Carman Fox

Where to invest these days?

FunSugarDaddy

New member
Aug 15, 2008
1,110
5
0
Thanks guys I am finding this thread to be quite informative for me. As I am a saver not a spender. I have RSP's and that would be it .
Honestly have no idea what it means, ( retirement savings plan I know that much) but find some years I am ahead and some years they basically stay the same.
I do not undrstand the investing and would like to gain and invest wisely.
All I do is put money into my RSP account twice a month and hope it goes somewhere financially. Have been told the tax free savings plan is the way to go. Any thoughts on that or experience?
Any tips on investing wisely I would love to here about it.
Thanks

I provide advice in this area for a living, and here's my view. Start with the big picture. Why are you investing? if it's to save up for a down payment that's a completely different time horizon and objective than if you're saving for your retirement. With RRSP's you can both save taxes immediately and use up to 25k of it for your first home. (exceptions are made for divorce situations etc). If you plan on buying a home within 5 years, limit your exposure in equities, because equities are long term holds. Minimum 5 years, preferably 20-25 years.

Try not to buy mutual funds, contrary to public opinion they are horrendously expense. MER's are typically 2.5% + which eats away at any profits you hope for. Even if they are 1% in a bond fund, that's about 25% of the expected return you can hope for in bonds, likely more than that.

Keep it up. As far as TFSP's go they too are a great alternative, athough I would focus on maxing out the 25K limit in RRSP's before switching to TFSA because with the RRSP's you get both the tax deferral, and the downpayment, with with the TFSA you get only the tax elimination. (ie you never pay tax on the gain). And one thing to note is that if you use RRSP funds for the downpayment, you have to pay back 1/15th of the amount each year or it will be declared income, so essentially it's an interest free loan, from your RRSP to you.

Hope that helps.
 

FunSugarDaddy

New member
Aug 15, 2008
1,110
5
0
lol, here you go angie - - al's primer on good financial health

1. No matter what you earn, always pay yourself first. That means that if you are in the 35% tax bracket, you save 10% of your income and live on 90%. When you earn more, you attempt to live on the same amount and increase the amount you save.

2. Always pay off debt first. You save more by paying off your credit card than you possibly can by parking it in a bank account or investing in equity shares.

3. Once you are finding it easy to pay for your lifestyle, are debt free and have maxed your RRSP and Tax Free Savings account - - start saving the down payment for a house. Owning your own home is one of the best things that any person can do for themselves.

4. Once you are finding it easy to pay for your lifestyle, are debt free (except for your mortgage), continue to max your RRSP and Tax Free Savings accounts and have money left over after paying your mortgage - - start saving for a purchase of equity shares. While you are saving, talk to yourself and others about what your goals and investment strategy are going to be and investigate the companies you are interested in.

Generally, the biggest thing that trips up investors is that they get on the bus at the last stop. There isn't much money made between the last stop and the end of the line. That means don't buy the equity that the media is chattering about. That one has already passed the last stop.

My best "scores" have been by investing in things I'm interested in. The other best "scores" have been looking at how a disaster will affect things. The old adage "buy on bad news, sell on good news" is often true. You do have to be able to collect enough information to know if the bad news is the death of that company or just a blip that can be overcome, but we have the internet now. A person can search for just about anything.

If your gut ties up in knots, don't do it or get out. Our gut is often smarter than our conscious brain.

If you really can't handle risk, many can't - - invest in Government Bonds, Guaranteed Investment Certificates, large utilities like Telus, Shaw, Rogers, TransCanada and the like.
This is pretty good stuff. The only thing I would add about the bad news, is to decide whether or not is is already priced into the market.

In terms of exposure I think one needs to examine the asset mix most appropriate for their objectives and their risk tolerance level and work towards investments after that. Rather than picking individual stocks, which may be fine for part of your portfolio, I'd probably focus on exchange traded funds as they have a broader selection of stocks within them so you don't have to worry about the bankrupcy or the bond default of a particular company, and they ongoing expenses are relatively cheap compared to mutual funds.

