Lessons from the COVID crash and recovery
Success is not the result of knowledge, talent, or even skill. These things help, to be sure, but the most important determinant of achievement is step-by-step improvement. It doesn't matter…
We’re wired to hunt and forage, not to manage money. So, to manage money well, we have to understand our own psychology. This is both the biggest challenge that investors face, and the greatest opportunity to do well.
Method vs. Madness: the benefits of rules-based investing
There has been a lot of discussion here recently about whether or not certain stocks should be included in the Beating the TSX portfolio. IPL, PPL, and BPY-UN have all…
Why now is a good time to invest
What a month. Humanity is living through the worst pandemic in a century. Canada's oil and gas sector is on the ropes. And our investments have taken a beating. Is…
Why is the stock market crashing?
Two days ago the stock market officially entered bear market territory, coming down 20% from its high just a few weeks ago. Yesterday the TSX dropped another 12% - the…
Coping with a market correction
As I write these words, the TSX Composite is down 11.2% in the last week - officially a market correction. News headlines are screaming that it's the fastest sell-off in…
What is SPIVA?
If there is one thing every investor should know about before considering the purchase of an actively managed mutual fund, it is this: the SPIVA report. SPIVA stands for "S&P…
What is confirmation bias?
Building on last month's post which addressed how we might tackle investing in a potentially "over-valued" market, I thought I would explore one of the most common cognitive biases that…
Is it a good time to invest in the stock market?
There is one investing question that comes up more than any other: Is now a good time to be putting money into the stock market? The stock market has been…
Our war with the future
Once upon a long long time ago, a famous military general was returning from war. He couldn't wait to get home to his family and his palace, but there were…
Planning vs reacting
There is an axiom in medicine: don't do a test unless it will change your management. It's tempting to get information just for the sake of having more information, especially…