Cutting Through the Noise
October 10, 2014
Tom was on BNN yesterday discussing why it’s a good time to give your portfolio a gut check.
Read MoreOctober 7, 2014
We wouldn’t normally comment on short-term market moves, but the recent turbulence is elevating the emotions of some investors.
Read MoreSeptember 11, 2014
A lot of money is flowing into alternative investments again. But what's wrong with good old stocks and bonds?
Read MoreAugust 27, 2014
“It’s not volatility itself that generally leads to poor longer-term performance, but rather it appears to be investors’ emotional reactions to volatility that ultimately lead to poor performance.” – Richard Bernstein, Richard Bernstein Advisors, New York. This is an ...
Read MoreAugust 15, 2014
It's been a good time to be an investor over the last five years, but at Steadyhand we've been playing a cautionary tune of late. As we explain in our Current Thinking on the Home Page, valuations are getting stretched in the bond and stock markets. Clients should ...
Read MoreAugust 8, 2014
So far, it’s been a crappy summer in southern Ontario – cool, rainy and unpredictable. I recently finished two weeks at Crystal Lake, so I experienced it firsthand. Near the end of the holiday, I had two people say to me that we need to get used to this type of weather ...
Read MoreMay 27, 2014
The following chart is a screen shot of our Volatility Meter. The tool gives you the ability to toggle across different time frames and see how different asset mixes performed. The chart below shows the annual returns (1961 – 2013) for an indexed portfolio made up of ...
Read MoreMay 14, 2014
In a post last month, I gave my not-so-subtle view about borrowing money to invest – it’s possibly appropriate for a miniscule number of investors, and totally inappropriate for the rest. Last week I heard Cliff Asness speak. He is one of the founders of ...
Read MoreMay 12, 2014
You may have heard the phrase "Sell in May and go away". It’s an investment strategy that involves selling your stocks in May and repurchasing them in the fall. It’s based on the premise that stocks have historically performed better during the months of ...
Read MoreApril 7, 2014
Over the last couple of weeks we’ve met with two prospective clients who were dealing with unpleasant situations related to investment loans. In one case, the loan proceeds were used to purchase mutual funds with deferred sales charges. (I haven’t quite ...
Read MoreFebruary 26, 2014
Ballast /bal•last (noun)/ Any heavy material used to stabilize a ship or airship. Also: weight, bulk, stabilizer, balance, counterweight, counterbalance. In a recent post I suggested that one reason clients are resistant to re-balancing their portfolios is that our ...
Read MoreFebruary 25, 2014
Fortune magazine got a scoop on Warren Buffett’s annual letter. In an exclusive excerpt, Mr. Buffett writes about the basics of investing in a way nobody else can do, including real life examples (purchases of a farm and commercial building). For those of you ...
Read MoreFebruary 20, 2014
The benefits of diversification - no explanation required. The table was inspired by a blog from Canadian Couch Potato.
Read MoreFebruary 19, 2014
I see it all the time – people unwilling to invest in stocks because of the debt situation in the United States, Europe, China or Canada, the economy’s dependence on central bank stimulation or China’s slowdown. Their hesitation may pay off one day, but ...
Read MoreFebruary 14, 2014
I just came out of a team meeting in which the question was asked - How are client conversations going with regard to re-balancing? For clients who have not touched their portfolio in a year or more (and aren’t in the Founders Fund), it’s likely that their ...
Read MoreFebruary 12, 2014
It’s a great time to be a homer. Who isn’t pulling for Canada to do well in Sochi – Alex and Mik, the sisters, 3-2 over the Americans this morning ... Canadians have lots of experience being homers, because they’ve done it for a decade now in their investment portfolios. Even though Canada accounts for only 4-5% of the value of the world’s stock markets, it makes up the vast majority of individuals’ portfolios ...
Read MoreFebruary 5, 2014
Every NFL football team is allowed to field 11 players. The Seattle Seahawks are an exception. They play with 12. The “12th Man”, however, isn’t a player per se. He’s 67,000 fans. He’s the raucous group that packs CenturyLink Field to cheer on his beloved Hawks. The 12th Man is a passionate, energetic fan, well-versed in football. He knows when to be silent (when the home team has the ball) and when to ...
Read MoreDecember 4, 2013
It’s been a great four years, but let’s not get carried away with this market. It’s time to be patient. This was one of the messages Tom emphasized on BNN this morning. With the strong run in the markets, stock valuations are now at the upper end of a normal range...
Read MoreNovember 25, 2013
I enjoy periodically perusing the list of new investment products, as there’s usually a good laugh in there somewhere (remember the FocusShares ISE-Reverse Wal-Mart Supplier ETF, and my favourite, the HealthShares Dermatology and Wound Care ETF)...
Read MoreNovember 18, 2013
November 11, 2013
What now? Stock markets have been on a roll and investors who’ve been leery about owning stocks are now wading back into the risk pool. With good returns comes confidence. In the face of this better vibe, it’s important that investors don’t stray from...
Read MoreOctober 25, 2013
Sports broadcasts usually start with the color commentator providing viewers with the ‘Keys to the Game’. For the Maple Leafs, it might be: (1) contain Crosby, (2) pound the Penguins’ defense and (3) pray. I don’t watch enough sports to be definitive on...
Read MoreOctober 21, 2013
Hard assets can be a good source of diversification in a portfolio, as their prices or market values can have a low degree of correlation to stocks or bonds. Commodities like gold and oil can act as a hedge against inflation (although not always). The same goes for...
Read MoreOctober 4, 2013
Let’s pretend it’s two years ago and we’re having coffee. I ask you to predict how your stock portfolio will do over the next two years, but there’s a twist. I have divine insight and can tell you in advance what September, 2013, will look like. As it happens, we're...
Read MoreSeptember 27, 2013
This week I’ve been seeing and hearing ads from the Federal government defending their cell phone policies. The ads are in response to the telecom industry’s active campaign to discredit those policies. Seeing my tax dollars used to debate policy with a self...
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