Cutting Through the Noise
April 16, 2013
It was a strong start to the year for stocks around the globe, with the MSCI World Index gaining 10% (in Canadian dollar terms). U.S. and Japanese stocks were among the top performers, while Canada was one of the weaker performing markets (up 3%) as a result of its heavy weighting in gold and mining stocks. Bonds also had a positive quarter, albeit a much more modest one, led by a strengthening in corporate...
Read MoreApril 11, 2013
From our Quarterly Report: “The Dow hit a new high. How much further can the market go? … Alcoa is the first major corporation to report quarterly earnings and will set the tone for what’s to come … the technical indicators are telling us … time for a pullback ...
Read MoreMarch 27, 2013
We’ve had a lot of calls lately from investors looking to purchase our funds through discount brokers. The questions often relate to availability, fees and fund codes. There seems to be some misinformation on the topic, so we felt it was a good time to...
Read MoreMarch 26, 2013
It’s stingy times for income investors. Government of Canada bonds are yielding less than 2% (5-year maturities are at 1.3% and 10-year maturities at 1.8%) and high quality corporate bonds are only 1-1.5% higher. Dividend-paying stocks are paying...
Read MoreMarch 21, 2013
Quick background: CGOV Asset Management is the manager of our Equity Fund. The firm has a distinct investment process, one facet of which is that they won’t own more than 25 stocks. We love this discipline as it ensures they focus on their best ideas and...
Read MoreMarch 19, 2013
The latest edition of The Economist has a special report on America’s competitiveness, titled Cheer Up. It examines the areas which are the “source of the most hand-wringing” among observers: innovation, energy, education, immigration, infrastructure...
Read MoreFebruary 26, 2013
Exchange traded funds (ETFs) are now a fixture on the investment landscape and are among the fastest growing investment products. There’s good reason for their rise in popularity: they’re simple, low cost, transparent and provide market-like returns. But ... they’re not for everyone. In a newly updated paper, we compare the experience of an ETF investor (Jake) to that of a Steadyhand client (Julie). There are notable...
Read MoreFebruary 21, 2013
The Canadian clients of Ally Financial got news this week that the sale of the firm to RBC has been completed, the interest rate on their high-interest savings accounts is being reduced from 1.8% to 1.2%, and their accounts will be closed on April 30th, as reported...
Read MoreFebruary 15, 2013
We wrapped up our cross-country client presentations this month after visiting five cities. If you weren’t able to attend one of our sessions, or are looking to revisit some of the themes we touched on, we’ve produced a summary of the event that hits on the...
Read MoreFebruary 12, 2013
The Asia Pacific is the fastest growing economic region in the world. Not surprisingly, many multinational companies are increasingly focusing on selling their goods and services in countries such as China, Indonesia, Singapore, Vietnam, and the...
Read MoreJanuary 31, 2013
Investors have had a real love for income and dividends over the past several years. And for good reason – bonds and high dividend-paying stocks have been stalwart performers. But the quest for yield may be leading to imbalanced portfolios. Investors who...
Read MoreJanuary 28, 2013
It’s that time of year: holiday bills, new diets, bleak weather, and RRSP contributions. Not exactly exciting stuff. Bruce is a little more jazzed than many investors though. He reviewed his account statement last week and found that his portfolio at Steadyhand was up nearly 12% last year (since starting with us two years ago, his portfolio has gained approx. 6.5% per year). “Grinning ear to ear”, he noted in an email. While we love his enthusiasm, we reminded him that many...
Read MoreJanuary 17, 2013
My wife dragged me to a spinning class last weekend. It was a humbling event for my quads, hamstrings and calves. They’re still cursing me. Nevertheless, it was an inspiring experience. The lights were low and the music high. Everyone in the room was focused intensely on the instructor’s cues and was content to turn the tension dial to self-inflict a higher level of pain (and gain). I quickly learned...
Read MoreJanuary 15, 2013
We’ve said it many times, but 2012 was another reminder that market returns don’t often match up with what we’re seeing in the headlines. In many respects, the economic news in 2012 was ugly. The U.S. grappled with the fiscal cliff, mounting debt and political bickering. The sovereign debt and unemployment issues is Europe lingered, China was dealing with slowing growth, and weak commodity prices were...
Read MoreJanuary 14, 2013
From our Quarterly Report: In the Q4 brief last year, my goal for our clients was “another unremarkable year”. We had come through a tough period in the markets in good shape, but with interest rates even lower and the economic and political outlook...
Read MoreJanuary 3, 2013
Turns out the world didn’t end in 2012. A good thing, really, as Tom and I had a lot to write about. With over 120 posts, our updates, explanations, advice, observations, opinions, musings, rants and ramblings were well received, despite the odd scathing...
Read MoreDecember 27, 2012
The Investor Education Fund (a non-profit organization funded by the Ontario Securities Commission) has a cool interactive chart on their website that shows the historical returns – from 1935 to 2012 – of various stock markets, bonds and T-Bills, along with...
Read MoreDecember 17, 2012
It’s been another year of troubling economic headlines, slow growth and political stalemate. Yet, unless Santa gets run over by a reindeer, many global stock markets will finish the year with nice gains. Even the bond market, with its naughty yields, has gained ground in 2012. As the year comes to a close, we’re gratified with the strides we’ve made and the returns our clients have achieved. It’s been a productive...
Read MoreNovember 30, 2012
The year-end distributions for all our funds (with the exception of the Savings Fund) will be declared on December 14th and paid on December 17th. The Savings Fund will pay its regularly-scheduled monthly distribution on December 31st. As a reminder, distributions...
Read MoreNovember 29, 2012
At the annual Morningstar Canadian Investment Awards last night in Toronto, the Steadyhand Income Fund was recognized as the Best Canadian Balanced Fund. We’re a modest bunch at Steadyhand when it comes to awards and recognition, most of the...
Read MoreNovember 28, 2012
Connor, Clark & Lunn, the manager of our Savings Fund and Income Fund, produces an outlook every month on the economy and capital markets. Their recent commentary on Canada is particularly clear, candid, and sobering. CC&L’s views on the US and...
Read MoreNovember 26, 2012
The federal government announced today that the annual contribution limit for the TFSA is being increased from $5,000 to $5,500, starting in 2013. A feature of the TFSA is that the annual contribution limit is indexed to inflation, in $500 increments. 2013 will be...
Read MoreNovember 22, 2012
I saw the new Bond flick, Skyfall, the other day and walked away with a smile on my face, knowing that the British Secret Intelligence Service (also known as MI6) is still well positioned to save the world from evil villains and vixens. Being immersed in this industry for the past decade and a half, I’ve developed a bad habit of relating all things to investing, including 007. When Bond was sipping his famous vodka martini in...
Read MoreNovember 16, 2012
You’ve likely heard the term fiscal cliff lately. A catchy, if not chilling phrase, but what does it mean? Put simply, it refers to the combination of (1) billions of dollars of tax increases and (2) widespread spending cuts to government programs, all set to take effect on...
Read MoreNovember 15, 2012
It just got a little greener in Seattle. Bloomberg reported last week that Microsoft recently raised $2.25 billion by issuing 5, 10 and 30-year bonds. And they did it on the cheap. The 5-year notes were issued at 0.875%, the 10-year bonds at 2.125%, and the 30-year...
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