SUV's, large screen TV's and forced labour 'till age 62!!!!

We are now about 24 months into and on our way out of a pretty horrific period of global financial instability.  The dust has settled, the slow motion replay's have been made over and over and we have a pretty good idea of what not to do next time.  Excess is the word which sums it up.  In many cases the world has fingered the financial industry movers and shakers for taking excessive risk.  In other cases people have fingered consumers for their excessive personal debt. It doesn't matter any more. Buying too many SUV's , large screen TV's and allowing our finance industry to bundle all that consumer debt into personal "equity" loans sold as high valued real estate investments was a bad idea. Important part is we have pretty much learned our lesson. Haven't we???  Well I think here in north America we have.  We know that for many, working well past age 65 will be a reality.  And heck, what's so bad about that?  We are living longer and the reality of out living our retirement savings is something everyone must  be aware of.  So why in the hell don't the Europeans get this???  COME ON!!! this nonsensical behaviour of protesting, striking and more or less causing havoc with global markets because you now have to work until age 62 (I'll type it so we don't forget it) SIXTY TWO!!!  is pure Balderdash!!  Suck it up Europe!! You get like 400 weeks a year of paid vacation, evade income tax like it's and entitlement and have posh government benefits.  Don't look at north America's excess as the only reason you are in tough times.  Your EXCESSIVE leisure has a lot to do with it too! Over and out,,,

what to do,,, what to do,,,,,

The best thing about a Sunday to me is knowing that the biggest worries I have will be fried or omelet.  Numbing my brain with Food Network challenges, chain drinking espresso's and plunking out new riff's on my guitar drops me smack dab in the middle of the couch potato poster.  I love it.
This was pretty much what I was up against today.  Took a couple of thick java's to get myself prepared but I was ready to face the challenge.  Then,,, the phone rings.  Who dares threaten to cleave themselves through this rhythm I've got going here.  Apparently, my son was to be at a Cadets field training exercises at 9:00 am.  So entrenched in my groove I almost contemplated, if only for a mere second, to have him miss it.  Dammit,  I couldn't do that to him so into the car we pile, bed head and untucked.  20 minutes out of town to said destination.  But,,,, when we got there, no cars were to be found.  RRRRRRRRRRrrrrrrrrrrr. Biting my tongue and nearly Luke Duking the Volvo around in the parking lot, we headed back to the real destination not 2 blocks from my house.  Meh,, What else was I going to do anyway.
So, now it's 1:35 (13:35 Cadet time) and I'm ready to get my day on the go.  Look out bike!!! Here I come,,,,
Over and out,,,

Saying good bye, for good and for bad,,

Some day's happen and you wish you could just start them over again.  Today was one of them.  A trip to the vet with our family pet of 8 years resulted in a pretty teary good bye to a great friend, protector and companion.  Lots of tears, lots of hugs and back rubs for our little girl.  Then a bike stolen.  This bike was the beloved steed of my 14 year old.  He had it plastered with stickers from his fav bike shop, and pimped out with all the bling a teen age boy would cram onto a two wheeled frame.
Loosing a pet by accident and having the person who accidentally caused the loss feel terrible for it is understandable.  Loosing a bike to some little shit head who does it for the hell of it is not cool.
Anyway.  If you see Claudie, give her a hug. If you see J, ask him to describe his bike to you.  Trust me he'll give you a detailed description!
Over and out,,

Bill Maher's republican commercial http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0xJkD18WyLw
I know Financial planning week is over,,, Officially, but c'mon!! Shouldn't we be looking at this every week?
Here is a funny little bit

Bonds,,, James Bonds,,,,

Bonds, you say??  Remember the stiff paper Canada Savings Bonds you grandparents bought you?  An institution for sure.  Over the last year and a bit as people try to shake that post traumatic stress out of their portfolio's there has been much-a-do about fixed income and bond funds.  I thought I'd do a little 101 on bond funds and what terms like "spread" and "Yield" mean.

