JonD's Comments RSS Syndication from SeekingAlpha.com http://seekingalpha.comuser/1370/comments http://seekingalpha.com/article/77054-publicly-traded-airports-a-useful-benchmark?source=feed#comment-167953 167953 Thu, 15 May 2008 09:06:20 -0400 http://seekingalpha.com/article/77054-publicly-traded-airports-a-useful-benchmark?source=feed#comment-166968 166968 Tue, 13 May 2008 14:26:13 -0400 http://seekingalpha.com/article/77054-publicly-traded-airports-a-useful-benchmark?source=feed#comment-166960 166960
as of 3/31/08, MGU had 11.9% of its NAV in public airports. other interesting (non-correlated, alpha generating) infrastructure sectors include toll roads, pipelines, water utilities, etc. (all publicly traded).

and pretty reasonable expense ratio for a levered actively managed CEF (the MER on etfconnect.com is wrong, btw).

lots of international diversification, too, and just for you and your clients and readers, it's on sale right now at a 6.0% discount to its NAV.]]> Tue, 13 May 2008 14:08:58 -0400
as of 3/31/08, MGU had 11.9% of its NAV in public airports. other interesting (non-correlated, alpha generating) infrastructure sectors include toll roads, pipelines, water utilities, etc. (all publicly traded).

and pretty reasonable expense ratio for a levered actively managed CEF (the MER on etfconnect.com is wrong, btw).

lots of international diversification, too, and just for you and your clients and readers, it's on sale right now at a 6.0% discount to its NAV.]]> http://seekingalpha.com/article/40496-etf-analysis-bottom-up-vs-forward-looking?source=feed#comment-90787 90787 Tue, 10 Jul 2007 09:51:50 -0400 http://seekingalpha.com/article/40494-why-closed-end-funds-don-t-work-for-most-investors?source=feed#comment-90747 90747
i personally own the following

JRO (from Nuveen) --- floating rate fixed income
JPS (also Nuveen) --- diversified preferred equity
TYG (from Tortoise) --- collection of pipeline MLPs
MGU (from Macquarie) --- collection of publicly traded global infrastructure assets

also, as you mention, muni bond and foreign bond CEFs are attractive as well.]]> Mon, 09 Jul 2007 20:28:32 -0400
i personally own the following

JRO (from Nuveen) --- floating rate fixed income
JPS (also Nuveen) --- diversified preferred equity
TYG (from Tortoise) --- collection of pipeline MLPs
MGU (from Macquarie) --- collection of publicly traded global infrastructure assets

also, as you mention, muni bond and foreign bond CEFs are attractive as well.]]> http://seekingalpha.com/article/40496-etf-analysis-bottom-up-vs-forward-looking?source=feed#comment-90746 90746
i read most of the current ETF articles and this one is well above average relative to the incessant drivel of articles warning of "thinly sliced ETFs dangerous to your investing health."]]> Mon, 09 Jul 2007 20:20:25 -0400
i read most of the current ETF articles and this one is well above average relative to the incessant drivel of articles warning of "thinly sliced ETFs dangerous to your investing health."]]> http://seekingalpha.com/article/37665-warming-up-to-international-real-estate-funds?source=feed#comment-87954 87954
but i think the long-term choice is the yet to be released ETF from iShares called ishares FTSE NAREIT Global Real Estate ex-US -- it's expected to have expense ratio of 0.48% (no way IRFAX can overcome that advantage, as an aside -- Dan, I assume you are a broker!!). don't know all the details yet since it hasn't started trading but i expect i to be similar to RWX (one of the fastest growing ETF launches in history) but at a lower ER (.48 vs. .60 for RWX) and I believe will have an even broader index to which it will track.

i personally own EGLRX but will switch to the ishares product when it launches.]]> Thu, 07 Jun 2007 10:03:21 -0400
but i think the long-term choice is the yet to be released ETF from iShares called ishares FTSE NAREIT Global Real Estate ex-US -- it's expected to have expense ratio of 0.48% (no way IRFAX can overcome that advantage, as an aside -- Dan, I assume you are a broker!!). don't know all the details yet since it hasn't started trading but i expect i to be similar to RWX (one of the fastest growing ETF launches in history) but at a lower ER (.48 vs. .60 for RWX) and I believe will have an even broader index to which it will track.

i personally own EGLRX but will switch to the ishares product when it launches.]]> http://seekingalpha.com/article/36880-international-fixed-income-get-to-know-it?source=feed#comment-87408 87408 Thu, 31 May 2007 14:58:31 -0400 http://seekingalpha.com/article/18115-choosing-an-emerging-market-debt-cef-the-case-for-western-asset-emerging-markets-debt-fund?source=feed#comment-87293 87293
thanks]]> Wed, 30 May 2007 15:15:01 -0400
thanks]]> http://seekingalpha.com/article/36880-international-fixed-income-get-to-know-it?source=feed#comment-87289 87289
I agree with you.

