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QVM Group's Comments Stream Stats
- 238 Comments, 17
, 3 
- Total Comment Stream rating
Ideas for Investing in Crude Oil
The list of securities in the article is not rerpesented as comprehensive. It covers principally industry groups and a few individual securities of particular interest to us for the purpose being discussed in the article. We find the trusts we mentioned more attractive for the purpose than the ones you mentioned.
I could give you an even longer list of securities not included.
If the securities you name are of particular interest to you, this is the place to present what you know about them and discuss them.
For comprehensive coverage of royalty trusts, you might read articles by and visit the website of Kurt Wulf (McDep.com)
Bond ETF Yields in Historical Context
Your Question:
"Does the National Muni Bond ETF have the same tax advantages as a traditional Muni? "
Response:
Yes and No.
MUB is a national muni fund, with bonds from more than one state. Those bonds not from your state are not exempt ffrom state taxes for you, so only a portion, if any, of the interest is state income tax-free for you.
The iShares MUB Fact Sheet says the fund is, or tries to be, AMT free; meaning that none of the interest is expected to be subject to the federal Alternate Minimum Tax.
If you buy a single muni bond from your state, it will be state income tax free (unless there are states that don't play that way, of which I am not aware) and federal income tax free (unless the bond was for private purposes, in which case it would be subject to the federal Alternate Minimum Tax).
Capital gains on disposal or maturity of the bond is another matter outside of the issue of tax-free interest.
That is the big picture as we understand it, but we are not tax advisors, and you should not rely on this comment for tax planning or filing purposes. This comment is not intended as "tax advice" and should not be used as such.
If your information need goes beyond curiosity, you must consult your personal tax advisor for clarity, completeness and guidance before taking any investment or tax filing action.
Richard Shaw
Blogs, Profanity and Editorial Integrity
Since I was one of the people who complained about the Kedrosky article language bringing down the average quality of work on SA, and reflecting badly on those of us other authors who manage to get our point across with language that does not offend, let's get the exact detail of the text that you say, "could not have been conveyed nearly as well with mainstream-media-appro... clean language"
Kedrosky said:
"Citi Bailout: Good Bank, Bad Bank, and Fu*&ed Bank
That $300-billion figure is, as we say in the business, way fucking bigger than the $50-billion "bad bank" number
I hereby christen "fucked" bank. "
If, as the editor of an investment publication, you think there is no better non-profane way to get the same point across, perhaps you need to work on your own writing skills.
You also state in your blog post above that "bloggers tend to talk straight, which is one of the main reasons why many of us now rely on smart, informed bloggers to get to the bottom of any given news story."
Is this string of profanities from today's Cassandra article, which SA selected and defends, an example of the quality of writing you think brings refreshing objectivity and authenticity to your site?
"What the f*ck f*ck f*cking f*ck could he be doing
What the f*ck did I know anyway?"
Let's not sugar-coat the situation with all that talk about being "real". That is just plan lazy, uneducated, garbage of which SA should be ashamed not proud. It doesn't matter whether anonymous Cassandra is a successful asset manager or not. He/she is a crude, boring, and ineffective writer -- but well suited for chat room conduct.
While this thread is discussing all the reasons why authors should feel free to be who they are and express their first amendment rights to show how limited their ability is to express themselves in writing, let's not ignore complaints like this from one of your readers of the Kedrosky article:
"My 10 year old son and I have a project. the project is for each of us to find articles about the economy and discuss them. He brought this to my attention and I am very unhappy that you would allow these words in a financial conversation. I request you pull this article or have writer rewrite this in a professional manor if he is capable. "
Is that part of making it real -- teaching them young to speak the way you say is authentic?
You can't lose readers or authors with civility, and those who like or can tolerate foulness will still come back if they seek information and investment views (but perhaps not if they seek a "bar room brawl" as one commenter here says). However you can definitely lose civil readers with incivility.
Your reverence for incivility speaks volumes about the audience you seek, regrettably.
Richard Shaw
Major Two Day Rally: Hold Steady
"As for the war, it was brought to the WTC at New York City
on 9-11-2001. Don't you forget that ever.
You rather fight it inside the USA ? Won't be good. "
Please try to keep comments relevant to the topic of the article. This has nothing to do whatsoever with the article's content, purpose or meaning.
