Inside a Mutual Fund Understanding BPRAX

In an effort to help personal investors better understand what kind of risks and opportunities they are exposed to within their portfolio, I’m going to start dedicating an entire post every week to understanding specific mutual funds. In these posts, I’ll summarize all of the … [Read more...]

Inside a Mutual Fund Evaluating BPRAX

Now that we understand the basics of this fund which I discussed here (BPRAX), let’s take a moment to understand why it is that we would want to consider it as an investment opportunity. I’m going to discuss this fund under the following assumptions: The near-term inflationary … [Read more...]

Context of a Mutual Fund – Vanguard Specialized Energy Fund (VGENX)

Last week we examined a set of mutual funds that delivered stability and safety for an investor looking to pursue a somewhat more aggressive inflation-hedged bond portfolio. In order to both provide some contrast, as well as to examine the lucrative oil markets of the last ten … [Read more...]

Broad Market Mutual Fund Returns of WPFRX & FDSAX

Funds Name: Westport Funds: Westport Fund; Class R Shares Symbol: WPFRX Nav: $24.18 Name: Sunamerica Focused Series, Inc: Focused Dividend Strategy Portfolio; Class A Shares  Symbol: FDSAX Nav: $11.77 Objective & Strategy WPFRX: Westport funds pursues capital … [Read more...]

Evaluation of Vanguard World Funds & Consumer Staples Mutual Funds

If you haven’t been following along regularly, this is going to be a post that evaluates a series of Mutual Funds based on a selection of information that is compiled in the previous post. You don’t need to open a window to keep up with everything that’s going on, but you can if … [Read more...]

JMCVX & FMILX Mutual Funds Overview: Broad Market Investment and Diversification

Having looked at a number of different mutual funds that focus in on generating returns based on the performance of specific market aspects, I’ve decided to spend this week comparing a set of broad market funds. By including funds such as the Janus Investment Fund Mid-Cap Value Fund, … [Read more...]

How To Evaluate The Vanguard Energy Fund (VGENX)

In the last post, I summarized the inner-workings of the Vanguard Energy Fund. Today, I’m going to take you through exactly how I would evaluate this fund as an investment opportunity for a personal investor. I’m going to pursue this evaluation under the following … [Read more...]

JMCVX & FMILX Mutual Funds Evaluations: Broad Market Investment and Diversification

Having taken a moment to review the comparative numbers of JMCVX & FMILX in the previous post, it’s time to jump in and make some decisions. By the end of this article we’ll have evaluated the fundamentals of the Janus Investment Fund Perkins Mid Cap Value Fund (JMCVX), and the … [Read more...]

Vanguard World Funds & Consumer Staples Index Fund

Last series of posts, I summarized and compared a set of somewhat aggressive utilities funds. Since then, the markets have become even more volatile, and the market is predicted to continue regressing into instability. In honour of these predictions, I’d like to spend this week … [Read more...]

FBR & Vanguard Utilities Index Funds

In this week’s fund analysis I’m going to dive into a pair of high quality Utilities funds. Known for their ability to produce consistent incomes from distributions, while holding consistent prices, Utilities are a must-have for any income-focused portfolio. However, since all of … [Read more...]

Comparative Analysis of WPFRX and FSDAX Mutual Funds

Having provided an overview of two funds (WPFRX and FSDAX from Westport and SunAmerica respectively) that focus on providing broad market exposure to stable investments and value opportunities. Using the previous article as a framework, we can now compare the funds, and make a … [Read more...]

Analysis of The Vanguard Fund and FBR’s GASFX Fund

In the last post, we reviewed the contexts of two high-performing Utilities mutual funds. While FBR’s GASFX fund provides a greater return, it does not have the same breadth of diversification as Vanguard’s VUIAX. However, for the incremental increase in technical volatility, GASFX … [Read more...]