When credit is too much of a good thing … What does credit do after it has finished the job it was designed for? The supply of credit ought to stop at funding productive activity. But the reality is different. Surplus credit fuels dangerous asset price inflation and funds profligate governments. – ReutersDominant Social Theme: A new kind of credit danger! And a new solution!Free-Market...Read More
Why Do Investors Make Bad Choices? … For many years, I have studied human behavior, including the mistakes occasionally made by fallible people, including investors. But a few years ago, I made a really dumb investment decision. In a single day, I hit the trifecta, committing at least three classic behavioral mistakes. – Bloomberg/Cass SunsteinDominant Social Theme: The stock market is...Read More
The Libertarian Surge … Libertarianism – the political philosophy that says limited government is the best kind of government – is having its moment. Unfortunately, that's mostly because government has been expanding in the aftermath of the Sept. 11 attacks and the financial crisis. Somehow government failures lead to even more government. When the financial crisis hit in the...Read More
We should give up trying to save the world from climate change, says James Lovelock …The scientist and inventor James Lovelock claims we should stop trying to save the planet from global warming and instead retreat to climate controlled cities … Saving the planet from climate change is 'beyond our ability' and we should stop wasting time trying to tackle global warming, a leadi...Read More
The Libertarian Surge … Libertarianism – the political philosophy that says limited government is the best kind of government – is having its moment. Unfortunately, that's mostly because government has been expanding in the aftermath of the Sept. 11 attacks and the financial crisis. Somehow government failures lead to even more government. When the financial crisis hit in the...Read More
We should give up trying to save the world from climate change, says James Lovelock …The scientist and inventor James Lovelock claims we should stop trying to save the planet from global warming and instead retreat to climate controlled cities … Saving the planet from climate change is 'beyond our ability' and we should stop wasting time trying to tackle global warming, a leadi...Read More
The right agenda for the IMF … The world's finance ministers and central bank governors will gather in Washington this week for the twice yearly meetings of the International Monetary Fund. Though there will not be the sense of alarm that dominated these meetings after the financial crisis, the unfortunate reality is that the global economy's medium-term prospects have not been so cl...Read More
French organic winegrower fined for refusing to spray grapes with pesticide … Emmanuel Giboulot supported by green groups after refusing to spray grapes against flavescence dorée disease in Burgundy … A French organic winegrower who refused to spray his Burgundy vineyard with pesticide was ordered on Monday to pay a €500 fine for flouting official regulations. – UK Gu...Read More
The right agenda for the IMF … The world's finance ministers and central bank governors will gather in Washington this week for the twice yearly meetings of the International Monetary Fund. Though there will not be the sense of alarm that dominated these meetings after the financial crisis, the unfortunate reality is that the global economy's medium-term prospects have not been so cl...Read More
French organic winegrower fined for refusing to spray grapes with pesticide … Emmanuel Giboulot supported by green groups after refusing to spray grapes against flavescence dorée disease in Burgundy … A French organic winegrower who refused to spray his Burgundy vineyard with pesticide was ordered on Monday to pay a €500 fine for flouting official regulations. – UK Gu...Read More
The real reasons why Draghi flirts with QE … The fear is that money raised from quantitative easing in the eurozone will just be used to prop up banks that need to be allowed to fail The real reasons why Draghi flirts with QE Mario Draghi's "display of QE ankle" on Thursday sent the single currency to a monthly low against the dollar … The European Central Bank took no de...Read More
Federal Liberals maintain 10 per cent lead over Conservatives A new Forum Research public opinion poll shows the federal Liberals maintaining their 10 per cent lead over the Conservatives in popular support … A new poll by Forum Research found 39 per cent of respondents would vote Liberal if the federal election were held today, while 29 per cent would vote Conservative. When you break out t...Read More
The real reasons why Draghi flirts with QE … The fear is that money raised from quantitative easing in the eurozone will just be used to prop up banks that need to be allowed to fail The real reasons why Draghi flirts with QE Mario Draghi's "display of QE ankle" on Thursday sent the single currency to a monthly low against the dollar … The European Central Bank took no de...Read More
Federal Liberals maintain 10 per cent lead over Conservatives A new Forum Research public opinion poll shows the federal Liberals maintaining their 10 per cent lead over the Conservatives in popular support … A new poll by Forum Research found 39 per cent of respondents would vote Liberal if the federal election were held today, while 29 per cent would vote Conservative. When you break out t...Read More
It's best to diversify across the five main sectors of the economy: finance, utilities, consumer products and services, manufacturing and resources. Each of these broad sectors is made up of sub-sectors that often have different outlooks. Below we show our outlook for each sub-sector over the next six to 12 months.Remember, though, there's danger in loading up on stocks in sectors that we expect t...Read More
Our Investment Planning Committee believes the stocks in the column below have little appeal and should underperform the market over the next six months. We view them as holds or sells. (Note that we aren't advising you to sell them short.) Remember to consult The Investment Reporter each week for changes in our opinion.AIR CANADA $5.57 (TSX-AC.B; Quality rating: Conservatove) faces a lower loonie...Read More
Schumpeter: A green light … Companies are starting to open up about their environmental risks. They need to do more … On March 20th, Exxon Mobil, surely the world's least tree-hugging company, became the first oil giant to say it would publish details of its "stranded assets"—the value of oil and gas fields that it might not be able to exploit if there were a high c...Read More
Billionaire philanthropist George Soros hopes the U.S. goes to pot, and he is using his money to drive it there. With a cadre of like-minded, wealthy donors, Mr. Soros is dominating the pro-legalization side of the marijuana debate by funding grass-roots initiatives that begin in New York City and end up affecting local politics elsewhere. Through a network of nonprofit groups, Mr. Soros has spent...Read More
Schumpeter: A green light … Companies are starting to open up about their environmental risks. They need to do more … On March 20th, Exxon Mobil, surely the world's least tree-hugging company, became the first oil giant to say it would publish details of its "stranded assets"—the value of oil and gas fields that it might not be able to exploit if there were a high c...Read More
Billionaire philanthropist George Soros hopes the U.S. goes to pot, and he is using his money to drive it there. With a cadre of like-minded, wealthy donors, Mr. Soros is dominating the pro-legalization side of the marijuana debate by funding grass-roots initiatives that begin in New York City and end up affecting local politics elsewhere. Through a network of nonprofit groups, Mr. Soros has spent...Read More