I have to do math in round numbers or else I get really flustered so for argument sake lets take $100 and invest it in a bond. That bond has a "coupon" of $5 when it matures at some pre determined point in the future..  So, it has a return of 5%.  With me so far?  Good.  So what happens when investors go crazy for things other than bonds, such as stocks?  Well the demand for the bond goes down, so now that bond is only worth $95, but the coupon is still $5, thus the return or yield is now 10%.  Make sense?

So what happens when everyone flocks to bonds??? Ahhhh  good question.  The opposite.  The coupon is still $5 but the bond price may now be $104 due to robust demand so the yield is only 1%.  The difference between the bond price and the bond yield is called the spread.

Then how do you make money with bonds when they are in demand?  The trick is to use a good fund manager.  That person is going to take a look at the supply and demand aspects of how bonds are priced and will choose bonds that mature in a short period of time and bonds that mature over a longer period of time.  Banks, corporations and provincial and federal governments are always issuing bonds for sale.  More or less they are saying, if you give us a sum of money today, we promise to give you a sum of money at a certain period in time in the future.  Some times the spreads for having some of your money are quite attractive, even if it is just for a short period of time and other times you will have to wait it out to get your money.  Good bond fund managers will do the analytics and hold the right amount of short term and long term bonds.

Check out the gang at Beutel Goodman to see what can be achieved when bond fund trading is done well.  Their Corporate/Provincial Active Bond fund has returned over 7% in the past 10 years.  The TSX certainly has not!!  Holding some bond funds in your savings portfolio is a smart idea.  Whoda thunk they could be that interesting??

Over and out,,,,

National financial planning week

As of 12:35 this afternoon, the TSX was sitting at 12.484.13.  That's a 13.4 point drop from,,,,,,,, OMG 6 minutes ago,,,, oh wait, update flash,,, it's now at 12,487.90 only a 10.10 point drop.  All this in the time it took me to type this.  Good lord the TSX fluctuates like my weight.  Oh,, this just in,,,,,, TSX at 12,488.04 only a 9.96 point drop from previous close.  My point here folks is that we must have a long term view of the market.  Investor sentiment currently swings from mild indigestion to a full on diet of Maalox and Pepto!!

On March 09 2009 the TSX sat at a dismal 7,566.94.  I was rummaging around for tin mugs to get my soup feed ready.  As of today's markers in the mid 12,000 range we are looking at a 61% rebound in a little over a year.  On April 6 the market fell 4.4%.  On May 4th it fell 5.2%. On June 01 it fell 8.2%. on June 29 the market dropped 7.0%, and so on and so on.  My point is that for all the declines in the market, the overall trend is up.  I once heard it said last year that the market must fall in order for it to gain.  Nothing can be more true.  Have we seen massive gains in the market in the last year?  You bet.  Is the market going to fall again this year?  You bet.  Will there be money to be made this year? You bet.

My point is that it is not about timing the market.  It's about "time IN the market".  This is national financial planning week.  Many of you have plans.  That is great.  Many of you don't.  That's not so great, BUT, you can still plan.  That is great.  If you have a plan be sure to review it on a semi annual basis.  Pick up the phone and call that advisor you are paying your hard earned trailer fees to and ask them to meet with you.  You'll make their day.  Seriously.  Then have a frank discussion about what your goals are and ask the tough questions about how you can get there.  If you don't have an advisor,, well you can always call me, but you may also have someone you have been MEANING to call.  This is the week to do it.  Go on.  Take the time and make this week the week you set your security in motion.

Over and out.

Pennies for your thoughts!

In a ressession, governments should intervien and spend more money than they earn.  In periods where the ecconomy is in recovery and recoverd they should take in more than they spend.  Here is my question.  Would you rather govenments tax more or spend less? Tell me where you would like to see the spending and where you would like to see the services reduced.

Over and out,,