Featured Article

Canadian investment portfolios took flight during pandemic lockdown

Posted by Dale Jackson, bnnbloomberg.ca

on Tuesday, 7 September 2021 9:22

According to data released by Statistics Canada this week, Canadian investors acquired a record $57.2 billion in foreign securities during the spring months that constitute the second quarter of 2021.

The massive flow of investments were made by Canadian businesses, governments and big institutional investors, but also include individual retail investors either directly or through pensions, mutual funds and exchange-traded funds (ETFs).

It’s a sharp increase from the $40 billion invested by Canadians in the first quarter as investors plowed their cash into equities and debt securities like bonds.

StatsCan said the $20 billion invested in foreign debt securities was almost evenly split between corporate and government borrowers as Canadian investors scoured the globe for whatever meagre yields were being offered…read more.

 

Mike’s Comment – Sept 4

Posted by Michael Campbell

on Sunday, 5 September 2021 10:46

Before we “reimagine capitalism,” which entails record levels of government control and regulation we should consider their track record.

This Week’s Poll Question

on Saturday, 4 September 2021 7:53

Share your thoughts on this important topic. We will release the results of the survey on Monday. ~ Ed

Frustrated millennials zeroing in on election housing pledges

Posted by Jon Mace, bnnbloomberg.ca

on Friday, 3 September 2021 9:33

Drew Roberts couldn’t wait to get out of Toronto.

After he and his girlfriend managed to find work in Kingston, Ont. they found the same problem: even 260 kilometres to the east, the dream of home ownership was still out of reach.

“We left Toronto in search of a more stable career in our respective fields,” said Roberts, a 32-year-old scientist. “We wanted a city with a slower pace in which we could grow our roots.”

When planning to make the move in spring of 2021, Roberts said he kept an eye on the local real estate market, but said prices had already swelled beyond their budget so they instead moved into a rental…read more.

Bonds are ‘investment garbage’ just like cash: Bill Gross

Posted by Ye Xie, bnnbloomberg.ca

on Thursday, 2 September 2021 9:32

Bill Gross is talking trash about the bond market — literally.

In a meandering and sometimes off-kilter investment outlook posted on his website, the onetime bond king said longer-term Treasury yields are so low that the funds that buy them belong in the “investment garbage can.”

Ten-year yields traded at 1.29 per cent as of 6:07 a.m. in New York. They are likely to climb to 2 per cent over the next 12 months, handing investors a loss of roughly 3 per cent, he wrote. Stocks could also fall into the category of “trash” should earnings growth fall short of lofty expectations.

“Cash has been trash for a long time, but there are now new contenders,” said Gross, who co-founded Pacific Investment Management Co. in the 1970s and retired in 2019. “Intermediate to long-term bond funds are in that trash receptacle for sure, but will stocks follow? Earnings growth had better be double-digit-plus or else they could join the garbage truck.”…read more.