Blog: Cutting Through the Noise

Ravaged

Excerpt from Scott Ronalds's blog on June 17, 2013

The mining sector has been ravaged over the past two years. Commodity prices have softened, financing has dried up and sentiment has tanked. It’s been a minefield for investors. Nowhere has the pain been more severe than the Canadian small cap market...

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Real Estate Update - Part III: Why so Bearish?

Excerpt from Tom Bradley's blog on June 13, 2013

In the previous two posts, I put my perspective on the current news around the Canadian housing market and reviewed the valuation measures. Mercifully, in this final one, I want to talk about what REALLY worries me. My biggest concerns are what I’ve already...

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Real Estate Update - Part II: It's all About Mortgage Rates

Excerpt from Tom Bradley's blog on June 12, 2013

In this, the 2nd of 3 posts on the Canadian housing market, I address valuation. Near-zero interest rates are absolutely driving this market. The problem is, low rates are transient, while purchase prices live on forever. In today’s terms, transient means that it’s...

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Yielding

Excerpt from Scott Ronalds's blog on June 11, 2013

We’ve had a cautious view on government bonds for several quarters, as yields are unsustainably low. Our current thinking hasn’t changed. We feel bonds are expensive and have been advising clients to keep them to a minimum in relation to their long-term asset mix. The yield on 10-year Government of Canada bonds has risen over the last six weeks, from under 1.7% in early May to 2.2% yesterday. This is a sharp...

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Real Estate Update - Part I: You Ain't Seen Nothing Yet

Excerpt from Tom Bradley's blog on June 11, 2013

Over the last couple of years, I’ve been writing about housing because it’s a big part of our clients’ net worth, it's great fodder for a devoted student of market cycles and ... it’s just so darned interesting. In the first of three posts this week, I’ll try to bring some...

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Borrowing From the Future

Excerpt from Tom Bradley's blog on June 7, 2013

In his June Investment Outlook, PIMCO’s Bill Gross says that the Quantitative Easing policy (QE) of the U.S. Federal Reserve hasn’t worked. He points out that over the last 5 years there hasn’t been a 12-month period when the economy has grown faster than...

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Canadian Banks - the Next 25 Years?

Excerpt from Tom Bradley's blog on June 6, 2013

It’s confirmed. We have the healthiest banks in the world. They’ve all reported their second quarter earnings and the numbers are spectacular. Industry leader RBC had a return on equity of 19%, while CIBC and National Bank were over 20%. Yes, 20% in a...

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Spot Prawns

Excerpt from Scott Ronalds's blog on June 4, 2013

It’s spot prawn season on the west coast. The boats are pulling into Granville Island daily (mere blocks from Steadyhand headquarters) and selling their bounty directly to the public. It’s awesome. They’re live, fresh, sweet and local. And you buy them right from the boat. There’s no middlemen. No commissions. No administrative fees. No packaging charges. No transaction costs. For $12-15 a pound, you...

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You're Richer Than You Think

Excerpt from Tom Bradley's blog on May 30, 2013

Last year we blogged about bank CEO’s compensation (Can I Join the Club?). We took issue with the fact that they all made about the same last year, despite the fact that the performance and positioning of their respective banks were quite different. We...

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Investor Roundtable on Mutual Fund Fees

Excerpt from Tom Bradley's blog on May 28, 2013

On June 7th in Toronto, the Ontario Securities Commission (OSC) is hosting a roundtable on mutual fund fees. It is open to the public and will follow the agenda outlined in this invitation. We have been a regular contributor on the topic of fees and recently made...

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Loyal to a Fault

Excerpt from Tom Bradley's blog on May 27, 2013

Lately I’ve been part of too many conversations that go like this. What brings you to Steadyhand? “I haven’t been happy with my existing advisor. The returns have been lousy and the service has fallen off to the point where I never hear from him." Do you...

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Rent versus Buy - The Most Misunderstood Financial Decision

Excerpt from Tom Bradley's blog on May 24, 2013

Should you rent or buy? There are all kinds of reasons to buy a home – making it your own, establishing roots in the community, good schools, basketball hoop on the driveway – and they should be at the top of the list. From a financial perspective, however...

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