Podcast: Warren Buffett's 2008 Annual Letter

In this podcast, we discuss Warren Buffett's recently published annual letter to the shareholders of Berkshire Hathaway. We posted a series of blogs last week on Buffett's recap of Berkshire's operations in 2008, and Tom's Globe and Mail column on the weekend...

When Others Lose Their Heads, Buffett Keeps His Focus

The Globe and Mail, Report on Business. Published March 7, 2009. The news media have been remarkably quiet about the Berkshire Hathaway Inc. newsletter this year. And yet, as we go through this historic time, we need its calm, common sense and...

The Buffett Letter #4 - Mae West, Snow White and Lots of Yawns

It would be an oversight to do a series of postings on Warren Buffett’s 2008 Letter to the Shareholders of Berkshire Hathaway and not review some of the great quotes and analogies. On the current investing environment: “Things also went ...

The Buffett Letter #3 - Safety is Overpriced; Risk is Underpriced

In this, our third posting on Warren Buffett’s 2008 Letter to the Shareholders of Berkshire Hathaway , there is no introduction or additional explanation required.  This is his comment on the current investing environment. “The investment world has gone from ...

The Buffett Letter #2 - Strong get Stronger

One of the recent themes of this blog has been the notion that this economic crisis will cause the ‘strong to get stronger’.  Well-financed companies will have unprecedented opportunities to buy assets and attract talent through this period, and will ...

The Buffett Letter #1 - Competing Against Private Equity

Warren Buffett’s 2008 Letter to the Shareholders of Berkshire Hathaway was published on Saturday.  As usual, it brings a refreshing perspective on topics of current interest.  Over the course of the week, we’ll highlight a few.  As he does every ...

Q&A with Bill Gross

With all of us wondering how we’re going to get out of this mess, I thought this month’s Investment Outlook by Bill Gross of Pimco was a good read.  Mr. Gross is known as the ‘King of Bonds’ in the U.S. ...

Hero to Goat...in a Heartbeat

In the Globe and Mail today, Derek DeCloet wrote an article about the aftermath of Canada’s great ‘hollowing out’ that took place from 2005 to 2007 - the period when foreigners were swooping in to buy our companies.  There was ...

Tackling Uncertainty This RRSP Season

The Globe and Mail, Report on Business Published February 21, 2009 As regular readers know, some of my best columns are written for the sole purpose of keeping peace at home. If Lori wants me to write about something, the ...

The Risk Today is Not Buying Cheap Equities

We posted a blog in late 2007 ( Edicts from Edinburgh ) that highlighted a few excerpts from an interview that Dr. Sandy Nairn, the CEO and founder of Edinburgh Partners Limited (EPL), did with a U.K. publication, Independent Investor ...

Watching the Saxon Merger

We noted in a blog last August ( It’s Getting Lonely ) that Saxon Financial was sold to IGM Financial (Investors Group) in what was yet another example of a direct seller that has turned its focus to the advisor ...

In the Long Term, We're all Dead

That’s how one reader felt about my last Globe and Mail column ( Focusing Too Much on the Short Term Can Lead to a Short Career ).  I stand by what I wrote about long-term thinking, but in response to that ...

Thank You Mr. Market

I own a lot of Cisco shares through my investment in the Steadyhand Equity Fund and Global Equity Fund.  It’s a stock that appears in more than one of our funds.  I just went through the company’s February 4th investor ...

Focusing Too Much on the Short Term Can Lead to a Short Career

The Globe and Mail, Report on Business Published February 7, 2009 I've been having trouble sleeping, so I dusted off a research report written by my friend, J.J. Woolverton, who is the chairman of Guardian Capital LP (he makes me ...

Going Soft on RIM

“The conduct at issue relates to stock options granting practices at RIM which, over a ten year period from December 1996 to July 2006 were inconsistent with the terms of RIM’s stock option plan and with RIM’s public disclosure.” - ...

Mining for Nuggets

I’ve written about our home team, Teck Corp., in previous postings.  This week Rio Tinto is in the headlines.  Its situation is similar in the sense that six months ago it was a leading resource company, perhaps the premier one ...

Buyer Beware: Leveraged ETFs

Gold was up roughly 1.5% in 2008 (as measured by the S&P/TSX Global Gold Index) - a good year relative to most other investments. If you used a slick new breed of leveraged exchange traded funds (ETFs), you could have doubled your exposure...

Podcast: Tom & Wil Discuss the Small-Cap Fund

In this podcast, Tom chats with Wil Wutherich, the manager of the Small-Cap Fund, about the fund's performance in 2008, the current opportunities in the market, and some of the fund's larger holdings...

Liquid and Lovin' it

As I was reading the year-end report from CGOV, the manager of our Equity Fund, I was blown away by the numbers.  We’ve talked in the past about the quality of companies in the fund, how well positioned they are ...

Five Misguided Mantras That Should be Put to Rest

The Globe and Mail, Report on Business Published January 24, 2009 Readers are quick to point out when they think I am naive, dismissive, misinformed or just plain wrong. No doubt there has been some loose analysis in this column ...

A Mountain of Cash in the Waiting

We've mentioned in recent blogs and podcasts that there's a lot of money sitting on the sidelines as tired investors have been pulling out of the market. With the year-end numbers now rolling in, here are some figures worth noting: ...

Jumping in or Averaging in - Which is Best?

I recently re-read a 2004 article from Bernstein Global Wealth Management entitled Taking the Fear out of Entering Equities .  It did an excellent job of addressing the issue of whether dollar-cost averaging is the best way to invest new ...

This Isn't the RRSP Season to Miss

As regular readers will know, I follow Jeremy Grantham and his colleagues at GMO with great interest.  Jeremy’s quarterly missives are always enlightening and the firm, which is based in Boston, has a great long-term track record.  One of the ...

Podcast: Fourth Quarter Review

2008 was an ugly year in the capital markets.  In particular, heavy losses were experienced in the fourth quarter, as widespread de-leveraging and indiscriminate selling took place.  Yet, every major market decline presents opportunities and investors should ensure their portfolios are well positioned for the 'other side of the valley'.

In this podcast we review the fourth quarter and provide our thoughts on the markets going forward.

Debt is the Pariah in the New Economic Order

The Globe and Mail, Report on Business Published January 10, 2009 When trying to explain what's going on in the stock market, we often draw comparisons to the housing market. It helps to put the mysteries of Wall Street into ...