Blog: Cutting Through the Noise
Personal Investing
Re-balancing When Needed
Excerpt from Tom Bradley's blog on June 8, 2009
Last week Chris and I met with Scott Robertson, a financial planner from Ottawa. Scott is a veteran and has a straight-forward, no-nonsense approach to his craft. That was clear when we asked him when and how often his clients re-balance their portfolios...Read More
Is It Justified?
Excerpt from Tom Bradley's blog on June 4, 2009
People are having trouble with this rally. Indeed, I admitted to being uneasy about the speed and magnitude of the market’s move in a recent post. What’s spooking people is that it’s happening at a time when the economy is in the dumper and it's not clear...Read More
You Go Girl!
Excerpt from Tom Bradley's blog on May 28, 2009
“Fess up, fellows: The masters of the universe have turned out to be masters of disaster. No matter which aspect of the financial crisis you consider, there is a man behind it.” This was the opening paragraph of an article recently posted in the Wall Street Journal that reinforces our view that women are great investors, and even better...
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Trading Range
Excerpt from Tom Bradley's blog on May 23, 2009
In 26 years of doing this, one of the phrases I find least useful is, the market “is range bound” or “will stay in a narrow trading range over the next X months”. I don’t have conclusive data on it, but I believe that these types of predictions are almost...Read More
Everyone is an Economist II
Excerpt from Tom Bradley's blog on May 14, 2009
As I pointed out in a recent post, we all have a tendency to become economists at extreme times like this. Everyone has a view on the economy, the dollar, Ben Bernanke, U.S. consumer debt and Wall Street’s demise. And with our increased focus comes...Read More
"I Don't Know"
Excerpt from Tom Bradley's blog on May 8, 2009
That’s my answer when asked where the dollar is going. As regular readers know, I’m not short on opinions, nor is it the case that I’m not well informed on the economic and political forces at work. I just think predicting currency movements is impossible...Read More
Safety is Expensive
Excerpt from Scott Ronalds's blog on May 7, 2009
We’ve been advising clients that safety is expensive these days. In other words, investors are getting paid very little for holding low-risk assets such as money market products and government bonds. The counterpoint is that the latter securities...Read More
Recession or Depression?
Excerpt from Tom Bradley's blog on April 27, 2009
Michael Nairne and his partner (in all respects) Joanne Swystun started a firm called Tacita Capital in 2006. It is a family office for “exceptionally affluent families.” Tacita publishes research pieces from time to time, the latest of which was recently...Read More
Case Study: Pat and Stephanie
Excerpt from Scott Ronalds's blog on April 2, 2009
Nobody likes looking at their account statement these days. No matter where you’re invested, returns are ugly. But beyond the numbers, there’s often a lot to be desired. We’ve had a number of statements come across our desk lately from investors who are looking...Read More
Asset Allocation and Hindsight Bias
Excerpt from Tom Bradley's blog on March 25, 2009
I received an email from a reader who suggested that someone should offer a balanced fund that is more focused on preserving capital. Rather than being stuck on a set asset mix, as most balanced funds are, the fund would have the scope to move between...Read More
Relative to What
Excerpt from Tom Bradley's blog on March 20, 2009
In the investment business, valuation comparisons are very important. How one security stacks up against another in terms of price to earnings ratio, cash flow multiple or yield is at the core of what we do. CP Rail is cheaper than CN because it has a lower price...Read More
The Risk Today is Not Buying Cheap Equities
Excerpt from Scott Ronalds's blog on February 19, 2009
We posted a blog in late 2007 ( Edicts from Edinburgh ) that highlighted a few excerpts from an interview that Dr. Sandy Nairn, the CEO and founder of Edinburgh Partners Limited (EPL), did with a U.K. publication, Independent Investor ...Read More
