Cutting Through the Noise
June 12, 2013
In this, the 2nd of 3 posts on the Canadian housing market, I address valuation. Near-zero interest rates are absolutely driving this market. The problem is, low rates are transient, while purchase prices live on forever. In today’s terms, transient means that it’s...
Read MoreJune 11, 2013
We’ve had a cautious view on government bonds for several quarters, as yields are unsustainably low. Our current thinking hasn’t changed. We feel bonds are expensive and have been advising clients to keep them to a minimum in relation to their long-term asset mix. The yield on 10-year Government of Canada bonds has risen over the last six weeks, from under 1.7% in early May to 2.2% yesterday. This is a sharp...
Read MoreJune 11, 2013
Over the last couple of years, I’ve been writing about housing because it’s a big part of our clients’ net worth, it's great fodder for a devoted student of market cycles and ... it’s just so darned interesting. In the first of three posts this week, I’ll try to bring some...
Read MoreJune 7, 2013
In his June Investment Outlook, PIMCO’s Bill Gross says that the Quantitative Easing policy (QE) of the U.S. Federal Reserve hasn’t worked. He points out that over the last 5 years there hasn’t been a 12-month period when the economy has grown faster than...
Read MoreJune 6, 2013
It’s confirmed. We have the healthiest banks in the world. They’ve all reported their second quarter earnings and the numbers are spectacular. Industry leader RBC had a return on equity of 19%, while CIBC and National Bank were over 20%. Yes, 20% in a...
Read MoreJune 4, 2013
It’s spot prawn season on the west coast. The boats are pulling into Granville Island daily (mere blocks from Steadyhand headquarters) and selling their bounty directly to the public. It’s awesome. They’re live, fresh, sweet and local. And you buy them right from the boat. There’s no middlemen. No commissions. No administrative fees. No packaging charges. No transaction costs. For $12-15 a pound, you...
Read MoreMay 30, 2013
Last year we blogged about bank CEO’s compensation (Can I Join the Club?). We took issue with the fact that they all made about the same last year, despite the fact that the performance and positioning of their respective banks were quite different. We...
Read MoreMay 28, 2013
On June 7th in Toronto, the Ontario Securities Commission (OSC) is hosting a roundtable on mutual fund fees. It is open to the public and will follow the agenda outlined in this invitation. We have been a regular contributor on the topic of fees and recently made...
Read MoreMay 27, 2013
Lately I’ve been part of too many conversations that go like this. What brings you to Steadyhand? “I haven’t been happy with my existing advisor. The returns have been lousy and the service has fallen off to the point where I never hear from him." Do you...
Read MoreMay 24, 2013
Should you rent or buy? There are all kinds of reasons to buy a home – making it your own, establishing roots in the community, good schools, basketball hoop on the driveway – and they should be at the top of the list. From a financial perspective, however...
Read MoreMay 23, 2013
Prepare for extremes. This is an essential element to being a better investor, and is particularly topical on a day when the Japanese market is down 7%. Tom expanded on the five essential elements to being a better investor on BNN this morning. You can...
Read MoreMay 21, 2013
May 13, 2013
"Should I get out of the market?" I'm finding this question is coming up again, prompted either by the Dow hitting all-time highs or the central bankers' perilous high wire act (performed without a net). It depends on the week. But, while we know all...
Read MoreMay 6, 2013
In Saturday’s Report on Business, there was a remarkable table embedded in Rob Carrick’s article (How to Shelter Your Portfolio from a Housing Decline). It showed the top 10 Canadian equity funds (by assets) and the top 10 Canadian dividend income...
Read MoreMay 3, 2013
I thought a recent report from Mawer Investment Management captured well the opportunity, challenges and complexity of investing in the Asian markets. A paragraph from the conclusion summarizes their balanced optimism. Overall, we find ourselves...
Read MoreApril 30, 2013
We are currently seeking candidates for a permanent, full-time Investor Specialist. As part of this diverse role, the team member will work directly with clients to help them achieve their investment objectives. Direct industry experience is a requirement...
Read MoreApril 29, 2013
Lori and I attended a Celebration of Life for Art Phillips last Friday. (There was a wonderful obituary in the Globe and Mail last week.) Art founded Phillips, Hager & North in 1965 with the help of Bob Hager and Rudy North. It was Art’s reputation and wallet that got...
Read MoreApril 26, 2013
I’m pleased to introduce our newest member of the Steadyhand team, Jennifer Lacuesta. Jennifer is taking on the role of Client Service Administrator. She has close to 10 years of industry experience, having worked at Deutsche Bank (in the Philippines), GrowthWorks, and Haywood Securities. Jennifer will be playing an important role in many of our client service and trading functions, from processing...
Read MoreApril 25, 2013
My last post on gold spoke to the impact of investor sentiment on security prices. In the case of the shiny metal, sentiment is everything. As for other securities, such as bonds and stocks, it’s a secondary factor - economic fundamentals (profits)...
Read MoreApril 22, 2013
I’ll never forget an interview I did with Michael Hainsworth on BNN. It was almost exactly two years ago. Michael started the interview very directly, “Tell me, why no gold?” After I explained why our managers didn’t own any gold stocks, he then asked, “And no interest in base metals?” When I said we had no mining stocks in our funds, Michael was beside himself. “Do you at least own some energy stocks?” ...
Read MoreApril 19, 2013
We held our annual strategy session on Wednesday afternoon. Every year we lock ourselves in a room for 4-5 hours (or more), tune out the outside world, review the current state of our business and hash around ideas, thoughts and strategies on the...
Read MoreApril 17, 2013
It’s a sunny, spring day. The cherry blossoms are at their peak on West 3rd Avenue. Bob Hager’s daffodils are bursting out of our garden. David (in from Toronto for our annual strategy session) greets prospective clients with an enthusiastic, “Welcome to Steadyhand World Headquarters.” And the gentleman says, “Isn’t it a wonderful...
Read MoreApril 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 15, 2013
Last week, we filed a submission to the Canadian Securities Administrators (CSA) on their Discussion Paper on mutual fund fees. If you have an interest in this topic, we’d encourage you to give it a read. If you’re a Steadyhand client and don’t have...
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 More