Ask Rande

Top 1649. Aug 4, 1999 7:02 AM

» Karin1 - Cynthia Oti, Ken Fisher, Bonds

Last night on KSFO Cynthia agreed with her guest, Ken Fisher, of Forbes magazine that owning bonds is better than being in a bond fund, but that now is NOT the time to be in bonds. Any comments?
Karin1

-- posted by Karin1

Top 1650. Aug 4, 1999 9:08 AM

» litab16 - Fidelity's Timing

Actually Kirk, Fidelity's timing was not quite as good as you think. It was reported just before the April sell off that Fidelity had considerably reduced its tech stock holdings in the first quarter. In fact they took a lot of heat for this because they missed the runup in tech stocks as well. Here is the old CBS MarketWatch story with some excerpts:

"The world's largest mutual fund is backing off on techs, according to Jim Lowell, editor of Fidelity Investor newsletter. The $90 billion Fidelity Magellan Fund (FMAGX) sold off nearly 5 percent or roughly $4 billion worth of technology holdings, Lowell reported Friday. Fidelity spokesman Scott Beyeral confirmed that technology represented 20.9 percent of fund manager Bob Stansky's portfolio at the end of the first quarter, down from 25.5 percent Jan 31.

"While more than a fifth of holdings are still dedicated to tech issues, the recent sell off could be a bellwether for this very volatile sector. "It calls attention to the fact that the sector in which Stansky has the most experience may be showing signs of near-term weakness," said Lowell. Stansky is not alone, either. Will Danoff of Fidelity's $41 billion Contrafund (FCNTX) is also pulling back. Danoff reduced his stake by nearly 7 percent or about $3 billion."

-- posted by litab16

Top 1651. Aug 4, 1999 10:32 AM

» KirkL - Fidelity Timing

Fidelity Timing
Lita, as of yesterday... YTD performance
Fido Contra 9.3%
Fido Magellan 9.3%
Fido S&P500 7.1%
VTSMX 6.9%

(9.3-7.1)/7.1 x100% = 31% outperformance

Not too shabby.

-- posted by KirkL

Top 1652. Aug 4, 1999 10:51 AM

» litab16 - Here are some to compare to Fidelity

Kirk,

Here are some YTD to compare to the Fidelity Funds:

Vanguard Growth & Income 10.44%
Janus Growth & Income 11.89%
Vanguard 500 Index 8.29%
Janus Twenty 11.71%
Janus Enterprise 22.45%

-- posted by litab16

Top 1653. Aug 4, 1999 11:06 AM

» RandeS - Karin,

Karin,

Individual bonds may make sense for larger portfolios, as long as you know what you're doing or have access to a good advisor. It pays to shop around when considering a particular bond issue, as prices can vary substantially. Certainly, if you're talking about Treasury Notes, then the Federal Reserve's "Treasury Direct" program makes a lot of sense. For corporate bonds, muni bonds, or agency bonds (GNMAs, etc.), I would prefer a low-cost bond fund such as Vanguard offers, or a private money manager using a segregated account (provided minimum balance requirements can be met). Bottom line -- never buy a bond fund that charges a load or has annual expenses in excess of .5%. Just not worth it.

-- posted by RandeS

Top 1654. Aug 4, 1999 11:25 AM

» Happy - How come Lita has Vanguard sp500 at 8.

How come Lita has Vanguard sp500 at 8.29%YTD, and Kirk has Fido sp500 at 7.1%? Cant be that much difference.

-- posted by Happy