Andy Sirski

AGrainewsreader recently called with a good problem, but a problem nonetheless. He and his wife were quite fortunate to have a farm, children and money. He and his wife were wondering if they could give their children a few hundred thousand dollars each without corrupting them. This is an interesting question that haunts many parents. […] Read more

In the April issue ofGrainews I discussed what to do if you can’t build a critical mass size of farm. My solution was to build a financial system around you that creates the equivalent of a critical size of farm. In my opinion knowing how to make money with stocks should or could be part […] Read more

I had many interesting chats withGrainewsreaders in the last few months. I have to admit the headline is a bit misleading, but some of our farmer readers are really do refer to their investment portfolios in the context of agriculture terms. Some stocks produce income like a milk cow when we sell covered calls on […] Read more

A recent article by Rheal Cenerini (March 14 issue ofGrainews)on what it takes to be successful in farming highlighted the research of Kevin Dhuyvetter from Kansas State University (KSU). Dhuyvetter says most success can be traced back to having a critical mass size of farm where costs per acre or bushel or pound are spread […] Read more

As I write this article on March 17, Japan’s problems are a week old. I will review briefly. First an 8.9 magnitude earthquake hit the northeastern part of the country. That caused a tsunami wave of water 30 feet high to hit the northeastern coast and destroy towns and everything else in its path for […] Read more

I’ve never written an article on how I use charts to help me find tops and bottoms of my favourite stocks. It’s part of what is called technical analysis. I should say up front that a lot of people have no respect for technical analysis. But I’ve learned and now have used charts to help […] Read more

Grade 12 graduates will soon need to decide what to do with the rest of their life, or at least decide if they want to learn a trade or get a degree or diploma. I’m a bit insulated from young farm men and women, but looking around I see there are a lot of jobs […] Read more

There are three types of mining businesses: explorers, developers and producers. We should understand which one we are buying before we buy shares in a company. A lot of investors want to hit a home run so they buy penny stocks — these are often explorers. Some make that home run, but many don’t. I […] Read more

The federal government recently announced changes coming to your Canada Pension Plan (CPP). Starting in 2012 the penalty for taking money out before age 65 but after age 60 will go up to .6 per cent per month to a maximum of 36 per cent. The old penalty was .5 per cent up to 30 […] Read more