I got a tip from my surgeon friend

[azanon]

One of my best friends growing up who's now head of surgery in a city in Arkansas leaned forward to me in church to tell me about this great fund i should get in on, Ticker IFN India Fund, Inc.     I pull up the stats on this fund yeterday, and it has sick returns over the past few years.    I was wondering to myself had he been in on this fund all this time or is he just hopping on board now.

Anyway, I hate stuff like this.  It sure makes my current investing in bonds (i'm trying to up my bond holdings to offset my near 100% stock holdings) seem really boring.   It also makes me think not only is he making 100s of thousands a year, but he's also investing in funds that return 65% per year, lol.    And, yes, i know interest rates are rising, yada yada, but i currently have almost no bonds, so......

Anyway, it looks like i already missed the party on that one... the India fund.   I think i'm just going to stick with my boring investments.  What do you guys think of this fund, or just the emerging markets in general?

Azanon

 

[brewer12345]

I don't take healthcare tips from investment professionals, and vice versa.

Az, I am in the position where I would love to have some exposure to EM equity for diversification purposes, but I can't stomach the prices. I'll wait until the next "capital markets event", when EM typically collapses the worst.

 

[Nords]

One of my best friends growing up who's now head of surgery in a city in Arkansas leaned forward to me in church to tell me about this great fund i should get in on, Ticker IFN India Fund, Inc.     I pull up the stats on this fund yeterday, and it has sick returns over the past few years.    I was wondering to myself had he been in on this fund all this time or is he just hopping on board now.

Some friend-- where was he two-three years ago with this news?

It's not very difficult to point a finger at a graph with a positive slope.  I'm not sure there's a correlation among any of (1) head of surgery (2) Arkansas (3) church (4) long-term friendship and his presumed investing prowess.  In other words would the advice be just as credible if you'd heard this info in 2003 from a janitor in a San Jose office building? Or from Warren Buffett?

As he and you have already pointed out, it's been a great fund for the past few years. But consistent momentum investing is a lot harder to succeed at than diversified asset allocation or value investing. If it's approached as a full-time job then it probably works quite well. I suspect that the vast majority of us lack the time, skills, and motivation to succeed at it. Personally I find that it interferes with surfing and the rest of my life.

If he was really so good at this he'd be telling you when IFN is going to peak and what he's buying next! And while he's at it, he'd demonstrate his credibility by showing you the last few years of his Schedules D...

 

[cute fuzzy bunny]

What you need to do is ask your friend for the 2-3 things he invested in and lost his shirt on.

People only tell you about the good stuff, after its had its run...

 

[brewer12345]

What you need to do is ask your friend for the 2-3 things he invested in and lost his shirt on.

Maybe at the next church social fnction when he has a mouthful of something.

 

[Maximillion]

One billion people, fastest growing middle class in the world, half the population under the age of 25, most educated Indians speak fluent English, many vestiges of British Infrastructure are still intact, entrepreneurs no longer need to go to the States to found High tech companies, yah, your right, it's all over for India. :

 

[MooreBonds]

I used to own IFN...sold it in the low 50s a few weeks ago (the day before it promptly started a 3-day run to 60). I purchased at 27, so I had a pretty nice gain for once in my life.

I bailed because I also own IIF. They don't hold the same thing, but one thing I found curious (and I was going to post it for people to offer guesses) is that IIF has a 5.3% premium (www.etfconnect.com for all of your ETF needs ), while IFN carriers a whopping 28.2% premium!

Granted, as I mentioned, they don't own the exact same portfolio...but after seeing that spread, and that at least some of the top 10 holdings are similar, my hormones started raging out of control and I started salivating at the mouth as I thought about going long with more IIF and shorting the hell out of IFN - assuming that they would eventually reach parity.

Any comments?

 

[brewer12345]

Granted, as I mentioned, they don't own the exact same portfolio...but after seeing that spread, and that at least some of the top 10 holdings are similar, my hormones started raging out of control and I started salivating at the mouth as I thought about going long with more IIF and shorting the hell out of IFN - assuming that they would eventually reach parity.

Any comments?

Maybe. Or maybe IIF would go to a 20% discount and IFN would go to a 50% premium. If you are going to play these games, you have to be prepared for the possibility of both outcomes.

 

[azanon]

most educated Indians speak fluent English

Max, i see you have never called Dell computer tech support or SBC tech support. 

Thanks for the comments guys.  I think i'm gonna pass on that and wait on better prices myself.   I want a smigen of precious metals and EM, but both are just out of sight pricewise atm.

 

[Maximillion]

Indian Firms outpalced US Firms in the acquisition of UK companies, for the first time in History.

My Building Lot, I paid $50,000 for it in 1999, now, they sell for $150,000.

People here are waiting for the price to go down, 10 years from now when the price is $300,000 they will say, I wish I had bought when it was only $150,000.

http://www.lorabay.com