Vanguard Wellesley is a fund we have long admired at Young Research. It was once a go-to fund for clients, readers, close friends, and even dear family members. What gave Vanguard Wellesley Income so much appeal? Wellesley is the more conservative and younger cousin of the Vanguard Wellington Fund—the nation’s oldest balanced mutual fund. Over its almost 51-year history, Wellesley has invested an average of 65% in bonds and 35% in stocks. The bonds are primarily intermediate-term investment-grade corporates; the stocks are dividend-paying blue-chip names. Wellesley’s Baptism by … [Read more...]
Archives for April 2021
The Three Bubbles Threatening Your Portfolio Today
OK, it’s time to talk about bubbles. Investor Jeremy Grantham of GMO fame has called a few bubbles over his stellar career. He sees three today: Bonds, stocks, and real estate. Your Survival Guy, not famous at all, fought through the live-fire of managing client money during two brutal bubbles already in this young century. It wasn’t easy, but we got through it. That’s what I see today. Knowing how to survive the worst of times is an acquired skill, and I’ve seen my share of it. When I think about a real estate bubble, I think about you. What can you do today or in the next few years to ease … [Read more...]
Turkey Bans Bitcoin
The WSJ reports that Turkey has moved to ban Bitcoin payments as Turks lose confidence in the lira. This is a preview of what Bitcoin enthusiasts are likely to face over coming years. Countries with the least stable currencies will move first to ban Bitcoin, but developed countries are also likely to act. The bottom line on Bitcoin is that it is a threat to fiat currencies and therefore central banks and ultimately fiscal authorities running massive deficits. Turkey will ban the use of cryptocurrencies as a form of payment following months of economic turbulence that spurred locals to swap … [Read more...]
Crushing Words to Avoid: “We’re Disappointed in You”
It’s breathtaking looking at prices today and thinking about what things are really worth. I know, I know, worth is whatever someone else is willing to pay. What a bore. But, what if you’re not in this to be a seller? What if your interest is the wellbeing of your family, and selling isn’t your end game? Where, instead, you’re caring for your investments, like your love for a child, in perpetuity. Would you ever sell your child? Most of the time, the answer is no. Thanks for the memories! When you’re working in a family business, as I do, you understand the fear of disappointment real … [Read more...]
How Amazon Violates Anti-Trust Rules
Dana Mattioli and Joe Flint explain Amazon's questionable behaviors in The Wall Street Journal, writing: Executives from HBO Max complained about Amazon’s behavior during the negotiations to the House Antitrust Subcommittee investigating Amazon’s business practices, said people familiar with the probe. Amazon’s Mr. Evans said that there are occasions, including its talks with HBO, when companies are interested in exploring partnerships across multiple Amazon businesses. A former longtime senior AWS executive said that in recent years AWS has discussed how to better leverage its cloud … [Read more...]
Why Service Is King in 1(800)# Teenage Wasteland
Service is King, even today when many financial firms treat it like the Joker. Try getting a copy of your 1099, or figuring out a K-1. What you’re faced with is, perhaps, hours in a phone queue maze with no satisfactory answer. Some of these firms, not Fidelity, are too big and end up failing simple tasks. Other’s are left offering funds that are too big (like some of Vanguard’s) and then fail to meet the needs of investors (such as ESG funds from BlackRock and others) while trying to save the world. All you want is what you asked for, is that so hard? For some, in a word, yes. Action Line: … [Read more...]
Long Live the Dividend King
Procter & Gamble is the one true dividend king and has now extended its rule by increasing dividends once again, this time by 10%. MarketWatch's Claudia Assis reports: Procter & Gamble Co. PG, -0.13% said late Tuesday its board has declared a 10% increase in the consumer products giant's quarterly dividend. The dividend of 86.98 cents a share will be payable on May 17 to shareholders of record at the close of business on April 23. Shares of Procter & Gamble rose 0.1% in the extended session after ending the regular trading day down 1.3%. … [Read more...]
Your Port Against a Storm.
I developed the Dynamic Maximizers® strategy to serve as an alternative to fixed-income portfolios in an era of historically low and manipulated interest rates. The Dynamic Maximizers® is a maximum safety portfolio, ideal for IRAs, ultra-conservative retired investors, and education savings programs. So far this century, stocks have cratered over 50% twice, with a third crash virtually baked into the cake because of total incompetence in Washington. My Dynamic Maximzers® strategy was a port in the storm during both the dotcom bust and the financial crisis. And while past performance … [Read more...]
Inflation? Yes.
You don’t need to read the latest Producer Prices report to see that inflation is here. All you need to do is go for a walk around your neighborhood to see home prices, go shopping for groceries, or open the utility bills, and you see higher prices for all. Pandemic or not, prices are higher. You don’t have to be a genius to understand what China’s attempting to accomplish with its foray into digital currencies. Tired of buying worthless Treasuries, they want a plan B. What happens when China steadily tries to replace the dollar as the reserve currency? Both China and the U.S. government … [Read more...]
Banks Prepare for Boom
Ben Eisen reports in The Wall Street Journal that banks are preparing to loosen up money they've been holding for lending into a major economic boom. He writes: The accelerating economic recovery is likely to boost bank profits. Encouraged by government efforts to pump money into the economy and signs that Americans are spending more, the largest financial institutions are expected to release some of the rainy-day money they set aside after the coronavirus pandemic hit. That will offer a jolt to their income in the first three months of the year. JPMorgan Chase JPM -1.65% & Co., … [Read more...]