Video: Investing

Thackray’s Market Update — September 2013 — Horizons Wilbur Ross: Fed should start tapering by year’s end

Investor Wilbur Ross says the Federal Reserve should begin pulling back on its massive monthly bond purchases soon and sees yields on the 10-year Treasury note returning to approximately 4 percent. He also discusses his recent investments in U.S. and European banks, in bulk shipping and natural gas.

The worst best financial advice — Reuters

There’s a lot of outdated money advice out there. Reuters Personal Finance Editor Lauren Young points out the popular advice you’re likely to hear but should ignore.

Trust is the number 1 priority for investors and only a slim (51%) of retail investors actually trust their investment managers and advisors to do what is right for the client. A crisis of confidence? I’d say so!

The European Central Bank has no plans to reverse its loose monetary policies and will support the ailing eurozone economy for as long as necessary, according to ratesetter Benot Coeur.

Understanding Leveraged and Inverse ETFs — Direxion

Direxions leveraged ETFs may share some similarities with non-leveraged ETFs, but there are some key differences that must be understood before any individual invests. This video series is designed to provide you with detailed information as well as their potential risks.

Investors Bailing Since Taper Time Started, US Economy Nowhere Near Recovery

Fear and greed rule markets. Always have. Always will. Since the start of this year, when the Fed was creating $4 billion of new money daily, $85 billion monthly and $1 trillion annually, and saying it would be keep doing that forever, investors got very greedy. Investors kept buying stocks, bonds, emerging markets, gold, all that stuff. On May 22 almost all markets were at multi-year if not all time highs.

Generally, the first fiscal quarter is the best one for the Canadian banks. But the second quarter, on a year-to-year basis, was pretty good. So, if you break it down by business segments, the Canadian banking segment had a good quarter, but not as good as [the] first quarter, largely because the first quarter is at year-end and second quarter is kind of a slower part of the year for them.

So-Called Improving Economy’s Metrics Are Wrong — TrimTabs The advantages of online discount brokerages

Using an online discount brokerage doesnt mean you wont get investment advice, MoneySense Editor Jon Chevreau tells CityNews Channel. It does mean however youll spend less on fees.

He was an early and correct voice on the subprime crash back in 2007 and the tech bubble of 2000. Now, noted market contrarian Bill Fleckenstein of Fleckenstein Capital says there are major risks in the market.

Chris Martenson: A Grand Experiment Behind Apple’s savvy tax moves

Apples decision to borrow $17 billion instead of dipping into its $100 billion cash pile parked overseas shows how much cheaper it is for companies to tap debt markets than pay taxes on overseas earnings. Michelle Hanlon, professor of accounting at the MIT Sloan School of Management, breaks down the math

This week, Ted discusses the old stock market chestnut, sell in May and go away. What does this mean? Many investors believe the stock market generally does better between November and April and does relatively poorly from May to October.

This week, Ted looks refers back to previous How I See Its as well as looks at the relationship between the U.S monetary base and the Dow Jones Average.

Fed Creating $4 Billion in New Money Each Day, Helping to Rig Stock Market

Theres been a lot of talk about the Federal Reserve rigging the stock market. If youve been wondering, as I have, how it is being done, heres some terrific insight from our own David Santschi.

Biderman and Bianco talk levitated stock prices and the ‘black swan’

Jim Bianco talks about Fed and Obama Administrations goals to keep stock prices levitated so they can keep spending what they want to spend. Also, what Jim and Charles likely and unlikely black swan events that will end the stock and bond market bull run.

Never get bearish on something where somebody with a printing press has promised to buy $85 billion a month,

Why Average Investors Underperform

Ted Ohashi discusses why the average investor has underperformed

Fed Levitating Bond Prices Same Way 0% Down Levitated Home Prices

January 8, 2013 — Bubbles are a popular way of describing unsustainable high prices. Stocks and bonds are at bubble levels just the way housing values were before they collapsed in the last decade. Bond prices are as high as they can get, since interest rates are about as low as they can get. As interest rates started going down in 2008 bond prices went up.

The 10 biggest global threats for 2013

Eurasia Groups just-released list of the top global threats goes far beyond the usual suspects such as Iran to highlight several emerging dangers. (January 7, 2013)

Physical lumber prices jumped 40 percent to the current $365 in 2012, reports CNBC’s Kate Kelly

You may not be getting the exposure you expect, Dr. Paul Kaplan explains.

Reassessing Your Portfolio — CFA Institute

Many investors are taking a second look at their portfolios as a result of market volatility or uncertain job prospects. Tom Collimore shares three tips for examining your approach to your portfolio.

Articles: Investing

Federal Reserve Governor Jeremy Stein said monetary policy should be less accommodative when bond markets are overheated even if it raises the risk of higher unemployment.

