Canadian Capitalist

I wouldn’t count the blessings just yet but the days of 40% to 50% margins for the cellphone companies might be over. The Government has decided to reserve spectrum for “new entrants” in an upcoming auction, paving the way for more competition in wireless. That’s good news for Canadian consumers but not so much if [...]

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I am a big fan of TD e-Series Index Funds but if you already have an account with a discount broker other than TD Waterhouse, the Precision series index funds from Altamira would an acceptable, albeit slightly more expensive option. A couple of readers also mentioned that TD Mutual Funds are not ideal for RESP [...]

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I owned Loblaws (TSX: L) at one point earlier this year but sold the entire position at a small loss last spring. I had no idea that the troubles at Canada’s largest grocer would worsen and sold simply to increase our exposure to bonds, which was far less than target.
Earlier this year, it was easy [...]

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You may want to check out Jon Chevreau’s interview with finance professor Ziv Bodie, author of “Worry-Free Investing”, who calls into question most of todays widely held financial wisdom:

Prof. Bodie argues that ordinary investors do not have to take any stock market risk when there is a safe, guaranteed long-term investment in the form of [...]

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I love to receive and give books as gifts and I am hoping Santa would give me The Complete Calvin and Hobbes this year. With Christmas just around the corner, here are some gift ideas for the financially inclined person on your list:
Starters:
Spend Smarter, Save Bigger: We spend a lot of time discussing investment topics [...]

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Exactly three years ago, I launched this blog with a short post on how to get Aeroplan points reinstated because Air Canada started expiring them in dormant accounts. I doubt anyone ever read that first post. From such humble beginnings, this blog has grown to about 800 posts and more than 5,600 comments. While things [...]

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My first foray into investing was putting $5,000 into a labour-sponsored investment fund (LSIF) in early 2000. Nearly eight years later, the original stake is now worth $2,000. If you add the initial $1,500 tax-break, the capital loss over eight years is 30%. That’s not as bad as some other stinkers I’ve owned but the [...]

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Phil regularly comments on this blog and I asked him if he would be interested in contributing to a new segment where you, dear reader, can talk about anything on your mind. You can share with other readers your financial success stories or maybe something that didn’t work out so well. If you’d like to [...]

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Qtrade is a bit of a mystery despite being ranked the #1 discount broker in the Globe and Mail survey for two years running. I personally don’t have an account with Qtrade, so I asked Evan, who has been a customer for about one year, if he would be willing to share his experience with [...]

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The following question is from Charlie about in-kind RRSP contributions:
Let’s say I’ve bought a US dividend-paying security outside my RRSP with US dollars. Can I then transfer it to my RRSPs so that any subsequent dividends will not be taxed? If so, how does one track exactly how much RRSP room they have used [...]

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