 7:36 pm
- Forum: Investing - Help with Personal Investments
- Topic: Please help me with arguments for/against actively managed...
- Replies: 34
- Views: 1547
Re: Please help me with arguments for/against actively managed...
Fund fees predict success or failure The expense ratio is the most proven predictor of future fund returns. We find that it is a dependable predictor when we run the data.... we have updated the data to show just how strong and dependable fees are as a predictor of future success. That's not to say...
- Tue Apr 17, 2018 6:23 pm
- Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
- Topic: How Warren Buffett Won His Multi-Million Dollar Long Bet
- Replies: 27
- Views: 3368
Re: How Warren Buffett Won His Multi-Million Dollar Long Bet
...One question though for the Total market gurus here: Why does one of the most successful investors in the world, repeatedly stress (in his 2018 annual letter) that one should invest in the American economy for the long term, specifically the S&P 500. He never once mentions investing in the the T...
- Tue Apr 17, 2018 4:48 pm
- Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
- Topic: N.Y. Attorney General Forces Vanguard, BlackRock, Others To Disclose Active Share
- Replies: 5
- Views: 1055
Re: N.Y. Attorney General Forces Vanguard, BlackRock, Others To Disclose Active Share
I think it's a Good Thing. More information is better. According to the article, the fund companies affected were calculating this already and disclosing it to institutional investors, so it shouldn't cost them anything to comply--and it can't cost that much to comply anyway. Why shouldn't retail in...
- Tue Apr 17, 2018 3:01 pm
- Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
- Topic: How Warren Buffett Won His Multi-Million Dollar Long Bet
- Replies: 27
- Views: 3368
Re: How Warren Buffett Won His Multi-Million Dollar Long Bet
Protégé Partners specializes in fund-of-hedge-funds investing. That was their schtick, that's why Seides did it. In their words, Through tenured judgment, deep-dive due diligence and pro-active risk management, we strive to identify best-in-class managers and put capital to work through arms-length,...
- Tue Apr 17, 2018 2:50 pm
- Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
- Topic: underwater camera advice
- Replies: 18
- Views: 593
Re: underwater camera advice
Warning: 1) I have not used mine underwater. I haven't even tried it out underwater. 2) Obviously this isn't a professional-quality camera. My little Sony DSC-TX30, which is so small that I just have it on me all the time--including right now--in a holder on my belt is supposed to be waterproof. As ...
- Tue Apr 17, 2018 11:37 am
- Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
- Topic: NAESX - is not really Small Cap?!
- Replies: 36
- Views: 2139
Re: NAESX - is not really Small Cap?!
...[CRSP has] a megacap index, largecap index, midcap index, and smallcap index. The large cap index corresponds to the combination of the midcap and megacap indices . This means that all stocks in the midcap index are contained in the largecap index. The largecap index contains just a little over ...
- Tue Apr 17, 2018 9:34 am
- Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
- Topic: Larry Swedroe: Don’t Exclude Emerging Markets
- Replies: 30
- Views: 3005
Re: Larry Swedroe: Don’t Exclude Emerging Markets
...Investors are certainly free to stick with a U.S.-only portfolio — but they shouldn't think that they don't have any exposure to the risks (currency and otherwise) of international and emerging markets. Last time I checked, U.S. companies in aggregate derive about 37% of their revenues overseas....
- Tue Apr 17, 2018 8:07 am
- Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
- Topic: Larry Swedroe: Don’t Exclude Emerging Markets
- Replies: 30
- Views: 3005
Re: Larry Swedroe: Don’t Exclude Emerging Markets
He's probably using numbers from MSCI. MSCI World IMI total market cap is 45.92 trillion. MSCI Emerging Markets IMI total market is 6.33 trillion. MSCI's EM indexes include South Korea as an emerging market. I think that's it. That would do it. I see that Fidelity's FSGUX, which uses MSCI ACWI Ex-U...
