Twitter Works On Many Levels

Those of you who have been following TPCI for a while will remember the Daily Squawk page which goes back to a time when I had the time and the energy to post on a daily basis. From time-to-time readers mention missing these daily snippets. Fewer of you will remember the short lived Rants page to which I posted short blurbs about things that pi$$ed me off, most of which had little or nothing to do with investing. Eventually I removed these two pages.

Somewhere along the way I signed on with Twitter with the unimaginative handle of StuGauld. I didn't do much with Twitter except keep tabs on my kid who lives the good life in Calgary. He and his better half are regular tweeters and it's always fun to see what they're up to.

In the past week I turned on to Twitter as an outlet to voice some thoughts about the crazies south of the boarder and their guns. I believe that anyone with any kind of an audience should be taking a stand on this issue. Surely there's something very wrong when an entire nation has greater access to firearms than they have to mental health care. Stu Gauld, The Passive Canadian Investor, is not a political dude, but StuGauld the Tweeter may very well be!

If you enjoy TPCI you may like to follow along on Twitter.

Is It Christmas Yet?

Not quite, but close. One month 'til year end. Another chance to look back, review successes and near successes. Never admit to an outright failure.  Most importantly, a chance to thank our lucky stars for all that we enjoy in this country of ours!

I haven't posted for over a month. Busy, busy, busy! Our real estate search down south kept us occupied. Not to brag, but I've become quite an expert with Google Maps and Google Earth. Tremendous resources when looking at real estate from afar, and both free! I'm happy to say that we found our little dream condo in Fountain Hills, Arizona and look forward to a planned furniture shopping trip in the new year. As my buddy Captain Jack says, investing in Arizona real estate is exactly that, it's an investment, it's not like spending money.

Pretty quiet on the investment front although I did get back into Exchange Traded Funds with the purchase of XEG, the iShares energy fund. I'm working a theory that Saudi was pumping oil like crazy to keep energy costs down in the US to help Obama win the election. I'm guessing that after the election all bets are off and Saudi will slow things down and oil will get back to the $100.00 range. Just as I did back in 2006, and wrote about in My Home Run! (Part 2 of 2), I'm counting on the price of oil to increase and drag XEG up along with it.

October saw a tiny tick up for my portfolio value. November was better as my stuff ticked up eighteen of twenty-two trading days. The month ended with eleven consecutive daily increases and my stuff reached a new all time high each day in the final week of the month. I've been Bouncin' Along The Top for many months now and reach a new high on a regular basis. To the end of November I'm up 7.6% for the year.

Looking back, I see I've had gains every December since I began tracking my portfolio value.  Hopefully this month will be the sixth consecutive positive December.

Lookin' South...Maybe

For a change of direction, we're considering a real estate investment in the US. We've traveled to Arizona twice this year and are intrigued with the idea of an investment property. Gosh knows, money in the bank, here in Canada, is doing nothing. Might as well take a flier on something that appears to be bouncing along the bottom and looks like there may be some upside when (if) the US economy ever comes back. Back in April we did the tourist thing. Overnight trip to Jerome, Sedona and the Grand Canyon. Can't begin to describe the Grand Canyon. Beyond belief!

One problem about seeing awesome things is my better half likes to add a new physical challenge to the bucket list. Now she wants to hike to the bottom of the Grand Canyon and back. A twelve mile round trip trek...and the second half is ALL UPHILL!! Not sure that's ever going to happen. I was pretty tuckered after the Devil's Punchbowl hike at Spruce Woods Provincial Park this summer. An annual event for us. We did cross something off the bucket list a few weeks ago. Went zip lining in the Pembina Valley about an hour from home. What a blast!

Our most recent trip to the US was at the beginning of September. Arizona in late summer is not for the faint of heart. When we got up each morning it was already hot, 28°C and by noon it was FRICKIN' HOT 42-44°!! We looked at properties that are selling for prices that go back to the mid nineties. Less than half of the level that they reached before the bubble burst in late 2006. Another comparison is that we could duplicate our Bungalow by the Boyne for less than 1/2 of what we have into our Carman, Manitoba home. They whoever "they" are say AZ real estate prices are firming and already up a tick YTD. The search is on!

