Money

Top Rated Investment Books

2011-08-30T19:46:00.000-07:00

All the books listed here have at least a 4.5 star rating on Amazon.com and 20 reviews. An excerpt from Amazon review is shown below a book title.

The Layman's Guide To Trading Stocks by Dave Landry

I started investing before most people who will read this book were even born. I have made good moves, bad moves, and moves I prefer not to talk about. A good friend suggested that I read The Layman's Guide To Trading Stocks. My reply was "I am hardly a layman, I have made and lost more money than anyone who would consider himself a layman." My friend said "just read it." I sat down with the book and could not stop reading. Every mistake I have made over the years is right there. Everything I did right is there. And Dave Landry puts it together in a coherent roadmap that could have helped me avoid the mistakes and capitalize on the good ideas every year since I invested my first dollar

Strategic Stock Trading: Master Personal Finance Using Wallstreetwindow Stock Investing Strategies With Stock Market Technical Analysis by Michael Swanson

While reading Strategic Stock Trading, I realized that by looking at stock charts with a different perspective, like Michael Swanson shows you how to do, trading can be so much easier. Michael shows how to step back and look at the overall life cycle of a sector of the stock market and the life cycle of an individual stock, to see which of the four stages of the life cycle they are in. Strategic Stock Trading shows how to see the trend that a stock is in, even though it may be oscillating up and down and not giving a clear trend in the short term. This oscillating within a range may happen just before the stock breaks out, up or down, depending on which part of the life cycle the stock is at.

With thousands of stocks to chose from to trade, how does a person know what to trade to make a profit? The media is full of brilliant ideas and suggestions. When you understand how to look at the life cycle of a stock and use some basic charting techniques, it is easy to see whether or not to take a position on a brilliant idea or suggestion, or whether to be in cash, ready to take advantage of the next direction a stock is going to take. It's not about being able to read Candlesticks, Fibonacci Retracements, Elliot Waves, Head and Shoulder and other patterns. It's being able to understand the psychology of other traders (including professional traders). This is what Michael Swanson is getting at in his book Strategic Stock Trading

Top Rated Books in Personal Finance

2011-08-29T19:04:00.000-07:00

The Millionaire Fastlane: Crack the Code to Wealth and Live Rich for a Lifetime

This book is quite good - and I was pleasantly surprised. Think of it as similar to the 'Rich-Dad' series in tone, but with all the very best stuff there in spades - and with all the filler gone. The author is both an excellent writer (again, rare) and has a knack not only for telling it like it is, but for expressing himself with analytic accuracy and striking clarity. Essentially the book helps you re-think all you thought you knew about wealth creation. It's neither a how-to-guide (i.e., buy real estate) or the 'you can do it' feel-good treatise (a la Tony Robbins). Rather, it's critical thinking at its best.

Sherry Cooper's dividend screen for Canadian stocks

2010-03-26T13:35:00.000-07:00

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/blogs/number-cruncher/dividend-firms-that-fit-sherry-coopers-profile/article1508797/

39 Investing Secrets

2010-02-26T08:01:00.000-08:00

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/globe-investor/investment-ideas/investor-education/thirty-nine-investing-secrets-revealed-at-last/article1423076/

Seasonal Trends in Commodities

2010-02-05T13:43:00.000-08:00

According to Frank Holmes, CEO of U.S. Global Investors, commodities have the following seasonal cycles:

Every year has a seasonal cycle that affects supply and demand of commodities. We compare gold to copper to silver to platinum and to oil, and can see defined patterns. For more than 150 years, the patterns have a 70% accuracy of forecasting economic activity. Copper is usually best bought in November and sold in March. It fell off dramatically between March and November for many, many years until China's economic engine fired up and started altering that pattern 15 years ago. It still falls off, but not nearly so dramatically now.

Usually gold bottoms in August and charges back in September as part of a seasonal pattern that kicks off with religious observances and holidays in countries where it's very common to give gold as a gift and a representation of love—from Ramadan through the Diwali season of lights in India through Christmas and the Chinese New Year.

