Comments on: Naughty or Nice: Guess Which Mutual Funds Outperformed in 2007?

By: Craig

Craig — Mon, 31 Dec 2007 03:27:55 +0000

Ron, very good points. I guess my thoughts are two-fold: Most vanilla funds present a pretty solid cross section of comsumer staples (in the perspectus). Secondly, you are correct people will continue to buy staples but margins are being squeezed at this point in the cycle. Looking into the fund a little more there are some favorable characteristics: Im bullish on the global economy, 30% Foriegn companies, over 65% of revenue generated outside the US. Also, there is no end in sight for the falling greenback.
So, maybe we wont be able to drink and be merry but our friends around the globe will take advantage of cheap dollars for buweisers and malboros at the craps table.
PS. a 1.75% expense ratio makes me squirm.

By: Ron Lieber

Ron Lieber — Sun, 30 Dec 2007 02:40:02 +0000

craig, interesting notion trying to time things in this way. if i was a sector bettor (and i’m not, generally), i might be more inclined to go straight consumer staples right now, rather than things that might fall off the budget of some folks. people won’t cut down on toothpaste, but if things get bad, they might drink a bit less beer (especially imported beer!).

By: Craig

Craig — Sat, 29 Dec 2007 19:16:24 +0000

I had never heard of the Vice Fund. Quite a fantastic idea. Going into a possible recession could you think of something more negatively correlated with economic downturn? Maybe not as many trips to Vegas or Macau but plenty of Hinekein and Heaters to make up for it!