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 am nothing if not consistent, and staunchingly stubborn in my views and opinions. Remember when I first opened the debate on money vs. happiness? Maybe you’ve caught my recent thoughts about lack of money creating unhappiness when I decided to add “The Pursuit Of Happyness” to my list of movies to watch.

And while most people just got over the excitement of the Academy Awards, I’m staying excited to recommend another movie for you! The movie isn’t even out yet, but the theme and inspiration for the movie will certainly add another dimension to the debate of money vs. happiness. I do not believe that money begets happiness, and feel it’s always important to prioritize what’s truly important, even as we choose to accumulate wealth. On March 9th, you may feel the same as me after watching “The Ultimate Gift“. What’s so good about (more…)

You know what really grinds my gears? Personal finance marketing ploys that work! It’s in the media everywhere! I swear that every time I hear “Learn What The Rich Know, That The Poor Don’t!“, an angel somewhere must be losing its wings. Who would fall for that crap? Yet everyday, common folks are baited into believing that its their lack of knowledge causing all their financial woes. Guess what, there are tons of people out there willing to sell you the cure… for suckers!

But it’s not just profit-hungry creeps who exploit this. Even venerable bloggers such as Free Money Finance (update: or Ramit Sethi) can stoop to an eye-grabbing headline once in a while. For argument’s sake, we’ll follow with the shallowest definition of being rich and poor - money! I assert that knowledge is not the obstacle that you have to overcome, but 3 simple human qualities you should be striving for. (more…)

We’ve just completed upgrading this blog to the latest Wordpress 2.1.

Hopefully everything was upgraded safely. If you happen across any broken links or site features that don’t seem to be working correct, please let me know.

I’ll be back shortly this weekend with a few new articles; and as always with the same “fire” that you’ve seen before at Investorial!

I’m lucky to count Larry MacDonald as one of Investorial’s readers. Larry is an economist, author of several business books and currently runs the Investment Ideas blog at Canadian Business Online. He is currently doing a series rounding up Canadian financial blogs. So far he’s profiled bloggers such as Canadian Capitalist, Bill Cara, The Dividend Guy, Yaser Anwar and many more. I have been consistently reading many of those blogs, and am discovering new ones through this process.

Investorial was lucky enough to also get mentioned by Larry in the round up. I guess I’m more well known for being (more…)

Before I break out into a Sally Field “moment”, I just want to show my appreciation for receiving such a humbling mention at WallStreetSelect.com’s recent readers’ choice award for most insightful investment blog of the year. I must stick out like a sore thumb when compared to the other names on the list, since I know and have read everyone of the honorable mentions.

How Investorial got nominated in the first place is still a mystery to me! And though I might question why Digg appears as an investment blog, it’s really up to the reader to decide where they like to get their investment information in this age of content aggregation. (more…)

On this, the final trading day of 2006, I thought it’d be appropriate to editorialize a little about Canada’s biggest investment news of 2006. [Editor's note: Although I'm sure some observant readers will realize that technically, the final trading day of 2006 has already passed!] Finance minister Jim Flaherty will forever be associated with introducing the proposal of taxing income trusts to curtail the rush of Canadian corporations converting their structure for tax advantages. My personal position is clear - I welcome anything that helps to keep junk companies with no business adopting such a structure from carrying on as income trusts.

The whole deal still sounds very fishy. Shortly after the shocking Halloween announcement, the market reacted by dropping the income trust sector by more than 20%, almost $40 Billion dollars of wealth overnight! The ordeal had landed nods for Jim to be the 2006 Canadian business news-maker of the year. But 2007 could hold more surprises, so hold on tight! (more…)

During this Happy Holiday season, I want to thank you for your readership! Investorial started as a forum for my rants and reactions to investment / financial media out there, who’d have thought people would want to read them? I’m very humbled by that fact. I’m even more grateful for being able to forge relationships with bloggers out there such as Canadian Capitalist, InvestorGeeks, GuruWatch, and AOL Blogging Stocks. Merry Christmas to you!

What about my gift? Like Charlie Brown, I don’t have much to offer. But please believe that my wish to you is sincere! (more…)