- Tue Apr 17, 2018 6:56 am
- Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
- Topic: Larry Swedroe: Don’t Exclude Emerging Markets
- Replies: 30
- Views: 3005
Re: Larry Swedroe: Don’t Exclude Emerging Markets
I don't think the difference between EM = 9% vs 13% of global market cap is important. It's just a puzzle. I can't seem to account for it by including China A shares or taking account of the recent US stock market fluctuations. ADDED: I think Selters, below, got it. It's probably MSCI's categorizati...
- Mon Apr 16, 2018 8:10 pm
- Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
- Topic: "The Only Investment Guide You'll Ever Need" Kindle daily deal
- Replies: 7
- Views: 1535
Re: "The Only Investment Guide You'll Ever Need" Kindle daily deal
It's awfully good. It's too bad that there are things in it that are glaringly out of date. I haven't gotten to the part, except to glance at it, where he become an advocates for Joel Greenblatt and the "Magic Formula." I am trying to decide whether to give it as a gift to my twenty-year-old grandda...
- Mon Apr 16, 2018 8:05 pm
- Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
- Topic: Larry Swedroe: Don’t Exclude Emerging Markets
- Replies: 30
- Views: 3005
Re: Larry Swedroe: Don’t Exclude Emerging Markets
Added: Selters, below, figured it out, I think. MSCI's index and category definitions include South Korea as an emerging market, and South Korea is about 2% of world global market cap, and that's just about enough to account for the difference. It's not a big deal, but does anyone have a source for ...
- Mon Apr 16, 2018 7:27 pm
- Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
- Topic: Costco Free Screenings
- Replies: 21
- Views: 3526
Re: Costco Free Screenings
Never heard of this before... well, I see that the only one in my state isn't near where I live--isn't offered in the Costco I usually go to. I would have thought that most primary care doctors would be doing this, and more than this, but it might be a nice little plus for people who, for whatever r...
- Mon Apr 16, 2018 7:20 pm
- Forum: Investing - Help with Personal Investments
- Topic: Easy way to compare funds, indexes, stock
- Replies: 10
- Views: 784
Re: Easy way to compare funds, indexes, stock
You can do almost everything you asked for, except for taxes, using Morningstar growth charts. See this article. Growth charts include dividends. The big Morningstar trick is that you must begin by plotting a mutual fund first if you want to get growth charts. You can then add ETFs or individual sto...
- Mon Apr 16, 2018 4:06 pm
- Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
- Topic: Meb Faber/Cambria/Trinity Funds
- Replies: 44
- Views: 2861
Re: Meb Faber/Cambria/Trinity Funds
...It is hard to figure out how he actually invest his own money from the podcast... I can't find the archived copy in the archive.org Wayback Machine--"his" website seems to have morphed from mebanefaber.com to mebfaber.com to worldbeta.com... and he was involved in something called the "Ivy Portf...
- Mon Apr 16, 2018 11:35 am
- Forum: Investing - Help with Personal Investments
- Topic: How 'bad' are American Funds through UBS?
- Replies: 12
- Views: 639
Re: How 'bad' are American Funds through UBS?
American Funds are not bad. William J. Bernstein remarked that privately held fund companies (including American and Fidelity), which only have to satisfy the company owner, seem to have lower fees and be generally less greedy than the public companies that have to answer to their shareholders. I wo...
- Mon Apr 16, 2018 11:16 am
- Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
- Topic: Unimpressive category averages of managed futures, multialternative, market neutral, etc.
- Replies: 82
- Views: 4983
Re: Unimpressive category averages of managed futures, multialternative, market neutral, etc.
With regard to "this is just how you'd expect these things to perform during a bull market," a couple of points. First, I did not compare them to stocks, nor bonds, nor 60/40. The only reason I showed stock and bonds was to show what happens when you look at category averages instead of known-in-hin...
