To All, Mini Barron's review. 1. Abelson almost sounded like a rerun this week. The stock market is sick because the economy is sick, not because of war. Oil is pricey because of supply and demand, not war. Natural gas even more so. And the editing of his column was extremely poor this week or his grammar has been adjusted by our court appointed President. <g> 2. One of my old tech favorites, MVC, has had a shareholders rebellion. Meanwhile, the stock is up recently while the discount is still wide.
3. A nice sliming of Goldman Sucks. I have mixed feelings. I, too, think it is overpriced. And everyone knows of my unrequited love for Abby Jo. However, I will say this about them: they have done far better for high net worth individuals (extremely rich bastards who have more money than I do) than has Northern or US Trust or any of those other yawn inducing firms. And they play guts ball in the trading pits and don't play customer blackjack. And that is high praise from me. I think Goldie deserves a premium. Just not as much as the market has given it.
4. Online brokers are rated. Numero uno is Options Xpress. Never heard of them, but the name itself makes me like them. Looking at the chart, they seem kind of pricey for a bare bones outfit, but supposedly they do a good job.
5. Super interview with Alan Snyder. He loves gold and gives the bull story succinctly. He also hates technology and financials. I like the cut of his jib, and not just because he agrees with me. O.K., it is just because he agrees with me. <g>
6. The best thing in the rag this week was in Market Watch. The blurb from Al Thomas of "Over My Shoulder" was freakin' outstanding. A quote "Today the bulls outnumber the bears. They must be having six martini lunches to be doing this bad a job. They don't understand that we are in a long term bear market. They say there is a lot of cash looking for a home. But it's not THEIR HOME." Great stuff. His jib cut is eyeable, also.
7. The mutual fund pullout section is good. Van Wagoner has shut down 3 of his 5 funds and is having a wee SEC problem with pricing of private placements. Shades of Enterprise Fund and the "letter stock" days of the 60s. Deja vu all over again? Fred Carr long ago discovered that it is easier to outperform when you make up the prices of your stocks on a whim and have your fund valued accordingly. Van Wagontrain didn't have to teach shareholders about it again. BTW, Fred got out of that scrape by selling his funds to my old employer, American Capital, for a song. But for enough money to start a life insurance co. Where he taught policy holders that paying 13% interest when you only earn 11% on the securities you hold does not make for stable insurance policies. Fred is just an inventive sort of guy. <g>
Hard to believe it, but most fund cos. are doing poorly, even with their obscene fees. Vanguard has decided to screw registered investment advisers to save money. Those advisers don't know Jack. <g> My old favorite, Southern Africa Fund, fired the manager and Harvard, the safety school for those who can't get into Wharton, is looking for a new manager. The beantown scholars own 24% of SOA. I didn't know that, so it must have just been instinct that caused me to sell the fund a few years back. They also have a fluff piece on a fund I own, Thornburg Limited Term Munis. Laddered bonds. Yawn! But yawn is good in this market. <g>
Dats all, folks.
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