by Allan Small | Jul 17, 2020 | Investing
Finance Minister Bill Morneau’s 2020 Fiscal Snapshot is scary. As reported by the CBC, the 2020-21 deficit is set to hit $343.2 billion and the net federal debt will hit $1.2 trillion, bringing the debt to Gross Domestic Product (GDP) ratio to 49% up from 31%. This is...
by Allan Small | Jul 10, 2020 | Investing
As a parent of four children in elementary school and as a Senior Investment Advisor, I think the Ontario government’s decision to revamp the mathematics curriculum in grades one through eight and introduce a realistic and relevant approach to financial literacy is...
by Allan Small | Jun 15, 2020 | Investing
What’s happening? How is it possible that the Nasdaq composite is hitting new highs, the Dow Jones Industrial Average is recording consecutive days of growth and the Standard & Poor’s 500 has moved from correction to positive territory when all we hear is talk of...
by Allan Small | May 12, 2020 | Investing
The month of March was the worst month ever for Canadian mutual funds with more than $14.1B in net redemptions. That’s equal to 83% of total net sales for 2019, as reported by Financial Post.1 March 23 was a particularly tough day for the markets. On that day, the...
by Allan Small | Apr 22, 2020 | Investing
My biggest piece of advice to investors worried about all of the financial uncertainty sparked by the COVID-19 virus, regardless of age, is to look beyond today before making any investment decisions. The coronavirus is a rapidly developing story and so, too, are the...
by Allan Small | Apr 15, 2020 | Investing
If 2008 taught investors anything, it’s this: The market will always climb back regardless of how far it has fallen. Those investors who were able to separate fear and emotion from their decision making during the global financial crisis and stayed invested enjoyed a...
by Allan Small | Apr 6, 2020 | Investing
As of April 2nd, 2020, Canada’s federal government has held off on invoking the Emergencies Act, which would give Prime Minister Trudeau the temporary ability to do just about whatever he thinks necessary to stop the spread of COVID-19, including putting an effective...
by Allan Small | Mar 16, 2020 | Investing
Investors are living through perhaps the fastest sell-off of stocks in history. Since mid-February, markets dropped significantly as negative coronavirus news developed and governments wrestled with the situation. As of March 12th, the Dow Jones Industrial average had...
by Allan Small | Jan 22, 2020 | Investing
He did it. About 18 months after imposing tariffs on China and triggering a trade war, President Trump and his team negotiated a truce. On January 15, 2020, China’s vice-premier joined the U.S. president at the White House to sign what they are calling “phase one” of...
by Allan Small | Jan 21, 2020 | Investing
You have until March 2, 2020 to contribute to your Registered Retirement Savings Plans (RRSPs) for the previous calendar year. The question is should you? Since the introduction of Tax-Free Savings Accounts (TFSAs) in 20091, RRSPs, which have been around in some form...
by Allan Small | Dec 31, 2019 | Investing
Here’s a statement that may surprise you: 2019 was a great year to be invested in the markets. It’s understandable if you are scratching your head. The noisiest pundits had investors worried about slow growth and recession. President Trump’s reignition of a trade war...
by Allan Small | May 28, 2019 | Investing
Just when it looked like the U.S. and China might be close to hammering out a trade deal, it appears that China backed off some previous concessions and the U.S. escalated the tariff war it started about a year ago by imposing 25% tax on a new list of $250B worth of...
by Allan Small | May 28, 2019 | Investing
As part of her platform in her run for the Democratic nomination, U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren has proposed breaking up tech giants Amazon, Apple, Facebook, Google. Her plan involves passing legislation that would designate platforms with more than $25 billion in...
by Allan Small | Apr 22, 2019 | Investing
Doom and gloom gave way to sunny skies for investors as the first quarter stock market gains of 2019 have erased the losses of the closing months of 2018. To call what we’ve just seen a rebound is an understatement. January to March 2019 was the best quarter in nearly...
by Allan Small | Dec 28, 2018 | Investing
2018 has been one heck of a ride for investors, with the first part of the year taking us to ever greater heights only to see the fall plunge us back to ground zero wiping out double digit gains. In fact, this year’s big swings in the stock market are at their highest...
