Canadian Capitalist

I wrote about the advantages of the relaxation of foreign property rules in the federal budget. However, it looks like the minority government might not survive long enough to pass the budget into law. So, it makes sense to hold off on any changes to retirement accounts until the budget is passed in parliament.
What if [...]

[Read more →]

Fellow blogger Fg has an interesting post suggesting that the carnage in the markets is just beginning. He makes a number of valid points including high P/E ratios and low dividend yields. The markets are definitely facing head-winds including slowing earnings growth, high energy prices, higher short-term interest rates, flattening yield curve etc.
However, there is [...]

[Read more →]

April has been a horrible month in the markets. After closing above 1220 as recently as March, the S&P 500 is currently trading just above 1140. The NASDAQ has been even harder hit falling almost 9% over the same period. Last week alone, the Dow fell by more than 100 points for three consecutive days, [...]

[Read more →]

I am buying scandal-tainted AIG for my retirement account. The breadth of accounting irregularities at AIG has been widely reported. The Dow component stock has fallen from a high of $72 (reached after the resolution of a previous set of problems) to around $52. AIG has also delayed filing its 2004 annual report pending a [...]

[Read more →]

The Globe and Mail website has an entire issue of Trade By Numbers dedicated to foreign investments for Canadians. There is an excellent introduction to closed-end funds by popular columnist Rob Carrick. I still think that iShares MSCI Emerging Markets Index Fund (EEM) is the best way to maintain exposure to volatile emerging markets.
Another article [...]

[Read more →]

I usually think and write about mundane money matters, but today I want to write about the incredible spirit of Terry Fox who, 25 years ago, ran his Marathon of Hope. The Royal Canadian Mint is honouring Terry Fox with a one dollar coin, so maybe this post will count as a personal finance item!
There [...]

[Read more →]

Fellow blogger Jim who writes the Blueprint for Financial Prosperity blog writes about ETF and Mutual fund investing in his latest post. I am a big fan of ETFs and The Sleepy Portfolio, which I track, is composed almost entirely of ETFs. However, I have problems with many of Jim’s suggestions.
I don’t think average Joe [...]

[Read more →]

This column on Kiplinger.com suggests that it is smart to take the traffic ticket to a judge even if guilty. I can attest that this is largely true based on an experience I had with a parking ticket. A few years ago, I had parked my car in a downtown street that did not have [...]

[Read more →]

The deadline (midnight of May 2, 2005) for fixing the tax return for 2004 is only a few weeks away. We will examine the various options to file taxes:
Pen and Paper:A surprising number of people still file paper returns (about 50% according to the Canada Revenue Agency). The forms can be downloaded from the CRA [...]

[Read more →]

I’ve read Prof. Jeremy Siegel’s Stocks for the Long Run and his latest book The Future for Investors is on my must-read list (I am hoping our local library would get a copy, so I wouldn’t have to buy). BusinessWeek magazine has an excellent series of debates on the book found here, here and here. [...]

[Read more →]