Richard Shaw
Is the Long Bond Cracking?
Your addition of volatility information is helpful, and I encourage investors to look at multiple dimensions of options, but I reject the notion that volatility is the "correct" data to interpret (and by implication that price is the "incorrect" data to interpret). There is nothing incorrect about comparing the price of two related securities (in this case two essentially inverse options). For our purposes, in this instance, price is the preferred indicator of what we are seeking to understand.
Bye-Bye Dividends
I see some problems with your IRA suggestion. Since dividends have been taxed preferentially in the past few years, it would have increased the taxes to the maximum by putting dividends into an IRA, because all money coming out above cost basis is ordinary income.
For investors who have assets outside of their IRA, they need to do something with them and dividends may have been most consistent with their needs and goals.
Also some investors have far more outside of the IRA than inside. For example, if a person sold a business for millions and had hundreds of thousands in their IRA or other tax deferred vehicle, there would be no way to confine dividends to the IRA.
It may be that dividends will be taxed at ordinary rates in the future, in which case the IRA argument becomes more suitable. However, because of capital gains potential with common stocks, securities with the least cap gains and most ordinary income should go into the IRA first -- such as bonds.
Cash-Rich Non-U.S. Companies Trading in the U.S.
Vanguard's Jack Bogle on Rebalancing: Don't!
One thing Mr. Bogle did not talk about is volatility in rebalanced and not-rebalanced accounts. That should be studied at the same time as return.
There must be a professor out there somewhere with the time, skills and grant money to do a top notch study of the question. Perhaps good comprehensive work is out there now that someone knows about that could be referenced in a reply to this article.
In any event, a worthy topic for investment community discussion.
Is the Long Bond Cracking?
This chart may relate to your comment.
www.qvmgroup.com/VFINX...
It plots the return of the S&P 500 versus long-term Treasuries over 19 years as represented by two Vanguard funds.
As of now, stocks would have been nothing more than a bother, unless rebalancing between stocks and bonds was done, in which case the result would been superior.
Is the Long Bond Cracking?
You are quite right about in the money issues. We have a clerical error in our data recording that we are correcting at this time, thanks to your sharp eye. The conclusion is the same, but the data is inaccurate. We will correct the post on our site and then ask SA to correct that portion of this republished articles. You have done us a service in pointing our our clerical mistake. However, with adjustments for in and out of the money, prices are useful in our view -- but we need to be more tidy in our data transpositions.
Is the Long Bond Cracking?
I probably should have mentioned quantitative easing specifically, but have been focusing on the inflation that must follow current deflation due to flooding of the markets with increased money supply. QE is just an extreme form of what has been going on. My prior articles were more focused on that aspect of the problem. Thanks for commenting.
State Muni Bonds: Steer Clear of California Bond ETF
With a national muni fund you have federal tax exemption on the non-AMT bonds, but you only get state tax-exemption on that portion of the interest income that comes from your state. CA is the largest holding in most/many national funds (16% according to fund fact sheet for MUB, for example).
Ideas for Investing in Crude Oil
I am also concerned about the Canadian taxes, but am in a wait and see mode about how they will work, and how Canadian Oil Sands in particular will restructure as a consequence of the taxes. If the situation will be adverse, the market would probably phase in negative price consequences before the effective date of tax changes. It will also be necessary to weigh the extraordinary long-life reserves in the value equation. There is no question that the Canadian government will take a larger piece of the pie. It's just a matter of whether the remaining piece will be attractive. The US trusts are shorter reserve life.
Tax Loss Harvesting & the 'Wash Sale' Rule
You, or you and your tax advisor, will have to make your own determination on any specific transaction as to what is and what is not "substantially identical" under the regulations.
If you can't take a loss due to the Wash Sale Rule, there are cost basis adjustments for the new position. Your tax advisor will be able to calculate that adjustment for you.
Tax Loss Harvesting & the 'Wash Sale' Rule
You may be correct that 2X funds use derivatives, but use of options, futures and convertible securities on the security you sold do not qualify under the wash sale rule, as I understand it. You should consult your personal tax advisor if you feel that is incorrect, othewise avoid 2X funds of the same index to replace 1X funds.
Richard Shaw