We are now 3 quarters into the year. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq both hit an all time high to close out September. Up here in Canada the S&P/TSX Composite grew by 3.7%. Gross domestic product (GDP) was essentially unchanged, at zero per cent growth in July compared with June, Statistics Canada said last week. I suspect that… Read More »
The United Kingdom has a long history of innovation and creativity. The television, programmable computer, telephone, Mini, and even Calculus are all British inventions. The British government was the first to create a revolutionary missile called the civil servant – it doesn’t work, and it’s nearly impossible to fire.😄 The U.K. also gave us David Beckham, Adele, The Beatles, Emily Blunt, and Christian Bale… Read More »
Stock Markets Reach Record Highs… Again Both the Dow Jones and the S&P 500 indexes have climbed to all time highs in late July. 🙂 But corporate earnings have been stagnant and economic growth remains weak. Restaurant sales have slowed. The U.S. economy only grew a disappointing 1.2% in the second quarter, well below expectations. 😕 So what’s… Read More »
Proper Portfolio Diversification Once upon a time a topiary artist invested all his money in shears and hedge funds. But he lost all of it because he wasn’t properly diversified. We diversify our assets so if one investment fails miserably it won’t drag down the rest of our portfolio with it. Owning 10 stocks is better than 1. But there comes a… Read More »
The Pessimism in the Markets Corporate profits have been disappointing lately. Apple (AAPL) recently said its revenue fell for the first time in 13 years due to a decline in iPhone sales compared to the same time last year. Apple shares are worth 26% less now than a year ago. Investors are warned the decline could continue. 🙁 Other publicly traded companies are… Read More »
Market Bounce Woohoo! Investors can rejoice as March 2016 was one of the best months for the stock market in recent memory. The S&P 500 and Dow Jones gained 6.9% and 7.1% respectively. Even the commodities-heavy S&P/TSX Composite in Canada managed to end the month 4.9% higher than it started. What do all these numbers mean? Well let’s pretend to be… Read More »