Fidelity Observer

Fidelity after Edward Johnson III

2006-08-03T17:44:31-08:00

A Boston Globe columnist, Steven Syre, has a column about speculation currently swirling around Boston: What will happen to Fidelity after Chairman Edward C. "Ned" Johnson III? Johnson is 76, and his daughter Abigail is a major Fidelity shareholder, but it's not clear what role she would play. Another potential ...

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Blowing the whistle on mutual funds/hedge fund cheating

2006-07-23T19:04:13-08:00

Brooke Masters of the Washington Post has an article ("Tipster Set Fund Scandal Snowballing") about how a series of "drop a dime" calls to Eliot Spitzer's office resulted in an investigation of the mutual funds industry, and related hedge funds. The tipster, Noreen Harrington, a former Goldman Sachs trader, lifted ...

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Heat wave: Energy tips, and a blackout hits

2006-07-19T05:36:55-08:00

The country is moving through a heatwave. 100-degree temperatures. People darting between air-conditioned cars and office buildings. Kids running through sprinklers. Air con and fans on all night. Eggs frying on sidewalks. But there are some opportunities to save money, especially when it comes to energy costs. Timing air conditioning ...

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Burned by Cingular II: A pattern of poor service, and sales sleaze?

2006-07-11T20:08:15-08:00

Well, well, well. Remember Fidelity Observer's post in April, complaining about poor service from Cingular ("Customer disservice: Burned by Cingular")? It seems that this is not an isolated incident. A Federal lawsuit claims that millions of former AT&T Wireless customers (such as myself) were the victims of a deliberate effort ...

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How to screw up your indexing strategy

2006-07-02T10:22:10-08:00

Mark Hulbert of the New York Times revisits the indexing debate, by pointing to the results of a long-term study by The Hulbert Financial Digest tracking the performance of newsletter recommendations and the S&P index. Fewer than one in seven was able to beat the S&P over the 26 years ...

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Creative credit card purchases to build air miles

2006-06-26T00:48:37-08:00

The Washington Post has a great article by Keith L. Alexander about frequent flyer programs, and how people are using credit cards to build up miles to earn trips. Charging funeral expenses, new cars, and -- Fidelity Observer has a friend who did this -- kids' college tuition costs are ...

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TIAA-CREF's five-step program for financial health: Fidelity Observer fails!

2006-06-20T21:28:49-08:00

There's an article in the June 2006 issue of TIAA-CREF Advance, "Get Your Financial House in Order." It suggests five steps members should take as part of a financial review. Unfortunately, Fidelity Observer only had one of the recommended steps fully under control. The other four steps were either partially ...

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What the USAA ad didn't mention

2006-06-12T00:24:18-08:00

"pfblog reader" left a few comments and questions on an earlier post ("Bait and Switch: USAA Federal Savings Bank"). Despite the fact that USAA is raising fees as much as 400%, he or she seems to be supportive of USAA. He/she suggests there may be a very good reason for ...

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S&P Lowers Fidelity's Debt Outlook

2006-06-07T00:05:51-08:00

Standard and Poors reports that Fidelity Investments Life Insurance Co. and Empire Fidelity Investments Life Insurance Co. (collectively, Fidelity Investments Life Insurance Group, or FILIG) debt outlook has been lowered (click on "Fidelity Investments Life Insurance Co. And Affiliate Outlook Revised To Neg From Stable"). This has an impact on ...

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Bait and Switch: USAA Federal Savings Bank

2006-06-06T04:35:13-08:00

I made a comment in an earlier post about USAA, "A corporate partnership that's useless for consumers," that has turned out to be wrong. Here's the comment:

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USAA responds to Fidelity Observer with a playground insult

2006-06-01T05:38:29-08:00

A few weeks back, Fidelity Observer criticized USAA for its expensive marketing campaign touting the supposed convenience of using the UPS Store QuickPost to mail in deposits to the USAA Federal Savings Bank. I didn't see any added convenience -- in fact, driving to a UPS Store to mail a ...

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Good News: Fidelity's customer protection guarantee

2006-05-25T18:27:57-08:00

Fidelity Observer spotted this guarantee, linked on the front page of Fidelity.com. Fidelity has apparently retooled its anti-fraud policies, and will "reimburse your Fidelity account for any losses due to unauthorized activity." The page details what is and is not covered by the guarantee:

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Spammed by Vanguard!

2006-05-19T05:15:14-08:00

Whenever I sign up for a website, or register for some service, or even subscribe to a magazine, I always make sure to check off the little box that ensures my email address won't get on some sort of mailing list for company or "partner" promotions. If the form doesn't ...

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One answer to rising gas prices: Commute by bicycle

2006-05-14T12:03:39-08:00

Fuel is selling for around $3/gallon, with no relief in sight. A lot of people are ditching their SUVs and other gas hogs for smaller, more fuel-efficient vehicles, or taking public transportation, if it's available. But there's another way to get to work, that is not only cheaper than driving ...

