http://www.dailybuyselladviser.com/news/index.html en-us Copyright 2007 Daily Buy-Sell Adviser. All rights Reserved. Daily Buy-Sell Adviser webmaster@iproduction.com Thu, 29 Jul 2010 14:58:22 GMT Thu, 29 Jul 2010 14:58:22 GMT IPS - www.iproduction.com Almost every market report these days contains a few jittery words about China. “Concerns about a slowdown in China,” or “worries about a real estate bubble in China” often come right between “anxiety over European debt” and “a slow U.S. recovery.” http://www.dailybuyselladviser.com/news/blank/Chinese-stocks1000-1.html?CMP=OTC-RSS A decade ago, you had never heard of an inverse ETF. Neither had anyone else, since they didn’t exist. But no doubt the idea was already hatching in the back rooms of some investment firms. http://www.dailybuyselladviser.com/news/blank/ETF999-1.html?CMP=OTC-RSS We’ve had a lot to say about dividends lately. But that’s only natural. In an unpredictable stock market, dividends provide tangible rewards even as stocks rise and fall. Today we’re going to see how well dividend stocks perform against their non-paying counterparts. http://www.dailybuyselladviser.com/news/blank/dividend-stocks998-1.html?CMP=OTC-RSS Few things stand in sharper contrast on the two sides of the 49th Parallel than health care. The U.S. system may have gotten a little closer to Canada’s with the hard-fought passage of the health care reform bill in Congress. http://www.dailybuyselladviser.com/news/blank/health-care-stocks997-1.html?CMP=OTC-RSS The leading character in this story, the small investor, is dubbed Mr. Joe Six-Pack. This implies that he is a) an avid consumer of beer, and b) a man. There are countless investors who do not fit either category, of course, but our tale is not about beverages or gender. http://www.dailybuyselladviser.com/news/blank/small-cap-stocks996-1.html?CMP=OTC-RSS Where do you go if you want to get away from the Gulf of Mexico? If you follow the news, you can’t avoid it. Anxious hopes that the well has been plugged and ongoing barbs aimed at BP keep the issue boiling. http://www.dailybuyselladviser.com/news/blank/energy-stocks995-1.html?CMP=OTC-RSS Let’s go to business school. We don’t have to take the whole curriculum. We’re just going to look in on one debate that illustrates a very important point for investors. http://www.dailybuyselladviser.com/news/blank/retail-stocks993-1.html?CMP=OTC-RSS It may not seem so easy to define a turnaround stock these days. You’d be hard-pressed to find a stock that hasn’t been kicked upstairs and down in the last few weeks. But there is a difference between stocks that are simply being buffeted by stormy markets and those that attract the attention of contrarians. http://www.dailybuyselladviser.com/news/blank/turnaround-stocks992-1.html?CMP=OTC-RSS They had a meeting in Toronto back on June 27. Those who got past the TV images of burning police cars, smashed windows and marching demonstrators may have picked up some of the resolutions that came from the G20 summit. http://www.dailybuyselladviser.com/news/blank/G20991-1.html?CMP=OTC-RSS Is it British or American? Is it about to disappear or is it due to get stronger? Has BP finally put an end to the Gulf oil spill? http://www.dailybuyselladviser.com/news/blank/Gulf-oil-spill990-1.html?CMP=OTC-RSS Even retirement isn’t what it used to be. For generations, people left their jobs at age 65 and got on with the rest of their lives. By and large, they knew what their incomes from pensions, investments and other sources would be. The chief worry (especially after 1973) was that inflation would eat into that income. http://www.dailybuyselladviser.com/news/blank/dividend-stocks988-1.html?CMP=OTC-RSS The stock market may seem to change crazily from day to day. But in a sense, it’s not going anywhere. It’s stuck in the middle of a long cycle. http://www.dailybuyselladviser.com/news/blank/dividend-yields987-1.html?CMP=OTC-RSS Bold advice sure gets attention. But it may not be the right advice. It may be more impressive for audacity than accuracy. In fact, even a bold negative prediction could turn out to be nonsense. http://www.dailybuyselladviser.com/news/blank/market-predictions986-1.html?CMP=OTC-RSS Last week, Canada released highly encouraging job numbers. But south of us, the economy is still dragging its feet. Could a sluggish America be the rather large tail that wags a lively Canadian dog back into recession http://www.dailybuyselladviser.com/news/blank/recession985-1.html?CMP=OTC-RSS Is it really different this time? When the economy and the markets are flying high, we often hear from experts who insist