Nine Down And Three To Go!

Yup, end of September marks the end of the third quarter. So, what's happened so far this year? Well, I'm happy. My stuff is up 6.44% YTD.  The TSX is off .17% YTD. Always happy to beat the TSX.  If this keeps up, I should end the year with an gain of over 8%.  With each upward tick reaches a new all time high for my portfolio value.

September isn't going to go down in any record books but it wasn't too shabby. Nineteen trading days, fifteen up and only four down. At the end of the day, it was a nice month for my stuff with a gain for month of 1.1%.

Still doing well with my bank stocks, BMO, RBC & TO. They're holding their own and the quarterly dividends keep rolling in. My account is set up for dividend re-investment so all dividends are used to purchase additional shares which just adds to the pot. I'm now up very near 10% with my bond funds. A nice gain for this fifteen month hold. 

As always, Good Luck, Happy Investing!

It's Been A Lazy Summer...

With the majority of my stuff in the Canadian Bond Fund I haven't had much to either worry about or pay attention to for the past while.

On the trading account side I've only made four trades this year and two of those were the purchase and the sale of Apple shares. As usual, I should have held on to Apple. Even though I did all right, buying for $535.00 and selling for $610.00, they closed at $696.00 yesterday. Enough said.

I'm still liking my Canadian Bank stocks. I'm holding BMO, RBC & TD. The big five turned in combined earnings of $7.9B for the most recent quarter. Yep, that's B for Billion! I remember back in '94 or '95 when RBC first reported ANNUAL earnings exceeding a Billion. It was considered almost obscene and RBC engaged in a huge advertising campaign to tell Canadians what good corporate citizens they were, how much they paid in taxes, how many people they employed, how much they donated to charities etc. Now, QUARTERLY profits of a Billion plus are the norm.

As usual, I'm in a bit of love/hate relationship with the banks. A couple of recent trips to the US once again reinforced why I wrote Canadian Banks - We Love 'Em and Hate 'Em...for the same reason back in May, 2011. You just can't do anything relating to exchanging Canadian and US funds without feeling like you're getting royally $crewed. Doesn't matter if you're buying or selling US or making a purchase on you credit card you always get hosed for about 2.5%! It may be possible to determine a value for the time spent when an actual person does calculations when you're exchanging funds but just making a credit card purchase...come on now. You gotta figure they hose the merchant at least 1.5% and then they charge you 2.5% for a forex transaction. What a racket!

More about the US travels and possible investment opportunities in an upcoming post. In the meantime;

Good Luck and Happy Investing!

Just In Case You Were Thinkin' Things Are Okay...

Over the past six years, the TSX is off 16.45%. The DOW fared better. It's only down 4.52%. The broader US market, the S&P 500 is down 8.27% in the past sixty months. Yup, all three major North American markets are down for the past five years. And you're wondering why finance guy says you're not ready to retire.

Don't like to be a pessimist but I just don't see things improving with the conditions around the world.  Maybe I should change the blog title to "The Pessimistic Canadian Investor".

To end with something on a positive note, since doing this chart I checked out the NASDAQ exchange. For the same period it's up 6.2%...so, if you're into tech (Apple) you might be celebrating.

Gotta mention. I sold my Apple shares last week at $610.00. Nice gain from the $535.00 purchase price. They're down to $574.00 today.

Bouncin' Along The Top

We've all heard the expression "Bouncing along the bottom" with regard to individual stocks and even portfolio values. In this flat, volatile market I'm sure anyone who's down a bit feels like they've been bouncing along the bottom for many months now.

Me, I'm a little different. My stuff hit a multi-year, in fact, an all time high on April 1 of this year. Since then, it's been down a bit, up a bit, back and forth etc. etc. If I was a TA guy, which I'm not, I might say my portfolio value has been range bound for some time. For my thoughts about about TA guys see my post of March 17, 2010. TA Guys Make Me Crazy!

