Blog: Cutting Through the Noise
Industry News + Views
Growth Please
Excerpt from Tom Bradley's blog on November 1, 2011
In his letter this month, Bill Gross of Pimco talks about the cure to all our ills – growth. As he says, “No country has enough of it.” In discussing the prospects for economic growth, Mr. Gross does a good job of capturing the challenges we face. “The lack of...Read More
Crystal Clear
Excerpt from Tom Bradley's blog on October 28, 2011
Oracle, which is a holding in the Equity Fund, announced a takeover bid for RightNow Technologies this week. In the past, Oracle has proven to be an effective and disciplined acquirer, but there is talk on this one that they paid too much – over 5 times sales...Read More
China Deconstructed
Excerpt from Tom Bradley's blog on October 24, 2011
I came across a talk by China-based professor Michael Pettis on Paul Kedrosky’s ‘Infectious Greed’ blog. For those who are interested in China and where it’s headed, I highly recommend these 38 minutes. It’s heavy duty economics, but the points are...Read More
False Comfort
Excerpt from Tom Bradley's blog on October 21, 2011
In the economic discourse of today, the camp that says we’re going into the tank has lots of ammunition. You don’t have to go past the front page of the newspaper to know we’ve got issues. For those arguing that we’ll be OK, or at least not have a severe...Read More
Emerging Markets - A Slam Dunk?
Excerpt from Tom Bradley's blog on October 18, 2011
China, India and the other emerging economies will grow considerably faster than the developed world over the next ten years. That statement appears to be as close to an economic certainty as anything we can say today. Does it follow then that any...Read More
It Was an Ugly One
Excerpt from Scott Ronalds's blog on October 12, 2011
In preparing our Quarterly Report, I compiled some numbers that speak for themselves: Global stock markets had their worst quarter since Q4 2008; Greece was down 42%. Italy, France and Germany were all down 25%. Canada was down 12%. Japan was...Read More
Getting Sentimental
Excerpt from Tom Bradley's blog on October 7, 2011
We write a lot in this space about investor sentiment. Art Phillips, the founder of Phillips, Hager & North, taught me to pay attention to the mood of other investors. Like every tool, sentiment is not a failsafe indicator, nor is it a precise timing tool. It is, however...Read More
Enough Blame to go Around
Excerpt from Tom Bradley's blog on October 3, 2011
Dan Hallett published a piece today about mutual fund fees and how they compare to the U.S. It puts some meat on a topic that so far has been laden with hyperbole. Management expense ratios (MERs) are a lot higher in Canada, but as Dan points...Read More
Black Hole Rip-off Zone
Excerpt from Tom Bradley's blog on September 28, 2011
Below is an internal email from Chris Stephenson today. It wasn’t meant for public consumption (it’s an email, not a blog), but Chris is OK with me doing this. With David’s experience with the [un-named fund company] rip-off, the Globe article about $1,305...Read More
Hollow Reassurance
Excerpt from Tom Bradley's blog on September 22, 2011
The CBC woke me up this morning with rain warnings (Is summer really over?), big stock market declines and the voice of Finance Minister Jim Flaherty. The rain and markets didn’t get me too worked up, but I found the minister’s attempt at optimism...Read More
Indexing can be Good. So can Active Management
Excerpt from Scott Ronalds's blog on September 19, 2011
The passive (indexing) vs. active management question is a polarizing debate, but it shouldn’t be. The bottom line is that both strategies have merit when they’re done right. As Morningstar USA’s President of Fund Research (Don Phillips) notes, credible...Read More
Buffett for President?
Excerpt from Scott Ronalds's blog on August 16, 2011
One of the richest men in the world wishes he was taxed more. Warren Buffett paid $7 million in federal taxes last year, which equated to 17% of his taxable income. Surprisingly, this was the lowest rate of any of the 20 employees in his office. In a...Read More
