Cutting Through the Noise
August 25, 2014
When I came out of business school too long ago, it was a given that if you wanted to pursue a sales career, you went for a job with Xerox or IBM. These organizations put their recruits through extensive training and were known to be the best sales organizations ...
Read MoreAugust 21, 2014
One of the more ‘non-consensus’ strategies we’ve pursued over the last few years has been the Global Equity Fund’s commitment to Japan. Although there have been periods when Japan has contributed to client returns, on balance it has been a drag so far ...
Read MoreAugust 19, 2014
There was a story in the Report on Business on Monday about the results so far from China’s oil investments in Canada. To date, Chinese energy acquisitions (including CNOOC’s purchase of Nexen and Petrochina’s pending acquisition of 40% of ...
Read MoreAugust 15, 2014
It's been a good time to be an investor over the last five years, but at Steadyhand we've been playing a cautionary tune of late. As we explain in our Current Thinking on the Home Page, valuations are getting stretched in the bond and stock markets. Clients should ...
Read MoreAugust 13, 2014
One of the joys of Steadyhand's success is that we get to bring other turned-on people into the company and gain from their experiences and energy. With our growth, it's time to add some depth to the investment side of the firm. In our latest posting, we're looking ...
Read MoreAugust 8, 2014
So far, it’s been a crappy summer in southern Ontario – cool, rainy and unpredictable. I recently finished two weeks at Crystal Lake, so I experienced it firsthand. Near the end of the holiday, I had two people say to me that we need to get used to this type of weather ...
Read MoreJuly 30, 2014
“It’s like if the tree in the backyard has a crack in it, you worry it’s vulnerable to a storm. But if no storm happens, it goes on and on, and maybe eventually strengthens through growth. If the right storm comes along and knocks it onto your neighbour’s house ...
Read MoreJuly 23, 2014
Much has been written about the flaws of the investment industry. Recently Michael Lewis stirred the pot with his book about high-frequency trading called Flash Boys. In this space, I’ve talked often about high fees, complex products, unattainable promises, and ...
Read MoreJuly 21, 2014
Steadyhand has now been in business for over seven years. That’s exciting for all kinds of reasons, but today I’ll focus on just one – investment returns. We now have 7-year numbers, and not one, not two, but three 5-year performance periods. Clients can look ...
Read MoreJuly 14, 2014
In his column in the Report on Business the other week (How to Discuss Fees With Your Investment Adviser), Rob Carrick provided investors with a list of questions to ask their adviser about fees. In case any Steadyhand clients are interested in asking the questions ...
Read MoreJuly 10, 2014
It was announced yesterday that Saskatchewan and New Brunswick have joined Ontario and British Columbia in committing to a Federal securities regulator, currently (and hopefully temporarily) named the Cooperative Capital Markets Regulatory System. Why do ...
Read MoreJuly 7, 2014
In presentations over the last year, I’ve often referred to Ontario as the Italy of Canada. In other words, its finances are abysmal. At a time when the province’s key economic drivers, housing and autos, are booming, the fiscal deficits are large and show signs of ...
Read MoreJuly 3, 2014
I opened the Financial Times website this morning to see that the unemployment rate in the U.S. had dropped to 6.1%. Beside that headline was a story about the Dow Jones hitting 17,000. Just minutes before, I saw in the Globe and Mail that Canada and the U.S. are ...
Read MoreJune 30, 2014
1). Make ‘Snowball’ your holiday read. 2). Go to summer school with Professor Buffett. 3). Read ‘The Essays of Warren Buffett: Lessons for Corporate America’. 4). Grab a beer and popcorn and watch a few Buffett videos on YouTube. 5). Head to Dairy Queen for ...
Read MoreJune 26, 2014
I saw a note that 150,000 people worldwide wrote CFA (Chartered Financial Analyst) exams on June 7th. It’s a reminder of how tough it is to get into the investment business. For some reason, lots of young people want a piece of the great gig that we have ...
Read MoreJune 24, 2014
When I was in Toronto a few weeks ago, I was walking north on Bay Street toward King and was struck by how quiet it was. It was probably just a lull in the day, but I couldn’t help but feel it was analogous to where we are in the capital markets. Things are calm ...
Read MoreJune 19, 2014
June 17, 2014
There’s a terrific article in the Globe and Mail today. It’s based on an interview with the new CEO of Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC), Evan Siddall. It’s terrific because Mr. Siddall and his team are taking CMHC back to where it should be ...
Read MoreJune 12, 2014
In a Globe and Mail column on May 8th, I talked about how investors have been moving from defense to offense in their fixed income portfolios. Indeed, many of the new income funds and structured products are aggressive enough, and/or complex enough ...
Read MoreJune 9, 2014
The attached chart came courtesy of Tim Price of PFP Wealth Management in London ...
Read MoreJune 6, 2014
Last week, the yields on Spanish 10-year bonds hit 2.82%. According to the Financial Times, this is the lowest since the early 1990’s. Also last week, an auction of 10-year Italian bonds came at a yield of 3.01%, which is the lowest since the introduction of the ...
Read MoreJune 4, 2014
“Should Ed Clark, a 50-goal scorer, be paid the same as a good two-way winger on a deep team, a dependable defenseman, a second-line center and a penalty-killing specialist?” With the NHL finals about to start, it seems like a good time to update ...
Read MoreJune 3, 2014
"Bradley says nobody can call the market in the short term, but here he is with 15% of the fund sitting in cash. Isn’t that market timing?” With cash earning next to nothing and stock markets going up, we’ve been getting a few comments like this about the Founders ...
Read MoreMay 27, 2014
The following chart is a screen shot of our Volatility Meter. The tool gives you the ability to toggle across different time frames and see how different asset mixes performed. The chart below shows the annual returns (1961 – 2013) for an indexed portfolio made up of ...
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