Like I said, April 1 was the all time high...then, today my stuff reached up once again, surpassed the April 1 mark and hit a new all time high.  What I find interesting is that the low point since April 1 was a mere 2.2% off the April 1 high. Now, that's been recovered and then some. All-in-all I can't complain. This tight range, touching a new high now and then is why I refer to my portfolio value as Bouncin' Along The Top!

Good luck and Happy Investing!

8% Annual Return

A while back a friend said how happy he was with a basket of seg funds he and I both got into a few years ago. I questioned this as I'm not so happy with mine. He explained that regardless of the market value of the funds, he was pleased with the 5% annual guarantee that keeps piling in. Sure, I said, but you only get that 5% if you stay with the seg funds and ultimately purchase a retirement income product with the same company. He said that was fine with him, he's stay the course and take full advantage of the 75% gain after 15 years, no matter what the market value happens to be. We both agree that we have little faith in the markets for the coming years. As I suggested in my post of July 10, 2010, if the next ten are no better than the last ten, those playing the markets may get screwed!

I've written extensively about my decision of last June to put the majority of my investments on hold and tuck them away in a Canadian Bond Fund. Well, that was a year ago today and I'm pleased to say that the market value of my Bond Fund units is up 8.22%. Yup, 8.22% in exactly one year. Two factors, the value of the units has risen fairly steadily with the occasional step back when equities jumped and I've benefited from four quarterly distributions each of which added a considerable number of units to my account...all without investing another penny.

Oh, and by the way, because of the timing of the original investment, on June 22, 2011, I will receive another quarterly distribution in eight days. Yes, by the time I've been in for 373 days, I'll have received five quarterly distributions. Sometimes things work out.

As Always, Good Luck & Happy Investing!

Things I Wonder About

I posted this a couple of years ago on the old Daily Squawk page when I was trying to post each day. Since then I've taken the page down. I was thinking about this the other day and after looking it up, I figured I'd update the info and move it to this page.

The price of gold. Why is gold so valuable? I recently found an article that helps put it perspective. This is one of those Believe It Not things. All the gold in the world for all time would fit into a 66 foot cube. Yup, ALL THE GOLD IN THE WORLD would fit into a smallish six storey office building or would cover a Canadian football field to a depth of 3.27 feet.

The price of oil. Compared to gold at about $1,640. an ounce, what is the value of an ounce of oil? Well, Professor Google tells me that a barrel of oil weighs about 305 pounds, give or take for purity. That's 4,880 ounces. At the current price of $98. per barrel, an ounce of oil is valued at about 2 cents.

The volume of each. Another bit of math for gold is that all the gold in the world would fit into 8,187 cubic meters. That's all the gold for all time. By comparison, the world's daily consumption of oil at 80 million barrels would fill 12,718,400 cubic meters. That's every single day! ...just in case you were wondering too.

April Showers Bring May ???

Who the heck knows where this crazy, volatile market is heading?  Is this the May to go away?  I dunno.

What I do know is that the TSX has become a real laggard. It's up .69% to the end of April. In the US, the DOW 30 is up 6.58% and the broader S&P 500 is up a whopping 9.46%. This might be the year to have a little faith in the good ol' US of A. Might be. Me, I'm not so sure. Corporate earning seem to be ticking along, but is this sustainable?  With deficit and debt levels at all time highs? Some believe that individual states may eventually default. I suppose the ultimate pessimist may even believe that the whole US may some day soon crash and burn. Me, I doubt that but still am happy to keep my investments here in Canada.

By the by, my stuff is up 3.92% YTD. Not a bunch, but 3.92% for four months annulizes to 11.76%. I'd be happy with that. I'll report back at year end and let you know how that worked out.

As Always, Good Luck & Happy Investing!

Lookin' In The Rear View Mirror...

I know, I know, everyone has 20/20 hindsight.  Still, it doesn't hurt to look back at past decisions, review them and see if they still make sense.

It was June 22, 2011 when I sat across the desk from the new finance guy here in Carman and stood my ground.  A week or so earlier I had declared that when my money arrives from the former fund company it was to be invested in the Canadian Bond Fund.  He sent me home with some reading material.  Surely I might consider the Select Conservative Fund...or at the very least their Select Very Conservative Fund.