- Mon Apr 16, 2018 8:16 am
- Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
- Topic: The World in 2050 — GDP & Stock Market Capitalization
- Replies: 52
- Views: 3741
Re: The World in 2050 — GDP & Stock Market Capitalization
In the space of one hundred and seventy-six years the Lower Mississippi has shortened itself two hundred and forty-two miles. That is an average of a trifle over one mile and a third per year. Therefore, any calm person, who is not blind or idiotic, can see that in the Old Oolitic Silurian Period,'...
- Mon Apr 16, 2018 7:08 am
- Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
- Topic: NAESX - is not really Small Cap?!
- Replies: 36
- Views: 2139
Re: NAESX - is not really Small Cap?!
...Yeah, one needs to be careful about using the Morningstar breakpoints for evaluating index funds that may use different construction methodologies. The same goes for the value/blend/growth scale, as Morningstar also uses definitions that differ from many index funds (including Vanguard). Mid-cap...
- Mon Apr 16, 2018 6:34 am
- Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
- Topic: Using Stock/Bond Market Total Valuations to Guide Portfolio Allocations
- Replies: 9
- Views: 995
Re: Using Stock/Bond Market Total Valuations to Guide Portfolio Allocations
...One of the key principles here seems to be to use an index fund to let the market decide on how much of my money should be invested with each company that issues stocks... I'm curious to know if anybody thinks the same idea should guide a person's allocation of stocks to bonds. I did a quick goo...
- Sun Apr 15, 2018 4:44 pm
- Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
- Topic: Unimpressive category averages of managed futures, multialternative, market neutral, etc.
- Replies: 82
- Views: 4983
Re: Unimpressive category averages of managed futures, multialternative, market neutral, etc.
Looking at individual funds is like the people who say--with a straight face, I think--that active funds are superior to index funds and that the SPIVA results are misleading--because investors are smart enough to invest in the good active funds, not the bad ones. Why, just look--all the active fund...
- Sat Apr 14, 2018 6:49 pm
- Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
- Topic: Trinity Study updated to 2018
- Replies: 113
- Views: 9726
Re: Trinity Study updated to 2018
A disservice is done every time the Trinity study is equated to a retirement income withdrawal strategy. As the latter, it would have to be the worst method. The thought of setting a withdrawal rate, then never looking again at actual outcome, portfolio balance, inflation, etc. is reckless. A disse...
- Sat Apr 14, 2018 6:20 pm
- Forum: Investing - Help with Personal Investments
- Topic: What advantages do a personalized portfolio have over a target date fund, in your opinion?
- Replies: 49
- Views: 2817
Re: What advantages do a personalized portfolio have over a target date fund, in your opinion?
In my case, the obvious one. Right or wrong, I have personal preferences, that I hold with sufficiently high conviction that I prefer to set my own allocations. I just can't quite bring myself to accept a target date fund or a LifeStrategy fund, when it's so easy to cook my own from scratch. I just ...
- Sat Apr 14, 2018 5:46 pm
- Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
- Topic: Unimpressive category averages of managed futures, multialternative, market neutral, etc.
- Replies: 82
- Views: 4983
Re: Unimpressive category averages of managed futures, multialternative, market neutral, etc.
What I envision as maybe a more representative analysis (but impractical for our purposes, taking too much work) would be to consider the effects of adding each individual fund to a baseline portfolio. Then we can say something like "X% of large blend funds improved portfolio outcomes, Y% made port...
- Sat Apr 14, 2018 4:50 pm
- Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
- Topic: NAESX - is not really Small Cap?!
- Replies: 36
- Views: 2139
Re: NAESX - is not really Small Cap?!
NAESX; VTWO (Vanguard Russell 2000); VIOO (Vanguard S&P Small-cap 600); IJR (iShares Core S&P Small-Cap)

Poor Vanguard NAESX. Looks like it landed just on the wrong side of Morningstar's arbitrary line.

Poor Vanguard NAESX. Looks like it landed just on the wrong side of Morningstar's arbitrary line.