<p>I love ETFs.</p>
<p>I think that many used them for leverage but there are lots of them that just hold stocks and give you exposure to an industry or industry group. You get less risk and return than holding individual stocks.</p>
<p>“A rich country is not one where everybody has a car but rather one in which a rich man takes the bus,” said one young female protester in Brasilia who did not want to give her name."</p>
<p>[Brazil</a> stuns the world with an angry undercurrent - FRANCE 24](<a href=“http://www.france24.com/en/20130621-brazil-stuns-world-with-angry-undercurrent]Brazil”>http://www.france24.com/en/20130621-brazil-stuns-world-with-angry-undercurrent)</p>
<p>I like that quote.</p>
<p>“I only use them to play a sector or for leverage. ETFs have costs in them that reduces their total return so it is better to go with individual stocks for max return”</p>
<p>I think it’s a pretty good deal at Vanguard. They don’t charge any brokerage fees for the trades, and if you want to buy ETFs that aren’t Vanguard owned, if your immediate family has over a certain amount in Vanguard mutual funds, there is no charge for that either. The costs within them look very low.</p>
<p>“I think that many used them for leverage but there are lots of them that just hold stocks and give you exposure to an industry or industry group. You get less risk and return than holding individual stocks.”</p>
<p>It also sounds good for someone who doesn’t have enough money in their account to really buy single stocks efficiently. It would be too much risk to put everything in just one stock. Any industry groups looking good right now? I was thinking about health care, as those funds seem to just keep going up.</p>
<p>I found the Brazil article interesting.</p>
<p>We like to post what we are interested in so…</p>
<p>[Muni</a> Bonds Join the Rout - WSJ.com](<a href=“Muni Bonds Join the Rout - WSJ”>Muni Bonds Join the Rout - WSJ)</p>
<p>I just glanced at some prices and I thought I saw some state of Cal bonds with attractive yields…</p>
<p>I am going to relook Monday or Tuesday…</p>
<p>Looks like there is a supply demand imbalance in the muni market.</p>
<p>The situation in Detroit has the potential to ding Munis too, at least in Michigan.</p>
<p>Detroit muni yields are some of the highest out there…</p>
<p>I am not touching those.</p>
<p>Looks like California general obligation bonds are yielding about 4 1/4 due in 2029. Some of these are callable in a few years though.</p>
<p>That 4 1/4 is tax free to California residents federal and state. My guess is they are tax free to no income tax states. So that would be equivalent to a higher yield depending on an investors tax rate.</p>
<p>I would like to see 5 percent yields.</p>
<p>Where do muni holders stand in line if Detroit goes bankrupt?</p>
<p>“Emergency Manager Kevyn Orr’s plan to suspend payments on $2 billion of Detroit’s debt threatens a basic tenet of the $3.7 trillion municipal market: that states and cities will raise taxes as high as needed to avoid default. Orr, appointed by Republican Governor Rick Snyder to oversee Michigan’s largest city, proposed a deal last week that included skipping a $39.7 million payment on pension-obligation debt. The city is also set to default on unsecured unlimited-tax and limited-tax general-obligation bonds as it grapples with $17 billion in liabilities to avoid a record bankruptcy.”</p>
<p>[Detroit</a> Recovery Plan Threatens Muni-Market Underpinnings - Bloomberg](<a href=“Bloomberg - Are you a robot?”>Bloomberg - Are you a robot?)</p>
<p>It looks like a negotiation right now. How little will the muni-bond holders accept? I’m sure that the city and state do not want a default.</p>
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<p>They probably aren’t state tax free in NH (oddly enough), but I consider 4+% very nice. I’m still getting practically zero on several of my accounts. I am pretty happy with yields on PBA and PSEC and we’ll see how I handle the asset price volatility going forward.</p>
<p>It is not going to be a simple case. There is going to be a battle.</p>
<p><a href=“In Embattled Detroit, No Talk of Sharing Pain - The New York Times”>In Embattled Detroit, No Talk of Sharing Pain - The New York Times;
<p>[America?s</a> municipal-bond market: State of pay | The Economist](<a href=“The Economist | World News, Economics, Politics, Business & Finance”>State of pay)</p>
<p>“I am pretty happy with yields on PBA and PSEC and we’ll see how I handle the asset price volatility going forward.”</p>
<p>Yeah that is the issue for investors who own securities that are tied to interest rates. </p>
<p>I have bought some munis with 4.5 percent yields that are due 20 years out. I bought them this year. On paper, I am probably down close to 20 percent on those. I am guessing they yield close to 5.5 percent now. </p>
<p>I would prefer to have never bought them. :)</p>
<p>But what are we going to do? Some of us want some yield.