As far as "best scores" go I'd try playing those type of games with the margins of your portfolio, rather than using that as a particular strategy.

The bottom line is that there is no risk free investment if you're hoping to hit a home run. The market doesn't work that way. The bigger the risk you take, the greater the chances of you lossing your capital, that's just the nature of the beast.
 

storm rider

Banned
Dec 6, 2008
2,543
7
0
Calgary
Thanks guys I am finding this thread to be quite informative for me. As I am a saver not a spender. I have RSP's and that would be it .
Honestly have no idea what it means, ( retirement savings plan I know that much) but find some years I am ahead and some years they basically stay the same.
I do not undrstand the investing and would like to gain and invest wisely.
All I do is put money into my RSP account twice a month and hope it goes somewhere financially. Have been told the tax free savings plan is the way to go. Any thoughts on that or experience?
Any tips on investing wisely I would love to here about it.
Thanks
Read and be informed....I saw the best money maker 2 years ago...when the price od coaking coal was $95 a tonne....Fording Coal was the last largest supplier to set their annual contract....when the price of coaking coal was set it was $290 a tonne and Fording Coal stock went from $26 a share to $98 before dropping down a bit to $89...and then Tech Resources bought Fording out at $94 a share and forced the deal through during the financial crisis of 2008.....I followed this whole development and figured that the price of steel making coal was going to go through the roof....and it did....Tech Resources bought out Fording Coal(which was an income trust) and forced the deal through despite tha capital markets.....had I followed my "gut instinct" that was backed up by research I would have tuned 28 grand into 1.4 MILIION dollars...and I would have retired last December 17th when Tech Resources hot $46 a share on the TSX....this did not happen because I listened to someone alse's advice with regards to......that person trying to gain a profit from my investments....someone who was only looking to profit from me.

In short....if somebody EVER puts you OFF an investemnt.....and then try's to sell you some thing that that person will profit from selling to you tell them to FUCK OFF and go with your instincts and research.

SR
 

storm rider

Banned
Dec 6, 2008
2,543
7
0
Calgary
Monday would be a good day to throw some money at the stock markets after the panic induced selling spree that happened today...look for the stocks in all sectors that took a good beating...say a drop of 5% or more and look at the fundamentals....namely was the decline justified by a bad quarterly report...a strike...a recall...stuff like that...if nothing like that is to be found..buy in and wait for the rebound and then sell....and to be honest a lot of stocks are massively oversold in the last 3 months....the axiom of "sell in May anf go away" happened 2 weeks before the start of May and has continued.

SR
 

storm rider

Banned
Dec 6, 2008
2,543
7
0
Calgary
As you probably know Storm, I'm one of the people that thinks we are in a "W" recovery cycle and not a "V" recovery cycle. So, while I agree that many of the stocks that got hammered will recover, I think a person should be very careful if the stock is a Financial sector or Retail Consumer dependent stock. There are going to be some real deals in the Mining and Agricultural sectors, but people have the time to do proper research.
The economic recovery has only begun.....a good sector is coaking coal....China will be the leader in steel production and the coaking coal market is nothing but upwards looking for the next 3 years....they need the coal to make the steel and thusly that commodity will rise...Grand Cache Coal is looking at doubling production over the next 2 years and the horizon is that the next 3 years will be good....go long on steel making coal and you will do good.

SR
 

FunSugarDaddy

New member
Aug 15, 2008
1,110
5
0
Just a little further take on what Storm Rider and Fun Sugar Daddy had to say.

Everyone needs to know how much risk they are comfortable with and, most important, how much it will devastate you if your investment turns out to be Nortel in 2000.

If you will just die when your stock tanks, you should be concentrating on utilities, dividend paying well run companies and the like.

The other mistake people make is they jump in when they don't have enough for a properly diversified portfolio. If you are only buying stock in one company, the odds are against you. However, buying stock in too many companies means that you are just using the "shotgun approach". Just making money on one stock of many is going to pretty much guarantee that you lose money.

