MFO Premium

All fund risk and return metrics, ratings, and analytics were uploaded to MFO Premium Sunday, 31 July, reflecting performance through July 2022.

 

When we run the monthly update that close to the last business day, we will normally re-run the ratings the following Saturday to pick up any late reporting funds. This past month that version was uploaded Sunday, 7 August. We also uploaded Tuesday, 30 August using the Refinitiv datafile of 26 August.

 

Going forward, thanks to a suggestion by long-time subscriber Alfred, we will try to update the site database weekly. Those intramonth updates help when funds report portfolio changes, launches, and closures, etc. The datafile date will be posted on our homepage under the “What’s new?” section, each time we update the ratings. Consistent with that date, you will now find the “Month To Date [MTD]” return and rating under Calendar Month metrics in the MultiSearch results table.

 

Continue reading “Happy Preferencing!”

All fund risk and return metrics, ratings, and analytics were uploaded to MFO Premium Friday, 4 March, reflecting performance through February 2022.

 

The year is off to a poor start with most equity and bond funds retracting in the face of inflation, rising rates, and the crisis in Ukraine. Not exactly the normalcy we had anticipated after two years of Covid-19.

 

The table below depicts year-to-date (YTD) performance of the 11 State Street Sector ETFs along with the S&P 500 ETF SPY. Only energy is up, with all other sectors paring gains made over current market cycle, which began January 2020. Most sectors are now below their 10-month Simple Moving Averages (SMAs).

 

Continue reading “MFO Charts Now Live with February 2022 Ratings Update”

All fund risk and return metrics, ratings, and analytics were uploaded to MFO Premium on New Year’s Day, reflecting performance through December 2021. We plan to post the volatile January 2022 results late tomorrow. Nearly all funds should be included in tomorrow’s “incremental” drop from Refinitiv, but any omissions will be incorporated in the full monthly drop on Saturday.

 

We hosted our year-end review webinar on Tuesday, 4 January. Thank you again to all who participated! I benefit from these sessions just as much as I hope you do. It was the third consecutive year in which most domestic equity funds did well, enjoying last of the Fed’s “Infinity” round of Quantitative Easing. Energy funds finally recovered. Most bond and emerging market funds struggled in anticipation of tapering and rising rates. Here are links to chart deck and video recording.

 

Of the 6,700 mutual funds available in the US, only 21 incurred no drawdown in 2021 (based on month ending total return, excluding money market funds), while delivering return exceeding their dividend yield, nominally. And, of those, only 17 offer yields greater than a 1-year CD, which is about 0.60%. Three of those (RSIIX, CBLDX, and DGFFX) are advised or sub-advised by David Sherman of Cohanzick Management, whom David Snowball has championed for years. Here are the 21 mutual funds, sorted first by category and then return:

 

Continue reading “21 In 21 Plus Annuity Modeling and New Taper Periods”

On Friday, 3 December, all fund risk and return metrics, ratings, and analytics were uploaded to MFO Premium, reflecting performance through November 2021. Refinitiv should drop month-ending December data, capping 2021, about 5 a.m. Pacific time on New Year’s Day. With luck, we will post year-end fund results tomorrow evening.

 

We added a couple of features to MultiSearch this past month worth calling out …

 

Continue reading “Drawdown Occurs (Almost) Every Calendar Year”

On Thursday, 4 November, all fund risk and return metrics, ratings, and analytics were uploaded to MFO Premium, reflecting performance through October 2021. The drop occurred a few days earlier than planned, thanks to Refinitiv including latest month ending data in their daily drop. Going forward, we will try to post ratings within 2-3 days of month close, instead of the first Saturday or Sunday.

 

Continue reading “Early Cycle Metrics and Expanded MultiSearch Headers”

On Wednesday, 6 October, all fund risk and return metrics, ratings, and analytics were uploaded to MFO Premium, reflecting performance through September 2021, the year’s 3rd quarter.

 

Concurrent with the ratings update, two new evaluation periods were added to MultiSearch, nicknamed “Super Bull 1 & 2.” These bulls don’t acknowledge that the steep declines of Black Monday (October 1987) and CV-19 (March 2020) were bears. Both retractions were so short, they just get lumped-in with the long-term gains the bulls delivered, ex post, of course.

 

Continue reading “Super Bulls, Decadal Metrics, After Tax Ratings, and Adjustable Columns”