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) [...]
If you’ve never paid attention to Beta (β) (or “B”) before, listen up. Even if you don’t consider yourself a technical analyst or a seasoned investor, or if you are just getting into stocks now, beta is fairly easy to understand and can help you with your stock picking decisions.
Beta is a mathematical measurement of [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
Today’s online discount brokerage investor may never have had the experience of seeing or touching an old-school stock certificate like the one in my previous post on canceling your DRIPs.
Ownership of stocks today usually falls in the hands of the broker you buy and sell through. When the broker holds the stocks for you, it’s [...]
February 1, 2010 · 6 comments
in 2010, February, S&P 500, international stock market, investing, market reports, market trends, seasonal investing, stock exchanges, stocks
Predicting where the stock market will go in February might be a lesson in futility more than futurity, but that doesn’t mean we can’t pay close attention to what the analysts are looking out for – and other key pieces of market news such as earnings, announcements from the Fed, levels of consumer credit card [...]
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 [...]