that they will go on like this forever.In the 1990s, we read that the market was floating on so much money from savings and pension plans that it couldn’t possibly crash! http://www.dailybuyselladviser.com/news/blank/economic-recovery983-1.html?CMP=OTC-RSS The distance between China and Canada seems to be shrinking. When you look at the new container port at Prince Rupert, B.C., that’s true literally — it cuts about 58 hours off shipping time from Chinese ports. http://www.dailybuyselladviser.com/news/blank/Canadian-banks982-1.html?CMP=OTC-RSS Sometimes people just have to speak up. As one investor puts it: “Occasionally a bad management practice becomes so widespread that I feel compelled to speak out against it.” http://www.dailybuyselladviser.com/news/blank/share-buybacks981-1.html?CMP=OTC-RSS The ugly duckling looks a bit more fetching these days. Alberta’s oil sands have been carrying a burden of high costs and environmental unsuitability around with them for some time. http://www.dailybuyselladviser.com/news/blank/oil-sands979-1.html?CMP=OTC-RSS A recovery is under way. It’s just not moving very briskly these days. Especially in the United States. http://www.dailybuyselladviser.com/news/blank/bear-market978-1.html?CMP=OTC-RSS How would you describe a small cap investor? Mr. Max Bowser, one of America’s leading champions of small stocks, has his own flavourful way of doing it. http://www.dailybuyselladviser.com/news/blank/small-cap-stocks977-1.html?CMP=OTC-RSS This Canadian analyst isn’t going to say he told you so. But he did. http://www.dailybuyselladviser.com/news/blank/ETFs976-1.html?CMP=OTC-RSS “Thank goodness for Canada and Australia.” What makes these countries worthy of such praise? It’s not their World Cup performances — Australia is out and Canada was never in. http://www.dailybuyselladviser.com/news/blank/resource-stocks975-1.html?CMP=OTC-RSS Anxiety is now the norm. The stock markets are supposed to be flat in summer. But they’ve been anything but the last few months. Volatility, it seems, is here to stay. It gets unnerving. With every piece of good news, the markets pop their heads up. Then a bit of bad news comes flying over, and they dive back into their shell holes. http://www.dailybuyselladviser.com/news/blank/Chinese-stocks974-1.html?CMP=OTC-RSS Those who live in Toronto and Huntsville, Ontario are discovering the joys of international diplomacy. The G8 and G20 leaders have landed, to be greeted by giant fences and a gaggle of protesters. It may be big news in Ontario’s cottage country and downtown Toronto, but what does it really add up to? http://www.dailybuyselladviser.com/news/blank/G20-summit973-1.html?CMP=OTC-RSS Once upon a time, “the quality” was the upper crust in society, those who possessed elegant mansions, carriages and the like. Just having money wasn’t enough to earn you this designation. You had to know how to spend it. And when financial advisers talk about “investment quality,” they mean exactly the same thing — how you spend your money. It’s very easy to get the least out of your money if you’re not careful. http://www.dailybuyselladviser.com/news/blank/investment-quality972-1.html?CMP=OTC-RSS Many Canadians ride bicycles, but far fewer follow the Tour de France. The name Lance Armstrong will surely ring a bell, but this event doesn’t exactly have Stanley Cup or Grey Cup status in these parts. Yet the Tour de France offers a very apt strategy for investing in these troubled times. http://www.dailybuyselladviser.com/news/blank/Canadian-stocks969-1.html?CMP=OTC-RSS Where would you go to get a reliable reading on Canadian gold stocks? The United States might not seem like the most logical answer at first glance, but it makes a good deal of sense. In these days of record high gold prices, we find many U.S. analysts lining their portfolios with Canadian gold stocks. http://www.dailybuyselladviser.com/news/blank/Canadian-gold-stocks968-1.html?CMP=OTC-RSS We haven’t taken a formal count, but the bears appear to have a slight lead. Among the advisories we consult, some insist we are in the midst of a long, or secular, bull market, punctuated with bearish downturns. But the edge goes to those who are convinced that the long stock market rally that started in March 2009 is a bull trapped in a bear. http://www.dailybuyselladviser.com/news/blank/bear-market967-1.html?CMP=OTC-RSS The dividend never really went away. But it did not have a good year in 2009. Companies that once seemed as solid as Gibraltar — like Manulife Financial and General Electric — cut deeply into their dividends. http://www.dailybuyselladviser.com/news/blank/dividend-stocks966-1.html?CMP=OTC-RSS