TFSA trumps RRSP, report says

2010-01-28T12:45:00.000-08:00

From the Globe and Mail:
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/globe-investor/personal-finance/rrsp/tfsa-trumps-rrsp-report-says/article1446307/

Small companies offer up most dividend growth

2010-01-04T16:02:00.000-08:00

The title says it all: Small companies offer up most dividend growth

The article discusses compound annual growth rate across the last 10 years for all the stocks traded in Toronto.

The top 5 dividend growth companies in order of 10-year compound annual growth rate of dividends per share are as follows:

Shaw Communications, Inc.	SJR.B-T	45
Canadian Oil Sands Trust	COS.UN-T	40
BMTC Group Inc.	GBT.A-T	30.2
Reitmans Canada Ltd.	RET.A-T	27.2
EnCana Corp.	ECA-T	25.7

Bonds Point To Bull Market In Stocks

2009-12-26T09:13:00.000-08:00

Bonds Point To Bull Market In Stocks
Garman sees a banner year ahead for stocks: a near 42% gain for the small companies that make up the Russell 2000 index and a 22% rally for the larger ones in the Standard and Poor’s 500.

52-Week High Stocks

2009-12-25T08:11:00.000-08:00

Another strategy for finding stocks to evaluate is to look at the 52-week high list.

But, hold on. Doesn’t that violate the rule against buying high? First, that rule only applies to stocks that have been artificially bid up by some type of market over-reach.

You can find those on the 52-week high list, but they are easy to spot and eliminate (a stock whose price has jumped 30% in one day).

You are looking for stocks that have shown steady growth over a long period to earn their way on to the list.

When you identify these stocks, begin your evaluation. The market has done much of your work by rewarding the company with an escalating stock price, but don’t stop there.

http://stocks.about.com/od/advancedtrading/a/Winners042805.htm

Timing Model for High-Yield Bonds

2009-12-13T10:10:00.000-08:00

This timing model is outlined in the book "Opportunity Investing" by Gerald Appel.
He calls this strategy "1.25/0.50".

This timing model presumes that if high-yield bonds have been in a downtrend, and then rise in price by 1.25% from a low price level, the downtrend has come to an end (a buy signal).

The model also presumes that if high-yield bond funds have been advancing in prices, a decline of 0.50% in the prices of such funds from their most recent high level indicates that there are good chances of ongoing decline (a sell signal).

What to do with $10000 in TFSA

2009-12-11T09:19:00.000-08:00

What to do with $10000 in a tax free savings account with a medium term time horizon and basically no risk?
-buy an eight year $5000 Province of Ontario strip bond for $3400 with a yield of 4%.
- buy the TSX 60 index XIU with the remaining $1600. You now have basically risk free market exposure.
- keep $2500 in the Claymore T-Bill account CMR to capture rising interest rates
- keep $2500 in XRB the real return bond ETF to capture rising inflation

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/globe-investor/investment-ideas/a-stash-for-cash-or-investment-vehicle/article1396665/

Some Seasonal Timing Strategies

2009-12-07T13:12:00.001-08:00

Here are some seasonal timing strategies as based on the book "All About Market Timing" by Les Masonson.

1. Invest in the stock market on November 1 of each year. Then sell on April 30 of the following year (and go into cash equivalents) until November 1 of the next year.

2. Invest in the stock market on the last day in October of each year, and then sell on the fourth business day in May of the following year. This had better results than the first strategy.

3. Use the MACD indicator in conjunction with the first or second strategy. Place the MACD indicator with settings of (12,25,9) on the bottom of the chart. In the April–June time frame look for a MACD crossover signal to the downside (below its “0” line) to sell your investments. Likewise in the October–December time frame look for a MACD crossover signal to the upside (above its “0” line) to get into the market.

4. Avoid the stock market entirely each September. Simply sell on the last day in August and buy on the first day in October.

A variation of the last strategy is avoid both September and October. That is buy on the first day of November.