So, I took the stuff home, reviewed it and did my own research using Globefund & Morningstar.  The money arrived in very short order.  Almost had the impression that the other guys were glad to see me go.  I headed down to finance guy's office to sign the final forms.  "Well, what did you decide?" he asked.  I answered that I wanted the summer off from watching the markets and wished to park everything that wasn't in my trading account in the Canadian Bond Fund where it would sit until such time as I see some return of normalcy and stability to the markets.  I'm still waiting!

Just the day before, June 21, 2011 the TSX closed at 13,060.  Monday 12,018.  Down a full 8%...Yikes!  Yesterday 11,935.  Double Yikes!  A quick look at Globefund reveals that my Canadian Bond Fund has returned 9.22% in the past year.  The Select Conservative Fund 2.04%. The Select Very Conservative Fund 3.32%.

Yes, sometimes it's nice to look back.  Speaking of looking back, my Apple shares which I bought at $535 on March 7 closed at $628.44 yesterday.  Gotta love that!

As Always, Good Luck & Happy Investing!  

Apple Inc.

Juggernaut: in colloquial English usage is a literal or metaphorical force regarded as mercilessly

destructive and unstoppable.

Well, I don't think "mercilessly destructive" applies but "unstoppable" certainly seems an appropriate way to describe Apple Inc. (AAPL).  Apple's shares opened the year at $411.  I bought them on March 7 for $535. Today $617.62!

With a market cap of $575 Billion Apple is way ahead of No. 2 which is Exxon Mobile (XOM:NY) at $404 Billion. Astounding!

DOUBLE! DOUBLE!!

No, this isn't a post about Canada's iconic Tim Hortons coffee.  Who puts double cream and double sugar in coffee anyway?  Yuck!

On November 8, 2010 I wrote Thank You Mr. Bridger!!! It was the story about my first ever, and still only, double on an individual stock. Today I'm writing about a different kind of double. As of today the total value of my stuff has doubled since the low of November 20, 2008. Yup, 834 days since doomsday when my stuff and the holdings of many others hit rock bottom. Some of us cashed out, no longer able to live with the stress of the markets spiraling downward. Some of us held on hoping upon hope that things would somehow stabilize and we'd claw our way back.

Me, I held on, continued to ignore finance guy, watched a ton of business television, read a lot, tried to learn a bit and continued with the strategy that I'd begun a few years earlier. With today's double I can honestly say that things did work out.

Where do I go from here? Can I double it again in another 834 days? I doubt that. No, I'll continue the present course and hang in there with the Canadian Bond Fund as my largest holding. Up 6.37% since last June and looking forward to yet another nice quarterly distribution at month end. Regular readers know what I think is likely to happen over the next ten years. Volatility with a capital V!  I stand by my belief and that of the Wealthy Barber, you've got to pick a time as retirement approaches and get the heck out. Too many retirement plans were shattered over the past few years and I'm not part of the goofy majority who actually plan on a lottery win to make things right.

Oh, by the way, my Apple shares purchased six days ago at $535 closed over $568 today! How badly do I wish I'd bought those shares a long, long time ago?

As Always, Good Luck & Happy Investing!

This Apple Shines!

Spent the past week in Cuba but this isn't a travelogue.  Rather, it's about a book I read while away. Started the Steve Jobs biography on the plane on the way down and finished it the day before heading home.  The book was two stories in one.  First, the biography of the genius perfectionist, Steve Jobs.  Secondly it was story of Apple Inc., the company that Jobs co-founded, was squeezed out of, then returned to work for a dollar a year, while he re-invented the company and in the process turned Apple Inc. into the world's most valuable corporation.

In the read, I finally got a sense why so many are so crazy about all things Apple.  The hardware, software, apps and content be it music, books, movies, TV shows, newspapers or magazines, come together in a way that no other platform comes close to.  And I thought my Blackberry and PlayBook were cool.

