Blog: Cutting Through the Noise
Postings
Conficts of Interests? What Conflicts? Part II
Excerpt from Tom Bradley's blog on September 7, 2010
It was revealed last week that regulators are looking into potential conflicts of interest between the banks and their clients. According to the Globe and Mail, the enforcement division of the Investment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada...Read More
The Case for Dividend Stocks
Excerpt from Tom Bradley's blog on September 4, 2010
One of the joys of my day job is talking with smart, turned-on people from all aspects and levels of the investment business. My good fortune comes from having a long and diverse career (as Woody Allen put it, 90 per cent of life is just showing...Read More
Taking Stock
Excerpt from Scott Ronalds's blog on August 31, 2010
Roger Lowenstein’s latest article in The New York Times is a must-read. In Taking Stock, Lowenstein (a financial author and journalist) draws parallels between the investment environment and mindset of individual investors today to that of the 1970s...Read More
Book Review: False Economy
Excerpt from Scott Ronalds's blog on August 30, 2010
I recently finished reading False Economy – A Surprising Economic History of the World. Along with its New York Times Bestseller status and praise from all the usual suspects (The Washington Post, Financial Times, The Economist, etc.), I was intrigued...Read More
Bearish Millionaires - Bring it on
Excerpt from Tom Bradley's blog on August 30, 2010
t was reported this week that millionaires are feeling more bearish. The Spectrem Millionaire Investor Confidence Index fell to -18, which represents “mildly bearish territory”. Prior to the August score, the index had been in neutral range (-10 to +10)...Read More
Summer Reruns VIII - Foreign Takeovers
Excerpt from Scott Ronalds's blog on August 26, 2010
This week’s rerun comes from April 2007. Foreign buyers were on the hunt for Canadian assets, which was stirring emotions and politics at home. Tom weighed in with some unique perspective on the issue. With Potash Corp. now in play, it's...Read More
The Fine Art of Making the Right Investment Call
Excerpt from Tom Bradley's blog on August 21, 2010
Portfolio management is both a science and an art. The science can be learned from finance professors and investment books. The art part, however, comes from years at the school of hard knocks. Like every grizzled money manager who’s...Read More
Summer Reruns VII - Too Many Funds
Excerpt from Scott Ronalds's blog on August 18, 2010
Flashback to February 2007. It was the middle of RRSP season and Tom Bradley penned a Globe and Mail article that would, in turn, prompt numerous investors and advisers to share stories of their RRSP nightmares. How many funds do you...Read More
Summer Reruns VI - 'It Will Sell'
Excerpt from Scott Ronalds's blog on August 12, 2010
This week’s rerun comes from April 2009. The stock market had recently bottomed and investors were particularly fearful of risk. Not surprisingly, investment products with special features that promised certainty or limited downside were gaining...Read More
When Investors and Their Advisers Don’t See Eye-to-Eye
Excerpt from Tom Bradley's blog on August 9, 2010
In my last column I talked about fear and investors who wanted to get out of the market. My advice (don’t do it) was based on valuation, investor sentiment and the difficulty of timing the market. It was aimed at helping the investor make the best decision. But...Read More
The Back Hand – Relief from the Macro Gloom
Excerpt from Tom Bradley's blog on August 6, 2010
Everything we read about the economy these days is depressing – too much debt, scary demographics (with regard to social security and healthcare), weak political leadership and a warming planet. As an antidote to this macro gloom, there were lots of positives...Read More
Summer Reruns V – Currency Fluctuations
Excerpt from Scott Ronalds's blog on August 3, 2010
In this week’s rerun we flip the calendar back to September 2007. The loonie had recently hit parity with the U.S. dollar for the first time in over 30 years. Predictions were widespread on which direction it was headed next. As for our forecast? (see the last...Read More