A credit crisis is triggered in America. It spreads to Europe, infecting banks and undermining whole nations with a plague of debt. Has anybody ever seen anything like it? Yes they have. It’s déjà vu all over again, as the baseball philosopher Mr. Yogi Berra is alleged to have said. http://www.dailybuyselladviser.com/news/blank/gold-stocks965-1.html?CMP=OTC-RSS Interest rates have gone up. Not by much, but it’s a start. And this unleashes a flood of speculation as to how they will affect everything from inflation to housing to your summer vacation. But today we zero in on one area of concern — the one group of income trusts that stand to avoid the 2011 distribution tax. Real Estate Income Trusts, or REITs. http://www.dailybuyselladviser.com/news/blank/REITs964-1.html?CMP=OTC-RSS Be greedy when others are fearful. We’ve heard that half-maxim by Mr. Warren Buffett quite often lately (the other half, of course, is to be fearful when others are greedy). It’s a great idea. Get into the market when others are bailing out, and you’ll set yourself up for the future with good stocks at bargain prices. http://www.dailybuyselladviser.com/news/blank/Canadian-stocks963-1.html?CMP=OTC-RSS Even the most sophisticated traders are throwing up their hands. Stock markets have never been models of calm and rational deportment. They are more often cited as examples of crowd psychology run amok. But they may be more irrational than ever. http://www.dailybuyselladviser.com/news/blank/high-frequency-trading962-1.html?CMP=OTC-RSS The world doesn’t want us to get too comfortable. It starts with the financial turmoil that has persisted for three years. It continues with a series of disturbing events coming one after another, in the Gulf of Mexico, in Korea, in Gaza. Not to mention the intractable war in Afghanistan. http://www.dailybuyselladviser.com/news/blank/investment-plans959-1.html?CMP=OTC-RSS The secret of success with stocks is not to get scared out of them. In a nutshell, that is the advice of noted fund manager and author Peter Lynch. In effect, Mr. Lynch said in his book Beating the Street, it is better to invest on a regular schedule and ignore the condition of the markets than to try and time your investments. http://www.dailybuyselladviser.com/news/blank/bull-market958-1.html?CMP=OTC-RSS The news is good this morning, but so what? A report on rising Chinese exports has been pushing the world’s stock markets up today. Yet a piece of bad news could just as easily send them in the other direction. So let’s get off the good news-bad news teeter-totter for a while. http://www.dailybuyselladviser.com/news/blank/Canadian-resource-stock957-1.html?CMP=OTC-RSS So how bad is it? For over a month, the bad news has had the upper hand on the good news. And the world’s stock markets have acted accordingly. But there’s no point in wallowing in gloom and doom. It is far more useful to try and determine what we can expect in the months ahead. http://www.dailybuyselladviser.com/news/blank/junior-resource-stocks956-1.html?CMP=OTC-RSS Investors know the acronym BRIC — Brazil, Russia, India. China. How about a handle for four other fast-growing nations? Indonesia, the Philippines, Malaysia and South Africa. MIPS? PIMS? SPIM? If Indonesia would change the first letter of its name to “A” it could be MAPS. That would be nifty. http://www.dailybuyselladviser.com/news/blank/emerging-economies955-1.html?CMP=OTC-RSS If the party’s over, do we all have to leave? If the long stock market rally is coming to an end, does every market have to take a beating? Canada’s economy appears to be recovering rapidly, so perhaps it can resist the worst effects of another downturn — the dreaded “double dip.” http://www.dailybuyselladviser.com/news/blank/stock-market-rally953-1.html?CMP=OTC-RSS It has to be one or the other. A bull or a bear. Either we are in a long-term bull market punctuated with temporary smash-ups. Or we’re in a bear market that has been softened by a long but temporary market rally. http://www.dailybuyselladviser.com/news/blank/bull-market952-1.html?CMP=OTC-RSS It hasn’t been a good week for oil. There’s certainly no point in trying to figure out when — if ever – the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico will be tamed. And there’s even less point in trying to figure out where the price of crude oil will head in the next few months. http://www.dailybuyselladviser.com/news/blank/energy-stocks951-1.html?CMP=OTC-RSS “As we suspected, the markets have been looking for an excuse to sell off or take profits.” The markets found a darn good excuse — the possible collapse of the European monetary system and all the chaos that could bring. http://www.dailybuyselladviser.com/news/blank/small-cap-stocks950-1.html?CMP=OTC-RSS Performance is a word that analysts love. Stocks don’t just “perform,” they “outperform” or “underperform” or even “market perform,” which makes them sound a little bit like the organ grinder’s monkey at the fair. There are analysts who swear that a stock’s price momentum is the most important thing investors can look at. You’re in the game for the returns you get, so look at the returns a stock can give. http://www.dailybuyselladviser.com/news/blank/stock-price-momentum949-1.html?CMP=OTC-RSS There’s more than oil spilling out into the Gulf of Mexico. Accusations and counter-accusations are flowing as freely as the crude that is creating an environmental disaster of unprecedented proportions. And let us not forget, eleven people died in the original explosion. http://www.dailybuyselladviser.com/news/blank/energy-stocks948-1.html?CMP=OTC-RSS The markets are limping back into positive territory. So are the prices of a number of commodities. No one is naive enough to think that this spells the end of trouble, especially with all those debt collectors pounding on Europe’s door. http://www.dailybuyselladviser.com/news/blank/Canadian-stocks947-1.html?CMP=OTC-RSS The answer is gold. The question is — what do people turn to when they can’t get answers to any of the other questions? Such as, will debt in Europe lead to a second credit crisis? Will China slow down and stop ordering our commodities? Will a Canadian team ever win the Stanley Cup again? (Sorry, that one’s too tough for anybody to answer.) http://www.dailybuyselladviser.com/news/blank/gold-stocks946-1.html?CMP=OTC-RSS If we didn’t read the headlines, would the bad news go away? Of course not. But more to the point, if we didn’t react to the headlines, would the market be a happier place? The buildup of bad news from Europe and elsewhere triggered a nightmare for many investors (and a boon for short-sellers) over the past week or so. http://www.dailybuyselladviser.com/news/blank/bull-market945-1.html?CMP=OTC-RSS Sometimes they’re like kids who just got a raise in their allowances. Give some companies enough money to play with and they can’t wait to buy another company. Only it’s the wrong company. The marriage fails, to the detriment of all concerned. Shareholders grumble. http://www.dailybuyselladviser.com/news/blank/mergers-and-acquisitions944-1.html?CMP=OTC-RSS The euro is hanging by its fingernails. The loonie is swooning. The markets are sliding around like Charlie Chaplin on a roller skating rink. And now we’re told we may not even get the interest rate hike we expected two weeks from now. Can’t we count on anything? http://www.dailybuyselladviser.com/news/blank/dividend-stocks943-1.html?CMP=OTC-RSS Some people live in them. Others work in them. And millions of people shop in them. It’s as though we were on a giant Monopoly board. And all of the properties (except Jail) are owned by Real Estate Investment Trusts. REITs. http://www.dailybuyselladviser.com/news/blank/REITs942-1.html?CMP=OTC-RSS Sometimes myth wins out over facts. That’s certainly true in stock markets, where reason often fails to keep up with emotion and rumour. But it’s not true of Canadian income trusts, says America’s most widely consulted expert on the matter. http://www.dailybuyselladviser.com/news/blank/income-trusts941-1.html?CMP=OTC-RSS Overall market risk is low, but short-term risk is very high. Yet the greatest risk of all may be gambling risk. We’re trapped in a “casino economy” and it’s time we took steps to get out of it. That is the opinion of an American observer whose point of view does not match that of a lot of his fellow newsletter editors. http://www.dailybuyselladviser.com/news/blank/Canadian-stocks940-1.html?CMP=OTC-RSS We see many swans during the course of the summer and not one of them has ever been black. But black swans have been wreaking havoc on the world’s markets. In this case, a “black swan” is an event as rare as the sighting of a charcoal-coloured swan in real life. http://www.dailybuyselladviser.com/news/blank/gold-stocks939-1.html?CMP=OTC-RSS If you’re an investor who likes thrills, chills and suspense, you’ve had lots of fun in the past week. Essentially, we have spent three years dealing with uncertainty, but last week’s joyride was more than anyone could bargain for. http://www.dailybuyselladviser.com/news/blank/growth-stocks938-1.html?CMP=OTC-RSS One storm blew through last week. We’re not sure when the next one is, but