Cutting Through the Noise
October 29, 2007
The Globe and Mail, Report on Business Published October 27, 2007 My partners and I were bouncing around ideas this week for an advertising program. We weren't coming up with anything too brilliant and even starting to get a little ...
Read MoreOctober 15, 2007
The Globe and Mail, Report on Business Published October 13, 2007 The first column I wrote for The Globe and Mail was on hedge funds. As a guest columnist, I innocently poked my head up and declared that their fees ...
Read MoreOctober 1, 2007
The Globe and Mail, Report on Business Published September 29, 2007 "Wisdom comes from sitting on your ass." According to Warren Buffett's sidekick, Charlie Munger, it's the best road to effective thinking. For the last six weeks I've been laid ...
Read MoreSeptember 16, 2007
The Globe and Mail, Report on Business Published September 15, 2007 If you've been a regular reader of this column, you know that I sometimes write about things that are driving my wife crazy. When Lori gets on a rant ...
Read MoreSeptember 4, 2007
The Globe and Mail, Report on Business Published September 1, 2007 Are we experiencing another immaculate correction? That’s how I describe the market corrections we’ve experienced while living under the protective umbrella of U.S. President George W. Bush and former ...
Read MoreAugust 20, 2007
The Globe and Mail, Report on Business Published August 18, 2007 Shouldn't I be doing something? In historical terms, volatile markets like we're experiencing now are not unusual, so I don't want to overplay it. I'll admit, however, that I ...
Read MoreAugust 7, 2007
The Globe and Mail, Report on Business Published August 4, 2007 At some point in the next year or two, it is going to get much harder to be an investment professional. A significant market decline and/or bursting of the ...
Read MoreJuly 23, 2007
The Globe and Mail, Report on Business Published July 21, 2007 My first gig in the investment industry in the early eighties was as a conglomerate analyst at Richardson Greenshields. It was while doing that job I first became sensitive ...
Read MoreJuly 9, 2007
The Globe and Mail, Report on Business Published July 7, 2007 Avner Mandelman's column in this space last Saturday featured the investment philosophy of Warren Buffett. If you've been reading this column or my blog, it's obvious that I also ...
Read MoreJune 25, 2007
The Globe and Mail, Report on Business Published June 23, 2007 When it comes to distribution, the investment management business is remarkably similar to the media industry. The number of distribution channels is growing rapidly and change is the only ...
Read MoreJune 11, 2007
The Globe and Mail, Report on Business Published June 9, 2007 One of the reasons I’ve recently focused my career on the individual investor, after years of working with pension clients, is because there is a huge disconnect between their ...
Read MoreMay 27, 2007
The Globe and Mail, Report on Business Published May 26, 2007 I started out writing this column about the most overused maxims in the investment business today. I had lots of examples to discuss. “ The massive amounts of capital ...
Read MoreMay 14, 2007
Prologue to Globe and Mail Article I wanted to put today’s Globe and Mail article in context with Steadyhand. The process described in the article occurred prior to the decision by Neil and I to go ahead with Steadyhand. Since ...
Read MoreMay 4, 2007
The Globe and Mail, Report on Business Published May 4, 2007 Feeling richer? But are you better off? When Lori and I left Toronto to move west in 1991, we kept our summer cottage in the Haliburton. Back then, we ...
Read MoreMay 1, 2007
The Glove and Mail, Report on Business Published April 28, 2007 I get grouchy when I see products being offered that are just plain bad for investors. I've been grouchy a lot lately, particularly with all the high-fee, principal-protected products ...
Read MoreApril 23, 2007
The Globe and Mail, Report on Business Published April 20, 2007 Like everyone else, I don’t like seeing corporate Canada get gutted by foreign buyers. I’ve thought for years that we were getting hollowed out, even if study after study ...
Read MoreApril 9, 2007
The Globe and Mail, Report on Business Published April 6, 2007 As we take Steadyhand on the road over the next few weeks, we anticipate that one of the most frequently asked questions we’ll face will be: Why don’t you ...
Read MoreMarch 23, 2007
The Globe and Mail, Report on Business Published March 23, 2007 In the investment industry, I’m what people call a “bottom-up” guy. That means I get my jollies from finding undervalued businesses to invest in, rather than predicting what the ...
Read MoreMarch 13, 2007
The Globe and Mail, Report on Business Published March 12, 2007 It sounds corny to say that investing is a team sport. Of course it is. But sometimes there is too much focus on the individual player and as a ...
Read MoreFebruary 26, 2007
The Globe and Mail, Report on Business Published February 23, 2007 I’ve always encouraged investing enthusiasts to read more than just the newspaper for ideas and education ( User’s Guide to the Business Media ). If you discover a professional ...
Read MoreFebruary 9, 2007
The Globe and Mail, Report on Business Published February 9, 2007 We were driving to Whistler last weekend and out of the blue my wife Lori said “it's RSP season and you still haven't written that column”. It took me ...
Read MoreJanuary 26, 2007
The Globe and Mail, Report on Business Published January 26, 2007 Do I follow my favourite manager to a new fund? There are probably a few investors out there who feel like they have a big "L" on their forehead. ...
Read MoreJanuary 12, 2007
The Globe and Mail, Report on Business Published January 12, 2007 The YWCA that I go to is always busier in the early part of January. This year is no exception. As part of our New Year's resolutions, we all ...
Read MoreJanuary 5, 2007
The Globe and Mail, Report on Business Published December 29, 2006 I'm not one to make predictions on what the capital markets are going to do in the next year, or three years for that matter. But with my editors ...
Read MoreDecember 18, 2006
The Globe and Mail, Report on Business Published December 15, 2006 I've been in the investment business since 1983 and I find that with each passing year simplicity becomes more and more appealing. And I don't think I'm alone; it's ...
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