Favorite Mutual Funds

[feh]

MCHFX
Matthews China
Link to Chart

As of today, this is my favorite too. Bought many shares last May, as this is my only foreign stock exposure.

It's up almost 50% since then.

[jefffou]

Hussman.....

Not a big actively managed guy, but if I had to choose.......I'd go with HSGFX, the Hussman Strategic Growth fund.

His article is a must read for me every Monday morning as well.

Jeff

[Beppington]

Not a big actively managed guy, but if I had to choose.......I'd go with HSGFX, the Hussman Strategic Growth fund.

His article is a must read for me every Monday morning as well.

Jeff

Seriously? Here's how it's done over the past year against Vanguard's regular ol' S&P500 index fund (VFINX); Wow, not good: Click

And, over the past 6 months, VFINX is up ~30% while HSGFX is down ~5%.

What's the appeal?

[jefffou]

Hussman.....

Check out the returns since inception.....

...thru 2001, 2002, 2008, 2009.....

I'd say not too shabby!!

Jeff

[jefffou]

Seriously? Here's how it's done over the past year against Vanguard's regular ol' S&P500 index fund (VFINX); Wow, not good: Click

And, over the past 6 months, VFINX is up ~30% while HSGFX is down ~5%.

What's the appeal?

Sorry for the double post here....I'm a newbie here.

Look his returns since inception.

Also, he is a guy that was predicting a LOT of what was about to happen before the fall of 2008. He admits to believing the worst was over before the second fall in March of 2009.

However, a review of his track record suggests he is doing something right....

However, as per my first post, I generally look to an index fund, such as the Vanguard you replied back with.

But, again, if I had to pick......

Jeff

[Jazzmint98]

I have a few favorites...all are T Rowe Price funds:

Equity Income
Capital Appreciation
Health Sciences
Latin America

[Andrew Jackson]

Seriously? Here's how it's done over the past year against Vanguard's regular ol' S&P500 index fund (VFINX); Wow, not good:

And, over the past 6 months, VFINX is up ~30% while HSGFX is down ~5%.

What's the appeal?

The 10 year return for VFINX is -1.0%. I'm interested in getting into a few different funds including an index fund, but VFINX has not performed well over the last 10 years.

Someone mention Permanent Profile (PRPFX) which I was glad to see mentioned because I was actually reading about that one earlier today and thinking about investing in it.

[feh]

The 10 year return for VFINX is -1.0%. I'm interested in getting into a few different funds including an index fund, but VFINX has not performed well over the last 10 years.

Because the market has not performed well over the last 10 years.

[Andrew Jackson]

Because the market has not performed well over the last 10 years.

Wouldn't that be an argument for mutual funds then? Plenty of mutual funds have beaten the market and posted positive returns over the last 10 years.

[feh]

Wouldn't that be an argument for mutual funds then? Plenty of mutual funds have beaten the market and posted positive returns over the last 10 years.

VINFX is a mutual fund - it mirrors the S&P 500.

Of course there are mutual funds that have beaten the index. There are also lots of them that have not beaten the index.

I'm confused as to what you're trying to state or ask - could you re-phrase?

[Andrew Jackson]

I'm confused as to what you're trying to state or ask - could you re-phrase?

Sorry.

I know index funds are a type of mutual fund as well. But don't most people usually differentiate between index and mutual funds? Sorry, I am new in this game.

I guess I'm just trying to point out that it would have been bad to be in an Index fund over the last decade. A -1.0% return over a 10 year period seems pretty bad. I know with mutual funds their is risk that you can do even worst than the market. But from what I can see, I'm actually looking at Kiplinger's Mutual Funds 2010 magazine right now, the majority of mutual funds posted returns greater than the S&P's -1.0%. The average for a mutual fund was 2.2% i think it says. Of course after loads and expense fees I would imagine that quite a few less funds would have beaten the market?

[GrimJack]

When you say 'an index fund' you are not being very specific - mutual funds can be broken into 2 styles: active and passive; index funds are passive, they track an index (S&P, Russel 2000, DJIA, Wilshire,etc). The main reasons to go with an index fund are the low fees and the "efficient market theory" that goes like

it is impossible for investors to gain above normal returns because all relevant information that may affect a stock's price is already incorporated within its price. Thus, index fund managers and their investors believe that if you can't beat the market, you might as well join it.

Of course, an index fund can never beat the market.

[feh]

Sorry.

I know index funds are a type of mutual fund as well. But don't most people usually differentiate between index and mutual funds? Sorry, I am new in this game.

I guess I'm just trying to point out that it would have been bad to be in an Index fund over the last decade. A -1.0% return over a 10 year period seems pretty bad. I know with mutual funds their is risk that you can do even worst than the market. But from what I can see, I'm actually looking at Kiplinger's Mutual Funds 2010 magazine right now, the majority of mutual funds posted returns greater than the S&P's -1.0%. The average for a mutual fund was 2.2% i think it says. Of course after loads and expense fees I would imagine that quite a few less funds would have beaten the market?

Yes, a negative or 0% return over 10 years is bad. It's also extremely rare. Remember - the past 10 years are just that; the past. I wouldn't expect the S&P 500 to have a -1% return over the next 10 years, which is what somebody investing today should be concerned about.

I don't have the article you're referring to, but I imagine the average you're looking at included bond funds, which have done better than stock funds over the last 10 years. Comparing a bond fund to VFINX is like comparing apples to oranges - they are two distinct ways to invest your money. Of course, there are lots of funds that invest in both stocks and bonds.

Looking at purely stock-based mutual funds, I'd be shocked if the average fund outperformed the S&P 500 over the last 10 years.

[Andrew Jackson]

I don't have the article you're referring to, but I imagine the average you're looking at included bond funds, which have done better than stock funds over the last 10 years.

Actually, the numbers I stated are for just US stock funds. But as you mentioned, a number of stock funds also allocate a percentage of assets into bonds and other investments. The magazine divided up US Stock Funds, International Stock Funds, Taxable Bond and Currency Funds, Tax Free Bond Funds and the many different ETFs.

And you are right, these bond funds did much better over the last 10 years (5% avg return). But of course have only been good over the last year (17%) where as the stocks have been excellent (30%).

What do you guys think of the Permanent Portfolio (PRPFX) for my first investment in mutual funds?

Portfolio Structure:
Gold---------------------------------20%
Silver--------------------------------5%
Swiss Franc Assets----------------10%
US and Foreign Real Estate
and Natural Resource Stocks----15%
Aggressive Growth Stocks-------15%
US Treasury Bills, Bonds and
other Dollar Assets---------------35%
--------------------------------------100%