At least we don't have to wait long to find out if this plays true again this time...

;>}

By the way, if anyone prefers ETFs to mutual funds, FPE is my favorite preferred ETF. It also owns a number of resettable preferreds and has a slightly lower expense ratio of 0.85%, but has also not done quite as well in total return as the managers at NPSAX.

Thank you for commenting, Ms Klein. I appreciate you catching that typo! Yesterday was an interesting time here at 7000 feet at Lake Tahoe. We lost power for a short time, my neighbor's roof collapsed and I had to hack down a massive ice dam at my place during what is likely to be our last "big" blizzard of the season. As this variation of the old saying goes, "Post in haste, repent at leisure." Thanks again!

...and a special Tip o' the Hat to reader Bill Johnson who must have thought, "Really? Joe thinks a 1.7% expense ratio is a good thing???" and researched it on M*. I can't edit the article once published but I'll ask the editors to fix it right now. THANK YOU.

Joe

Joe, I can't imagine a scenario where they could do anything else. 0.25%and incrementally thereafter is how I see it unfolding when they finally begin...

All fine firms. You might also take a look at Allegheny and Canada's Sun Life... As for the property casualty firms, a hurricane or other disaster hits their earnings for a year or so but they simply raise rates then and recoup. Interesting business model!

Speaking from my bias as a geopolitical analyst rather than portfolio manager, I certainly hope not. Enriching a government sworn to destroy Western civilization is hardly the coup the administration has painted. Bring them into the family of nations? Wishful thinking. Expect the first lifted-sanctions windfall to go straight to Hizbollah...

The article was written June 25, not even 20 days ago! I suppose if one's time horizon is 20 days this looks like too little "action." Our investment thesis, stated in the first paragraph, has to do with QE in Europe and the ascent of the USD. This is an investment, not a trade.

Greece, to the multinationals we favor, is nothing but an ancillary event that has little effect on their customers, revenues or earnings -- which is why I never mentioned it.

Thanks, J Town. FYI, we recommended MPC and VLO as our choices among the refiners. And we still like the big integrateds. Nothing is certain with the Iran deal once Congress and now-snubbed US allies in the Gulf weigh in...

That's very kind of you, Marcy, but as I mentioned (maybe on Seeking Alpha / I thought here) I can fess up to being the young Captain rappelling in the first photo but by the time of Afghanistan I was an old general and they don't let the old guys have any fun at all any more! ;>)