Working with Emotions It is unrealistic for most investors to completely set aside their emotions when making investment decisions. Rather than trying to fight against emotions, it is better to be aware of them and cognitive biases that may be experienced when investing and put these into context to help safeguard against potentially impulsive or [...]
A common question I receive is what method I use to track my portfolio. There are ways to do this manually in Excel, although I find that process too laborious and prone to error. My preference has always been a “one-stop shop” type of program where I can input (or have automatically updated via broker) [...]
On March 4, 2019, I boldly entered the market with leverage after getting shredded in weed stocks, to no fault but my own greed. My leverage in the new plan included:$100,000 on Margin$65,000 in Unsecured Lines of CreditTOTAL LEVERAGE: $165,000The idea was simple: buy undervalued stocks that yield more in total than what you pay [...]
The Black Swan theory was chronicled by Nassim Nicholas Taleb in his popular 2007 book “The Black Swan”. Taleb writes about extremely rare or highly improbable events that have a major market impact, positive or negative, which impact global markets. The current Coronavirus scare originating in Wuhan, China has investors spooked. At the time of [...]
2019 marked the beginning of a new—and crazy—adventure. In March, I decided to leverage my portfolio in dividend paying stocks, borrowing $150,000 in both personal loans and margin accomplish this. At the time, the market had rebounded significantly from its December 2018 lows. In hindsight, everything is 20/20; what I should have done was go [...]
The theme this month is VALUE. Talk on the street (and by street I mean dissemination through public channels) is that big money is moving back into value stocks. Since August 2019, many stocks have rebounded 10-30%, and indexes like the TSX are breaching all-time highs. Followers of this blog know that I have been [...]
A look at Canadian energy stocks since 2014 will make your head spin. Here are three examples: Baytex, Vermillion, and Crescent Point - pick any other energy stock and the chart looks roughly the same. They have been decimated, many losing upwards of 90% of value: So, this begs the question: Are these companies profitable? [...]
Let me start off with a small reflection: I am feeling bearish. And with good reason. The Trump/China affair is putting serious downward pressure on global stocks, coupled with sentiment that global growth is slowing and a recession is imminent within the next 12 months. What does this mean for my leveraged portfolio? First, it [...]
The most effective investment strategies revolve around a few simple principles that are easy to follow, repeatable, proven over time and based on facts. Here are three strategies to help keep you on track with achieving your investment goals: Diversify A staple strategy that many investors choose is diversification. When one category is underperforming, another one might be on [...]
What are you saving for? You might have a short-term goal, such as a down payment for a home or a deposit on a new car. Longer-term goals include putting aside money for retirement or a child’s education. Whether your goals are short-term or long-term, being able to state them clearly is an important step [...]
