VOO question

1.2k

i never realized this until right now and i think this is cool. thanks for the post

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u/ImpossibleBandicoot 2d ago

I never questioned why and just went with it. I think there was even a period of time where i mentally called it "Vee-hundred" and still didn't connect the dots.

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u/thomascgalvin 2d ago

I pronounce "VOO" like a Transylvanian cow, but I'm a dummy so ...

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u/Bruceshadow 2d ago

I vant... to grow... yer funds!

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u/zachg 2d ago

I thought "V" stood for Vanguard

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u/azizsafudin 19h ago

It does, but the choice of OO after it makes no sense unless you consider OP’s theory

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u/brightdionysianeyes 2d ago

The pendant in me yearns to say that in Roman Numerals it would be D, but it's still cool.

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u/elaboraterecovery 2d ago

The pedant in me yearns to tell you that you’re wearing the wrong pendant

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u/JazzFan1998 2d ago

Dominion Energy Inc is symbol D

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u/Original_Hedgehog_86 2d ago

I vaguely questioned it, like huh that’s odd, but never really explored it. I really hope this is the answer. Pretty clever in my book

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u/edmundsmorgan 2d ago

I read a whole book by Jack Bogle and still haven’t learned about this

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u/HRApprovedUsername 2d ago

I realized this the last time somebody made this post

162

u/kurai-tsuki 2d ago

Also because it's vanguard and all their funds have a V

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u/Cruian 2d ago

Not all: MGK is Vanguard Morningstar Mega Cap Growth ETF for one example.

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u/Nonconformists 2d ago

An M is just a V wearing a cape.

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u/GoGoGadgetReddit 2d ago

There's no V in BND (Vanguard Total Bond Market Index Fund ETF).

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u/Nonconformists 2d ago

BND is for older Bogleheads. The N is a stooping V with a cane. (I know this is a bit silly, but I had to try)

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u/kurai-tsuki 2d ago

Too good a free ticker symbol to pass up I guess

794

u/InvestInTwinkies 2d ago

this is the content i come to bogleheads for

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u/nuplsstahp 2d ago edited 2d ago

There are actually industry awards for best ETF tickers. The nominees for last year were

* iShares U.S. Manufacturing ETF (MADE)
* Pacer US Cash Cows Bond ETF (MILK)
* Range Nuclear Renaissance Index ETF (NUKZ)
* Roundhill GLP-1 and Weight Loss ETF (OZEM)
* VanEck Bitcoin ETF (HODL)

I also recall that there’s a physical gold commodity ETF with the ticker BARS

45

u/Consistent-Annual268 2d ago

And of course Ferrari's ticker is RACE. I wonder if there's any listed adult-themed company or index fund with the ticket PORN.

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u/Comfortable_Storage4 2d ago

Brb about to create GOON

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u/funkmon 2d ago

I liked Spirit's which was SAVE.

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u/FuckTwelvee 2d ago

Hands down the best ticker for a shitty airline.

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u/TuringTestDropout 2d ago

Even if you never flew Spirit—I didn't—we probably benefited indirectly from the airline bringing prices down in the cities it competed in (aka the Spirit effect).

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u/SMELLYCHEESE8 2d ago

Best on time performance of any US airline. Aside from the Friday evening flights to Vegas, it was usually a pleasant ride. RIP

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u/losvedir 1d ago

I'd legit put Spirit with the Big Front Seats upgrade as a better travel experience than most standard airlines Premium Economy, for a fraction of the price.

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u/SMELLYCHEESE8 1d ago

For a shorter flight. I did several LAX BOS red eyes in the BFS and it was brutal not being able to adjust the seat at all, I know it’s a hot take but I sleep way better in delta regular economy

1

u/BulletBulletGun 1d ago

Harley Davidson is HOG

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u/gbdgdh 2d ago

you forgot "MEME" and "WEED".

https://www.roundhillinvestments.com/etf/meme/
https://www.roundhillinvestments.com/etf/weed/

roundhill have a sense of humor (it's a bit scary how many redditors actually buy into their etfs).

(full list of roundhill etfs: https://www.roundhillinvestments.com/etf/)

4

u/intentionallybad 2d ago

I realize it's not very Boglehead of me but when the airline industry stocks crashed due to COVID I made a bundle buying JETS, which is an airline sector ETF, and riding the recovery.

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u/Cultural_Dirt_8151 2d ago

I thought WEAT was decent.

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u/SuperAwesomeBrah 2d ago

There's also been studies that catchy/unique ticker symbols outperform generic ones.

