I appreciate all the advice. I am not confident investing in the stock market yet, so i probably will hold until later.

I would like to buy a home next year and so need to save in a Financial product that will help my investment grow in the short term. RRSPs is definitely the first option since I can avail of the First Time home buyers clause.

In your opinion, would investing in mutual funds, like the e-series fund mentioned above be a good short term investment? I would think not, solely based on the current performance of the fund.

I will be going to TD today to open an RESP for my daughter, btw, so thanks guys and to you CC for this great site!

The thing about investing is that everybody’s got an opinion and it will inevitably be different from everybody else.

With that being said, MY opinion is that you need to first take a step back and look at the macro-economic condition of where you’re investing. In my humble opinion, there is still bad economic news pouring out – things like consumer confidence (a measure of consumer spending which is hte driver of the economy) still pointing negative, massive job losses in the manufacturing sector turning the Canadian economy into a one-trick pony (commodities only), plus a downturn in the commodity market (driving down the price of our exports) and of course the credit crunch, the ABCP fiasco still not having been resolved, hedge funds unwinding their carry trades, the “toxic debt” which is in US mortgages to sub-prime borrowers, etc. The list of bad news is endless and there’s not much good news in sight. Based upon the overall economic conditions, my opinion is that stocks are NOT a good place to put your money, unless you are comfortable with potentially losing 20-50% of your investment. It is better to invest in secure (meaning CDIC insured investment vehicles like high interest savings accounts and GICs) until the macro-economic news starts to get better.

When the economic news starts to look not so bad, THEN you can start to consider which businesses are likely to perform well in whatever environment. From there, you can pick individual stocks of companies which are trading at a discount in relation to their earnings, their book value, their dividend yield, their management team’s past performance… You name it, pick your poison and you can measure those stocks against that…

Just keep in mind the old adage… A rising tide lifts all boats. Well, in my opinion, the converse is also true, where a falling tide can also run all boats aground as well.

http://www.canadiancapitalist.com/recommended-reading

Adeptus: I’m definitely in the stocks are a huge bargain camp but I have no idea what the next few years will bring. I’ve said many times that I’m investing for 2030, not 2010. The idea is to invest the portfolio according to an asset allocation policy at all times.

But to the investors who point to the myriad problems facing the economy and markets, my question would be: why do you think all the bad news isn’t already baked into the price? Why is your estimate of valuation levels is better than the market’s? For every bearish “guru”, I can name investors with great track records who are bullish now.

Despite what all the media and even this website says about this is the investment oportunity of the century, don’t be fooled, the bottom of the stock markets is far from over.

Investing now in the stock markets will be like “catching falling knives”. You will get hurt, as they haven’t hit the floor yet.

If you look at the news from a macro level, things are NOT getting better:

- (US) Government intervention has gotten more and more severe, pumping more and more hundreds of billions, with less and less impact over the past 2 months.
- In fact, the US government has realized it can’t solve the problem(s) on their own and decided to meet with the G8 countries to execute colaborate efforts.
- With that failure a few weeks ago, they are not proposing to meet with the G20; however that is bound to fail too, since each country is so vastly different in how they operate and their situation (not to mention distrust in US foreign & economic policies) that they are not going to be able to solve the problems.
- Further, any government action has thus far been too little too late, and when trying to get many governments to act in unison – if at all possible – will be even slower. In the mean time stock markets burn.
- There are now entire countries at risk of defaulting on their entire national debts: Iceland, Ukraine, Pakistan, Argentina, Russia, to name but a few. The “IMF” (international lender of last resort) will step in and provide loans with ridiculous borrowing costs, temporarily propping these countries upward, but then assuring their ultimate financial collapse.
- The surge in the US dollar is a huge sign of WEAKNESS, not strength in the US economy. This would take an essay itself to explain. I expect a huge reversal of the US dollar in the next few months.
- Corporate Bonds are likely to crash next.
- Foreign nations may stop buying US T-bills from which the US treasury gets $ to execute bail-outs. Once that stops, Treasury/Fed will be printing $ against thin air, and US dollar may collapse, though that may not happen for 6 months to 2 years yet.
- Oil going down, down, and down further – lately @ $63 a barrel; when we’re supposed to be in a peak oil scenario (oil in the world is running out), means that the world economy has realized we are in a global recession, with some countries (named above) approaching financial collapse.

The problems we’re seeing today are the result of decades of erroneous actions by US gov and countries abroad in terms of fiscal policies. This is not a problem that can be resolved over night. Expect a decade of problems – at least.

I strongly suggest you watch “The Crash Course”, which is a series of short videos on the key problems of our global economy explained in laymen’s terms.

http://www.chrismartenson.com/crash-course

Don’t believe the talking heads on CNN & CNBC & especially fox news & MSM. Many of those economists were wrong, and continue to be wrong. The sub-prime problems, has not and is not contained, the fundamentals of our economies are anything but strong, and the bottom of the stock market is nowhere near the levels we are seeing today.

If you want to follow economists that have been right, time and time again may I suggest you google the following:
Roubini, Mish, itulip.com

Regards,
Adeptus.

You can use a huge variety of investments inside an RESP, so it may take some thought, but please just don’t get in to a group RESP plan. You may as well just use a GIC ladder with really low fees at a credit union if you want absolute safety.

I was wondering what the people here think about investing in the current market, and if there is a less risky investment product, mainly for my daughters RESP and my wife and my own retirement goals.

I understand this may be the wrong place to post such a question, so do pardon me!

Thanks