In the days following Chinas first-ever default of a corporate bond (Chaori Solar Energy Science and Technology Cos 11 Chaori bond), many tossed around the idea that this was Chinas Bear Stearns moment or its Lehman moment.

New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman is investigating whether U.S. stock exchanges and alternative trading venues provide improper advantages to high-frequency traders, Bloomberg reported, citing a person with direct knowledge of the matter.

Producer prices in the U.S. unexpectedly dropped in February, held back by the biggest decrease in the cost of services in almost a year.

A dizzying fall in copper to a near four-year low compounded increasing concern in China over its economic slowdown on Wednesday to send a wave of unease sweeping through world markets.

A number of warning signals are flashing in the stock market, and while not indicative of an imminent crash, theyre telling investors to exercise caution, say market strategists.

Oil traders are betting that Europe is too hooked on Russian fuel for the region to back energy sanctions against President Vladimir Putin.

Bank of England policy makers extended unprecedented stimulus into a sixth year today as they seek to ensure the economy fully recovers from the damage wrought by the financial crisis.

The euro strengthened to a two-month high against the dollar after European Central Bank President Mario Draghi said inflation is expected to rise gradually, damping bets policy makers will introduce further stimulus.

The S&P/TSX Composite index is up 4.4% in 2014, compared with a slightly down S&P 500, which is a stark difference from the past two years when the TSX has been handily outperformed by its U.S. counterpart.

Some rules were built on the assumption that one country would forego taxation because another country would be imposing tax, the OECD said in a recent paper on international tax evasion. [But] vast amounts of money are kept offshore and go untaxed.

Brent and U.S. crude oil rallied more than $2 per barrel to multi-month highs on Monday, lifted by rising tension in Ukraine after Russian President Vladimir Putin declared he had the right to invade his neighbour.

West Texas Intermediate crude dropped from the highest price since September amid speculation that heightened tension between Russia and Ukraine is unlikely to result in a disruption to oil supplies.

The rising threat of war between Ukraine and Russia sent investors scurrying for relative safety on Monday, pushing stocks down sharply — the Moscow market fell 11.5 percent — and lifting gold to a four-month high.

Commodities advanced to the highest level in almost six months as escalating tension in Ukraine fuelled concern that energy and agricultural supplies will be disrupted while increasing demand for gold as a haven.

The government has been creating tax loopholes for business while clamping down on regular taxpayers.

How much income tax do you pay? Forty per cent? More? Lately the government has become obsessed with making everyone pay their fair share. It set up a snitch line for tax cheats just last month, with Revenue Minister Kerry-Lynne Findlay announcing she would aggressively pursue those who arent paying every penny they owe. No more offshore tax shelters in the Cayman Islands or stuffing numbered Swiss bank accounts full of cash: the age of tax leniency is over.

That is, if youre a person.

Wall Street-backed landlords are showing a greater appetite for bad mortgages as a source for cheap property as the supply of foreclosed homes declines while housing prices continue to climb.

Producer prices rose for a second straight month in January, pushed up by an increase in the cost of goods, but there was little sign of a broad pick-up in inflation pressures at the factory gate.

Housing starts fell 16 percent to an 888,000 annualized rate following Decembers revised 1.05 million, the Commerce Department reported today in Washington. The decrease was the biggest since February 2011.

For much of the financial crisis, investors knew there was nothing quite so good as gold. Speculators flocked to buy into the traditional safe-haven investment, and its value in effect tripled between 2007 and 2012.

Ask investment professionals questions that creep into uncomfortable territory and you’ll be glad you did. Go ahead and say it: How do I know you won’t steal my money or defraud me? How quickly and sincerely do they answer these questions?

Soros Fund Management has doubled up a bet that the S&P 500 SPX is headed for a fall.

West Texas Intermediate crude rose for the first time in three days as signs of an improving U.S. economy and record new credit in China bolstered the demand outlook for the worlds two biggest oil consumers.

Janet Yellen and Mario Draghi have a new reason to consider what International Monetary Fund chief Christine Lagarde calls the ogre of deflation: eroding confidence in emerging markets.

As the U.S. Federal Reserve considers new ways of reining in banks’ trading in what it sees as risky physical commodity markets, Wall Street’s two oldest and biggest players may ultimately gain in stature.

Websites: Investing

ca.dividendinvestor.com is a leading worldwide independent provider of dividend information and data for investment professionals. Our mission is to be the First In Dividend Data Worldwide by designing and developing essential tools and systems for the investment community with the highest level of accuracy and integrity.

The Academic Financial Trading Platform (AFTP) has a two-prong objective: (1) Offer massively open online business courses by faculty from the world’s top business schools to a broad community of students, researchers, and practitioners around the world completely for FREE; and (2) Deliver, for the first time, fully automated and transparent quantitative stock market prediction techniques (models) and trading strategies, developed at the world’s top research centers, to the average investor.

