Knowledge Centre

Stock investors often hear about “sell in May and go away” around this time of year. It implies that investors should sell their stocks in early May and buy them back in late October at a lower price. Since 1968 the S&P/TSX Index has risen an average of 8.0% (including...

It is very difficult for clients to earn a steady income these days while short-term interest rates hover near 60 year lows. Couple this with the fact that the average client has an aversion to investing in long term bonds because of the belief that higher interest rates are on the...

Stock markets have been getting a little choppy lately. Is it time to panic? Investors understand that market fluctuations are part of stock market investing but they are nevertheless scary. Investing in stocks is hard and to earn superior rewards you need to take risks. Unfortunately, returns never come smoothly,...

Why are investors still waiting for a correction? Some investors would like to see a pullback to cool off the white hot equity markets, but they may have to wait a little longer.  This is because without a yield curve inversion there will be no correction. This mantra remains as...

All investors want to have their cake and eat it too but you can’t have it both ways. It’s similar to clients who seek high returns with no risk. However, like unicorns, they do not really exist. It’s not an either/or, zero-sum situation, but more like a balancing scale.

Many people say there are no certainties in life; except for death, taxes, and the Toronto Maple Leafs not winning the Stanley Cup. When it comes to portfolio management, investment decisions are not made based on certainties but rather probabilities. We cannot make decisions based on what will happen since...

Time after time the story seems to be the same, active investment management on average does not beat its benchmark. This is generally true, especially in instances where the impact of fees is severe or a host of other reasons that have been well documented. However, leaving the issue of...

The Canadian stock market rally has been going on (in reality off and on) since March 2009. Stock prices have increased by more than 125% and it appears that some momentum remains. Should we be celebrating? There is certainly a strong bullish case to be made because in 74% of...

Many investors do not see much for the future prospects for stocks. Of course, the same was being said of the market in early 2009 when the world was thought to be on the edge of financial ruin. The reality was that the first part of 2009 may turn out...

For some, desperate times will lead to desperate and somewhat speculative measures. After years of low interest rates have led to limited success in achieving meaningful economic growth, more central banks have recognized that this mechanism is not working. So whether it is insanity, impotence or desperation, a growing number...