I already own PIMCO Foreign Bond (PFORX) and Payden Emerging Mkt Bond (PYEMX). both of these funds (like it seems all foreign bond funds) own almost entirely sovereign issues. they've performed well for me. Btw, they are both USD hedged funds so I don't get the weak dollar exposure (these days) but i also don't have foreign currency volatility to worry about (no one remembers how this feels).

here's my question...
I'd like to have exposure to foreign CORPORATE debt (investment grade and/or high yield) but cannot find any vehicle to do so. Do you know of any CEFs (or OEFs) that hold foreign CORPORATE debt (vs. sovereign debt)

thanks,
Jon]]> Wed, 30 May 2007 14:46:20 -0400
I agree with you.

I already own PIMCO Foreign Bond (PFORX) and Payden Emerging Mkt Bond (PYEMX). both of these funds (like it seems all foreign bond funds) own almost entirely sovereign issues. they've performed well for me. Btw, they are both USD hedged funds so I don't get the weak dollar exposure (these days) but i also don't have foreign currency volatility to worry about (no one remembers how this feels).

here's my question...
I'd like to have exposure to foreign CORPORATE debt (investment grade and/or high yield) but cannot find any vehicle to do so. Do you know of any CEFs (or OEFs) that hold foreign CORPORATE debt (vs. sovereign debt)

thanks,
Jon]]> http://seekingalpha.com/article/25930-financial-screens-and-fund-performance-measurement?source=feed#comment-81100 81100
keep up the good work.]]> Tue, 06 Feb 2007 13:22:26 -0500
keep up the good work.]]> http://seekingalpha.com/article/25930-financial-screens-and-fund-performance-measurement?source=feed#comment-81045 81045
BUT why can't you give these PM's any credit for actively making the decision to overweight raw materials, energy and utilities?

it's gotta be tough to be an active PM - even when you're right, you're wrong!!]]> Mon, 05 Feb 2007 11:50:50 -0500
BUT why can't you give these PM's any credit for actively making the decision to overweight raw materials, energy and utilities?

it's gotta be tough to be an active PM - even when you're right, you're wrong!!]]> http://seekingalpha.com/article/22735-first-ever-international-real-estate-etf-launched?source=feed#comment-79295 79295 www.ssgafunds.com/etf/...

doesn't have performance by country but does have holdings by security and by country.

can someone tell me why all of this and all of the domestic REIT products *exclude* Timber REITs? makes no sense to me. first of all, there's fewer than 10 of them worldwide so why bother excluding them. second, what business is *more* tied to the actual real estate (LAND) than Timber?]]> Wed, 20 Dec 2006 11:37:54 -0500 www.ssgafunds.com/etf/...

doesn't have performance by country but does have holdings by security and by country.

can someone tell me why all of this and all of the domestic REIT products *exclude* Timber REITs? makes no sense to me. first of all, there's fewer than 10 of them worldwide so why bother excluding them. second, what business is *more* tied to the actual real estate (LAND) than Timber?]]> http://seekingalpha.com/article/21863-recognizing-leverage-in-the-cef-pgf-comparison?source=feed#comment-77864 77864
it looks like BPP might have lower credit quality and the majority of its holdings are categorized as "other" whereas PGF is all financials (both according to ETFConnect.com).

I own Nuveen's JPS, yielding 7.5% today, nearly the same as BPP's 7.6%, but at only a 1.28% premium vs. BPP's 7.13%. Also, relative to BPP, JPS is more diversified (by industry), has slightly lower leverage (31.44% vs. 33.80%) and a lower fee structure (.96% vs. 1.26%). all according to ETFConnect.com. no data on JPS's credit quality.

i own a couple of Nuveen CEFs - (JPS and JRO) --- generally speaking, I think they are cheaper than like product from BlackRock - don't know why. perhaps b/c of the greater publicity from the Merill Lynch merger.

and I prefer them to PGF, too, for reasons you already highlighted.]]> Wed, 06 Dec 2006 11:55:08 -0500
it looks like BPP might have lower credit quality and the majority of its holdings are categorized as "other" whereas PGF is all financials (both according to ETFConnect.com).

