By 2 Cents on May 30th, 2011 | Category: Investing |  The future is an opaque mirror. Anyone who tries to look into it sees nothing but the dim outlines of an old and worried face.
~Jim Bishop
Most people would agree that it’s pure folly to try to predict the future – especially that of the financial markets. And yet we don’t want to invest blindly either. We need to have at least some concept of where we’re at in the economic and market cycle, as well as the future prospects and valuation metrics for any company we may choose to buy.
Every investment decision is a bet on the direction of a given company, sector, or index. I know some passive investors out there don’t think they’re making market calls, but buying any financial instrument is a wager it will be worth more by the time we sell it. Otherwise, why buy it in the first place?
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Read on and enjoy … Will the S&P Fall to 400?
By 2 Cents on May 24th, 2011 | Category: Investing |  It’s not hard to make decisions when you know what your values are.
~Roy Disney
Last week we looked at 3 New ETFs for Canadians. For that article, we focused on iShares ETFs. While doing a little research on the iShares site, I realized that the selection of ETFs for investors looking for income from equities has changed a little since the last time I looked.
If you check out the iShares website, you’ll notice a category of ETFs called “Specialty.” There you’ll find ETFs that track stocks with higher environmental and social standards (XEN), preferred stocks (XPF) and Real Estate Investment Trusts or REITs (XRE).
There are 3 other ETFs in that category, and all of them offer some type of exposure to regular income derived mainly from equities. That had me wondering what the differences were between each [...]
Read on and enjoy … Income Investing for Canadians: Comparing 3 iShares ETFs
By 2 Cents on May 17th, 2011 | Category: Investing |  Life is the sum of all your choices.
~Albert Camus
If Camus was right, and life really is just a tally of all your choices, then perhaps the same can be said for your investment returns. These days, there’s no shortage of choices facing investors. In fact, many have argued that we have too many choices.
Exchange traded funds (ETFs) have been steadily gaining in popularity over the past decade or so, and it now seems like a new batch is released several times a year. While those who argue enough is enough definitely have a case, the Canadian markets have some peculiarities that have not been adequately addressed by issuers of ETFs – until recently.
Canadian Quirks
Many Canadians prefer to invest in domestic companies listed on the TSX for a variety of reasons:
No nasty exchange rate surprises: If you invest in [...]
Read on and enjoy … 3 New ETFs for Canadians
By 2 Cents on May 10th, 2011 | Category: Money Psychology |  Opportunities fly by while we sit regretting the chances we have lost, and the happiness that comes to us we heed not, because of the happiness that is gone.
~Jerome K. Jerome, The Idle Thoughts of an Idle Fellow, 1889
Whether you’re talking about your investments, your view on the economy, or your approach to life in general, your conclusions, actions and results usually hinge on your perspective. I’m often amazed at how different people view the same situation in very different ways. I’m even more amazed by how slight changes in how we look at things can literally change the course and quality of our lives.
Last week I promised to fill you in on what’s been happening with our life changes. (If you’re not familiar with the background story, take a look at Risk Is Relative.) We bought a home in a new city last [...]
Read on and enjoy … Opportunity Cost and Opportunity Lost
By 2 Cents on May 6th, 2011 | Category: BJ News | 
Just a short post today to enlist a little help. Thanks to Kerry Taylor from Squawkfox, Balance Junkie has been nominated for the 2011 edition of the Globe and Mail’s Best of the Blogs. It would be really great if you could take a moment to vote – and maybe invite a friend to do so too!
Of course, a vote for Balance Junkie would be greatly appreciated, but there are a lot of other great blogs in the running, so feel free to vote for your very favourite. Unfortunately, you can only pick one!
Thanks so much for all of your support, and congratulations to all of the nominees!
By 2 Cents on May 4th, 2011 | Category: 20 Cents |  I’ve been pretty distracted lately with the whole house-hunting/moving to a new city thing, so I haven’t been able to follow the financial world as closely as usual. In spite of being out of town and preoccupied a fair bit in April, I was able to dig up some real gems for this month’s round-up. I hope you enjoy them!
1. Regular readers will recognize David Stockman’s name as I’ve referred to his writing a few times. He has some very strong views on the U.S. fiscal situation and the role of the Federal Reserve in the economy and the markets. He expressed those views again last month in a New York Times Op-Ed on The Bipartisan March to Fiscal Madness. Whether you agree with all of Mr. Stockman’s analysis or not, it’s nice to read some straightforward give-your-head-a-shake prose that’s not oozing [...]
Read on and enjoy … 20 Cents from April 2011
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