Word: munis
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...Americans for major roles. "In his reports on ... other Chinese actors," Hodges writes, "Lewin consistently argued that, despite their ethnicity, they did not fit his conception of what Chinese people looked like." What were they supposed to look like? Warner Oland? No, not a Dane like Oland - Austrians! Paul Muni played Wang, Luise Rainer was O-lan and Tilly Losch got the role of Lotus. Wong, Chan, speculates, was "Too beautiful for one part and too old for the other." (Anna May's younger sister Mary Liu Heung Wong did get the small role of the Little Bride. She hanged...
BORDER PATROL Muni bonds are a safe haven, but a single event could crush all bonds in a region. So diversify geographically. And avoid bonds backed by revenue of potential targets, like power plants. It's no fun to think this way. But it's prudent...
While that spread has narrowed since last year, the average 10year general-obligation AAA-rated muni still yields 88% of what the 10-year Treasury note does. Since investors generally don't pay federal tax on interest from munis (or state or local tax when they live in the issuing state or municipality), that muni's recent 3.69% yield feels like 5.13% to a taxpayer in the 28% bracket, compared with the taxable Tnote's 4.20%. And that's before taking into account any exemption from state and local tax. "Yields are still cheap compared to Treasuries'," says Zane Brown...
Research, though, can be a slog. InvestingInBonds.com has prices as well as a calculator to compare taxable and tax-free yields. But there are about 1.4 million muni issues trading, so it's hard to keep everything straight. Another downside: you have to pony up about 2% of the bond's value when you execute the trade, according to a recent study by the Securities and Exchange Commission's chief economist...
...alternative is muni mutual funds. You pay an average 1.09% in management and other fees each year, but you receive a diversified portfolio in return. Many muni funds buy nationally, though a fair number specialize in munis from specific states, particularly high-tax states such as California and New York, which are generally best for folks living there...