we all know it’s coming. The stock markets are entering a turbulent period, says one Canadian analyst, and investors have only themselves to blame if they’re not ready. http://www.dailybuyselladviser.com/news/blank/ETFs937-1.html?CMP=OTC-RSS Once April 30 has come and gone, a lot of people don’t want to hear anything about taxes for a long time. But taxes are always with us. This is the story of a new “super tax.” It begins Down Under, but the ripples are already being felt on many other shores. http://www.dailybuyselladviser.com/news/blank/resource-stocks936-1.html?CMP=OTC-RSS Those who follow mining stocks must be prepared to grab their passports and travel to any corner of the globe. One of the most productive corners of the globe is this one. Canada. In its latest issue, a leading U.S. advisory on junior mining stocks journeys to what it calls “one of the best mining jurisdictions in the world, if not the best.” http://www.dailybuyselladviser.com/news/blank/mining-stocks935-1.html?CMP=OTC-RSS If this were a thousand years ago, people might have said the world was coming to an end. Between catastrophic oil spills, the Greek debt crisis and a berserk stock market, they would have had circumstantial evidence in their favour. http://www.dailybuyselladviser.com/news/blank/Greek-debt-crisis934-1.html?CMP=OTC-RSS If you’re getting fed up with the stock market these days, you could opt for safe returns. Try some Government of Canada treasury bills and GICs. They’re as stable and safe as you can get. And at today’s rates you’ll double your money in ... let’s see, about sixty years. http://www.dailybuyselladviser.com/news/blank/dividend-stocks933-1.html?CMP=OTC-RSS If it’s not one thing, it’s another. The Greek debt crisis kicks one group of stocks downstairs. Slowed-down manufacturing in China does the same to Canadian commodities. http://www.dailybuyselladviser.com/news/blank/earnings-reports932-1.html?CMP=OTC-RSS “I can’t bear to look.” At the height of the market crisis of 2008, many people wouldn’t even open their financial statements. But that can happen with stocks even in good times. The winners get a big smile, while the losers barely get a glance. Maybe they’ll just go away. http://www.dailybuyselladviser.com/news/blank/Canadian-stocks931-1.html?CMP=OTC-RSS Do you remember when the Canadian dollar was worth 65 US cents? Mr. John Kaiser does. And he remembers some humbling experiences when he first moved to the United States. He had “to suffer the indignities of clerks picking a Canadian penny out of the mix and pushing it back at me with the declaration that it was no good.” http://www.dailybuyselladviser.com/news/blank/Wall-Street930-1.html?CMP=OTC-RSS Hour by hour, the vast oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico is turning into a disaster of epic proportions. This is bound to make it a little tougher for offshore drillers to count on relaxed safety regulations, at least in North America. http://www.dailybuyselladviser.com/news/blank/Canadian-energy-stock929-1.html?CMP=OTC-RSS Can the stock market go too high? Well, markets do tend to bump their heads on the ceiling after they have had a rousing run. Sometimes that bump leads to a serious fall. Other times, it just leads to temporary dizziness. The dilemma is summed up in a cartoon. It’s from The New Yorker, the supreme practitioner of the business cartoon. http://www.dailybuyselladviser.com/news/blank/bull-market928-1.html?CMP=OTC-RSS This is a story about a hardware store that doesn’t sell you mitre saws, wood filler or garden hoses. In fact, it’s not really a hardware store at all. http://www.dailybuyselladviser.com/news/blank/Canadian-stock924-1.html?CMP=OTC-RSS “What kind of fish can perform an operation? A sturgeon!” “What do you call a fish with no eyes? Fsh.” “Why did the whale cross the road? To get to the other tide.” http://www.dailybuyselladviser.com/news/blank/contrarian-investors922-1.html?CMP=OTC-RSS There are two schools of thought on this. When a company buys back its own shares, it automatically raises the earnings per share of the stock remaining in the hands of shareholders. Thus those fewer shares are worth more. http://www.dailybuyselladviser.com/news/blank/share-buybacks921-1.html?CMP=OTC-RSS Remember when online shopping was a novelty? All of a sudden, you didn’t have to go to the store or trudge to the mailbox with an order form. You could just pick and click.And what a novelty it was, as web sites for buying and selling seemed to multiply by the day. The market value of these sites and a host of other tech stocks soared into the