Canadian Investment Advice and Financial News
Many contrarian investors are wondering if the time is right to start loading up on commodities in anticipation of the next big rally. Certainly, stocks in the sector are cheap, and we would expect many of them to double if and when a commodity recovery occurs. Stocks of smaller, riskier companies could triple or more. […]
While early retirement may be a pipe dream for most of us, every once in a while I hear from readers who have pulled it off and are living almost tax-free on dividend income alone. An example is Torontonian Phil McKinley, who retired in his early 40s a couple of years ago and has been […]
U.S. citizens living in Canada not only have to file Canadian tax returns reporting their worldwide income, but they also have to file U.S. tax returns reporting the same income. That’s because the U.S. imposes taxes and filing requirements based on citizenship, not residency. To make matters worse, if the U.S. citizen holds a TFSA, […]
A couple we’ll call Harry, 35, and Tina, 37, are thriving in their careers. Harry, a geologist with a large company, brings home $5,730 a month. Tina, a management consultant in the chemical industry, adds $3,880, for total monthly disposable income of $9,610 a month. They have a two-year-old child. You could say that Harry […]
Most markets, and certainly most currencies and commodities, are now officially in a bear market. That’s the arbitrary term for anything that is down 20 per cent from its peak. Of course, many stocks are down 40 or 50 per cent or more, so we might need a new term to describe them — zombie […]
Investors tend to focus first and foremost on gross returns. Since an investor only gets to keep their net return after-tax, tax should be an important factor when it comes to investment decisions. The most basic example of this is to make the most of available tax shelters. Most people are aware of tax shelters […]
Markets have indeed been strange for some time now. Most investors are confused about whether to sell, or buy, or panic, or just go to cash and avoid the craziness. However, if you think more closely about things, you might come to the conclusion that markets are always strange. Investors and the market are just […]
If you’re of a certain age, YOLO needs no translation. For the rest of us, personal finance writer Jason Vitug has helpfully spelled it out in the title of his latest book: You Only Live Once. Vitug is American, as is his publisher John Wiley & Sons Inc. but, as is often the case, the […]
The world’s fastest-growing developed economy has the worst-performing stock market, creating buying opportunities especially for investors in Canada’s financial sector. The S&P/TSX Composite Index is down 2.2 per cent from April to June, set for its first quarterly drop since 2015 and the steepest decline among 24 advanced markets tracked by Bloomberg. Year-to-date, its 0.5 […]
Canada’s first cannabis mutual fund is cutting back on pot stocks. The UIT Alternative Health Fund has pared its holdings in recreational marijuana companies to 33 per cent, from 44 per cent at the end of 2017, while raising cash and shifting to health-care stocks like Jamieson Wellness Inc. and Pinnacle Foods Inc. The UIT […]