I've been tracking Apple's (AAPL) share price for a few years.  Every time they'd reach a new high I'd declare, "too rich for me" or, "this can't be sustainable".  Then Apple would churn out another record breaking quarter or a whole new product that nobody wanted because nobody had ever thought of it before and away we'd go again!  Onward and upward!  Heck, Apple shares started this year at $411 and peaked on March 2 at $545.  If you want to get real sick, have a look at a 10 year chart for Apple.  From $12 to $545 with a 2 for 1 split in February of 2005 thrown in for good measure.

The worst kept secret for the past while was that Apple would unveil a third generation iPad at a planned "event" today.  I had a bit of cash in my trading account that had been there since selling Cisco in January but not a lot when considering shares at something over $500 apiece! I looked up and down my list and there is was, my long held aggie ETF, COW.  I pulled the trigger, placed a sell order, unloaded COW and placed and order for Apple shares.  All this was in a rush as I figured if the noon (CST) announcement was great the price would soar  later in the day.

I bought Apple shares at $535 just before noon.  Well, the announcement was pretty much as expected, another great product, but it seems that the market had already run up in anticipation so as the day wore on the share settled back to close at $530.69.  What, me worry?  Not a chance!  I figure not owning Apple is akin to not owning real estate.  I'm very happy to be "in the market" with my newest holding.  Guess I'll just have to wait another quarter or two..maybe.  But maybe not.  Who knows, with this company they may announce that today's pre-orders topped a gazillion units and anyone who waits until they actually go on sale on Friday will have to wait three months for delivery.

IMPORTANT REMINDER:
Nothing on this site should ever be considered to be advice, research or a suggestion or invitation to buy or sell any securities.  Every investor should do their own research and consult their own finance guy.  See full DISCLAIMER.

As always, Good Luck and Happy Investing!

So Goes January...

So goes the rest of the year...at least 72% of the time, when the markets rise in January it continues throughout the year...or at least, so they say.

Last month, the TSX and the DOW were both up, the TSX 4.16%, the DOW 3.40%

My Canadian Bond Fund holdings, which are up, but just a tick, finally worked against me in January as my stuff was up only 1.88%.  That's the way it is.  Equities up, Bonds either down or flat at best. That being said, I'm way up since I made the switch last June.  No regrets!

Best Online Experience Ever!

My excellent experience with Ally Bank just keeps rollin' along. These people take service to a whole new level. You can actually call them or connect with a service rep for an online chat 24/7/365. It's really remarkable considering that calls placed to most tradition banks either go direct to voicemail or a call centre located in a far away city.

Everything I said at the time still holds true today:

I've never recommended a product or service on these pages but this one is worth a mention.  While reading a Canadian Banking blog last week I clicked on an ad for Ally Bank.  You've all seen the ads with the guy, representing traditional banks, shafting little kids.  One little girl gets a toy pony, because she failed to read the fine print, while the other gets a real live pony. 

Well, I followed the link to Ally Bank and what a great experience.  Within minutes I set up a new account with the help real time, live chat with an Ally rep. 

Why, would I open a new account so quickly with something a new as Ally?  Four reasons.  Firstly, their published GIC rates are by far the best I've seen and I have access to quotes from over 30 institutions through my discount brokerage account.  Secondly, they pay the same rate when you elect to take the interest monthly.  This is unheard of.  Generally, there is a reduction of anywhere from 10 to 50 basis points when choosing monthly payment of interest.  Thirdly, they make it possible to link your accounts with other institutions with your Ally account.  This is something that I've said forever should be possible, given the facilities of the Interac network which we all use with our debit cards.  One click to transfer funds both to and from.  Finally, it's fully insured with CDIC.  By the way, Ally is the old GMAC which has turned itself into a bank.

Since I posted the above on May 31, 2010, Rob Carrick of the Globe & Mail wrote an article on August 29, 2011 entitled 20 things I don't understand about personal finance.  Item number 8 of Rob's article reads "Why more people don’t check out Ally, the online bank that has been paying 2 percent interest steadily since September, 2009, and is a member of Canada Deposit Insurance Corp. Almost everyone else is paying much less."

