Morningstar Runs the Numbers

Inspired by Harper's Index (with a tip of the hat to FiveThirtyEight's Significant Digits blog), Morningstar Runs the Numbers uses a numbers-based approach to highlight recent Morningstar research, along with some outside news stories.

29% Russ Kinnel explains why active share isn't a good predictor of mutual fund performance:

The quintile with the highest active share among U.S. equity funds had a meager 29% success ratio, followed by 27% for the second quintile, 32% for the middle quintile, 40% for the fourth quintile, and 43% for the least-active quintile. Returns of the surviving funds likewise showed that active share hurt performance. The most active quintile had returns of 9.3% compared with 9.7% for the middle quintile and 10.6% for the least active quintile.

1.03 As of Friday morning, that's the overall price/fair value ratio for all stocks rated by Morningstar. At the sector level, energy stocks are the priciest with a 1.32 ratio, while financials are the cheapest with a 0.86 ratio.

7 blind spots Christine Benz looks at seven things that can trip up the finances of retirees:

Gas prices provide a regular, visible gauge of whether costs are going up or down. But most price changes are far more subtle and easy to ignore: The pasta box that was 16 ounces shrinks to 14, or the cable bill (don't get me started on the cable bill!) jumps by $20. Over time, those minor cost increases, both direct and indirect, mean that you'll need to spend more to maintain a steady standard of living. That's why it's so important to make sure that you're factoring in the role of inflation when assessing the viability of your plan--an amount that you can live on today may not be enough to get by on in 10 years.

10 Why the "perfect 10" in gymnastics scoring is no more:

With every elite athlete's score capped at 10, what was left to distinguish a technically perfect routine full of relatively "safe" elements that met minimum requirements from a truly spectacular one that pushed the boundaries of the sport?

$66 Jim Sinegal on why we're sticking with that figure as our fair value estimate of JPMorgan:

Concerns over the impact of Brexit, the rate environment, and credit deterioration seem a bit overblown at this point given narrow-moat JPMorgan's second-quarter performance. We are maintaining our $66 per share fair value estimate.

940.9% That's the increase in CEO compensation since 1978.

Dow 18,000 John Rekenthaler explores the difficulty of predicting bear markets:

… commodity prices have recovered, the developed economies are chugging along, and stocks are up. The next downturn will arrive--because the next downturn will always arrive--but the sell-off will occur at a different time, and for different reasons, than the forecasters had expected.

7, 1, 6 New and changed Morningstar Analyst Ratings in June:

June was another active month for Morningstar Analyst Ratings. There were seven downgrades, one upgrade, and six new ratings issued.

$2.9 billion That's Warren Buffett's latest donation to charity.

37% In post from last month, Aron Szapiro notes that, according to his study using HelloWallet data, only 37% of taxpayers save or invest an income tax refund:

Instead, people tend to spend the money relatively quickly. People's spending increased in every category that we track in the HelloWallet application after they received their tax refunds.

Most Popular Articles, Videos, and Securities

Most Popular Articles

• 3 High-Yielding Fund Picks for Contrarian Investors
• Why We're Moving DoubleLine Total Return Bond Fund's Rating to Neutral
• June Ratings Activity Sees More Downgrades
• Get Your Hands on Hanesbrands
• Check These 7 Retirement Blind Spots

Most Popular Videos

• 4 Good Stewards That Are Also Good Investments
• 4 Portfolio Checkup Traps to Avoid
• How to Get More Out of Your 401(k)
• Will a Manager Change Derail This Vanguard Bond Fund?
• Why Index Construction Matters for ETF Investors

Most Requested Stock Quotes Apple Berkshire Hathaway Alphabet Wells Fargo AT&T

Allergan

Hanesbrands

Apple

IHS Markit

Valeant Pharmaceuticals

Most Requested Fund Quotes Vanguard 500 Index Vanguard Dividend Growth Fidelity Contrafund Vanguard Wellesley Income Vanguard Wellington

Most Requested Fund Analyses

T. Rowe Price Real Estate

Vanguard Dividend Growth

Oakmark International

Vanguard Global Minimum Volatility

Vanguard Wellesley Income

Most Requested ETF Quotes SPDR S&P 500 ETF Vanguard High Dividend Yield ETF Vanguard Total Stock Market ETF Vanguard REIT ETF Vanguard Dividend Appreciation ETF

Most Requested ETF Analyses

Vanguard Dividend Appreciation ETF

Vanguard High Dividend Yield ETF

Vanguard Total Stock Market ETF

Vanguard REIT ETF

SPDR S&P Dividend ETF