Cutting Through the Noise
December 13, 2013
A long stock market run goes through many phases. There’s a healthy debate going on right now as to where this one is at – does it have further to go, or is it over? In assessing where we are, it’s useful to look back at how things unfolded over the last four and a ...
Read MoreDecember 12, 2013
With the release of Malcolm Gladwell’s new book, David and Goliath, there’s been lots of talk about big versus small. In the Money Managers edition of Benefits and Pensions Monitor, Jeff Brown wrote an article pointing out that in the asset management business ...
Read MoreDecember 10, 2013
It’s one thing to explain to investors that capital markets move in unpredictable ways and diversification can dampen a portfolio’s volatility in the short term, but it’s quite another to actually show them. Which is why we’ve built a Volatility Meter for our website...
Read MoreDecember 9, 2013
We had a meeting last week to kick start preparations for our winter client tour, ‘Where to from here’. The discussion came around to performance reporting. When we start the tour in Winnipeg on January 27th, the 5-year returns will no longer include 2008 and...
Read MoreDecember 5, 2013
We are currently seeking candidates for a temporary, full-time administrative support assistant in Vancouver. As part of this diverse role, the team member will do whatever it takes to make our team efficient, and our clients feel welcome. The role begins...
Read MoreDecember 4, 2013
It’s been a great four years, but let’s not get carried away with this market. It’s time to be patient. This was one of the messages Tom emphasized on BNN this morning. With the strong run in the markets, stock valuations are now at the upper end of a normal range...
Read MoreDecember 3, 2013
In this space, we talk often about how sensitive the housing market is to interest rates. In Tara Perkins’ article on real estate in the Report on Business the other week, there was a story about a young woman who was buying her first home. It was very revealing...
Read MoreNovember 28, 2013
At the annual Morningstar Canadian Investment Awards last night in Toronto, Serena Ryder was the star of the show (although it was tragic she only did one song), but Steadyhand did OK too. Our Income Fund was recognized as the Best Canadian...
Read MoreNovember 27, 2013
The year-end distributions for all our funds (with the exception of the Savings Fund) will be declared on December 13th and paid on December 16th. The Savings Fund will pay its regularly-scheduled monthly distribution on December 31st. As a reminder...
Read MoreNovember 26, 2013
There was a telling chart in last weekend’s Wall Street Journal. It showed the market predictions of Wall Street strategists for each year going back to 2000. The chart shows no discernable pattern or trend that would imply that the predictions are in any way useful. There...
Read MoreNovember 25, 2013
I enjoy periodically perusing the list of new investment products, as there’s usually a good laugh in there somewhere (remember the FocusShares ISE-Reverse Wal-Mart Supplier ETF, and my favourite, the HealthShares Dermatology and Wound Care ETF)...
Read MoreNovember 20, 2013
By 2016, mutual fund firms and investment dealers will be required to tell their clients what they’re paying and how they’re doing. Our country’s provincial regulators have also initiated discussions as to whether investment advisors should be held to a higher...
Read MoreNovember 18, 2013
November 14, 2013
Over the last year or so, there’s been a growing trend towards combining indexing with paid advice. It’s coming up more in the media, and is a common solution in the financial advice columns – ‘hire an advisor to manage an ETF portfolio’. The well-followed...
Read MoreNovember 12, 2013
“In the 1960s and 1970s, mid-western American states fell victim to scores of wildfires. Constant interventions by the US Forest Service appeared to have little positive impact – if anything, the problems seemed to worsen. Over time, foresters came to appreciate...
Read MoreNovember 11, 2013
What now? Stock markets have been on a roll and investors who’ve been leery about owning stocks are now wading back into the risk pool. With good returns comes confidence. In the face of this better vibe, it’s important that investors don’t stray from...
Read MoreNovember 7, 2013
We last heard from Emmylou around this time last year, when she needed to set aside some money for a ‘sabbatical’ to Europe. She spent the summer exploring and had a rich experience on the continent. She recently checked in on her Steadyhand portfolio...
Read MoreOctober 31, 2013
It’s been a dramatic year in the capital markets. Interest rates moved up meaningfully in the spring and stocks have been on a roll all year. Indeed, U.S. and international stocks have been going up steadily for two years. Enough has happened that it’s time...
Read MoreOctober 29, 2013
I had a nightmare last night. I dreamed that I was on the board of JP Morgan. It was no fun. For those of you who aren’t familiar, JPM is a huge multinational bank. For decades, it was revered as one of the leading institutions in the world, but it’s now in high...
Read MoreOctober 25, 2013
Sports broadcasts usually start with the color commentator providing viewers with the ‘Keys to the Game’. For the Maple Leafs, it might be: (1) contain Crosby, (2) pound the Penguins’ defense and (3) pray. I don’t watch enough sports to be definitive on...
Read MoreOctober 24, 2013
The world’s largest provider of exchange-traded funds (ETFs) is launching its first mutual funds in Canada. BlackRock (the parent of iShares) announced this month a suite of seven balanced funds, the BlackRock Strategic Portfolio Series, which will be built...
Read MoreOctober 21, 2013
Hard assets can be a good source of diversification in a portfolio, as their prices or market values can have a low degree of correlation to stocks or bonds. Commodities like gold and oil can act as a hedge against inflation (although not always). The same goes for...
Read MoreOctober 18, 2013
A lot of the writing Scott and I do is aimed at breaking down common perceptions about economics and investing that are out of date or inaccurate. On that note, my friend Bing Monahan sent me an article from The Atlantic that outlines 10 economic trends...
Read MoreOctober 16, 2013
While the Republicans and Democrats are duking it out in Washington over the debt ceiling, it’s ironic that the Congressional Budget Office is unable to report the fiscal year-end budget numbers (it’s not deemed an essential service and is shut down...
Read MoreOctober 10, 2013
From our Quarterly Report: Five years ago we were right in the middle of it. Lehman Brothers had gone down and the financial crisis was taking hold. It was a period that will be forever fused in my memory, as I suspect it will for our clients. But even with
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