I know, I know, nobody's jumpin' up & down about 2% interest on deposits.  I just keep reminding myself that it's twice as much as 1, which is what others are offering and a whole 13 points better than the minus 11% that the TSX turned in for 2011.

Hand Held Bloggin'...edition two

The first time I tried this I was sitting in restaurant in The Peg with my Blackberry.  It wasn't easy.  The small screen and smaller keyboard on the Blackberry aren't the greatest tools for writing.  Today I'm on the BlayBook.  So far, a much nicer experience.

The other day I was in another restaurant in The Peg and an email arrived on my Blackberry.  I opened the PlayBook and what do you know, the same email showed up there.  I figured I'd test drive the PlayBook for the reply.  Well, things were going okay when I brushed something on the touch screen and my email reply was suddenly saved as a "Draft".  Try as I might, I couldn't figure out how to open the draft to continue editing.  Lunch arrived so I shut it down.

Fast forward a few hours and I'm sitting in my car back in Carman, the Blackberry notifies me of in coming.  I check email on the Blackberry and, what do you know, the draft email that I started on the PlayBook is right there on the Blackberry.  I was able to open it, edit it and send...from the Blackberry.  Too cool!

I realize Apple is way ahead with seamless integration between iPods, iPhones and iPads but I still think the RIM stuff works pretty damn good.  That being said, it doesn't change the fact that I'm darn glad I got out out my RIM shares when I did.

Have a great week and happy investing!

2011...The Year That Wasn't

Pretty boring stats for 2011. On the first trading day of January my stuff ticked up from the close of 2010 and never dipped back to the 2010 level. Never went up much, but never went down either.

My low for the year was + .2% over the end of 2010. This was on January 10. My stuff hit a 2011 high on December 5, up 7.18% for the year. The year closed down a tick at + 6.80%. All in all, the narrowest range since I started tracking the daily portfolio value five years ago in January, 2007.

At the end of day, I'm thinking that I likely fared better than many with a 6.80% gain for the year. My old all Canadian, all the time would have a taken a real $#!^ kicking with the TSX off 11.07% for the year! Those with some US blue chip would have done better as the DOW gained 6.41% for 2011. The broader US market didn't do nearly as well with the S & P up just 1.06%.

They, whoever they are, say that so goes January, so goes the markets.  Apparently in the past century or so, if the markets go up in January they close up for the year.  So far, so good.  Six trading days into the new year and North American markets are all up.  Looks like today might be the first downer or the year as they're all off a bit in the first hour.  Just have to wait and see.

Well, off to The 'Peg today despite what's looking like the first winter storm of the year. Worst case scenario...get storm stayed at the Brunkild Bar & Grill. Don't even ask. Not even sure if even Google Maps can find Brunkild.

As always, Good Luck and Happy Investing!

Happy New Year!

2012 began on a happy note with the TSX up 253 points while the DOW gained 179.  My stuff hit an all time high on December 5. By year end it was off a tick that was so small you can't spot it on the graph. The bump up yesterday pushed my stuff to a new higher high. Could this be a sign of what 2012 has in store for us?

Looking back, TPCI did join the passive ranks in 2011. The move of the biggest chunk of my stuff to the Canadian Bond Fund had me on the sidelines watching the markets.

I pretty much left my trading account alone and made only three trades in 2011. Swapped out Crescent Point (CPG) for Suncor (SU) in January and bought Cisco (CSCO:NQ) in February. With Cisco being my only non-Canadian holding in this account I was happy to eke out a 2% gain for the year given the 11.07% drop in the TSX.

Looking ahead, I'm standing pat for now.  I'm not going to be tricked by yesterday's great start for the year.

Under the heading "Things I'm Glad I Did" my decision to get out of Research In Motion (RIM) in October of 2010 is looking like one of the best.  I sold RIM at $50.02...yesterday $15.71. On the other side of the coin, now that they've cut the price to $199.00 I did order a PlayBook over the holidays.  Not sure why, it may end up as a $199.00 toy.  If so, I'm hoping for a $199.00 worth of fun.  If RIM ever comes out with the promised software update to add email to the PlayBook there'll be no more packing the laptop on vacation.