Cutting Through the Noise
May 28, 2009
“Fess up, fellows: The masters of the universe have turned out to be masters of disaster. No matter which aspect of the financial crisis you consider, there is a man behind it.” This was the opening paragraph of an article recently posted in the Wall Street Journal that reinforces our view that women are great investors, and even better...
Read MoreMay 26, 2009
The Ontario Teachers Pension Plan (Teachers) came within a hair of buying BCE at $42.75. Clearly the powers that be at Teachers thought enough of the BCE franchise that they were willing to pay up for it and use substantial amounts of leverage...
Read MoreMay 23, 2009
In 26 years of doing this, one of the phrases I find least useful is, the market “is range bound” or “will stay in a narrow trading range over the next X months”. I don’t have conclusive data on it, but I believe that these types of predictions are almost...
Read MoreMay 16, 2009
The Globe and Mail, Report on Business. Published May 16, 2009. What do we do now? Has the market gone too far too fast? Is it projecting too robust an economic recovery? Is it going to give back its gains as corporate earnings continue to disappoint? Or is...
Read MoreMay 14, 2009
As I pointed out in a recent post, we all have a tendency to become economists at extreme times like this. Everyone has a view on the economy, the dollar, Ben Bernanke, U.S. consumer debt and Wall Street’s demise. And with our increased focus comes...
Read MoreMay 8, 2009
That’s my answer when asked where the dollar is going. As regular readers know, I’m not short on opinions, nor is it the case that I’m not well informed on the economic and political forces at work. I just think predicting currency movements is impossible...
Read MoreMay 5, 2009
A writer in the Financial Times this morning suggested that BMW and Mercedes need to worry about scale. With Fiat and Porsche playing the role of consolidators, the auto industry is going to have fewer, larger players. Therefore, as the logic goes...
Read MoreMay 3, 2009
The Globe and Mail, Report on Business. Published May 2, 2009. Last week I was at the Richard Ivey School of Business speaking to an investing class. It is part of the Benjamin Graham Centre for Value Investing, which has grown in international...
Read MoreApril 29, 2009
The 2009 Lipper Awards have been announced and the ads and emails have started. There will be a rush of fund firms announcing the loot they've collected. Last year we had some fun with our industry's 'silly season'. We announced our own LIPPY Awards...
Read MoreApril 27, 2009
Michael Nairne and his partner (in all respects) Joanne Swystun started a firm called Tacita Capital in 2006. It is a family office for “exceptionally affluent families.” Tacita publishes research pieces from time to time, the latest of which was recently...
Read MoreApril 18, 2009
The Globe and Mail, Report on Business. Published April 18, 2009. Let me set the scene. A generic portfolio manager enters a psychiatrist's office and starts talking. Let's be a fly on the wall. Thank you for seeing me, doctor. Sure, I can lie down on the couch...
Read MoreApril 17, 2009
There was great news today. The Investment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada (IIROC) released a proposal to enhance disclosure requirements for over-the-counter (OTC) trades, including bonds. IIROC is one of two regulatory bodies for...
Read MoreApril 15, 2009
More and more commentators and experts are acknowledging that the world has changed. The framework for the future that Pimco’s Bill Gross laid out recently - namely de-levering, de-globalization and re-regulation - encapsulates what I'm reading...
Read MoreApril 8, 2009
My last posting on packaged investment products generated a lot of feedback. There were some great comments posted on the blog, but I received many more emails from readers of the Saturday Globe and Mail. Below are snippets from some of the emails...
Read MoreApril 6, 2009
As the wealth management industry works through this bear market, investment products that promise certainty and limited downside risk are going to be popular. With guaranteed investment certificates (GICs) offering minuscule yields, stock-market...
Read MoreMarch 31, 2009
Recession? Depression? Recessionary depression? Who knows? In the dark moments of an economic and market cycle, I find that everyone becomes an economist. Traders, analysts, portfolio managers, advisors and individual investors all amp up...
Read MoreMarch 27, 2009
Manulife is going to pay its retiring CEO $12.5 million in 2009. Dominic D’Alessandro’s pay cheque for 5 months work will be made up of cash ($2.5 million) and restricted shares ($10 million). To quote chairwoman Gail Cook-Bennett, “[the compensation]...
Read MoreMarch 25, 2009
I received an email from a reader who suggested that someone should offer a balanced fund that is more focused on preserving capital. Rather than being stuck on a set asset mix, as most balanced funds are, the fund would have the scope to move between...
Read MoreMarch 23, 2009
The Globe and Mail, Report on Business. Published March 21, 2009. It is hard to find an individual investor who thinks that now is the right time to buy into the stock market. People that are holding cash are happy and have no intention of parting with their...
Read MoreMarch 20, 2009
In the investment business, valuation comparisons are very important. How one security stacks up against another in terms of price to earnings ratio, cash flow multiple or yield is at the core of what we do. CP Rail is cheaper than CN because it has a lower price...
Read MoreMarch 9, 2009
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...
Read MoreMarch 5, 2009
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 ...
Read MoreMarch 4, 2009
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 ...
Read MoreMarch 3, 2009
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 ...
Read MoreMarch 1, 2009
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 ...
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