Andy Sirski

In this column, I’m going to comment on the most common excuses I’ve heard for why farmers don’t invest in stocks. I hope I don’t tick off a bunch of readers with my reactions. Before I get into it, first let me say that I have been doing taxes for farmers since 1974, plus CAIS […] Read more

Here’s an idea that might work for you and other farmers. On the cash basis, it’s often easy for a farmer to create a zero tax year, or even a loss. If you can break even this year and if you have an RRSP, you could take say $5,000 or $10,000 out to cover your […] Read more

In our accounts, dividends are the smallest source of income. Selling calls is the biggest. Often times the money we make from selling covered calls on a stock is as much in a month as dividends are for a year. I wish someone had shown me how to build a money machine when I was […] Read more

How come children have 4-H calves but not 4-H stocks? Odds are most 4-Hers won’t be running cattle, but most would likely benefit if they learned more about stocks. We’re half way through 2009 and it might be a good time to review how the year is going with our investments, and yours. You don’t […] Read more

Question: Are you working at your financial potential? Let me explain. We’ve all heard about how farmers try to manage fields so crops yield closer and closer to their genetic potential. With new varieties, placing fertilizer properly, and better seed beds, more and more farmers are getting yields that we once thought impossible with their […] Read more

The stock market has had a nice rally, up 30 per cent or so from the low on March 9. But by the time you read this, the rally could be out of gas. If this rally is out of fuel, I’m not sure there is any place to hide, or any place to invest […] Read more

By the time you read this we might have had a nice rally, and maybe even a spectacular rally and then a setback. I say this because at this time, near the end of March, we still don’t know if the rally is a bear market rally or the start of a new bull market. […] Read more

The stock market in general has dropped about 54 per cent from its high in October 2007. From what I hear, beef cows have dropped from $1,200 before BSE to around $600 now, which is 50 per cent. And canola has dropped from $17 to under $10, or down 42 per cent. Money in circulation […] Read more

Flow throughs are a deal between Canadian resource companies and the Canadian government. Various institutions act as middle agencies between Canadian buyers of flow throughs and the companies that use the money. When we buy a flow through, the money usually is used to buy shares in various companies. Companies use the money for research […] Read more