I own Nuveen's JPS, yielding 7.5% today, nearly the same as BPP's 7.6%, but at only a 1.28% premium vs. BPP's 7.13%. Also, relative to BPP, JPS is more diversified (by industry), has slightly lower leverage (31.44% vs. 33.80%) and a lower fee structure (.96% vs. 1.26%). all according to ETFConnect.com. no data on JPS's credit quality.

i own a couple of Nuveen CEFs - (JPS and JRO) --- generally speaking, I think they are cheaper than like product from BlackRock - don't know why. perhaps b/c of the greater publicity from the Merill Lynch merger.

and I prefer them to PGF, too, for reasons you already highlighted.]]> http://seekingalpha.com/article/21813-a-smorgasboard-of-etf-ideas?source=feed#comment-77720 77720
I believe the International REIT ETF is coming soon (btw, this asset class is very under-owned IMHO and you'll be seeing a lot more product and awareness directed at this area in 2007).

the Preferred ETF is already here (see a couple of posts below this today).

I've been waiting for an International small/mid cap equity ETF for years (literally). the Wisdom Tree offerings come the closest but i don't buy into this mickey-mouse active dividend strategy so I'm still waiting!

the Global Timber ETF would be great. I know I've asked for one on this web site before. don't know if that's my listing there! in the mean time, since there aren't that many public timber names I created my own market-weighted timber index fund by buying PCL, RYN, PCH, LFB on the NYSE and Timberwest Forest and Acadian Timber on the Canadian exchanges.

it would be tough to have an MLP ETF b/c of the K-1 requirements. Tortoise Energy (TYG) is a CEF that owns a pretty diversified portfolio of relevant mid-stream MLPs. IndexInvestor.com this month recommended this as a diversifying asset class (but failed to mention TYG in its similar lament that there is no index ETF here).

generally speaking, bonds and index ETFs are really just not very compatible b/c there are literally thousands and thousands (perhaps 10s of thousands or more) of individual bond issues. it's just not practical to put that in an index ETF product. but there are some solid, low expense CEFs covering all flavors of bond asset classes.

good luck with your with list!]]> Tue, 05 Dec 2006 20:45:15 -0500
I believe the International REIT ETF is coming soon (btw, this asset class is very under-owned IMHO and you'll be seeing a lot more product and awareness directed at this area in 2007).

the Preferred ETF is already here (see a couple of posts below this today).

I've been waiting for an International small/mid cap equity ETF for years (literally). the Wisdom Tree offerings come the closest but i don't buy into this mickey-mouse active dividend strategy so I'm still waiting!

the Global Timber ETF would be great. I know I've asked for one on this web site before. don't know if that's my listing there! in the mean time, since there aren't that many public timber names I created my own market-weighted timber index fund by buying PCL, RYN, PCH, LFB on the NYSE and Timberwest Forest and Acadian Timber on the Canadian exchanges.

it would be tough to have an MLP ETF b/c of the K-1 requirements. Tortoise Energy (TYG) is a CEF that owns a pretty diversified portfolio of relevant mid-stream MLPs. IndexInvestor.com this month recommended this as a diversifying asset class (but failed to mention TYG in its similar lament that there is no index ETF here).

generally speaking, bonds and index ETFs are really just not very compatible b/c there are literally thousands and thousands (perhaps 10s of thousands or more) of individual bond issues. it's just not practical to put that in an index ETF product. but there are some solid, low expense CEFs covering all flavors of bond asset classes.

good luck with your with list!]]> http://seekingalpha.com/article/21780-powershares-preferred-stock-etf-just-doesn-t-stack-up?source=feed#comment-77695 77695 Tue, 05 Dec 2006 16:59:15 -0500 http://seekingalpha.com/article/19862-building-an-all-seasons-tech-etf-portfolio?source=feed#comment-73048 73048
seriously, I own VGT b/c it's the cheapest ETF on the board (by far) and also the most diversified (measured by the most total holdings in the portfolio and the least concentration among largest stocks) among the broad Tech ETF offerings.

the sector ETFs are interesting if you want to make a call on a certain sector short term but i don't think are true diversifiers long term as their components are well represented in the broader Tech offerings (except for PXN I suppose)

where did I put that flux capacitor now...? funny, I actually saw a DeLorean on the road the other day. pretty neat.]]> Fri, 03 Nov 2006 07:47:00 -0500
seriously, I own VGT b/c it's the cheapest ETF on the board (by far) and also the most diversified (measured by the most total holdings in the portfolio and the least concentration among largest stocks) among the broad Tech ETF offerings.

