Canadian Capitalist

I was in the market for an el cheapo inkjet printer that should be able to print:

Directly on ink-jet printable CDs and DVDs.
Near photo-quality images.
Occasional text documents.

I found the printer guides at Steve’s Digicams, PC Magazine and CNet.com to be quite useful. At the local big box retailer, basic inexpensive models offered by [...]

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The ottawagasprices.com website regularly updates gasoline prices in our area. A particularly useful feature is Price Statistics, which can be used to figure out the best time to fill-up. For me, the best time (mostly) turns out to be Mondays.Try GasBuddy.com website to search for a similar website in your area.

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As the losses in the Indian Ocean tsunami keep increasing, the following organisations are also appealing for help:

CARE Canada
World Vision Canada
Médecins Sans Frontières

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The federal government has been posting surpluses over the past 7 years to the tune of $60 billion. For fiscal 2004 alone, the surplus is projected at $9 billion. However, for the first time in 5 years, Canadians won’t see any tax savings in the new year.Ottawa should give back some of its surpluses by:

Reducing [...]

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A devastating earthquake and ensuing tsunami has killed tens of thousands of people in South and South-East Asia. Red Cross and Oxfam are appealing for cash donations to help the victims of this terrible tragedy. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

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Some experts recommend a small amount of gold (5% or less) exposure in a portfolio, either through bullion or gold equities. There are many ways of gaining exposure to gold (equity or bullion) in a portfolio:

The iGold Index fund (TSX: XGD) has a MER of 0.55% and has large holdings in Barrick Gold (TSX: ABX, [...]

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Retailers have boxing day sales here in Canada that have people lining-up early outside in -25C weather, the parking lots are full and the best deals are sold out in minutes. Retailers typically limit the number of highly discounted items available in each store. I think they are hoping that after going through all that [...]

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Petro-Canada (TSX: PCA, NYSE: PCZ) is a large integrated oil and gas company involved in exploration and production of oil (Canada’s East Coast off-shore, Alberta Oil Sands and International) and natural gas, refining and marketing (billing itself “Canada’s Gas Station”). At current prices, Petro-Canada is trading at an estimated 2004 P/E of around 8 and [...]

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When surfing the web, every once in a while, I run into information that is pure gold. Consider the Callan Periodic Table of Investment Returns that I found the other day. For the 20-year period 1984-2003, it ranks the annual returns of eight asset classes from best to worst. The table elegantly makes the case [...]

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Royal LePage has forecast that the average house price in Canada to rise by 4.5% in 2005. RE/MAX issued a similar forecast, predicting average house price to rise by a more bullish 6%. Here is a comparison of the forecasts for various cities:

City
Royal LePage
RE/MAX

Halifax
1.7%
8.0%

Montreal
5.0%
6.0%

Ottawa
4.5%
6.0%

Toronto
2.5%
3.5%

Winnipeg
6.0%
3.0%

Regina
5.0%
4.5%

Calgary
6.2%
5.0%

Edmonton
7.0%
12.0%

Vancouver
3.0%
8.0%

Increasing home prices might make us feel a little bit [...]

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