I think eventually yields are going to normalize. The 10 year treasury will yield at least 4 percent. </p>
<p>That will put more pressure on bond prices. I dont think that is going to happen for awhile. The economy is too weak. I think the bond markets will calm down soon. Because of the supply of munis coming to the market, there still might be some weakness near term. If I worked for a brokerage firm that specialized in munis, I could figure things out. 
Also, some deals may be postponed. Some are already. This will decrease supply in the short term.</p>
<p>I look at bonds and munis as a bet on inflation. As long as muni yields are higher than inflation over the period I own the bonds, I am fine.</p>
<p>If inflation is 3 percent a year and I am getting 4.5 percent in munis, I can live with that. If inflation rises to 5 percent, I am going to be sick. Lol</p>
<p>I am betting inflation wont rise much above 3 percent for the foreseeable future. And there are other investments that can be made to cover inflation.</p>
<p>This is what getting old is about. If nothing else, we’re going to learn a lot.</p>
<p>Yes we are. You are right.</p>
<p>Barricks is starting to do layoffs. They blame the low price of gold and the high price of energy. I’m glad that I dumped the miners a long time ago.</p>
<p>That was a great sale. </p>
<p>I bought some cyclicals around the time of the financial crisis. Not a lot. They have been terrible performers. AA. AKS. Anr I still have 100 shares because I miscounted when I sold it. I guess that doesnt count as a position. </p>
<p>Anyway terrible…</p>
<p>Biotechs were doing great until this week or so. </p>
<p>Cash has been good. :)</p>
<p>[Coming</a> Soon: Intel’s Must-See TV - Barrons.com](<a href=“http://online.barrons.com/article/SB50001424052748704311204578551361662471502.html?mod=BOL_article_full_popview#articleTabs_article%3D1]Coming”>http://online.barrons.com/article/SB50001424052748704311204578551361662471502.html?mod=BOL_article_full_popview#articleTabs_article%3D1)</p>
<p>I installed classic shield in Windows 8 and it works much better although not as well as Windows 7. Thanks BCEagle91.</p>
<p>I am willing to bet some of the decrease in PC sales is because of Windows 8. There are so many truly annoying aspects of Windows 8 that I can see how sales might be affected. For example, Windows 8 opens to a start screen and then you can go to your browser. If I am in my browser (not the start screen) and I move my curse quickly from the upper left corner down ward because I am trying to click on something on the page, the browser disappears and the start page appears instead. I have to find my browser again. If I am in my browser and move the cursor to the far right of the page to scroll down the screen, sometimes another menus pops up from the right (MSFT calls it the charms menus) and I have to avoid that menu in order to complete the scrolling. If you want to turn off your computer, you have to make several clicks to get into the PC Settings menu and click off. PC Settings is where you adjust brightness levels, etc. Off is not a PC setting and having the off button there is not logical. Windows 7 had shutdown attached to the start button which appears on the screen. These are very simple and obvious design flaws that even the dumbest company would have identified and corrected. Of course MSFT is dumber than average. </p>
<p>When Apple has the maps problems, they fired the maps division people. MSFT should fire everyone associated with Windows 8 and they should get rid of Ballmer as soon as possible. I don’t think MSFT can take another decade under his leadership.</p>
<p>On ETFs: Since I have no faith in my ability to choose individual stocks, I basically trade only etfs. However, (as has been noted many other places), because of compounding issues, the leveraged products to which Razorsharp referred are really suitable only for short-term trades or as part of a frequently rebalanced hedging strategy.</p>
<p>On last week generally: I also had a bad week. For example, my relative strength indicators have me in VNQ this month and the less said about my XIV position, the better. But absent some new evidence that undermines my faith in the strategies that I use for allocating my risk assets, I have to remember to take a deep breath and believe that the strategies will work in the long run. Just in case, however, I do have the majority of my retirement funds in safe strategies.</p>
<p>“I do…” :)</p>
<p>If qe3 ends or as it ends, it looks like we are going to see more volatility. I guess that is pretty obvious. </p>
<p>I was looking at a 2 year xiv chart. What was the vix when xiv traded 6 bucks?</p>