As if they’re aren’t enough potential sources of stock market volatility, we also have to contend with abusive short-selling practices from time to time.
Short selling has long been a legitimate   Read More

Biotech stocks typically get a second wind after the American Society of Clinical Oncologists annual conference in June and climb for the rest of summer. “Usually it’s in late June,”   Read More

Long term buy-and-hold strategies rely on up trending markets. Long term buy-low-sell-high strategies rely on volatility. That’s why behavioural finance analyst Ken Norquay recommends incorporating selling into your investment strategy.
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When your stocks are down, remember that every dog has its day.
Equity markets have had a strong start to the year. The positive shifts in investor sentiment and stock prices   Read More

Pete Seeger’s 1950s hit ‘Turn! Turn! Turn! To everything there is a season’ popularized the message of Ecclesiastes 3:1-8. So why, behavioural finance analyst Ken Norquay wonders, does the securities   Read More

Great graduation gifts needn’t cost you much. Smart-as-a-whip grads may have earned straight ‘A’s, but did they learn anything about managing money? You can help them start a post-grad program   Read More

We have always advised strenuously against stock-market timing. And the longer we work at investments, the more convinced we become that no one has much of an edge at timing.
It’s   Read More

The grim reaper is not going to hang around and wait for you to get organized. He works on his own schedule. Trust and Estate Practitioner Mark Halpern has both   Read More

Eddie Cochrane lamented in his 1958 hit ‘Summertime Blues’ that his congressman brushed him off with: “I’d like to help you son, but you’re too young to vote.” At AGMs,   Read More

Even the most conservative investor has to own up to some grudging admiration for the successful stock trader. That’s because conservative investors recognize the difficulties that traders face. Before you   Read More

There are lots of people that offer up market predictions. Far fewer in number are those who command a great deal of respect, based on their past record.
It’s a rare   Read More

“Being able to perform in line or better than the market while holding almost a third in cash suggests that our stock picking and trading strategy have provided positive alpha   Read More

Behavioural finance analyst Ken Norquay says when you have an investment plan that buys and sells securities in harmony with ever-changing financial risk, your portfolio is safest.
  Read More

The investment industry relies heavily on investors owning individual company stocks traded on stock exchanges. But behavioural finance analyst Ken Norquay says we can use exchange-traded funds to invest in   Read More

We have always advised strenuously against stock-market timing. And the longer we work at investments, the more convinced we become that no one has much of an edge at timing.
[caption   Read More

Pete Seeger’s 1950s hit ‘Turn! Turn! Turn! To everything there is a season’ popularized the message of Ecclesiastes 3:1-8. So why, behavioural finance analyst Ken Norquay wonders, does the securities   Read More

Growing dividends give you advantages. Continue to seek stocks that regularly raise their dividends. Particularly the nine ‘dividend aristocrats’ shown below.
Growing dividends lead to capital gains   Read More

Split shares can really boost your yield. They offer you the choice of doubling your eligible dividend income or doubling your capital gain with the potential bonus of any extra   Read More

Eddie Cochrane lamented in his 1958 hit ‘Summertime Blues’ that his congressman brushed him off with: “I’d like to help you son, but you’re too young to vote.” At AGMs,   Read More

The grim reaper is not going to hang around and wait for you to get organized. He works on his own schedule. Trust and Estate Practitioner Mark Halpern has both   Read More

Great graduation gifts needn’t cost you much. Smart-as-a-whip grads may have earned straight ‘A’s, but did they learn anything about managing money? You can help them start a post-grad program   Read More

You receive passive income through ventures that require little daily effort on your part and business activities in which you do not materially participate during the year. Mark Halpern, CFP,   Read More

Equity mutual fund managers sense a high risk in the stock market and are increasing their cash reserves. But the amount of cash they hold is restricted by the fund’s   Read More

You should have some exposure to US stocks now. We recommend the hedged versions of PH&N US Equity Fund, which is a managed offering, and TD US Index Fund-e, an   Read More

The investment industry has its jargon. One of the least understood, and overly complex phrases, is ‘asset allocation’. For many advisers, it’s just an attempt to make market timing sound   Read More

We have always advised strenuously against stock-market timing. And the longer we work at investments, the more convinced we become that no one has much of an edge at timing.
[caption   Read More

