Investorial

Nation, if you’re like me, everyone’s crazed about tax season. I haven’t file my taxes yet, but that doesn’t mean I haven’t done my taxes. There’s a difference! More on that next time..

But why is it a “season”? Why worry about it only this time of the year? Shouldn’t we treat it with an around-the-year preparation attitude? I guess one person simply can’t change the mass hysteria around this topic. But one man is doing his best to help you out — Stephen Colbert. He has the funniest solution to all your tax deduction needs. If you find yourself contemplating the implementation Stephen’s 401K idea, check yourself into the looney bin. Tax avoidance should never be the deciding factor on whether to have kids, and it is probably the least effective solution. The video is right after the jump. (more…)

I seldom profile other investment / financial blogs here. But when I do, it’s because its content has earnestly captivated my fascination. I’ve been a long time fan of J.S. Kim’s writings ever since he launched Zen Of Investing. Besides being Asian (so am I), and also having a partner (Kaeho) blogging about martial arts (another passion of mine). J.S. displays a thorough understanding of investment, economical and even political issues (to a certain extent). His knowledge stems from his experiences being a former private wealth manager (wonder what happened there?).

His latest impressive article discusses 10 reasons why U.S. Dollar denominated bonds aren’t necessary the safe haven that most financial consultants advocate. Anyone who sees through the mindlessness of fee/commission driven advisers earn points in my book! (more…)

Irwin Michael is my favourite fund manager because of his no compromise, no spin, non-apologetic approach to openly discuss investing. He talks and writes candidly about his investment decisions; allowing me to soak up his perspective and learn from it. You won’t catch him doing any sweet-talking to appease investors and audiences. As of the end of August 2006, Irwin’s ABC Fundamental Value has averaged an annual 17.82% return for the last 15 years while it’s benchmark indes S&P/TSX Total Return has only managed a 10.79% in the same timeframe.

If you haven’t yet, you should start by reading Deep Value Face-Off - Part 1, and Deep Value Face-Off - Part 2 first! (more…)

Ross Healy is the chariman and CEO of Strategic Analysis Corporation, an investment advisory firm. Though I feel at times, that Ross’s comments are too politically correct, too on the fence, I still recognize that Ross is very much respected in the Canadian investment scene. Ross is best known for his bearish call on Nortel when it was trading over $100 in 2000. As of June 2006, Strategic Analysis Corporation’s model portfolio has outperformed the S&P/TSX Total Return index to a tune of 20.9% to 11.7% since its 1993 inception.

If you haven’t yet, you should start by reading Deep Value Face-Off - Part 1 first! (more…)

Canada’s Report On Business Television recently held a series of live broadcasts from BCE place in downtown Toronto. On Monday, September 18th, 2006, they invited two venerable deep-value fund managers in a question and answer forum. You might think I’m hypocritical for advising people not to obssess over ROB-TV while highlighting this event. However, my interest was peaked because of Irwin Michael’s appearance. I hope you will see why I listen when Irwin speaks. It’s truly a no-spin zone (unlike Fox News, or Jim Cramer) and investors get to benefit from his wisdom! (more…)

After my previous blog on Jim Cramer, you may feel that I have a strong opinion of the person and the show. I thought I should perhaps sit through an entire show of Mad Money to justify my decision, and guess which show I saw? It was funny watching the students at the University of Michigan egg on Jim; turning the show into a financial version of Jerry Springer with all the hooting, hollering and let’s not forget the booyahs.

Obviously my opinion has not changed regarding Cramer. But I realized that Cramer is like a durian. For those who don’t know, the durian is a tropical fruit I loved eating as a child. You won’t find anybody without a strong opinion of it. Fans will call it the king of fruits, while others will call it the stinkiest thing they’ve ever smelled. There are simply no middle-ground opinions.

If I’m blogging negatively about Cramer, some people must be liking him right? I searched and found Frank Barnako’s blog about 3 Cramer fan sites. For those who don’t know Frank, he is a CBS MarketWatch editor/exec. I am a long-time reader of Frank’s MarketWatch columns and was one of the first bloggers to (more…)

If you were not convinced that many Americans are debt-ridden, taking on more liability than income and stretched beyond their means, then this post should be fun to read! I heard over the radio today during my commute that people were resorting to pawning items like chainsaws, jewellery and other goods in order to pay for gas to get to work.

Doing a bit more research (which means googling for news), here’s a list of different local newspapers that have reported the phenomenon in their regions. A cynic would rate these tales as a little bit of fear-mongering and a little bit of journalistic voyeurism for ratings. (more…)

Investorial should have been on top of this story, but Investing Intelligenty picked it up and ran beautifully with his take on CNBC’s Mad Money. The show’s ringmaster is former hedge fund manager, the boisterous Jim Cramer. Jim was also the co-host on a previous CNBC program, Kudlow & Cramer.

I always thought the show to bring little value to the “common investor”; the ones Jim wished to help. I never did think enough of the show to do research and post on it. Like Investing Intelligently, I could barely stand watching the show for more than a few minutes while I flipped through the channels. It’s all about showmanship for Jim. While he’s busy pressing buttons (more…)