You need about $10,000 to start and it should be used to buy 4 or 5 carefully selected stocks that are not all in one sector of the economy.

For example:
An Financial Stock - - Banks, Insurance Companies
An Mining Stock
An Manufacturing Stock
An Utility

In any kind of downturn, all sectors are seldom affected at the same time.

When you have more money, don't just put it on stocks you already own. Pick a sector you don't own a stock in and start investigating what company to invest in.

Once you are up to 8 - 10 companies that are preforming well for you, start to invest more in the ones that are doing the best for you.

The other big mistake people make. Don't over trade. Every trade you make costs money, when you over trade you pay more than you make on the stock in commissions and trading costs.

I've had people tell me that they can't lose money because they put $5,000 into the market, spread over 20 stocks. Those are the drunks in the bar that tell you that the equity shares market is run by a bunch of thieves. Spreading that little out that much guarantees that you can't make money.
I'm personally more of a fan of buying exchange traded funds, but your approach captures many of the same benefits.

Whatever you buy you have to

(A) have a purpose for buying it, in the context of your over all financial objectives, (ie financial plan) and;


(B) Develop an asset mix (ie % of cash, bonds, REIT's, equities, etc) that fall within your desired rate of return, and your risk profile and;

(C) you have to watch it

So buying too many stocks, and/or mutual funds is generally not a good idea. And personally I think mutual funds are very expense. Take a bond fund for example. If the MER is 1% and it's not a corporate bond fund you're buying but a government bond fund, you can expect to generate about 4% of which 1% will go to the management company, which is about 25% of your expected return.

For the most part, market timing doesn't work, so buy with the intent of holding onto something for a long period of time.
 

snif

Banned
May 7, 2010
287
3
0
between her legs
The problem with selling drugs is the tax rate. They deceptively allow you to go a few years thinking the tax rate is zero - then, somebody turns you in, you make a mistake, or some investigator wonders how you afford the lifestyle with no declared income. All of a sudden, the tax rate is 100% retroactively (proceeds of crime) and you have to spend your time in new accommodations.
Or some lunatic with a shaved head and gold chains from Surrey gets jealous and uses you for target practice.
 

nickola

New member
Jul 16, 2010
5
0
0
Calgary
Hmmm, weren't PERB forums created so that members can create posts for escorts reviews and related topics lol... I'm confused
 

lenny

girls just wanna have fu
May 20, 2004
4,101
76
48
your GF's panties
Hmmm, weren't PERB forums created so that members can create posts for escorts reviews and related topics lol... I'm confused
Making money isn't related to the ability to poon?

Actually since i can remember and started reading here, the Lounge has always been a free for all.

That was several years ago. You, OTOH, as a 5 post newbie who signed up this month, get your
info from where?
 

InTheBum

Well-known member
Dec 31, 2004
3,087
91
48
The world is coming to an end in 2012...that is why LAG and myself pump a new whore each day! We are living for the moment!
 

Big Dog Striker

New member
Nov 17, 2007
1,537
1
0
I think it is time to short Goldman Sachs as the SEC has come down hard.
I think the short is done last week for my favorite financial stock and investment firm. The stock was doing in the mid $ 130's before the $ 550 Million settlement and is now pegged at about $146 to $ 147 a share. Smart ass settlement for Goldman as its market capitalization increased more than $ 4 Billion. That means a $ 4 Billion return from an investment of $ 550 Million in a week. Not bad since there's so much upside in the coming months with a pre-settlement high of US$ 180 a share. Plus, the Republicans are going to be back strong in the November elections and might end up controlling Congress. Way to go Goldman! :) :)
 

storm rider

Banned
Dec 6, 2008
2,543
7
0
Calgary
Anyone thinking of buying into the GM IPO?

I think I'm giving this one a pass. As we all know, GM stuffed their debt and obligations into a shell and then created "Government Motors" which is 96% owned by governments and unions. Now "Government Motors" is offered at IPO so that the governments and unions can get some of their money back.

