February 15, 2010 · 4 comments
in CIBC Mellon, Computershare, DRIPs, brokers, dividends, financial education, investing, special dates, stocks, terminology
So you finally want to figure out the exact difference between the ex-dividend date and the record date?
If you’re a dividend investor, you know that stocks which pay dividends set three important dates around the determination, announcement, and distribution of dividends: the payment date, the record date (or date of record) and the ex-dividend [...]
January 27, 2010 · 2 comments
in 2010, GDP, January, Obama, US Treasury, US debt, US economy, budgets, debt, deficits, employment, fiscal year, government, news and updates, recession, special dates, stimulus, stimulus plan
The Obama administration sits between an economic rock and a political hard place. Others might call it a contradiction. Obama needs to cut spending, but he’s doing this at the same time that more spending is being introduced (on job creation, more troops in Afghanistan). Slight cuts in some areas are supposed to offset increased [...]
January 26, 2010 · 4 comments
in 2010, DJIA, Federal Reserve, Obama Effect, S&P 500, VIX volatility, banks, central banks, earnings, economics, economy, market reports, market trends, news and updates, politics, recession, special dates, stocks
State of the (Economic) Union 2010: is political news now a leading indicator of stock markets?
I can’t remember where I read it recently, perhaps even in the End of Influence, but the consensus among some who know more about it than I do is that stock markets, and most notably the U.S. stock market in [...]
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 21, 2010 · 4 comments
in 2010, British Columbia, Canadian, Canadian dollar, Canadian economy, Olympics, entertainment, forex, news and updates, seasonal investing, special dates, sports, winter
Between February 12 and 28, 2010, all eyes around the world will be on Vancouver, BC, Canada for the 2010 XXI Winter Olympic Games. More than viewers around the world, the Winter Olympics are expected to attract thousands of new visitors, tourists, athletes and Olympic personnel to the lower mainland of British Columbia. But just [...]
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 [...]
December 16, 2009 · 2 comments
in December, financial planning, happiness, health, holidays, lifestyle design, money decisions, purchases, special dates, spending
Congratulations on opting for a minimalist Christmas, or at least thinking about how to have a clutter-free Christmas. If you’re like me and appreciate minimalism, but you also love giving gifts – you just need to find a way to buy or make gifts that don’t sit around and collect dust for the next three [...]