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.

2008
Which investors made the best moves with U.S. stocks after the financial crisis of 2008? John Rekenthaler provides the answer:

We have a winner. Foreign investors bought heavily into U.S. stocks in the aftermath of the crash, increasing their percentage of total-market ownership from 10.1% in June 2009 to 13.9% in June 2012 and 14.5% by June 2013. Four percentage points of change over a short time period means a whole lot of activity--several hundred billions of dollars' worth. Foreign investors not only had the direction right, but they had the mass to be meaningful. 

$30.6 billion
Russ Kinnel praises Vanguard's decision to close  Vanguard Dividend Growth (VDIGX) to new investors, after the fund's assets topped $30 billion.

6 outcomes
The Wall Street Journal has a nifty interactive Electoral College map that illustrates six different outcomes for the 2016 presidential election. You can also enter your own state-by-state predictions.

10 funds
Dan Culloton looks at 10 up-and-coming or under-the-radar funds, including AQR Long-Short Equity (QLEIX) :

AQR Long-Short Equity attempts to mine several factors--such as momentum, value, and tactical beta--in a three-pronged approach that uses those factors for security selection, passive market exposure, and tactical market exposure. The goal is to separate the returns derived via market exposure, or beta, from returns generated from the skill of long and short security selection.

4 walls
Four-hundred movie scenes that break the fourth wall.

$127
After better-than-expected performance in the second quarter, we've raised our fair value estimate of Facebook (FB) from $120 to $127 a share. Ali Mogharabi explains:

The latest results validate our wide moat rating on Facebook, as it remains the market leader in the social-networking space and one of the leaders in the overall online ad market.

6 ways
Christine Benz lists six ways investors can simplify their retirement portfolio plans:

Strategy 2: Strip your investment strategy down to the essentials.

As retirement draws near, it's an ideal time to assess whether a simplified portfolio management strategy may be able to do the job just as well as a more complicated one. To help home in on one that's streamlined and effective for retirement, focus on answering the following questions. First, what type of withdrawal rate will you use? And second, what approach will you use to extract cash from your portfolio?

7 basis points
Ben Johnson highlights  Schwab US Dividend Equity ETF (SCHD), currently the cheapest dividend-oriented ETF:

The resulting portfolio is one of the highest-quality among all large-cap dividend-oriented ETFs. Also, it charges a 0.07% expense ratio, which makes it the least expensive dividend-oriented ETF available. This fund's high-quality portfolio and low cost make it a suitable core equity holding.

He also notes that investors willing to pay an additional two basis points in expenses will receive a higher yield from  Vanguard High Dividend Yield ETF (VYM).

2 names
Sophomoric/Bart Simpson humor is alive and well among LinkedIn LNKD members--you'll find 10 profiles on the site for "Amanda Hugginkiss" and more than 1,800 for "I.P. Freely."

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