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The Magellan distribution and taxes

2006-05-12T17:21:05-08:00

The Fidelity Report blogger has posted about Fidelity Magellan's massive distribution last week.

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Bogle hypocrisy on mutual fund pay?

2006-05-12T05:05:09-08:00

Ross Kerber of the Boston Globe has an interesting story this morning about Vanguard founder John Bogle (of indexing fame) and his quest to force fund companies to reveal top executives' pay. One of his critics, Daniel Wiener, editor of the Independent Adviser for Vanguard Investors, points out that Bogle ...

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What's up with Fidelity Magellan?

2006-05-08T05:17:55-08:00

Fidelity Observer just received this message from a reader, regarding Fidelity Magellan (FMAGX):

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A corporate partnership that's useless for consumers

2006-05-05T00:33:57-08:00

Fidelity Observer just got a fat mailer from USAA Federal Savings Bank, promising great things. Quickly I discovered that its contents were useless.

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No, really: Standing-room airline tickets!

2006-04-25T01:43:45-08:00

I sometimes refer to airline coach seating as "cattle class", but Airbus is taking the concept to a new low. This excerpt is from an April 25 article by Christopher Elliott of the New York Times:

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Unlocking the value of an expensive camera

2006-04-23T22:46:37-08:00

Two Christmases ago, I received a very nice digital camera as a gift. I specifically requested the model, a Fuji Finepix S7000, for its features that approached that of an SLR (manual focus, shutter speed, and apeture settings, etc.) but wasn't too expensive. It was also a brand that I ...

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Customer disservice: Burned by Cingular

2006-04-15T00:43:47-08:00

Fidelity Observer is a reluctant mobile phone user. I have talked about it before, but it needs to be discussed again. I put off getting a mobile phone as long as I could -- I didn't talk much on the phone, the plans seemed like an expensive commitment, and I ...

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American Cars III: What about the dealers?

2006-04-10T00:56:07-08:00

Mac Tonite left an interesting comment on an earlier post about American Cars, and brings up shady dealer practices. He uses the example of Saab, pre- and post-GM, and finds the need for repairs increased once Saab repairs were moved over to the local Cadillac service center.

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If Hackers Empty Your Online Mutual Fund Accounts, Too Bad! (Unless ...)

2006-04-08T12:13:46-08:00

If you're the victim of a "phishing" incident (you respond to a bogus email, and hand over social security numbers, account numbers, and passwords) or someone uses other illegal methods to steal your logon info for your mutual fund accounts, do you think you're protected, and you'll get reimbursed?

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American Cars, part II: Laying blame

2006-04-07T05:25:02-08:00

Earlier this week I talked about American cars ("American cars: What's wrong?") People had some interesting comments, not only talking about their own vehicles, but also what they think is wrong with the way American cars are created. Phil noted this aspect of American car buyers:

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American cars: What's the problem?

2006-04-05T05:26:10-08:00

I think practically everyone has heard about the latest auto quality rankings, which put Japanese cars at the top of the list. This is a trend that's been going for decades. The American press, public, and politicians complain, Detroit comes up with new models and a pledge to improve things ...

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BOA customers beware: More nickel-and-diming ahead!

2006-03-30T06:02:55-08:00

Bruce Mohl of the Boston Globe breaks a story this morning about Bank Of America raising fees yet again:

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Fidelity employee's epic dinner results in laptop theft

2006-03-27T15:46:46-08:00

More news about Fidelity's lost laptop that I talked about last week, which resulted in nearly 200,000 HP employees having their personal information stolen:

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Rooting out electricity hogs in your home

2006-03-25T06:27:23-08:00

The April 2006 issue of Kiplinger's magazine has a great feature, the Ultimate Savings Guide (starts page 75). There are 89 tips to help you save living expenses and put away money for retirement. Here are some examples that can help save money on electricity spending:

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Fidelity loses laptop, 196,000 HP employees' data lost

2006-03-23T05:55:18-08:00

Seems like Fidelity doesn't really take the security of its customers' data very seriously. Last week, a laptop containing the personal data of nearly 200,000 current and former Hewlett-Packard employees whose retirement accounts are maintained by Fidelity was stolen.

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Follow-up on airline tix, and a warning

2006-03-21T05:47:20-08:00

A follow up on my post from earlier this year on buying transpacific airline tickets, and a warning.

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Fidelity's financial services "store" on Amazon

2006-03-17T11:24:40-08:00

The Boston Globe is reporting that Fidelity and Amazon are partnering to sell Fidelity mutual funds through Amazon.com. The details are here. There is also an active Fidelity minisite on Amazon, complete with a Fidelity blog that looks like recycled advice from Fidelity magazine.

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Financial services companies retreating from funds?

2006-03-16T05:47:24-08:00

Earlier this month, Tom Lauricella and Ian McDonald of the Wall Street Journal wrote an article about financial services firms giving up the funds game ("Merrill Deal Hastens Wall Street Retreat from Funds"). Using Merrill Lynch as a case study, the authors note that this is a reversal of the ...

