Cycle of Market Emotions
Getting emotional about investments can easily lead to poor decisions as investors fall prey to negative thoughts and fears. The chart below helps to illustrate the emotional aspects of investing. The human brain constantly searches for trends or patterns in things, trying to make sense out of even random events and data. This essential life […]
The Fed ‘Put’ Revisited
When investment markets officially hit “bear market” territory in June 2022 – while Central Banks in North America and elsewhere were continuing to raise interest rates – questions began swirling about whether the US Federal Reserve (Fed) would once again rescue the markets by exercising the famous Greenspan “put”! This is the move whereby the […]
Portfolio Diversification
Looking back over the past few years, one thing is certain – we can never be absolutely sure what the financial markets will do at any given time. We can study charts and graphs, both historical and forecasted, we can consult with economic experts, business leaders, and government officials, we can look at inflation and […]
Putting It In Perspective
The investment markets have been very “volatile” since the start of 2022. Volatile is just financial industry jargon that means markets move up and down. For retail investors, the biggest concern is when markets move down. Retail investors love when markets go up and usually cringe or flinch when they go down. It is a […]
The Changing Business Cycle
Business, investing and life in general follow predictable ebbs and flows. The Business Cycle is no exception. This is the cycle whereby the economy goes through strong growth periods, weaker growth periods and everything in between. Governments and the Central Banks try to manage this cycle and prevent any enduring excesses from building up, while […]
Dollar Cost Averaging
Let us imagine that you have a plan to be a wise investor and use your funds to make strategic deposits into your various investment funds. You’ve heard about the investment strategy of buying any time the market is low with the plan of selling when the market turns upward. This might seem like it’s […]
The Shifting Economic Winds
There will likely be many impacts on the global economy resulting from the Russia-Ukraine War. The biggest casualty will most likely be the end of the “business as usual” mindset that most Canadians have lived by since at least 1980, if not since the end of World War Two. Just like the nostalgic desire to […]
When Interest Rates Rise
One way to curb rising inflation is to increase interest rates, and that is what the Bank of Canada (BoC) is expected to do incrementally – over the next year. As interest rates begin to tick upward, it is an ideal time to look at your financial position, including your debt and savings strategies. Rates […]
An Approach to Financial Decision Making
How you approach financial decision making on a day-to-day basis is likely to be the most important ingredient in your life and financial success. The key is to be focused and methodical about how you allocate money to each of your life’s goals on a daily, weekly, or monthly basis. This does not take great […]
Inflation & Your Financial Strategy
In a December 2021 poll, 87% of Canadians surveyed reported that the rising price of everyday goods was their top source of anxiety1. The last period that caused this level of financial concern for Canadians was the 1990s2, when inflation reached a high of 5.5%. Today, it sits at about 4.8%, primarily due to transportation […]