Investorial

Mutual funds are still the no-brainer solution for the average joe who couldn’t care less about reading financial statements, or spend the time day-trading. Much “marketing” debate has been made about management fees. They’re not wrong to be critical but everything is really dependent on the “net” returns you’re able to achieve. My only concern is that consumers do the minimum work of researching the track-record of the fund and the fund manager. A long, consistent and positive tracking record is a must for active-managed funds.

But when John Bogle, founder of Vanguard, decided to balk the norms of the financial industry and aggressively market passive index funds, it was a strong indictment on the vast majority of managers who fail to beat their corresponding benchmark indexes. Vanguard’s promotion of this strategy still trumpets strongly, but there are signs of shifting towards actively managing their index funds, even if it’s just a little bit! (more…)

Investorial is my un-imaginative amalgamation of “investments” and “editorials”. You may or may not enjoy my ramblings about “the good, the bad, the ugly” in the investement / financial media. I have also been trying to carve out new dimensions in my financial writing. I’m currently a blogger with two financial blogging networks - InvestorGeeks and AOL Blogging Stocks. I thought I’d share with you a few of my posts elsewhere. I won’t claim they are “good”, but I don’t think they are “bad” and hopefully they’re not “ugly”!

InvestorGeeks
I approached Chris, Jason and Frank on 06/06/06 to join the devil’s pact! It’s a thriving community of investing geeks (or the next motley fool?) and its my home for discussing investing techniques and principles. Here’s a sample! (more…)

I must thank Stephen Colbert (whose show I watch nightly) for coining the term “truthiness”. Wikipedia (besides having entries about elephants) also has an extensive section on the origin of “truthiness”. The expression is a reference to the quality by which a person claims to know something intuitively, instinctively, or “from the gut” without regard to evidence, logic, intellectual examination, or actual facts. The most famous proponent of this trait is the American president George W. Bush. Though Ann Coulter is closing in from second place in my opinion. (Don’t worry, there are far too many examples to support this assertion!) (more…)

InvestorGeeks recently ran an analysis on the spread between credit card interest rates and the American prime lending rate. I feel dirty and used after reading the article. That’s not because of whatever Chris wrote, but because those numbers brought up deep-seated resentment about the Canadian financial services industry.

I’ve blogged critically about high Canadian brokerage commission fees. I can also look past our high tax rates for the reciprocated services. But when I hear complaints about how gas and oil companies are making record profits hand-over-fist, I wonder why Canadians are letting banks get away with the same thing. We are so eager and willing to hand over our money, yet nobody ever questions the sanity of the status quo.

I’ve searched the credit card interest rates offered by the “Big 5″ Canadian banks so that you don’t have to! (more…)

When it comes to investing columns, thank goodness for the cynics! I’m not just saying that because I’m also a cynic, but along with positive news often comes a lot of hype and fluff. Cynics have the unenviable task of having to prove their negative assertions by rigorous research and logical explanations more so than their salesmen-like counterparts!

I’ve been looking for an opportunity to introduce Chuck Jaffe’s writing to my readers, and his recent article about fund manager cover-up phrases really enlightened me to the politically correct double-talk that fund managers engaged in. I’ll preface by saying I don’t expect fund managers to bury their heads in financial statements every minute of their work hour. But when they start to sound more like salesmen rather than an investor. You better believe I will reconsider where I put my money. (more…)

After a satisfying dinner, some delicious desert would be nice. And if you’re Warren Buffett, you might be hoping for some Dairy Queen delights! As our series on Buffett’s tenets draws close to a conclusion, what can we do to leave you with a sweet remembrance? I hope you’re not too full after we’ve covered Buffett’s thoughts on the market, on selecting businesses, and on being an investor. We thought some thought-provoking contrary thoughts would be a thoughtful end! (sigh… I really need some writing lessons! Will somebody buy me a thesaurus?) (more…)

Warren Buffett loves playing bridge. I dabble in a little poker from time to time. And as much as I’d like to delude myself into thinking I have more similarities with the “oracle”, it ends with a penchant for playing cards. But that doesn’t stop me from learning more about how Buffett thinks investors should approach the game. After reading this installment in our ongoing Investorial series on Buffett’s tenets, if you don’t feel you fit all of Warren’s requirements for being an investor, don’t worry! There’s always a table game going on somewhere! (more…)