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Investment Research Since 1978

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Why Mutual Funds No Longer Work for Your Retirement

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My recent study covers four of the most widely owned equity-based mutual funds. Vanguard Equity Income Vanguard Dividend Growth T. Rowe Price Dividend Growth Fidelity Dividend Growth Here’s the 10-year compounded growth rate for each: T. Rowe Price Dividend Growth 12.0% Vanguard Dividend Growth 12.0%, Vanguard Equity Income 11.7% Fidelity Dividend Growth 10.0%. Today, each of these four multi-billion dollar funds has become far too big to allow crafting a portfolio with a suitable number of stocks that would meet my criteria. There are simply not enough … [Read more...]

Work to Make Money/Invest to Save Money

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The U.S. government must finally wise up and put an immediate end to the insane double taxation of dividends. The government, facilitated by the Fed, is in an ongoing war to destroy the value of the dollar by printing money beyond any reasonable rate of expansion. Simply take a look at real estate prices to witness the explosion in liquidity. Do not let the government destroy the value of your retirement. Demand that the government ends the double taxation of dividends! Originally posted October 17, 2017. With the exception of the large sums of money that I invested in zero-coupon … [Read more...]

Fidelity and the Flight to the Suburbs

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Back in February, I wrote to you about how I started in the institutional research and trading investment business at Model Roland & Co. on Federal St. in Boston in August 1971. Just up the street from Model were Fidelity Investments, and Wellington Management, both of whom I called on from my very first hours on the job. Over five decades ago, Ned Johnson, aka “Mister Johnson,” ran the show at Fidelity. At Wellington, Jack Bogle, “Mr. Mutual Fund,” had not yet left Wellington to start Vanguard. My focus in the initial going was international research and trading, and remains so … [Read more...]

Lumber Prices Are Soaring, Should the Fed Be Afraid?

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Lumber prices are breaking records. First position Spruce-Pine-Fir futures are trading at over $1500/metric ton. Perhaps the most frightening aspect of the spike in lumber prices is that builders have been able to pass them on to customers. The Fed should be very worried about the rapid rise in prices going directly to consumers. The central bank's policy of low interest rates for longer could buckle under the pressure if inflation heats up faster than expected. Ryan Dezember reports in The Wall Street Journal: The Fed last week recommitted to near-zero interest rates, which have … [Read more...]

Strong GDP Set to Accelerate in the Second Quarter

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First-quarter GDP estimates came in at a robust 6.4%, with growth likely to accelerate to more than 8% next quarter. Over the coming weeks, economic activity in the U.S. will surpass its pre-pandemic high. With the Fed pumping over a trillion dollars of liquidity into financial markets annually and the Six Trillion Dollar Man (Joe Biden) proposing new schemes to run up the deficit, GDP is poised to increase at its fastest rate in decades this year. Josh Mitchell reports: A burst of growth put the U.S. economy just a shave below its pre-pandemic size in the first quarter, extending what is … [Read more...]

Pandemic Spending Pushes Amazon Profits to Record

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The pandemic created a perfect storm for Amazon. With more people shopping, and more people working from home using cloud services, Amazon's profits have soared. Sebastian Herrera reports for The Wall Street Journal (abridged): Amazon. AMZN 0.37% com Inc. reported record quarterly profit as demand remained robust for its deliveries, cloud-computing and advertising businesses, capping a blockbuster earnings season for the world’s largest technology companies. The Seattle company’s profits in the year since the pandemic started exceeded $26 billion, more than the previous three years … [Read more...]

Apple Increases Its Dividend by 7% on Record High Profits

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Apple Inc. raised its dividend by 7% today to 22 cents a share and increased an existing share repurchase program after results showed record-high profits. Tim Higgins reports in The Wall Street Journal: Apple Inc. AAPL -0.60% signaled that the historic rise in sales it has achieved during the pandemic is set to continue, addressing a key investor concern as the company reported a profit that more than doubled to a record high for the first three months of the year. New, more expensive models of the iPhone 12 have been a hit with customers, and revenue from Mac computers and iPads also … [Read more...]

Thanks to the Pandemic by 2025, America’s Biggest Retailer May Be Online

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According to a report by Edge by Ascential, which claims to deliver "one of the industry's most accurate and actionable sales-driving data, insights and advisory solution sets," by 2025, Amazon.com will outpace Walmart in retail sales. Bloomberg's Spencer Soper reports: Amazon.com Inc. will supplant Walmart Inc. as the biggest U.S. retailer by 2025, according to a new report, suggesting the e-commerce giant has too much momentum for Walmart to stop despite big investments in its own e-commerce offerings. By 2025, U.S. shoppers will buy US$632 billion worth of products at Amazon and retail … [Read more...]

Work to Make Money/Invest to Save Money

By

The U.S. government must finally wise up and put an immediate end to the insane double taxation of dividends. The government, facilitated by the Fed, is in an ongoing war to destroy the value of the dollar by printing money beyond any reasonable rate of expansion. Simply take a look at real estate prices to witness the explosion in liquidity. Do not let the government destroy the value of your retirement. Demand that the government ends the double taxation of dividends! Originally posted October 17, 2017. With the exception of the large sums of money that I invested in zero-coupon … [Read more...]

The Vanguard Wellesley Way

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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...]