stratosphere. http://www.dailybuyselladviser.com/news/blank/Canadian-stocks920-1.html?CMP=OTC-RSS It’s spring. Time to start over again. From the garage to the basement to the garden to the windows, all kinds of things need to be cleaned, renewed and refreshed. So how about doing your portfolio while you’re at it? http://www.dailybuyselladviser.com/news/blank/small-cap-stocks919-1.html?CMP=OTC-RSS The question is: Who creates money? And the answer is almost always wrong. Because the correct answer is not “the government.” The cash you carry around and the change tossed in that old coffee mug you keep on your chest of drawers were indeed minted in Ottawa. http://www.dailybuyselladviser.com/news/blank/gold-stocks918-1.html?CMP=OTC-RSS When the price of a commodity goes up, it hauls a lot of things with it. Right off the bat, it perks up the prospects of those who make equipment to help find the stuff, extract it, refine it and ship it. http://www.dailybuyselladviser.com/news/blank/energy-stocks917-1.html?CMP=OTC-RSS There are a lot of empty seats for baseball games in the Rogers Centre in Toronto these days. Should that cause investors to hesitate about putting their money in the company that owns the place? http://www.dailybuyselladviser.com/news/blank/Canadian-stock916-1.html?CMP=OTC-RSS Did this ever happen to you when you were a kid? You broke something, so you thought, I’ll hide it and they’ll never find out what I did. The idea didn’t seem as dumb at the time as it does in retrospect. http://www.dailybuyselladviser.com/news/blank/gold-stocks915-1.html?CMP=OTC-RSS What is the essence of investing? You give somebody some money, and when they make money, they start giving it back to you. Income investing means you start getting the money back sooner and more regularly. http://www.dailybuyselladviser.com/news/blank/preferred-shares914-1.html?CMP=OTC-RSS You don’t usually associate glitter with dependability and thrift. But that may be just what we’re going to get in the next few years. And it will come in the form of many more gold stocks paying dividends. http://www.dailybuyselladviser.com/news/blank/gold-stocks913-1.html?CMP=OTC-RSS Here’s a recipe for success you may not have considered. Buy 10 really awful stocks in the midst of a crushing bear market and hang on to them for a year. Does this sound inspired or just plain crazy? http://www.dailybuyselladviser.com/news/blank/small-cap-stocks912-1.html?CMP=OTC-RSS A corporation is not a person like you and I. That would seem to be obvious, but it’s not. In the United States, corporations are people in the eyes of the law. http://www.dailybuyselladviser.com/news/blank/Canadian-stocks911-1.html?CMP=OTC-RSS Rare earth metals sound a bit like some prize fought over by wizards and goblins in a fantasy epic. Well, rare metals are prized, all right. The question is how big is the prize and who benefits? http://www.dailybuyselladviser.com/news/blank/rare-earth-stocks910-1.html?CMP=OTC-RSS Inflation appears to be the least of our worries right now. Citizens across North America are dealing with gnawing financial issues such as debt, rising taxes and an uneven economy. http://www.dailybuyselladviser.com/news/blank/inflation909-1.html?CMP=OTC-RSS Oscillating is the motion that a pendulum makes, or a spring mechanism, or a slinky toy. That’s what the stock market is doing these days, says one Canadian expert — and while it’s oscillating, investors should not be vacillating. http://www.dailybuyselladviser.com/news/blank/income-trusts908-1.html?CMP=OTC-RSS As any red-blooded Canadian will acknowledge, American approval isn’t necessary for success. But sometimes it helps. When a large U.S. fund buys a relatively small Canadian stock, it’s worth an extra look. http://www.dailybuyselladviser.com/news/blank/energy-stocks907-1.html?CMP=OTC-RSS Are we there yet? The eternal cry of kids on a trip could very readily be applied to the economy today. Is the crisis over? The answer, says one U.S. analyst, depends on which map you are using. There are two of them, says Mr. Bob Carlson. http://www.dailybuyselladviser.com/news/blank/economic-recovery905-1.html?CMP=OTC-RSS It rarely fails. Bad American news trumps good Canadian news. Word that Canada’s economy is growing much faster than expected should have had champagne corks popping around the TSX yesterday. http://www.dailybuyselladviser.com/news/blank/Canadian-investors904-1.html?CMP=OTC-RSS Where is the stock market going? Your guess is as good as anyone else’s. After a long, uneven rally, there seems to be a dead heat between bullish and bearish forecasts. http://www.dailybuyselladviser.com/news/blank/Canadian-stocks903-1.html?CMP=OTC-RSS