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This and That

November 9th, 2007 ·

  1. Do you make investment decisions rationally? Or are you giving up some returns to express your beliefs or to display status?
  2. The fancy term for our irrational preference for something we own is cognitive dissonance and you can bet that it has an effect on our stock picks.
  3. Jon Chevreau’s post on a reader comment about the flood of retirement surveys we are being subjected to is humorous.
  4. Rob Carrick noted that “tap-and-go” credit card payment is getting widespread. I can’t wait to get a PayPass enabled President’s Choice MasterCard. It would be a priceless way to pay for our double-double addiction.
  5. The Yanks are noticing that we are heading south for bargains.
  6. ING Direct wants to see your creative ideas for saving money and is offering a prize of $10,000 for a YouTube video that “showcases the most original way to save money”.

Blog Roundup:

  1. Larry MacDonald notes that one in three mutual funds hug their benchmark index and reports on a study that devised a method to identify such funds.
  2. Four Pillars bounced around asset allocation ideas for your child’s RESP.
  3. Financial Jungle listed the dividend stocks he thinks will be good long-term holdings at the right price.
  4. Canadian Financial DIY compared computer prices in Canada, US and UK and reached a familiar, but depressing conclusion: we pay the most for computers too!
  5. Million Dollar Journey featured a post on the Efficient Market Hypothesis.
  6. Location matters in investing too. Where Does All My Money Go? says bonds belong in your RRSP.

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Tags: Miscellaneous

10 responses so far ↓

  • 1 FourPillars // Nov 9, 2007 at 7:58 am

    Thanks a lot for the mention!

    Mike

  • 2 MillionDollarJourney // Nov 9, 2007 at 8:15 am

    Thanks again CC!

  • 3 WhereDoesAllMyMoneyGo.com // Nov 9, 2007 at 10:48 am

    Hi CC - thanks for the mention - have a great weekend. :)

    Preet

  • 4 FinancialJungle.com // Nov 9, 2007 at 2:39 pm

    Wow. 69 hits from CanadianCapitalist.com so far this morning. My server is smoking. Thanks for the referrals.

    FJ

  • 5 Canadian Capitalist // Nov 9, 2007 at 2:41 pm

    You’re welcome. You guys have a nice weekend too.

  • 6 Derek // Nov 9, 2007 at 3:39 pm

    Regarding the “tap-and-go” credit cards, there’s a pile of positive marketing spin out there touting the benefits of speedy transactions.

    There’s relatively little out there identifying the cards’ use of RFID, and the related concerns around security and privacy. Industry adopters will say, for example, you can’t hack and clone an RFID tag. Critics say otherwise; google “Jonathan Westhues”.

    I, for one, will resist being issued a tap-and-go card. The potential for theft is scary.

  • 7 Tony Danza // Nov 9, 2007 at 8:18 pm

    Funny, the behaviours discussed in links 1 and 2 on today’s post seem to be manifesting themselves in the discussion on the “Better to Rent or Buy” post.

    ie: It may be costing me an extra couple hundred grand to own my home but I like owning my home! Kind of makes the whole exercise of being a diligent saver and investor (for the gotta own a home at all cost crowd) a lot like jumping over dollars to pick up nickels.

  • 8 Tom // Nov 11, 2007 at 4:19 pm

    I didn’t even hear of that ING direct contest until now. Great list of stories!

  • 9 Canadian Capitalist // Nov 11, 2007 at 6:52 pm

    Tony: I reached the opposite conclusion as you did. I thought that unlike homes most people bought stocks with strictly profit as a motive but the first article suggests that that isn’t the case. What’s worse, a lot of investors don’t seem to be aware of it.

  • 10 Tony Danza // Nov 13, 2007 at 5:03 pm

    Exactly, my point. I erroneously thought most people bought a home to avoid throwing money away on rent but the “better to rent or buy” analysis suggests the opposite and I doubt many home buyers are aware of this. The psychology obviously works both ways.

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