Pot Pourri

A few finance-related things I've found of interest out there on the Internets:

1) Are we in a recession? A bear market? A correction? And is it over? I have no idea. But I do know that when Starbucks starts departing from their traditional strategy of selling overpriced coffee, the big guys must be worried. $1 coffee and free refills? What is this, my local coffee shop?

2) Beyond the shock value of a nice big round number, I couldn't put my finger on what exactly I found so troubling about the news that a french trader at Societe Generale racked up over $7-billion in stock market losses, until Eric Reguly nailed it for me:

What is astounding is the amount of money he would have had to invest to pile up losses of €4.9-billion. European indexes are down 15 per cent, give or take a couple of points, since the late autumn. This implies the face value of his positions must have been €30-billion or more. How could a single, young bank employee have built enormous positions without the risk gnomes knowing about it? The answer is obvious: There are serious flaws in SocGen's oversight and risk management departments.

And if it can happen there, what's stopping it from happening somewhere else?

3) I thought lowering interest rates was supposed to make currencies weaker, but today's news that the loonie gained nearly 2 cents bucks that logic. Just more evidence that all the rules are apparently out the window in our current, nervous and crazy markets.

4) Ink-stained wretches like me, take heart. People do indeed still like reading newspapers. They just don't like paying for it, and they're doing it online. Maybe this blog thing is going to pan out for me after all. Of course, I'd probably need more than my current 25 cents a day from Google Adsense to live off it...

Pot Pourri

The Market Guy has made his long-overdue return to financial blogging with a new column. Welcome back. You were missed. Even better from my perspective, he's spotlighted two of my holdings, BMO and Artis REIT -- calling the latter the "the consensus discount candidate in the REIT space."

Speaking of BMO, after the run of bad news they've had, it's refreshing to read some bad news for a bank that's someone other than them.

Updated my net worth on NetworthIQ and as predicted, while the line is still headed in the right direction, my growth is slowing down. Should be a temporary thing as funds that would normally be directed towards investing are being put to other uses during the summer. Back on the horse in the fall, hopefully.

Pot Pourri

1) Boy, does Financial Jungle's analysis of BMO's long-term benefits -- even if the stock flatlines -- make me feel good. (I own BMO shares). Four Pillars and Mr. Cheap have also chimed in on the subject, as well as initiated positions. We're all in this together, boys -- along with about 99% of Canadian investors who, chances are, hold BMO though a Canadian equity mutual fund. :)

2) The Sun's Financial Diary's views on why ING Direct is lagging behind their high-interest savings competitors has a lot in common with my own views on the subject, which I wrote about last month. I'm grateful to ING for getting the orange savings ball rolling, but at the end of the day, when it comes to banking, the only thing I'm loyal to is better rates.

3) As intrigued (pleased?) as I am by the prospect of a made in Canada solution to the BCE takeover, I'm still surprised by Telus' latest move to buy its telephone rival. Truth be told, based on their track record, I can't think of a single reason why the CRTC would allow this to go through, beyond the "if we don't, the big bad Americans will" angle. And hey, speaking of domestic leaders, I can't help but think SteadyHand's Tom Bradley is on to something. To summarize for anyone who can't get past that subscriber wall, with so many bidding wars for so many Canadian companies, you have to think more than a few will prove to be a waste. If that happens, Canadians may be in the position of buying back their beloved lost assets at drastically reduced prices a few years from now. How is that bad for Canada?

4) Much as I hate to put words in anybody else's mouth, it certainly sounds to me like Rob Carrick is adding his voice to the chorus of voices that are whispering the "bear" word of late. Whether the red-hot TSX has room to grow further is neither here nor there. But the fact remains, the TSX is now three-quarters based on energy, financials and materials. To anyone who thinks they're playing it safe by just buying the index, one ETF does not a diversified portfolio make.

5) With all the talk about hedge funds, many people are anxious to get in on the easy action. Tom Bradley offers a simple solution: buy a house. After all, you get all the upside, while the people who actually put up the money (the bank) just get their money back. Sounds like a hedge fund to me. And the appeal of starting your own hedge fund appears to be spreading. The Globe's Report on Business team is doing it.

Pot pourri

1) Finished moving this week. Predictably, it was a hassle. And predictably, it was expensive. Still -- I like my new place and I'm settling in well. You don't know how much you've missed outdoor space until you get it back again.

2) Got my tax return this week, too. Ordinarily, I'd roll it over into RRSP's again, but this year, with moving-related expenses to pay for, that's not likely to happen.

3) NetworthIQ informs me my net worth is over $33,000 this month. With six months to go in 2007, coupled with my higher cost of living in the new apartment, it might be tough to hit my unofficial goal of $40,000 by the end of the year.

Pot pourri

Some Monday morning personal finance miscellany:

A - I found myself nodding my head even more than I usually do at Rob Carrick's piece in ROB over the weekend. Don't get me wrong, I like bitching about the banks as much as anyone. But considering how stellar they consistently are as investments, Rob proposes what we've all thought at some point: why not make Canadian banks the only thing you hold in your stock portfolio.

2 - I'm familiar with the concept of 'vice investing' where you buy companies that profit off of our dirty little secrets. Traditionally, things like tobacco, liquor, gambling and guns are included under the vice umbrella. But an interesting Marketwatch article suggests another oft-overlooked vice industry. It turns out there's a sensible way to blow your paycheck at a strip club.

iii - We Canadians are only two days away from long-overdue wireless number portability and I don't know about you but I've been waiting a while for this. American readers may not appreciate how huge this is since they've had this ability for years, but until now, Canadians were unable to take their phone numbers with them when they switched phone companies. That sounds like a meaningless factor, but I know for a fact it's something the phone companies have been preying on for years, knowing that most people won't want to go through the hassle of changing a phone number, so they'll stick to a cellphone plan that's gouging them. Here's hoping this will be the first step towards Canada getting cellular rates that are halfway comparable to places elsewhere in the developed world.