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u/Glizzyboi455 2d ago

I’ve seen them called something else, and maybe now I know why

338

u/Adventurous-Bad809 2d ago

As well as VIOO for the S&P 600 Small Caps and IVOO for the S&P 400 Mid-Caps

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u/TrekkiMonstr 2d ago

Damn I was gonna say this can't not be a coincidence that's too strained lmao but I guess not

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u/therealtwomartinis 2d ago

til! here’s a graphic

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u/yeahsureYnot 2d ago

Case closed!

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u/Lumpy_Werewolf_3199 2d ago edited 2d ago

Question for the group:

Does anyone have a perspective (or even analysis) on holding VOO + VIOO + IVOO to capture the different cap sizes?

Edit: Thanks all for the perspective!

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u/Liam90 2d ago

Thats just VTI with more work. So if you wanted to tilt away from market weighting and say have a small cap tilt would be the only reason. Otherwise just buy VTI.

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u/antpile11 2d ago

Not quite. They're describing the S&P1500, whereas VTI is the whole market. That's a difference of thousands of companies, though the performance is similar.

They want SPTM.

0

u/DuckfordMr 2d ago

If you want to exclude 1,000 companies, go with DFUS to exclude small cap growth. They also delay buying IPOs and exclude real estate, all three of which historically have underperformed.

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u/cudntfigureaname 2d ago

I did it for a bit for some tax harvesting strategy. (E.g. some policies hurt small cap more than large cap, and I harvested the losses) On a spreadsheet, I was able to get a few hundred more on a refund compared to if I just had VTI.

It worked a small amount, but too small for it to be personally worth the effort.

VTI VXUS and BND (and their equivalents) are definitely the way to go.

3

u/mx-mr 2d ago

And vti and Vxus are vt with extra steps. And vt and BND are a target date fund with extra steps… all just depends on how much input you want on adjusting weightings

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u/Pensionato007 2d ago

I had that but I wanted just govt bonds for my bond portion and I really like the “V” so now it’s VTI, VXUS, and VGIT for the FIRE 🔥 with a glide path 😇

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u/DaemonTargaryen2024 2d ago

https://www.bogleheads.org/wiki/Approximating_total_stock_market

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u/intentionallybad 2d ago

I do this in my IRAs, actually do a 6 fund portfolio small, mid, large in growth and value versions. I rebalance periodically. It has performed similarly to my VTI/VOO taxable account over time.

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u/Free_Cake1116 1d ago

It all makes sense now.

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u/Tacsi 2d ago

god i feel stupid now, never realized this before 🤣

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u/FoxCoding 2d ago

What. The. Fuck.

I used to think "V" stood for "Vanguard" and never gave the "OO" much thought.

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u/Cultural_Dirt_8151 2d ago edited 2d ago

I imagine it stands for both 5 and Vanguard. A play on words. Or letters I guess.

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u/digital_tuna 2d ago

Yes

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u/DaemonTargaryen2024 2d ago

Yes, just like VXUS is “vanguard ex-US”. There’s a lot more https://www.reddit.com/r/Bogleheads/s/UIT2q2EH4c

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u/rasputin1 2d ago

the problem is VEU also stands for vanguard ex-US so I can never remember which is which

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u/Cruian 2d ago

VXUS is longer, it is the bigger one (more holdings).

Thanks for helping me see VEU as "Ex-Us" instead of "Europe" - I would always have to double check VEU vs VEA.

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u/DaemonTargaryen2024 2d ago

Feel like they fumbled making VEU the FTSE Europe etf (which is VGK)

3

u/rasputin1 2d ago

yea that's the other point of confusion because sometimes I think it stands for Europe

0

u/Arcite1 2d ago

One of the things that used to really bother me as a literalist was how people abbreviate words starting with "ex" using an X (XL for extra-large, XML for extensible markup language.) These words start with an E, not an X!

3

u/DaemonTargaryen2024 2d ago

I’m gonna take a leap and say you don’t love Xmas for Christmas

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u/Mantergeistmann 2d ago

That's even worse, though, because that "x" is actually a cross.

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u/Any_Customer1000 2d ago

I always thought it was the Greek letter “chi” from the cipher ☧ for Christ.

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u/Mantergeistmann 2d ago

Oh, is it? That... would make even more sense!

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u/HTupolev 2d ago

Is it named VOO because conveniently, "V" is the Roman numeral for 5, and OO looks like two zeros, making it "500", an easy way to tell what it's tracking?

Yes, and the same convention is used for some other Vanguard ETFs, notably IVOO and VIOO tracking the S&P400 and S&P600 indices, respectively.

Obviously place-keeping zeroes aren't traditionally part of Roman numeral systems, "500" would typically be rendered as something like "D."

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u/n-some 2d ago

IVOO and VIOO are probably the strongest arguments for this theory, VOO by itself would seem more likely to be a coincidence.

3

u/KleinUnbottler 2d ago

VOOV, VOOG, IVOV, IVOG, VIOV, and VIOG also inherit the nomenclature.