Top Investment Books

2009-01-24T16:51:00.000-08:00

Here is a list of top investment books recommended by Dick Davis in his book The Dick Davis Dividend: Straight Talk on Making Money from 40 Years on Wall Street

Top 25 Investment Books

Against the Gods - Peter Bernstein
Annual Letters to Stockholders - Warren Buffett
The Battle for the Soul of Capitalism - John Bogle
Beating the Street - Peter Lynch
The Coffehouse Investor - Bill Schultheis
Common Sense on Mutual Funds - John Bogle
Common Stocks and Uncommon Profits - Philip Fisher
Contrarian Investment Strategy - David Dreman
The Essays of Warren Buffett - Warren Buffett
Fooled by Randomness: The Hidden Role of Chance - Nassim Taleb
The Four Pillars of Investing - William Bernstein
The Future for investors - Jeremy Siegel
The Informed Investor - Frank Armstrong
The Intelligent Asset Allocator - William Bernstein
The Intelligent Investor - Benjamin Graham
The Little Book That Beats The Market - Joel Greenblatt
The Only Guide to a Winning Investment Strategy You'll Ever Need - Larry Swedroe
The Only Investment Gude You'll Ever Need - Andrew Tobias
A Random Walk Down Wall Street - Burton Malkiel
Stocks For The Long Run - Jeremy Siegel
Technical Analysis of Stock Trends - Edwards abd McGee
Unconventional Succcess - David Swensen
The Warren Buffett Way - Robert Hagstrom
Winning On Wall Street - Marty Zweig
Winning the Loser's Game - Charles Ellis

Predicting a Bottom

2007-10-19T09:23:00.000-07:00

Dollar Update by Sol Palha

Our intentions as always have not been with finding the exact bottom as that is a task best reserved for fools. If one actually is fortunate enough to predict one such bottom its more of a curse then a blessing because this person now falsely assumes that they have stumbled onto the holy grail and their life's journey is nothing but a down hill battle, as they feebly try to duplicate that same feat but repeatedly miss. One cannot predict an exact bottom simply because one is dealing with the mass mindset that for the most part is insane. So then we ask the very real question; how does anyone time madness, for madness has no distinctive nor pre defined nor pre ordained pattern. Madness is a force of spontaneity; it manifests itself randomly and for no apparent reason.

Japan and China lead flight from the dollar

2007-10-17T09:38:00.000-07:00

Japan and China led a record withdrawl of foreign funds from the United States in August, heightening fears of a fresh slide in the dollar and a spike in US bond yields.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk

When and How to Give Advice

2006-12-12T04:37:00.000-08:00

Rule 1: Give advice only when it's asked for. I have made the mistake of offering advice ... very good advice ... to people who weren't ready or willing to listen to it. As I was giving the advice, I looked into their eyes and realized there was zero chance they were going to pay attention to what I was saying. I thought to myself, "This person has no idea how valuable this could be to him."

Rule 2: Give the same good advice only once. I have friends and colleagues who are perennially in money trouble, and to whom I continually explain how to get out of debt and develop wealth. This is a foolish habit of mine. If you give someone good advice and he doesn't listen to it the first time, it is better to say nothing from then on. Just nod sympathetically when he tells you, every time he sees you, how life has screwed him.

Rule 3: Make everyone but close friends and relatives pay for your advice. Countless psychological studies have proven that people don't value things they get for free. If you want people to listen to your advice, charge for it. If you want it to be taken as seriously as it should be, charge a lot for it.

When and How to Give Money

Rule 1: Don't give anyone but close friends or relatives money for free. You will almost always regret it. I give away hundreds of thousands of dollars every year, and it is almost all wasted. It is wasted because the receiver almost never invests it wisely. Easy come, easy go. That's the way it is. I continue to give away money because I can't help myself. It seems worth it to me, because every once in a while - maybe 10 percent of the time - it is invested wisely.

Rule 2: If you do give away money, don't expect it to be used wisely and don't expect gratitude. More often than not, you will create resentment in the heart of the receiver.

Rule 3: If a friend or colleague has a good business and needs a loan, extend him one - but only if (a) you think it's a good investment on an arm's length basis and (b) you are willing to charge him an arm's length interest rate on the loan.

Rule 4: An arm's length loan has a written contract, terms, and collateral. Be satisfied with all three before you lend the money.

Rule 5: Realize that even though you have the power to seize the collateral if your friend or colleague reneges on the loan, you may not want to do that, because it might end the relationship. Figure out beforehand which is more important - the return of your loan or the continuation of your relationship. If the latter, be prepared to lose everything without resentment.

By Michael Masterson

RRSP Calculator

2006-12-11T19:54:00.000-08:00

An RRSP Calculator can be found here.

