Your Commitment October 2, 2007January 6, 2017 Well, I knew all my gloomy talk yesterday would push the Dow to an all-time high. Never fails. But note that in ‘real terms’ (what a dollar will buy here and abroad) the Dow is not so high and the broader indexes, still less so. And that this is fortunate because ‘the higher they are, the harder they fall’ – just in case some of yesterday’s gloom proves warranted. Today, as promised, cheerier stuff. THE CLINTON GLOBAL INITIATIVE For the third year in a row, nearly 2,000 people – ranging from Bishop Desmond Tutu to the CEO of Wal-Mart – came together to discuss ways to make the world better. You can save the $15,000 entrance contribution and watch most of it on-line instead. You might begin by watching the closing session. And/or by going to mycommitment.org, to join in with a commitment of your own. FOREIGN FUNDS John in Atlanta: ‘For a tried and true tactic, just start buying KO (Coca Cola) on a regular basis. KO gets 80% of its revenue and profit overseas, so you get USA accounting standards and foreign currency income….what a deal.’ Jim: ‘The Pimco Foreign Bond Fund (PFUIX) is available through Vanguard Brokerage (and probably others) with just a $25,000 – not $5 million – minimum. Scott Burns recommends a similar fund, American Century International Bond fund (BEGBX, 0.83% expense ratio), here (scroll down to the ‘Four Square’ portfolio). It has a $2,500 minimum. DOMESTIC CHOCOLATE If you don’t trust the dollar, reader Richard Factor suggests the chocolate – in the form of See’s chocolate at a 35% discount. This can’t be good for you. DON’T SELL YOUR BOREALIS According to Barron’s, here, RAB Special Situations Fund ‘owes its stellar 47.69% cumulative average return in the past three years, and its No. 1 ranking overall on Barron’s list, to a long-term commitment to commodity plays worldwide, as well as deep-value stock picking. One of the four-year-old fund’s major themes is to anticipate China’s needs as it grows into a major global economic force. ‘We’re trying to buy the stuff the Chinese are going to buy for the next two decades,’ says Philip Richards, the Oxford-educated head of the London-based fund’s parent, RAB Capital, which oversees $6.7 billion.’ What does this have to do with BOREF? Well, BOREF is the parent of Roche Bay – its iron ore subsidiary – and, as you may recall, the RAB folks took a £1.5 million stake in Roche Bay about 18 months ago, making it Roche Bay’s second largest shareholder (after Borealis itself). Does this mean much? Not really – £1.5 million is so small to a group like RAB, the investment may have been made with barely a thought. But I’d rather they be long than short.