Canadian Capitalist

The markets are well into correction territory. Since New Year’s Day alone, the TSX has dropped 7.5% and the S&P 500 has dropped 9.2%. It’s the nature of markets to rise and fall, sometimes sharply. As long as you have the right asset allocation, it’s best to stay the course.
Our big banks delivered record earnings [...]

[Read more →]

On the recommendation of a reader, I downloaded StudioTax for a test drive. To be quite honest, I didn’t have high expectations - I thought that the software would be functional and accurate but clunky - but I was pleasantly surprised at the quality and ease-of-use of the product. StudioTax is free to download (the [...]

[Read more →]

After innovating and leading in online high-interest savings accounts for years, ING Direct is introducing three low-cost, index-based, mutual funds under the “Streetwise” name. The Streetwise funds offer one-stop convenience for all-inclusive fees of 1% - no minimums, no sales loads and no administration fees. The Balanced Streetwise fund has a classic portfolio split - [...]

[Read more →]

It is not widely known that the Canada Child Tax Benefit (CCTB) is based on a family’s net income i.e. income from all sources less deductions such as RRSP contributions, childcare expenses etc. If you are working on your 2007 taxes, enter the numbers from Line 236 of T1 General of your return and your [...]

[Read more →]

With traditional pension plans covering less and less numbers of Canadians, RRSPs are supposed to take their place. But, a significant number of Canadians don’t even have a RRSP and only a tiny fraction contribute the maximum every year. One of the reasons for this sad state of affairs is a lack of awareness - [...]

[Read more →]

Rob Carrick breaks the news that Questrade will offer the first RRSP that can hold US dollars in Canada.
James Daw writes in The Star that 2008 could be the year in which insurance stocks outperform the big banks.
If you have a variable-rate mortgage or a loan, there may be good news in the form of [...]

[Read more →]

Readers know that I’ve been critical of Questrade’s customer service but Questrade’s move to allow investors to hold US dollars in their RRSPs should be applauded as a bold move with RRSP season just around the corner. Rob Carrick writes in The Globe and Mail today that Questrade will allow investors to deposit US [...]

[Read more →]

Not too long ago, investors couldn’t get enough of Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs) bidding up the asset class so much that the asset class didn’t yield much of a premium over 10-year Canada bonds. How things have changed! Today, XRE (iShares CDN REIT Sector Index Fund) yields 6.8% compared to 3.85% for the 10-year [...]

[Read more →]

Jon is a frequent commenter on this blog and I recently noticed that he has spent a lot of effort to put together an excellent primer on DRIPs for Canadians. Jon’s DRIP resources include a flow chart to get started with DRIPs, a FAQ and a list of Canadian companies offering DRIPs and SPPs and [...]

[Read more →]

Often, it doesn’t pay to procrastinate. I wrote about how I was in the process of moving our investment accounts out of Questrade and though I had filled out the transfer forms, I’ve been neglecting to mail the forms to TD Waterhouse. Sure enough, at the end of the year, some of my ETF holdings [...]

[Read more →]