Goodbye Bell. You can’t hurt me anymore. In my first major sell in about a decade I greatly trimmed by position in Bell (BCE). I am a buy and hold investor. I am more passive than a passive index. But when an investment thesis changes, I’ll make a change. The rules changed for Bell and Canadian Telecom. Higher interest rates piled on. I sold over half of my position in Bell and moved the proceeds to a Canadian Dollar U.S. equity ETF. We’re doing some portfolio reshaping on the Sunday Reads. About two weeks ago, I hit the sell Bell button. There’s nothing a Bell stock retention call centre asso ..read more

While many were watching the solar eclipse this past week, I had my eyes on Canadian mutual fund fees that can eclipse the peak value of your portfolio. That is celestially incredilbe. Or incredibly troubling that is. Those high fees can block out your portfolio returns. But most Canadians are in the dark with respect to fees eating into their returns. I could write about the gravity of the situation if I wanted to quickly exhaust my lunar puns and word play. Readers of this blog will know that there is a better way – using ETFs and simple and effective stock portfolios. Don’t pay fees that ec ..read more

‘Diversification is the only free lunch’ is a common investing notion. We manage the sector, geographic, currency risks and volatility (to name a few). Our asset allocation decisions mostly determine our returns and our portfolio volatility. Our key decision will be our ratio of stocks (growth) vs bonds (defense). And then, where do we get those stocks and bonds? Many (perhaps most) have endured underperformance vs a global portfolio due to an extended Canadian home bias. Others may have suffered due to a concentrated stock portfolio that lacks diversification. Many investors will have missed ..read more

For all of the headwinds and bad press for the Canadian economy, you’d think that the stock market was in a tailspin. But surprisingly, that’s not the case. The TSX Composite and TSX 60 are threatening to make new highs, eh. That’s as U.S. stocks make new high after new high. Given that, balanced portfolios and all-in-one asset allocation ETF portfolios are sailing. Canadian stocks are better than you think. I am back after a week off for the Sunday Reads. Last weekend I was driving to Florida and I had to change my Sunday morning travel plans, leaving early from Knoxville to make it to Clearw ..read more

March 9, 2009 is a day that went down in history, as stocks went down at a rate not seen since the Great Depression. What followed was the greatest bull run and wealth building opportunity in stock market history. In tw0 charts we can witness the essence of investing. We take on (accept) risk for the potential of great gains. And there are many more lessons wrapped up in the financial crisis of 2007 to 2009. This past week marked the anniversary of that market bottom and the beginning of our incredible bull run. It’s the best of times as we remember the worst of times. Plus, the Sunday Reads ..read more

NVIDIA and AI rules the week, just as there are expectations that artificial intellgence (AI) will rule the world for the next decade or three. NVDIA (NVDA) reported absolutely spectacular results this week. Revenue was up 409% compared to the same quarter of 2023 while earnings increased 765% year over year. Those results and general enthusiasm for the potential of AI lifted all boats. It was a good week for stock markets at home and around the world. Will AI power your portfolio? Plus a great mix of Sunday Reads, from Berkshire Hathaway earnings to Canadian Banks who are set to report. The A ..read more

In the Sunday Reads we’ll take a look at a U.S. portfolio idea I put together for Seeking Alpha in mid 2023. The task was to avoid overvalued stocks including the Magnificent 7 that did most of the heavy lifting in 2023. Surprisingly, that portfolio has beat the market. I also take a look our U.S. portfolio performance for 2023. That is the real-life portfolio for me and my wife. The portfolio came up short of the market in 2023 delivering 15%, but it keeps the longer term market beat. There’s U.S. stocks and U.S. savings too, on the Sunday Reads. Here’s the our U.S. stock portfolio performanc ..read more

2023 was the year that fooled most everyone. While analysts predicted flat or negative returns for 2023, the U.S. market had a mind of its own delivering 26% for the cap weighted S&P 500 (IVV). The growth oriented Nasdaq 100 (QQQ) posted 55%. And of course, it was technology stocks and the Magnificent 7 that did most of the heavy lifting. It’s quite likely that you did not beat the market in 2023. While we were in that same camp, we had a very solid year in 2023 thanks to some modest tech exposure. Our U.S. stock portfolio continues to beat the market from inceception – early 2015. He ..read more

The S&P 500, also known as the U.S. stock market broke and held 5000 this week. That’s a new all-time high for the most watched (and most invested) stock market index. The most popular version of the index is cap-weighted, meaning the largest stocks by valuation get the greatest weight in the index. The active managers (analysts and fund managers) who price the stocks determine the weight of each stock. For many years that group has favoured growth stocks, dominated by tech companies. And recently the potential of AI (artificial intelligence) to rewire the world has provided another jolt ..read more

RRSP season is typically a period when Canadians make significant contributions to their portfolios. This year you have until February 29th to make an RRSP contribution that you can apply to reduce your taxable income for the 2023 tax year. I’ve updated the RRSP season post on Cut The Crap Investing. You’ll find a link that will allow you to pit the RRSP account type vs the wonderful TFSA account. You will likely be surprised. This Sunday Reads also includes a host of retirement focused post links and commentary. It was also a big week for earnings and my portfolio. Here’s how to invest this R ..read more