the sector ETFs are interesting if you want to make a call on a certain sector short term but i don't think are true diversifiers long term as their components are well represented in the broader Tech offerings (except for PXN I suppose)

where did I put that flux capacitor now...? funny, I actually saw a DeLorean on the road the other day. pretty neat.]]> http://seekingalpha.com/article/19154-cvy-looks-to-double-the-yield-of-other-dividend-paying-etfs?source=feed#comment-71881 71881 Wed, 25 Oct 2006 09:57:02 -0400 http://seekingalpha.com/article/19131-etfs-capture-an-idea-without-betting-the-bank?source=feed#comment-71879 71879
i'm not critizing you Roger, b/c you're an open-mind ETF/CEF supporter. i'm just making a broader comment about the media.

so, a dozen money magazines and countless breathless bubbleheads on CNBC can tout "10 stocks to own for 2007" all day long and yet criticize "overly specialized, thinly sliced ETFs." I really don't get it. it's funny how the media is so skeptical of anything newly popular (hedge funds, too) and create this impression with investors like they're getting taken when the reality is just the opposite.]]> Wed, 25 Oct 2006 09:54:02 -0400
i'm not critizing you Roger, b/c you're an open-mind ETF/CEF supporter. i'm just making a broader comment about the media.

so, a dozen money magazines and countless breathless bubbleheads on CNBC can tout "10 stocks to own for 2007" all day long and yet criticize "overly specialized, thinly sliced ETFs." I really don't get it. it's funny how the media is so skeptical of anything newly popular (hedge funds, too) and create this impression with investors like they're getting taken when the reality is just the opposite.]]> http://seekingalpha.com/article/18875-new-classes-covered-by-etfs-international-real-estate?source=feed#comment-71083 71083 EGLRX) and Fidelity Int'l Real Estate (FIREX) have been around for approx. 4-5 years. and 1+ years, respectively. they each have expense ratios of approx. 1.2% and are nearly 100% non-US. i've owned EGLRX for a while and it's performed very well.

i, too, am intrigued by the new SSGA ETF and will probably switch to that when it's released.]]> Fri, 20 Oct 2006 09:29:56 -0400 EGLRX) and Fidelity Int'l Real Estate (FIREX) have been around for approx. 4-5 years. and 1+ years, respectively. they each have expense ratios of approx. 1.2% and are nearly 100% non-US. i've owned EGLRX for a while and it's performed very well.

i, too, am intrigued by the new SSGA ETF and will probably switch to that when it's released.]]> http://seekingalpha.com/article/18629-water-huge-potential-over-the-next-10-years?source=feed#comment-70956 70956 Thu, 19 Oct 2006 13:57:05 -0400 http://seekingalpha.com/article/18629-water-huge-potential-over-the-next-10-years?source=feed#comment-70954 70954 Thu, 19 Oct 2006 13:45:54 -0400 http://seekingalpha.com/article/18629-water-huge-potential-over-the-next-10-years?source=feed#comment-70900 70900
it's easy to make the bull water case but, like many macro themes, it's a bit too simplistic to say "look at the population growth and how many people don't have water" and jump into PHO.]]> Thu, 19 Oct 2006 08:10:10 -0400
it's easy to make the bull water case but, like many macro themes, it's a bit too simplistic to say "look at the population growth and how many people don't have water" and jump into PHO.]]> http://seekingalpha.com/article/18366-new-structured-note-strategy-for-large-cap-bulls?source=feed#comment-69759 69759 Fri, 13 Oct 2006 11:30:21 -0400 http://seekingalpha.com/article/13523-responding-to-cramer-on-etf-overload?source=feed#comment-52859 52859
that said, his show is very entertaining and he is a very intelligent person with a quick wit and knowledge of history/politics. plus, he does not hide how suspect he is of the sell side which I respect.]]> Thu, 13 Jul 2006 13:25:04 -0400
that said, his show is very entertaining and he is a very intelligent person with a quick wit and knowledge of history/politics. plus, he does not hide how suspect he is of the sell side which I respect.]]> http://seekingalpha.com/article/12227-block-money-flow-in-small-cap-etf-signaling-further-strength-ahead-iwm?source=feed#comment-52379 52379
that's the beauty of technical analysis - two people can draw totally different conclusions from the same chart.]]> Wed, 21 Jun 2006 10:12:48 -0400
that's the beauty of technical analysis - two people can draw totally different conclusions from the same chart.]]> http://seekingalpha.com/article/12296-two-concerns-with-the-new-etfs-hitting-the-market?source=feed#comment-52378 52378
great call on infrastructure with MGU - i like it better than MIC or MFD b/c it's more diversified.