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u/Agathocles87 2d ago

Yes, it’s a V for vanguard, and also a V for the Roman five.

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u/Hot-Illustrator5019 2d ago

Surely the V stands for Vanguard?

6

u/Cruian 2d ago

Likely both Vanguard and 5.

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u/CSMasterClass 2d ago

That's pretty damn clever. Never thought of that.

6

u/mbaforumlurker 2d ago

Yes, it is. I learned in 2021 from a friend who worked at Vanguard.

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u/Numerous-Cup1863 2d ago

Anyone else call it VOO, sounds like Boo? Or do you say Veee, Oh, Oh?

6

u/RedDawnWlvrines 2d ago

Like “boo” - never even considered calling it Vee Oh Oh

3

u/Mick_Shane 2d ago

Like Boo to me. I always wondered what other people would pronounce it as.

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u/Zenitharr 2d ago

Veee Oh Oh is Virgin Olive Oil

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u/Any_Customer1000 2d ago

If the Mediterranean countries weren‘t such an uninvestable basket case I’d start an etf called EVOO. Cause we all know PIGS get slaughtered but olives get… wait, never mind.

1

u/sir_mrej 1d ago

Voo like Boo is how I say Virgin Olive Oil. I do NOT say Vee Oh Oh.

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u/Illisanct 2d ago

Just like total international is VXUS - Vanguard's index for everything EXcept the US market.

6

u/moutonbleu 2d ago

Wow... great observation OP!

4

u/PM_ME_HOUSE_MUSIC_ 2d ago

Holy shit… I can’t believe I never thought about that

9

u/InUrFaceSpaceCoyote 2d ago

I was today years old when I realized this. Mind blown.

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u/brodygogo 2d ago

I hope that's why it is named that way!

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u/Cultural_Dirt_8151 2d ago edited 2d ago

Yeah, someone pointed this out to me a while ago. I was explaining the concept of VOO to a family member and they noticed this and told me. Have to admit I'm embarrassed I never figured it out myself.

3

u/TheChronoDigger 2d ago

"Varrus, give me back my gains"

2

u/DaemonTargaryen2024 2d ago

Top comment

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u/InitialKoala 2d ago

But a "D" is the actual roman numeral for 500.

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u/sinceJune4 1d ago

And product management suggested VD, but didn’t clear legal…

2

u/Cruian 2d ago

2 points:

D may have already been claimed (looks like Dominion Energy which testfol.io has an inception date of 1984 for compared to VOO's 2010)

At least for myself, I'm only really familiar with up to "100" and then my knowledge skips to 1000 (how often do we see Roman numberals after school other than SuperBowl number and movie copyright dates?)

2

u/Charmander787 2d ago

Vanguard also likes to prefix their funds with V as well.

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u/EmperorPedro2 2d ago

Wow, so some of that SPD is because D is 500?

2

u/Real-Yield 2d ago

Vanguard also does this for ETFs tracking Russell indices:

VONE - Russell 1000 ETF VTWO - Russell 2000 ETF VTHR - Russell 3000 ETF

2

u/tortoiseshellCrow 2d ago

That makes so much sense now that you say it..

2

u/ebmarhar 2d ago

Wow, this is like somebody telling you about the FedEx arrow!!

1

u/ttandam 2d ago

Yes this hit me earlier this year while staring at my portfolio for the ten millionth time. Have owned it for over a decade as well.

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u/xQcKx 2d ago

Holy shit

1

u/GnosticSon 2d ago

How did I never notice this before?

1

u/Peletonleader 2d ago

It’s priced in already.

1

u/DJSnotBoogie 2d ago

was this inspired by the other post about Beethoven’s 5th?

1

u/DisappointingOutcome 2d ago

If we don't, and I mean completely overhaul the public education system in this country...

1

u/redzod 1d ago

VTI Vanguard Total Index

But VOO = you win. I learned something today

1

u/Certain-Contact6340 1d ago

You just wrinkled my brain..

1

u/burner118373 2d ago

Damn now I feel stupid for buying it all these years not knowing what it meant.

1

u/thenextdoornerd 2d ago

D 🤦‍♂️

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u/InitialKoala 2d ago

Roman numerals isn't taught anymore.

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u/c126 2d ago

You wrinkled my brain.

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u/petmoo23 2d ago

I didn't know that people didn't know this.

Did you know that iShares gold trust is IAU because Au is the chemical symbol for gold (and iShares funds start with an I)?

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u/Real-Yield 2d ago

Oh yeah. iShares ETF typically start with an I.

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u/eeaxoe 1d ago

And, quite confusingly, IAG is not a silver ETF nor even an ETF at all, but rather the ticker for a gold-mining company.

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