Brooke Thackray (Alpha Mountain) told me a funny, yet not so funny, story about an encounter he had with a fellow on the beach when he was on vacation. The man approached him after having identified Brooke from his media work. Of course, he immediately started talking about the markets. Brooke mentioned something about a Read More
Tax loss selling strategies
Thanks to reader Bruce for asking me to address tax loss selling strategies (both selling and buying) this year. I continue to encourage readers to offer blog topic suggestions on topics that might appeal to a broad audience. This question certainly does- especially given the rather volatile year we’ve seen on the markets. To start Read More
Blood in the streets
During the Panic of 1871 in Paris, when everyone was selling, Baron Rothschild was buying. When asked about his buying decision, Rothschild apparently replied that “The time to buy is when there’s blood running in the streets.” As noted in my “Smell of Fear” blog, there are some quantitative factors that we can watch for Read More
Canadian pipelines—worthy a position?
Bear with me as I set a background to understand the environment that Canadian pipelines face. I recently watched an interview with former Prime Minister Stephen Harper speaking about his new book. Here is the interview. This may appear a political comment, given my reference to Harpers book. But it is important to set the background Read More
Tech and Consumer Discretionary sector rebalance, and what it means to you
The S&P technology sector, as reflected in the SPDR ETF “XLK-US”, was overhauled this week. It no longer holds some big players like Facebook, Google, Twitter and Activision Blizzard. So too was the S&P Consumer Discretionary index (XLY-US) – it lost big players like Netflix, Comcast and Disney. All of these stocks are being shuffled Read More
Is Bank of Nova Scotia a dog, or a bargain?
Somebody at the MoneyShow asked me after my talk why I had put Bank of Nova Scotia on my Top Picks list a couple of shows ago. My answer was that it certainly wasn’t trending up yet, but it has the makings of a base. Meanwhile, ValueTrend Fundamental Analyst & CFA Craig Aucoin feels it Read More
Opportunities in the FANG’s / tech leaders
Don Vialoux notes on his blog that seasonal influences can be magnified during mid-term elections. I might add my own observations unique for this year—that is the influence the current trade talks. Markets might see lots of uncertainty for as trade wars escalate over the scary months of September and/or October – which are the Read More
Idea’s for seasonal and technical rotation
In about 2 months, we enter into the best six months “buy” season. Officially, it arrives about the end of October/early November, but you can get a buy point any time between August and early November. Some sectors are affected by seasonal trends to a greater degree than others. As the “worst six months” season Read More
Are the FANG’s still sharp?
FANG stocks (Facebook, Apple/Amazon, Netflix, Google) have been market leaders for the past few years. There was nothing any of them could do that would go wrong. However, you have to keep an eye on these market darlings. Things can change – As noted in a few of my recent blogs, it is my opinion Read More
Will the trade deal launch the European markets?
We pulled most of our non-North American exposure from the ValueTrend Equity Platform at the beginning of the year—and disposed of our final European position a month or so ago. We’re happy to have done so. Major world economies such as the larger European block, Japan, and China have suffered since the New Year. Today Read More