The market is commonly a perplexing place, and one thing that has been perplexing me is why dividend stocks haven’t done better in an environment with ultra-low interest rates. Why would a company like BCE Inc. paying a safe 5.5 per cent dividend stagnate as interest rates decline, while a company like Shopify, paying no […] Read more
Why do dividends appear less important when interest rates are low?
In reality, dividends have very little to do with company valuations
The long road back from an investment loss
Whether you buy at a low or hold from a low, the return is the same from that point
On May 22, 2008, I purchased 300 shares of Bank of America (BAC) for my RRSP at $34.66 per share at an exchange of C$1.00 per US$1.00. As I recall, I sold most of my oil stocks when oil was in the range of $140 to $150 and I was looking for a bargain to […] Read more
More stock option strategies: follow the math
Buy options when there are big price moves
Puts and calls can be both bought or sold. A call is the right, but not the obligation, to buy shares of a company at a certain price up to a certain date. For example, 3M at the time of writing is $200 per share. Calls expiring on January 21, 2022, with a strike price […] Read more
How I doubled my money in less than four years, Part 4
Cautions around put selling and why it works
The previous article might have intrigued you on my put selling strategy, so I thought it important to also share cautionary guidelines. Before beginning such a strategy, an investor should have at least five years of successful stock investing experience, encompassing at least one bear market. If past success has been spotty, fixing basic stock […] Read more
How I doubled my money in less than four years, Part 3
Using options to enhance portfolio performance
Options are considered one of the riskiest investment instruments. Googling “options” can result in some pretty terrifying descriptions like “The price of options can change quickly, and those who trade them can win or lose huge sums of money in very short periods of time. This type of trading is best left to professionals,” or “The […] Read more
How I doubled my money in less than four years, Part 2
Five things I did to build my portfolio
The last article discussed a number of things I didn’t do to build my newsletter portfolio. This column will turn to the things I did. Some of these may appear like a broken record from past articles but warrant repeating. None of this is rocket science and I’m sure not a rocket scientist. Perhaps that’s […] Read more
How I doubled my money in less than four years
Not quite as good as my son’s spec foray, but it was the whole portfolio — not one stock
How many investment avenues provide the opportunity to double your money in four years? Using the rule of 72, an 18 per cent compound annual growth rate (CAGR) can quickly be calculated. Lots of fun, with lots of exciting twists and turns including the 2018 mini-bear market and the COVID plunge of 2020. The Titanium […] Read more
Environmental, social and governance investing
Is it another new fad?
Business and investing fads come and go, much like other aspects of life. Those with merit last longer than others, while many fall into the trash bin of overhyped and bad ideas. Two decades ago, Six Sigma became a highly touted business concept, designed to reduce defect rates to less than 0.0003 per cent. I […] Read more
Specs and SPACs, Part 2
...and how my idiot son quintupled his money in two months
No children were insulted in the writing of this article. In fact, our youngest gave me the subtitle, and is the lead character in the story. (Read Part 1, here) As they were growing up, our kids were learning how to allocate scarce resources from their allowance and sports refereeing earnings between immediate gratification (a […] Read more
Specs and SPACs…
...and “how my idiot son quintupled his money in two months” (his words)
“But the most absurd and preposterous of all, and which showed more completely than any other, the utter madness of the people, was one, started by an unknown adventurer entitled ‘Company for carrying on an undertaking of great advantage, but nobody to know what it is.'” The above quote is by Charles Mackay from a […] Read more
Cyber-Savvy Farmer