Saving Rates in Canada

2006-08-07T18:33:00.000-07:00

The two Canadian financial institutions that offer high interest rates on savings are
ING Direct and PC Financial.

The current rate from ING Direct on saving accounts is 3.5% which is not the top rate that can be found.

PC Financial offers one of the highest rates on saving accounts - 4.0 %. However, a minimum $1000 daily balance is required.

Global investing dos and don'ts from a top investment manager

2006-08-07T15:51:00.000-07:00

Global investing expert Gavin Graham, chief investment officer of theToronto-based Guardian Group of Funds (GGOF), says Canadians are on theright track in diversifying their investments on an international basisas long as they do it the right way.

One way to cope with the volatility of overseas markets is dollar-cost averaging, he says, "where you buy more when it is cheap and less when it is expensive.

"You shouldn't be frightened off because we've had a sharp sell-off.There have been numerous sharp sell-offs in the past few years but generally they have been pretty good times to buy."

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The Coming Economic Collapse

2006-06-30T18:38:00.000-07:00

This is the title of a new book by Stephen Leeb in which he predicts that the price of oil is going to reach $200 soon. He also gives some stock recommendations. He believes the coming decade will be very similar to the 70-s when stocks did very poorly. So his first stock recommendation is to avoid index investing. "Stay away from index funds, large-cap funds and any other vehicle that mirros the broad market." I guess that includes ETFs that track a broad market index. His other recommendations:
- even worse will be the so-called defensive stocks
- avoid small-cap stocks as well

Investment Jackpots according to Leeb:
- Gold and gold shares
- Oil and oil shares, including oil service companies, in particular.(among them, Shlumberger)
- Real estate
- Companies well positioned to capitalize on growth in China and India such as 3M, Coca-Cola, Procter & Gamble, and Texas Instruments
- Zero-coupon bonds as a hedge against deflation

World Glut 2006*

2006-06-15T15:05:00.000-07:00

Somebody told me that markets, on average, drop seven times (7x) faster than it takes to rise. This year we're close : from Dec 31 to now, markets have risen and given back near everything in 3 weeks, since 18 May.

The entire western world along with Japan have been the leading "producers" of easy money the last 4-5 years after the dot.com blowout. In the simplest of terms, monetary investment will expand to fill the amount of liquidity alloted to it. That is to say, the recent run up in many sectors and markets have been feeding on the "easy" money which has been injected into world economies over the last years...

Our estimation of this from January this year was that by Q4/2006 the FFR (baseline Fed interest rate) would be 5.25 or 5.5% (2 more 25bp hikes). We are sticking by this figure.

Randolph Buss

http://www.safehaven.com/article-5375.htm

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The real stock market panic is yet to begin

2006-06-15T12:07:00.000-07:00

While a general stock market crash may pressure all stocks (including precious metal stocks) to go lower, precious metals and precious metal stocks are being offered now at significant discounts (much of the excess that caused sharp drops in price has been washed out).

In the years ahead, the high prices we have all seen in gold and silver will be surpassed many times over. In addition, leaving your money in short-term cash with no price risk while receiving 5%, looks a lot better than losing money in stocks or real estate! Suddenly, risk is a four letter word and cash is not trash.

http://www.moneyweek.com/file/13994/the-real-stock-market-panic-is-yet-to-begin.html

New US Depression

2006-06-14T15:42:00.000-07:00

As I have said before, possibly the best definition of a depression is a period when most people's standard of living drops significantly.

Youcan also define it as a period when distortions in the economy and misallocations of capital are liquidated. The distortions are almost always the result of government intervention in the economy, through things like taxes, regulation and currency inflation.

Those are the factors that caused the unpleasantness that began in 1929. Since the US government is exponentially more powerful and invasive today than it was in either the 1920s or the 1970s, I expect the consequences will be much worse this time around. Things could have come unglued,and almost did, back in the 1970s. I don't see how the US will dodge the bullet this time.

Although that's not really a good analogy, in that, for reasons we don't have time to explore in depth, a depression in the US is probably inevitable this time.

By Doug Casey for for The Daily Reckoning.

http://www.moneyweek.com/file/13928/how-to-prepare-for-a-new-us-depression.html

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