Some people may still be wondering what all the fuss is about. Turn to the business media these days and you invariably run across a story on exchange-traded funds. They’re not new. The first ETF showed up in New York in 1993. But in the last few years they’ve been multiplying like rabbits. http://www.dailybuyselladviser.com/news/blank/ETF902-1.html?CMP=OTC-RSS Phones are far more intelligent than they used to be. Once, you just picked the thing up and spoke into it. You supplied all the brainpower. Now your phone can pretty much organize your life for you. http://www.dailybuyselladviser.com/news/blank/Canadian-stock901-1.html?CMP=OTC-RSS Economists say the darndest things. Yesterday, we had several quotes from the famous economist John Maynard Keynes. Today we have one more. “If economists could manage to get themselves thought of as humble, competent people on a level with dentists, that would be splendid.” http://www.dailybuyselladviser.com/news/blank/recession900-1.html?CMP=OTC-RSS It seems like a good day for quotes. You may have heard this Mark Twain saying a few times lately in relation to the markets. "History doesn't repeat itself, but it does rhyme." http://www.dailybuyselladviser.com/news/blank/Canadian-stocks899-1.html?CMP=OTC-RSS There’s a perfect storm coming. It’s gathering behind an overvalued stock market and an unattractive bond market, and it may soon burst upon us. Be prepared, says one Canadian analyst. But be very wary as well. http://www.dailybuyselladviser.com/news/blank/ETF898-1.html?CMP=OTC-RSS A few economic maxims have bitten the dust in this young century. Such as, in any given 10-year period, stocks will make a handsome real return of 5 to 6 per cent. Didn’t happen. How about corporate bonds beating government bonds? Nope. http://www.dailybuyselladviser.com/news/blank/small-cap-stocks897-1.html?CMP=OTC-RSS National sales tax, anyone? The United States is the only one of the 10 leading western economies that does not have a national sales tax in some form. http://www.dailybuyselladviser.com/news/blank/gold-stocks896-1.html?CMP=OTC-RSS He’s not very good at keeping records. All the how-to investing books tell you how important it is to keep an accurate running record of your investments. But the Investor of the Year has succeeded despite his untidy bookwork. http://www.dailybuyselladviser.com/news/blank/small-cap-stocks895-1.html?CMP=OTC-RSS It’s been a very good year. Just a year after the stock market tumbled to the bottom (on March 9, 2009), Canadian investors can look back on a year of good buys. Right? http://www.dailybuyselladviser.com/news/blank/small-cap-stocks894-1.html?CMP=OTC-RSS The Federal Reserve Board held the line on interest rates yesterday. Oft-quoted Canadian analyst Mr. David Rosenberg of Gluskin Sheff suggests that the Bank of Canada should keep in step with the Fed. http://www.dailybuyselladviser.com/news/blank/interest-rates893-1.html?CMP=OTC-RSS It’s an age-old investment wrapped in a shiny new package. A mature economy needs commodities. An emerging economy needs commodities. A recovering economy needs commodities. http://www.dailybuyselladviser.com/news/blank/ETF892-1.html?CMP=OTC-RSS Talk is cheap. So when surveys tell us what investors say they will do, it’s helpful to remember that actions speak louder than words. http://www.dailybuyselladviser.com/news/blank/dividend-stocks891-1.html?CMP=OTC-RSS Once upon a time, kids measured their expenses in nickels and dimes. A quarter went a long way. If we measure inflation by the cost of small things, we can get a sense of how far we’ve come (or how far we’ve fallen in terms of purchasing power) in the past half century. http://www.dailybuyselladviser.com/news/blank/Canadian-stocks890-1.html?CMP=OTC-RSS As a rule, it’s fairly easy to make the case for dividend stocks. You’re bound to think well of someone who sends you cheques regularly, for one thing. And of course stocks that pay dividends tend on the whole to be wealthy, reliable and more immune to market shocks than most. http://www.dailybuyselladviser.com/news/blank/dividend-stocks889-1.html?CMP=OTC-RSS The stock market hit bottom a year ago this week. And it rallied. So is this crisis finally over? Is the world economy pulling out of trouble? Are we there yet? http://www.dailybuyselladviser.com/news/blank/Canadian-stocks888-1.html?CMP=OTC-RSS We are in the midst of a bear market. And it’s a long one. It began over a decade ago and is due to last another 10 years. In fact, we are in a depression. http://www.dailybuyselladviser.com/news/blank/bear-market887-1.html?CMP=OTC-RSS