also, if you want to get oil and gas exposure WITHOUT the exposure to oil and gas prices, buy TYG - it's a closed end fund holding a diversified portolio of oil and gas *PIPELINE* MLPs like Kinder Morgan, Energy Transfer Partners, etc. The pipelines have are not levered to the price of what they are transferring. and TYG takes care of all the K-1 paperwork.

finally, I totally agree with you re: DFA. they are the original index+ guys - Siegel et al are pretenders and their models are embarassingly simple.]]> Wed, 21 Jun 2006 10:06:06 -0400
great call on infrastructure with MGU - i like it better than MIC or MFD b/c it's more diversified.

also, if you want to get oil and gas exposure WITHOUT the exposure to oil and gas prices, buy TYG - it's a closed end fund holding a diversified portolio of oil and gas *PIPELINE* MLPs like Kinder Morgan, Energy Transfer Partners, etc. The pipelines have are not levered to the price of what they are transferring. and TYG takes care of all the K-1 paperwork.

finally, I totally agree with you re: DFA. they are the original index+ guys - Siegel et al are pretenders and their models are embarassingly simple.]]> http://seekingalpha.com/article/12344-concerns-with-the-new-wisdom-tree-etfs?source=feed#comment-52376 52376
IMHO, the best way to analyze historical data is to use a large collection of sequential, *rolling* 10 year periods. Why? Because 10 years is a reasonably long term horizon for an equity investor. And because when making an investment decision, you really just want to know what your odds are. So, for example, if Siegel's research had concluded that in the 50 rolling 10 year periods dating back to 1956, small cap dividend paying stocks outperformed large cap growth stocks 30 out of 50 times (or more), that might be meaningful information.

but to just use average returns over a fixed period of time completely neglects the fact that the end points really matter.

also, I agree their attitude is a little arrogant considering their only like the 5th ETF family to jump on the dividend bandwagon in the past 2 years. hey guys, welcome to the party. have you heard about that tax rate reduction on dividend income? pretty cool, huh?

all that said, I absolutely applaud Wisdom Tree for filling an ETF niche that for the life of me I can't believe has remained unfilled in today's micro-sliced ETF universe. that being small/mid cap international. there is not a single, broad based, small/mid cap international ETF out there. not one. it's amazing. so, while i think Wisdom Tree went completely overboard by introducing way too products (they really could have covered this strategy with a handful or so of ETFs), I give them credit for being the first to small/mid cap Int'l, even if that's not what they are crowing about.

I'm going to wait for a bit to see if iShares or someone introduces a plain vanilla small/mid cap ETF but if not I'll probably swap out my 1.5% fee active fund (TAVIX) for DIM/DLS by year end or so.]]> Wed, 21 Jun 2006 09:53:53 -0400
IMHO, the best way to analyze historical data is to use a large collection of sequential, *rolling* 10 year periods. Why? Because 10 years is a reasonably long term horizon for an equity investor. And because when making an investment decision, you really just want to know what your odds are. So, for example, if Siegel's research had concluded that in the 50 rolling 10 year periods dating back to 1956, small cap dividend paying stocks outperformed large cap growth stocks 30 out of 50 times (or more), that might be meaningful information.

but to just use average returns over a fixed period of time completely neglects the fact that the end points really matter.

also, I agree their attitude is a little arrogant considering their only like the 5th ETF family to jump on the dividend bandwagon in the past 2 years. hey guys, welcome to the party. have you heard about that tax rate reduction on dividend income? pretty cool, huh?

all that said, I absolutely applaud Wisdom Tree for filling an ETF niche that for the life of me I can't believe has remained unfilled in today's micro-sliced ETF universe. that being small/mid cap international. there is not a single, broad based, small/mid cap international ETF out there. not one. it's amazing. so, while i think Wisdom Tree went completely overboard by introducing way too products (they really could have covered this strategy with a handful or so of ETFs), I give them credit for being the first to small/mid cap Int'l, even if that's not what they are crowing about.

I'm going to wait for a bit to see if iShares or someone introduces a plain vanilla small/mid cap ETF but if not I'll probably swap out my 1.5% fee active fund (TAVIX) for DIM/DLS by year end or so.]]>