When Air Canada did this, it took them 3 tries to shed enough debt and obligation to become a marginal company. That's 2 sets of shareholders that saw their shares go to "0" and a company staffed by employees who had their benefits and pensions stripped away.

I think it will take more than 3 tries for GM to have a cost structure that allows them to build cars that people can afford in the economic storm we will see for the next few years.
I agree with you....to buy into GM is pretty risky...they have turned things around but I am not confident in the company to buy an IP....funny enough Ford stock has done well...they restructured and are making profit and are the only domestic automaker who did not take bailout money.

On a different note I shifted the focus of my portfolio...I sold my shares in Enbridge a couple weeks back....bought for $42 and sold for $51...made some gains on the stock rising as well as the dividends paid whilst I held it....I got the 2nd quarter report for Knightsbridge via email the other day and like what I saw...in the first quarter the company hiked the dividend by 33% and in the latest report they hiked the dividend again this time by 20%....if the trend continues I will easily be able to compound the dividends on an annual basis and add 100-200 shares a year.Another good move by the company was purchasing another ship that is on a contracted time charter...money in the bank ;)

SR
 

Ray

Well-known member
Dec 21, 2005
1,235
313
83
vancouver
I got into Research In Motion last week.

Their stock price is taking a battering with all these third world countries wanting to ban Blackberries because they can't snoop on them.
Looking at the fundamentals, the stock posted 23% increase in revenues over last year, and a $3 billion cash reserves.
They just released a new smart phone, and will launch a competitor to the Apple i-Pad by November.

If they get the foreign arrangements (when, not if) sorted out, this stock is going up.
 

InTheBum

Well-known member
Dec 31, 2004
3,087
91
48
I agree with you....to buy into GM is pretty risky...they have turned things around but I am not confident in the company to buy an IP....funny enough Ford stock has done well...they restructured and are making profit and are the only domestic automaker who did not take bailout money.

On a different note I shifted the focus of my portfolio...I sold my shares in Enbridge a couple weeks back....bought for $42 and sold for $51...made some gains on the stock rising as well as the dividends paid whilst I held it....I got the 2nd quarter report for Knightsbridge via email the other day and like what I saw...in the first quarter the company hiked the dividend by 33% and in the latest report they hiked the dividend again this time by 20%....if the trend continues I will easily be able to compound the dividends on an annual basis and add 100-200 shares a year.Another good move by the company was purchasing another ship that is on a contracted time charter...money in the bank ;)

SR
You should of kept Enbridge. I am hoping for a pullback to around 45 and I will be loading up on it...
 

storm rider

Banned
Dec 6, 2008
2,543
7
0
Calgary
You should of kept Enbridge. I am hoping for a pullback to around 45 and I will be loading up on it...
For what I had in holdings it was not worth it....200 shares of Enbridge VS adding 500 shares of Knightsbridge.....dividends were the deal breaker...holding 1300 shares of Knightsbridge gets me $650 per quarter and allows me to compound 100 shares per year...and as Albert Einstein said..."compounding is the most brilliant idea mankind ever thought up"...as time goes by I will be adding 200 shares per year and so on and so on...even moreso if Knightsbridge continues to increase it's dividend...not too long ago they were paying $1 per share per quarter...if that is restored that = $5200 a year to reinvest into more shares at my current position.

SR
 

InTheBum

Well-known member
Dec 31, 2004
3,087
91
48
Really bad stuff is happening in the USA labor market

http://earlywarn.blogspot.com/2010/08/labor-force-loses-half-million-women-in.html
Women who were underemployed are simply giving up


http://earlywarn.blogspot.com/2010/08/male-labor-force-composition.html#more
Men, especially colored men, gave up a long time ago




http://earlywarn.blogspot.com/2010/08/global-market-shares.html#more
The USA, Europe and Japan are losing their dominance of the world's industry and economics to China and India
What else is new? This is all really old news...
 
Vancouver Escorts