Donald Vialoux, co-founder of Tech Talk, is a past president and director of the Canadian Society of Technical Analysts (CSTA). Mr. Vialoux has 45 years of experience in the investment industry, including prominent positions held at Richardson Greenshields and RBC Investments. He is the author of a daily letter on equity markets, which is available free at TimingTheMarket.ca. The Web site has recently received an average of 200,000 hits per day from 130 countries

ETF Sage is a free ETF knowledgebase for Canadians. It has all you need to know about Canadian-listed ETFs (Exchange Traded Funds) including a comprehensive breakdown on every (280+) Canadian-listed ETF.

ETFs are a low cost and better alternative to mutual funds. You can use them to avoid the tyranny of Canadian mutual fund fees (rated the worst in a global 24-country 2013 survey by Morningstar).

Switching from mutual funds to ETFs could save you tens of thousands in fees:

AdjustedCostBase.ca is an online tool allowing investors to track the adjusted cost base (ACB) and capital gains transaction of their securities. This service is 100% free and extremely easy to use. By registering for a free account, you will be able to easily manage your investment information online.

TimingTheMarket.ca, which offers technical, fundamental, and seasonal analysis of the markets.

Equity Clocks mission is to identify periods of reoccurring strength among individual equities in the market using methodologies presented by some of the top analysts in the industry, including that of Don Vialoux, author of TimingTheMarkets.com.

Daily wholesale and retail prices for various energy products are shown below, including spot prices and select futures prices at national or regional levels. Prices are updated each weekday (excluding federal holidays), typically between 7:30 and 8:30 a.m.

Stock Rover empowers individual investors with the ability to visually compare and analyze stocks like no other tool. Users can compare stocks against other stocks, ETFs or mutual funds, compare stocks against industry and sector averages, and compare stocks against indices and other benchmarks all in the same graph or table. (Although this is an American site, it does handle Canadian stocks and Exchange Traded Funds listed on the Toronto exchange.)

Want to know which financial institution offers the best rates for Guaranteed Investment Certificates and Term Deposits? Check out this website. Every financial institution is listed along with their best rates.

This is a fantastic website for quickly accessing background information on publicly traded companies in Canada. Everything from a list of competitors, the the company’s current Return On Equity, Earnings Per Share and the share’s Price To Earnings Ratio.

For those Canadian investors interested in Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs), this is a great new website that offers great background information, search tools, model portfolios and numerous helpful resources. Check it out.

Complimentary research reports for each of the 30 companies that comprise the Dow Jones Index. Value Line has a tremendous track record for consistency and success. It is one of the oldest subscription-based stock market research companies in North America.

A great website for up-to-date information on Canada’s real estate markets — both current and historical.

Welcome to Need an Accountant. Search for Canadian CGA firms by using the map or the search criteria (Map Quick Links, Accountant/Firm Name, Services Offered or Industry Sectors) to the left of the map.

Canadian ETF Watch is an independent organization which provides comprehensive market intelligence, news and fundamental research solutions strongly focused on the ETF markets. We are covering the ETF market globally and have launched the first global, high-end exchange traded funds magazine in Canada.

Our organization is structured into two sectors Canadian Hedge Watch which covers the Alternative Investment arena and Radius Financial Education which will cover the remaining Capital Markets sector with a sub-division solely focusing on the ETF space.

Although this is an American website, their investment tutorials are very helpful for any Canadian Investor desiring to learn/know more about their investments and investing.

A key goal of the British Columbia Securities Commission (BCSC) is to help investors protect their financial interests. We have developed InvestRight.org to provide investors with the tools to research and assess potential investments and protect themselves from unsuitable or fraudulent investments.

A library of podcasts on topics ranging from asset allocation to bond investing. The individual podcasts are categorized on the right-hand side of the site.

InvestorPOS is a revolutionary new outsourced solution that allows fund managers and investment dealers to efficiently create and deliver Fund Facts and other disclosure documents to investors, while maintaining 100% of the workflow control. It focuses on the front office needs of advisors and the investors they serve, seamlessly integrating into the existing sales process.

A new Canadian website that has established a method they feels identifies undervalued and overvalued stocks.

Gallop’s polling data and surveys are helpful when monitoring consumers attitudes, thoughts and concerns. Their data can be used by investors to assess current and developing trends within the U.S. economy.

Financial institutions are a pillar of civilized society, supporting people in their productive ventures and managing the economic risks they take on. The workings of these institutions are important to comprehend if we are to predict their actions today and their evolution in the coming information age.

Financial Visualizations is a great site for up to date quotes on stock indices, Currencies, Hard and Soft Commodity futures and more.

Trading Economics provides its users with accurate information for 232 countries including historical data for more than 300.000 economic indicators, exchange rates, stock market indexes, government bond yields and commodity prices. Our data is regularly checked for inconsistencies and based on official sources; with the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund, central banks and national statistics bureaus being the most important. TradingEconomics.com has received more than 10 million page views from more than 200 countries.