Hi all. My 7 year old computer is dying and I finally broke down and got a new one yesterday. Unfortunately it has Windows 10 which I really don't like. It's confusing as hell. Anyways I managed to migrate most of my files to the new computer BUT... I am having a lot of trouble viewing the. I am co...

Will this be 100% Swedish or European stocks, or will you do a world-cap weighting, like the VT ETF? It is exciting, to see someone moving to 100% stocks.  100% stocks is a big bet on prosperity, but for all of our sake, I hope you're right.  Let us know when you have done it, so we can see how it t...

Poor Jeb.  This video pretty much sums it all up (starting at 0:20):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9OE_lHQZGuM

Thanks for the info Austen. Unfortunately we don't have the equivalent of treasury direct in canada, and we have to get bonds on the secondary market through brokers. Those price are from TD (second biggest bank). Now if you buy a 30 year bond and keep it 10 years, a 1.7% spread is roughly 0.17% pe...

US investor here, and I have only ever traded US treasury bonds, so my insight for you is meager.  Wow those are some large spreads!  Is the Canadian bond market very thinly traded?  In the US, the spreads are usually less than 0.1%, sometimes much less.  If you buy at auction, then there is no fee ...

Thank you Austen!  I just learned something useful.  May I also point out that in the event of rising rates, the tax benefit you get from claiming the Treasury's capital loss means that you might do no worse than selling the CD and sacrificing 6 months of interest, unless rates really skyrocket.  I...

MangoMan wrote: Austen, is 'bonds' in your example LTT, ITT or total bond market?

Bonds = Long-Term Treasuries

Thanks, you all. Will try DDG and Startpage. Anyone pay for a private VPN? I use ExpressVPN.  It works perfectly for me.  ~$100 / year for unlimited data on my 2 devices. (Mac and iPhone)  Plenty of servers all over the world. Interesting. I think I will also start using DDG.  I don't know much abo...

The discussion of gold as an inflation hedge in this thread--and more generally in this forum and the crawlingroad blog--is interesting in light of some research published in recent years. For example, citing analysis by research firm Ibbotson Associates, the Wall Street Journal published an articl...

If rates stay the same, you will still get capital gains from 'riding the yield curve'. Nice analysis. Thanks. Can you explain this? Basically, if you buy a 5-year treasury bond, and there is an upwardly-sloping yield curve (like we have today), then this bond will have a yield that is above the ma...

Considering that the 5-yr CD at Barclays is 2.25%, while the current 5-yr treasury is 1.25%: Risks/rewards for the holder of the treasury bond: If rates rise, you will have capital losses. If rates drop, you will make capital gains. If rates stay the same, you will still get capital gains from 'ridi...

Will this finally be the last weekend for Jeb "please clap" Bush?  He had been hoping for the endorsement of SC's wildly popular governor, but things did not go his way.  I am sad, having Jeb in the debate line-up was quite entertaining, I guess Donald will have to find a new punching bag.

I first learned about the Fama-French small-cap value advantage back in 2004.  This is how VBR, the small-cap value ETF, has done since then, compared to total stock market (VTI): http://i66.tinypic.com/k4az9u.jpg I know these dates are cherry-picked, but as long as I've been investing, SCV has not ...

Fun times over here on this thread.

"I came to learn about bonds and gold, but I stuck around for the discussion on orgies."

Gabe, I'll be picturing you like this from now on:

Obi200 http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00BUV7C9A/ref=as_li_qf_sp_asin_il?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B00BUV7C9A&linkCode=as2&tag=obihatechn-20 Love that amazing little thing! Pair with Googlevoice number and for <$50 have free landline. No ongoing fees. Can ad...

I found a cool website: populationpyramid.net It lets you visualize the population pyramids of every country, at any year.  Looking at the current US graph, I can see the baby-boomers, but there is plenty of people coming up behind them, so perhaps the total number of buyers of stocks will not actua...

Thanks for the fast responses guys.  I will say that the situation has changed rather quickly.  In December, the 5-year was auctioned at 1.785%, making the decision to buy the treasury a no-brainer.  But losing about 0.5% in just over a month has altered the equation. Ah yes, the 3% 5-yr penfed CDs,...

I recommend about 60% in CD's or intermediate treasuries, about 30 percent equities, and a 10% slice of gold.  I have heard this 30:60:10 suggestion from you before, and I have filed it in my brain as 'the Desert portfolio'.  But do you offer your suggestion regardless of age?  In other words, shou...

I think they tied, because of the superdelegates all going to Big Mama.  When you factor all the superdelegates in, Bernie is so far behind, he basically has no chance to win, but at least maybe he can keep Hillary honest.

Dude that was awesome.  'Jackin with the Jergens', that always makes me chuckle.

Pfanni,
I find your comments extremely interesting and insightful.  I am in the US, where I only get part of the story about what is going on over there.  I really had no idea it was getting that bad for you all in Germany.  I hope you and your family can stay safe.

But if cash at everything from banks to Treasury Direct is yielding -1 to -2 (still better than owing other assets), wouldn't a 30 year TB of +1ish look pretty damn good? You are right, cash at -1% is no good.  That is when I will be be turning to the Nickel Plan.  A regular nickel weighs 5 grams, ...

TLT is at 132.xy by the way. What's the highest it has ever gone? 135-140? Google Finance shows that it made it up above 138 in the week of Jan 30, 2015. Also, what would TLT be at if the long bond rate were at 1%? This isn't perfect, but using these current inputs: TLT price 132, avg maturity 26.5...

So if yields on bonds went negative, you'd still own 50% bills, costing you even more to hold them? I don't know man, I'd think that there isn't really any point in owning negative yield assets. Why not just own gold and stocks at that point, and wait until yields get back above 0? In terms of the ...

It is interesting that people have different risk tolerance levels for bond yields, much like Bogleheads have different risk tolerance levels for stocks.  Some Bogleheads use 'age in bonds', or 'age-10' or just '60:40' stocks:bonds.  There is no right answer, it just depends on the individual.  Howe...