Guiding you along your financial journey
Like most investors, Canadians prefer to stick close to home. That is, most Canadians think of investing in their own stock and bond markets first, before venturing beyond our borders. That would be fine if Canada’s stock market made up a large part of the global stock market, but it does not. While the volatility of the Canadian Dollar can […]
What is a Real Estate Investment Trust (REIT)? REITs own real estate like shopping malls, apartment buildings, office buildings and even public storage. REITs make it easy for small investors to own real estate and takes away the headache of being a landlord. One of the main attractions for investors is the steady cash payments that REITs provide. When interest […]
You might be thinking about adding gold to your portfolio since gold rices are at 5 year lows. In addition to gold prices being well of their 2011 highs, gold can provide diversification benefits to a portfolio of stocks and bonds. When priced in Canadian dollars, gold has often been negatively correlated to Canadian stocks and bonds. While the correlations […]
For most of July investors continued to focus on Greece and turned their attention to China as Chinese stocks continued to correct from what is looking more and more like a bubble. The Bank of Canada cut interest rates by 0.25% for the second time this year, while the US Federal Reserve talked up the possibility of an interest rate […]
The price of oil has dropped 50% in the last 12 months from around $100 to less than $50. If you think that oil prices are going to recover, how can you take advantage of that? You could buy oil the way oil traders do and buy oil futures or options thereon. Trading oil futures or options is complicated and […]
On a semi-annual basis S&P Dow Jones produces a scorecard called the SPIVA® Canada Scorecard that reviews how actively managed mutual funds performed versus their benchmarks. It’s difficult reading for proponents of active fund management and heartening for those promoting passive, index-based strategies. S&P Dow Jones has been producing this scorecard for Canadian mutual funds since 2004, so we now […]
Investors around the world were rattled by the continuing saga in Greece, sending stock and bond markets lower around the world. Yields on short-term bonds dropped below zero briefly in the US as investors rushed to safety. Earlier in the month investors focused on economic data which was largely positive.
Equity markets outside Canada continued to perform well as economic data showed strength. Outside of high yield, bond markets were generally weak as economic and interest rate concerns weighed on investors.