When you invest in a new industry, it’s best to use the ‘basket approach’. Spread your investment over a basket of stocks. That way you’re more likely to end up   Read More

Accountant Mark Goodfield, aka The Blunt Bean Counter,
No one does a ‘high five’ over a capital loss, especially if you can’t use it as an offset.   Read More

The investment industry relies heavily on investors owning individual company stocks traded on stock exchanges. But behavioural finance analyst Ken Norquay says we can use exchange-traded funds to invest in   Read More

Historically, small stocks beat big stocks. But almost all of the better gains of small stocks occurred in one unusual nine-year period. Big stocks should do well in 2019.
At first   Read More

Split shares can really boost your yield. They offer you the choice of doubling your eligible dividend income or doubling your capital gain with the potential bonus of any extra   Read More

You receive passive income through ventures that require little daily effort on your part and business activities in which you do not materially participate during the year. Mark Halpern, CFP,   Read More

If you have new money to invest, we consider the Canadian stock market a good place to put some of your money. We would take this opportunity to invest in   Read More

No one always knows where the stock market will go in the short run. But in the long run, the longer you remain invested, the more money you’ll make. And   Read More

Bond funds seem like the answer to a number of investor needs. They provide income, apparent safety in your portfolio and even speculation on interest rates. But they fail to   Read More

Equity mutual fund managers sense a high risk in the stock market and are increasing their cash reserves. But the amount of cash they hold is restricted by the fund’s   Read More

Continue with your investment program, including regular additions to your small-cap funds, if these suit your temperament and objectives. But maintain a balance between conservative funds and aggressive funds.
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A friend joked that we’re overly-fixated on dividends. The thing is, many studies show that dividends can add significantly to an investor’s returns.
Paying out high dividends   Read More

Whether you invest in equity mutual funds or directly in stocks, you need to diversify your holdings and balance them to suit your own investment circumstances and objectives. Below we   Read More

If you’ve got a case of the January credit card blues, you should first use your cash flow to repay high-interest debt. As high-interest debt melts away, you’ll have more   Read More

Cryptoassets are not just cryptocurrencies; every asset will be digitized and these cryptoassets are ultimately going to come to represent almost every single asset we have—natural assets, commodities, securities, and   Read More

Willie Sutton robbed banks “because that’s where the money is”. A rewarding short-term financial plan, but for the long term all it got Willie was a new address. Assuming that   Read More

Behavioural financial analyst Ken Norquay believes managers of big portfolios are ‘concerned’ about the market. But they have a liquidity problem. Selling will depress the market. Small investors don’t have   Read More

Rebalancing your portfolio leads to trading costs. These include brokerage fees when you sell one investment and reinvest in another, bid-ask spreads and taxes on realized capital gains.
[caption id=”attachment_7370″ align=”alignleft”   Read More

American children’s author E. L. Konigsburg observed about honor rolls: “By the time they get to sixth grade, honor roll students won’t risk making a mistake; and sometimes to be   Read More

DRIPs (Dividend Re-Investment Plans) and cash option plans let individual investors build their wealth. That’s thanks to the dozen advantages that we outline here.
Here are   Read More

The United States and China are embroiled in a trade war. Britain must soon leave the European Union. Italy’s populist government wants to go on a spending spree. Political uncertainty   Read More

You have gone through a major change—you’ve sold the business that took up a huge part of your life. Just as you made careful decisions while building, growing and then   Read More

Floating-rate bonds and floating-rate bond ETFs offer you a way to protect your fixed-income portfolio from rising interest rates.
In view of rising interest rates, we’ve advised you to shorten the   Read More

RRSPs, RRIFs, TFSAs, PPPs, critical illness insurance, long-term care insurance, high-limit disability insurance, life insurance, joint-and-last-to-die insurance, charitable donations at death—no wonder we get so tired as we get older!   Read More

It makes sense for Canadians to invest some money in foreign stocks. If you’re a short-term investor, there are cases where hedging against currency risk is appropriate. But don’t hedge   Read More

Many investors repeat the same mistakes. Self-awareness may help you recognize them in your own investing and make a conscious effort to avoid them. Or else you may have to   Read More