Cutting Through the Noise
August 16, 2006
Originally published: October, 2003 (Phillips, Hager & North Investment Funds Quarterly Report) Context of the article: There are rules of thumb in the investment industry that get established despite the fact that they aren't necessarily correct. This article discusses four ...
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Originally published: July, 2003 ( Phillips, Hager & North Investment Funds Quarterly Report) Context of the article: In 2003, there was a lot of press on the conflicts of interest that are inherent in the investment industry. At that time, ...
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Originally published: April, 2003 ( Phillips, Hager & North Investment Funds Quarterly Report) Context of the article: The stock market had been going down for three years. Three year returns for the Canadian and U.S. markets (Cdn $) were -11% ...
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Originally published: July, 2002 (Phillips, Hager & North Investment Funds Quarterly Report) Context of the article: In the summer of 2002, we were well into a bear market for equities. This article is build around the fact that when everyone ...
Read MoreAugust 11, 2006
With all the performance data from the June 30th quarter-end piled up on my desk and getting staler by the minute, I thought I'd better get at it. I was going through the SEI Pooled Fund survey (which reviews the ...
Read MoreAugust 4, 2006
In today's National Post, Jonathan Chevreau writes about Steadyhand Investment Funds in a story entitled: ' A tough way to start a fund '. This article certainly reminds Neil and me of the challenges we face in selling directly to ...
Read MoreAugust 3, 2006
It's been a couple of weeks since Westjet settled with Air Canada for $15 million. As you may remember, Air Canada was suing Westjet for commercial espionage. Westjet was caught illegally stealing data on flight loads from Air Canada's data ...
Read MoreAugust 3, 2006
The Globe and Mail, Report on Business, Guest Column Published August 1st, 2006 As I contemplate starting a new investment company, I've had to assess what form it will take. Specifically, I've been trying to decide whether the good ol' ...
Read MoreAugust 1, 2006
I mentioned in my last posting that Neil Jensen and I (along with a few other like-minded people) are starting a new mutual fund company, Steadyhand Investment Funds Inc . We are at the stage now where one of those ...
Read MoreJuly 31, 2006
Us - that's who! I am partnering with Neil Jensen and a few other like-minded people to start Steadyhand Investment Funds . We're hoping to open the doors in the first quarter of 2007, although the date will be highly ...
Read MoreJuly 27, 2006
The Globe and Mail, Report on Business, Guest Column July 21 2006 There are big decisions being made in the resource sector these days, as there are in the housing market, and at their core, the decisions are very similar. ...
Read MoreJuly 27, 2006
The Globe and Mail, Report on Business, Guest Column July 12 2006 In April, 2003, when everyone was felling pretty beaten up after three years of falling stock markets, I wrote an article in the Phillips, Hager & North Quarterly ...
Read MoreJuly 12, 2006
As I contemplate starting a new investment company, I've had to assess what form it will take. Specifically, I've been trying to decide whether the good ole mutual fund is still a valid investment vehicle, or is it going the ...
Read MoreJuly 4, 2006
"If something isn't worth doing, it isn't worth doing well." This is one of my favourite Charlie Munger lines and I think it's very applicable for those of us who manage money, for clients or just for ourselves. Specifically, I'm ...
Read MoreJuly 4, 2006
I can't help but feel that the move by Phelps Dodge to buy (or merge with) Inco and Falconbridge will turn out badly. I admit, I'm not a bull on commodities. I think record high prices will stimulate significant growth ...
Read MoreJune 28, 2006
The Globe and Mail, Report on Business, Guest Column April 12 2006 A while back, Ira Gluskin recommended the new Barton Biggs book, Hedgehogging , in his column. I've enjoyed reading Mr. Biggs since his days at Morgan Stanley and ...
Read MoreJune 28, 2006
The Globe and Mail, Report on Business, Guest Column March 17 2006 As I sat and watched the Neil Young movie Heart of Gold last week, I was reminded how great it is to be Canadian. Throughout the movie, Neil ...
Read MoreJune 28, 2006
The news was out last week that China's economic growth in the first quarter was as strong as ever. The message was the same as it is every quarter (boring!), but it's nonetheless important because China's rapid growth is the ...
Read MoreJune 22, 2006
It is pretty much conventional wisdom that the housing cycle in the U.S. is going to turn down. The fundamentals point that way and there are now signs of a slowdown. The consensus amongst the analysts, however, it that it ...
Read MoreJune 22, 2006
The Globe and Mail, Report on Business, Guest Column February 16, 2006 When I talk to investors, invariably I find myself reminding them that there is no free lunch in investing. If someone is promising you higher returns, then there ...
Read MoreJune 22, 2006
I've always pushed myself to stay current, and now that I'm a newly minted 50-year-old, I work at it even harder. There's no Eagles' Greatest Hits in my music collection. It's the New Pornographers and Metric on my iPod. I use a BlackBerry, a Bosu balance trainer, read blogs and leave my T-shirt untucked.
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