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Strategies & Market Trends : Bob Brinker: Market Savant & Radio Host -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: sea_biscuit who wrote (4029)	3/12/1998 2:27:00 PM
From: Trebor	Respond to of 42834

>Btw, Wiener has been thumping the desk about the Specialized Health Care Fund these days. Any thoughts on that?< Van. Health Care has been an excellent fund -- YTD up 10.6%; 12 mo. up 33.4%; 3-year up 32.8% and 5-year up 28%. It's the only sector fund I own and I own it because I want to participate in health care but don't feel I have the time or knowledge to follow individual health care stocks. BTW, I posted my message about Wiener's feelings toward Van. index funds before I had a chance to read his March issue. In it he does a credible job of explaining why he prefers such funds as Van. Growth & Income and Van. Windsor II over Van. Total Stock Market or Van. Index 500. Basically it's because G&I and Windsor II have lower p-e's and historically slightly better performance than the index funds. Also they focus on fewer stocks, which in theory, should give them an advantage. One thing that's always bothered me about index funds is they own both the losers and winners in the index they track. It would seem that just a little bit of management could pay off in terms of winnowing out the obvious losers. But Wiener also points out that index funds have definite tax advantages; thus they make sense in a non-IRA account. But for IRA accounts, he thinks such funds as Van. G&I and Windsor II have the edge. As for the poster who said we shouldn't be discussing Wiener's Vanguard newsletter on the Brinker forum, I disagree. Bob B. has preached Vanguard's index funds so long and hard that I think other views on the subject are perfectly in order, especially when they are coming from a guy like Wiener who focuses his time and attention on this one fund family.