"You've got to think about big things while you're doing small things, so that all the small things go in the right direction." Alvin Toffler

In This Edition
The Morningstar fund details that count
Happy Birthday Paul!
Latest MarketWatch
Testimonial
Latest Podcast

I thought our “students” would be interested in how Chris and I use Morningstar to select the best ETFs or mutual funds.

After we recorded the video I noticed that Truth Teller Rob Berger recorded a series of videos on the topic. If you find our single video helpful, I think you will appreciate the work that Rob put into his diagnosis of the Morningstar data base.

Don’t be grumpy about taking RMDs — you’ve got lots of options

Here are the links to his videos:
Morningstar User Guide--Overview [Video #1]
Morningstar Quote Page [Video #2]
Morningstar Stock Style Box [Video #3]
Morningstar User Guide--Bond Style Box [Video #4]
Morningstar Portfolio Tracker [Video #5]
Morningstar Investor Review | Is It Worth The Cost?

Latest MarketWatch Article- Don’t be grumpy about taking RMDs — you’ve got lots of options

Dear Paul,
I recently had to start taking money out of my investment accounts to satisfy my RMD (required minimum distribution). What’s the best thing to do with this money? I’d like it to continue to grow.

Still Want Growth

Dear Still,
Some people grouse when they have to take RMDs and grumble at the requirement to pay taxes on the money they withdraw. But if you can avoid that attitude, you can appreciate your good fortune in having this “problem.” Read Article

Testimonial

Thanks to Paul Merriman for your many thoughtful, useful articles backed by deep research and analysis of data beyond the reach of individual investors. Like many of us, Paul's views have evolved with time and experience in the market: he's come a long way from when I first encountered him with his book 40 years ago on moving averages! The market humbles us all (well most of us!) and offers instruction for those with a mind willing to learn. (From the comment section following Paul’s October AAII Journal article.)

Latest Podcast/Video Morningstar How-To With Paul and Chris

Investors need to get past marketing and sales pitches to know what they're getting when they invest. Morningstar is a great place to get that depth.

Paul and Chris describe how they each use the free Morningstar tools to evaluate mutual fund and ETF characteristics, such as:

* Expense ratios

* Liquidity and bid/ask spreads

* Geographic focus

* Value and size tilts

* Financial characteristics

* Factor exposures

* Number of holdings

* Tax efficiency and* Charted historical performance with side-by-side comparisons.

Chris also briefly describes how he uses the premium X-Ray feature to compare portfolios with different fund families, including the Best-in-Class ETFs, which he plans to update early next year.

For those interested in a more quantitative approach, please take a look at the Bootcamp video Chris created for the Best-in-Class ETF selection process, where he describes how he uses Portfolio Visualizer to quantify fund factor exposures and factor statistics to estimate expected returns. Here's a link to that video at the time where the Portfolio Visualizer discussion begins: ⁠⁠https://youtu.be/UaEC-JZYYJA?t=852⁠⁠

Here is the video link for this podcast.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rDN3LyEFk3E

Morningstar How-To With Paul and Chris

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In This EditionThe Morningstar fund details that countHappy Birthday Paul!Latest MarketWatchTestimonialLatest Podcast

In This Edition
The Morningstar fund details that count
Happy Birthday Paul!
Latest MarketWatch
Testimonial
Latest Podcast