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How many digital devices do you carry?

2006-03-13T07:38:41-08:00

Fidelity Observer wants everyone to do a little exercise, right now. Think of the last time you travelled to the office, or went on business, and count the number of digital devices on your person. Look in your pockets, briefcase, or on your wrist. For most people, it's almost guaranteed ...

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Boston Globe on Fidelity's struggles

2006-02-25T11:37:13-08:00

Kris Frieswick of The Boston Globe Magazine published an analysis of Fidelity Investments on February 19. There are a couple of angles Frieswick explores -- ranging from Fidelity's migration of offices and employees to other parts of the country (its headquarters is in Boston) to the history of the Johnson ...

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Wells Fargo customers: Beware!

2006-02-18T11:37:58-08:00

David Lazarus of the San Francisco Chronicle points to a an alarming development for users of Wells Fargo's online banking service: According to new end-user agreements issued by the bank, customers apparently have to agree to accept Internet-only communications.

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Tax software: What's better, TaxCut, TurboTax or something else?

2006-02-17T00:25:19-08:00

It's that time of year. Tax Time! Not including the old school filers (who still use a paper form and pencil) and those who can afford an accountant, tens of millions of Americans are turning to software packages to file their taxes. Tonight I started my electronic filing, but wanted ...

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When emails get nasty III

2006-02-16T05:09:52-08:00

This episode of nasty emails takes a detour to the world of law, where sharp debates and withering retorts are a regular part of courtroom life.

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The Fidelity Frog?

2006-02-11T11:44:19-08:00

On the heels of my last post about Super Bowl advertising (thanks for all the comments!), I have noticed a new development at Fidelity. Account holders may have noticed an unusual graphical addition to Fidelity.com in the past few days: A small frog icon.

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Tax paperwork: Good for two things

2006-02-07T04:47:44-08:00

W2s, brokerage tax forms, and bank and mortgage statements are piling in. These are the documents we need to prepare our tax returns, but they serve another purpose as well: Evaluating your own financial performance over the course of 2005.

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Fidelity's Super Bowl Play

2006-02-05T20:17:33-08:00

You may have spotted it in the 4th quarter, or maybe not -- it was only 30 seconds long, and no humorous hook, like 75% of the ads during The Game.

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Actively managed funds and their benchmarks

2006-01-26T05:01:39-08:00

Any respectable fund nowadays will compare itself with the benchmark index that most matches its holdings. There's a few problems with these types of comparisons, though.

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Small print "uncertainties" in emerging markets

2006-01-24T00:47:07-08:00

Earlier this month Fidelity Observer talked about various types of mutual funds that invest in foreign stocks.

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The Strotman Memo: Widespread Fidelity 401K Fraud?

2006-01-22T00:17:28-08:00

Bad news if you are a Fidelity 401K account holder: Some Fidelity customer service reps are apparently not so good at protecting customers' account information, and in a few cases have emptied the account holdings to con men. That's not all: It's not entirely clear if Fidelity will reimburse people ...

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Read the Fine Print: Airlines' Web Fare Gotchas!

2006-01-19T04:37:35-08:00

First of all, thanks to everyone who commented on my last post about where to fine cheap airline Web fares. It was very useful information, and I tried a few of the services. However, none of them beat the prices advertised on Yahoo Travel/Travelocity, and I found out why: Fine ...

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Nasty Business Emails II

2006-01-18T17:51:40-08:00

Earlier this month I wrote about a nasty email exchange involving Alan Lewis, a European money manager, and Daniel Loeb, a hedge fund manager here in the United States. Following in the same vein is an exchange between Business Week journalist Timothy Mullaney and Patrick Byrne, CEO of Overstock.com:

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Online resource for indexers

2006-01-17T05:00:45-08:00

If you are interested in investing in an index fund, be aware that not all index funds are the same when it comes to indices covered, fees, and rates of return. A website that can help you sort through the bewildering array of index funds and ETFs is indexuniverse.com. It ...

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Time to get out of foreign stocks, and back into the S&P?

2006-01-13T04:54:15-08:00

Is the rally in foreign markets over? Is the S&P about to get a boost after another lackluster year? Depends who you ask. Jonathan Clements of the Wall Street Journal seems to think the overseas rally may be about to lose steam.

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Fidelity Magellan on a rebound?

2006-01-12T05:47:59-08:00

It would appear that Fidelity Magellan -- which was once the biggest mutual fund by holdings back in the 1990s -- is on a rebound under new management, according to Ross Kerber of the Boston Globe ("Magellan rebounding after change of manager").

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Help! Where to get air tickets online?

2006-01-12T00:04:56-08:00

This year my family will take a trip to Asia to visit the in-laws. My question: Where should we buy the tickets?

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International/Global/Emerging/ Regional/Foreign: What's the difference?

2006-01-10T05:46:19-08:00

Financial articles and mutual fund marketing material often talk about Global Funds, International Funds, Emerging Market Funds, Regional Funds and Foreign Funds. What's the difference between them? I'll try my best to explain:

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