March 17, 2010 · 0 comments
in Canadian, Canadian dollar, DJIA, S&P 500, currencies, diversification, dividends, financial planning, foreign investment, hedging, market timing, risk, stocks, wealth protection
Now that the loonie is flying high again, many Canadians are considering US expenditures, which become cheaper as the loonie moves higher. Some of these purchases might be in the form of US stocks through your online brokerage.
But before you hit the trigger and jump on a position in Walmart (NYSE: WMT), Apple (NSDQ: AAPL) [...]
February 19, 2010 · 2 comments
in VIX volatility, financial education, hedging, indexes, international stock market, investing, investment tools, market timing, options, risk, side income, stocks, technical analysis, terminology
There are many different types of options, and they’re not all equally risky. Some options investing strategies are highly risky, whereas others have a much lower level of risk. If you’re still new to options investing, you might want to first read my post on learning the basics of options trading.
Before you can get into [...]
January 22, 2010 · 1 comment
in January, investing, market timing, market trends, psychology, seasonal investing, special dates, stocks, technical analysis, theories
What’s “the January Effect”? It’s a simple seasonal investing rule that goes something like this: “as goes January, so goes the rest of the year.”
Seasonal investing is not quite an investment style, but more like a strategy, for making trades that correspond to cyclical market trends around the year. Certain events, and thus market movements, [...]
January 20, 2010 · 13 comments
in 2010, Federal Reserve, US economy, bull market, central banks, economy, exchange rates, financial planning, forex, hedging, inflation, interest rates, international economy, market crash, market reports, market timing, recession, risk
Highest ever one-month inflation rise in the UK for December, fiscal imbalances in Greece, weakened macro-economics in Germany, a Canadian housing market bubble, higher than 50% gains in the commodity currencies since last March (2009), and the return of hubris and risk-taking in the U.S. investment banks… what do these all have in common?
Is it [...]
January 14, 2010 · 8 comments
in behavioral finance, discipline, emotions, financial education, investing, market timing, psychology, stocks, technical analysis, time in the market
The stock markets are ultimately unpredictable, but that doesn’t mean they are mysterious or without guiding trends and principles that anyone can learn.
As long as you’re not day trading and hoping to turn profits within minutes or by 5pm, there are a number of ways you can help ensure that you buy your shares low [...]
January 12, 2010 · 0 comments
in 2010, DJIA, Financial New Year, Q3, Q4, S&P 500, bull market, earnings, economy, indexes, market bottom, market crash, market timing, market trends, recession, risk, technical analysis, wealth protection
Increasingly, analysts seem to agree that the first half (and the first quarter, especially) of stock markets in 2010 will look robust and promising, but stock markets in the second half of the year leave much to be desired.
The possibility of a double-dip recession still remains for some, while others mitigate this prediction about the [...]
The Santa Claus Rally is the historic seasonality that occurs in the stock markets around Christmas and New Years. From about the 8th last trading day in December through the first three trading days in January, there has traditionally been fairly reliable upward swings in the markets, usually delivering positive returns.
According to Martin Roberge of [...]
