Stocks

[crankcall]

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I told the owners of my company it’s a firm line in the sand , Mar thirty first , one says , we asked for one years notice, I said I gave you five months and only now are you in panic mode . They proposed maybe I would do part time ( I’ve been part time for a decade , they just didn’t know lol ) . I want to go while I still like the company and everyone I work with , I don’t wanna stay till I hate the place . It is a nice feeling knowing I have a way out .


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[mimico_polak]

I told the owners of my company it’s a firm line in the sand , Mar thirty first , one says , we asked for one years notice, I said I gave you five months and only now are you in panic mode . They proposed maybe I would do part time ( I’ve been part time for a decade , they just didn’t know lol ) . I want to go while I still like the company and everyone I work with , I don’t wanna stay till I hate the place . It is a nice feeling knowing I have a way out .


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This is a life goal of mine...being able to walk away when it's time, and not stress about having to work into my retirement years.

Maybe I'll hold off on doubling my mortgage...(Plus the sellers didn't agree to our 1.5M thank Christ!).

 

[crankcall]

I’d advise talking to a legitimate financial planner , not the guy at the bank that took three courses . And have a plan. It’s ok to double the mortgage, but have a plan to pay it out before day X hits .
You’ll get lots of advice to keep the mortgage and pile spare cash into the market . Ok , but as a guy that used equity in my house and put two fifty into a market that vaporized, I still had a house with a new two fifty debt . Last couple years sure , trained monkeys could pick winning stocks .
When you read about the millionaires that buy cottages with insane mortgages because the mortgage is x percent and cash in the market is paying xxx . Joe regular does not have a job paying eight hundred K , and a bail out plan when it goes south . Millionaire guy does . Never invest money you couldn’t live without .


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[GreyGhost]

I’d advise talking to a legitimate financial planner , not the guy at the bank that took three courses . And have a plan. It’s ok to double the mortgage, but have a plan to pay it out before day X hits .
You’ll get lots of advice to keep the mortgage and pile spare cash into the market . Ok , but as a guy that used equity in my house and put two fifty into a market that vaporized, I still had a house with a new two fifty debt . Last couple years sure , trained monkeys could pick winning stocks .
When you read about the millionaires that buy cottages with insane mortgages because the mortgage is x percent and cash in the market is paying xxx . Joe regular does not have a job paying eight hundred K , and a bail out plan when it goes south . Millionaire guy does . Never invest money you couldn’t live without .


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There are very few people at a bank I would trust with money or financial advise. A friend has money with someone that's as good as it gets at a major bank (advisor meets weekly with CEO to advise ceo on markets and the future). After fees, he's not much different than S&P 500 and chill. Sadly, that's astonishingly good performance for a bank advisor. Most of the bank advisors normal people can access will barely beat inflation.

If someone thinks they should get advice, I would highly recommend fee-for-service instead of asset-under-management. AUM is a huge conflict and normally the investor gets fleeced (grossly overpaying for services, getting bad advice that maximizes AUM instead of maximizing after-tax money for the client, etc). When I think my plan is solid, I'll pay the few thousand for a sober second look to make sure I don't have a scary hole I missed.

If you are going to borrow to invest, don't screw up the timing or the investment (as you so painfully found out).

At the end of 2021, I borrowed an amount I would be annoyed to lose but it wouldn't change my life if I lost it. Bought three dividend paying securities (33% each). Dividends have been paying off the loan and I threw some extra money at it when rates spiked and one of the dividends was paused which made the house of cards not happy. Four years in, the loan is ~20% of the original amount borrowed and the investments are up about 68%. It was the opposite of insurance, I took on risk to gain money. One of the securities has been running as a DRIP for a while. One was running as a drip for a few years but I turned that off to speed up the loan repayments in 2026 (and now all are in TFSA so interest is not deductible). One has been paying out the whole time as it more than covers the interest payment.

 

[Brian P]

Saw some things on social media which prompted checking exchange rates ... 1 CAD = 0.7366 USD as of a couple minutes ago. That is a significant change since yesterday. I spot-checked EUR and GBP which seem in the ballpark, if anything those have gained a little against the CAD. Means the USD went down relative to other major currencies.

 

[Brian P]

If you are going to borrow to invest, don't screw up the timing or the investment (as you so painfully found out).

My own view is to set up a brokerage account and do things yourself. You'll pay some transaction fees but no management-fee percentage off the top. Then pick several dividend-payers that aren't going to go broke any time soon. Or a broad-market dividend-paying ETF.

Re borrowing to invest, I've had a brokerage account for long enough that it was possible to upgrade it to a margin account. Means I can do limited trading in options, and I can trade on margin ("borrowing to invest"), but I refuse to do so on a long-term basis. Normally I maintain zero debt, but if a situation presents itself as something that can't possibly stay, I will occasionally buy stocks and then write (sell) slightly-in-the-money call options against them a couple weeks out in duration. Most of the time, the stock stays put or recovers, or maybe there's a little wiggle room for it to drop to the strike price, and I keep the option premium when it gets called away, and I'm only borrowing money for a couple of weeks. If it does happen to go down further, my cost base for buying it is now lower than it would have been ... repeat. Given that there is the possibility that you may end up owning it ... Don't do this on something you don't mind owning for the long term - or with an amount that you don't mind carrying for the long term.

My upcoming spring vacation is paid for by selling worthless call options to speculators ... the speculators (not me) just didn't realise that they were worthless at the time

 

[nobbie48]

I’d advise talking to a legitimate financial planner , not the guy at the bank that took three courses . And have a plan. It’s ok to double the mortgage, but have a plan to pay it out before day X hits .
You’ll get lots of advice to keep the mortgage and pile spare cash into the market . Ok , but as a guy that used equity in my house and put two fifty into a market that vaporized, I still had a house with a new two fifty debt . Last couple years sure , trained monkeys could pick winning stocks .
When you read about the millionaires that buy cottages with insane mortgages because the mortgage is x percent and cash in the market is paying xxx . Joe regular does not have a job paying eight hundred K , and a bail out plan when it goes south . Millionaire guy does . Never invest money you couldn’t live without .


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One of our best investments was a 26 foot sailboat in the late 1970's. We loved the boat but the financing was a strain for us at the time but pay to play.

A few years later circumstances changed and a new house loomed at what seemed a ridiculous mortgage situation. It was about the same as the boat payment so hey we could do it again. Sometimes you have to push yourself. It worked.

Tip: Do it when you're young and have time to recover if you screw up.

 

[nobbie48]

Somewhat like crankcall, I don't have the training, contacts, or intuition on picking stocks so let an investment company manage my financial future.

The problem is that individual advisors can come and go with, IMO, banks being particularly bad. Is it possible they come out of their degree courses and work cheap until they get a reputation and then move on to greener pastures?

Do you stick with the individual or their company?

 

[GreyGhost]

Somewhat like crankcall, I don't have the training, contacts, or intuition on picking stocks so let an investment company manage my financial future.

The problem is that individual advisors can come and go with, IMO, banks being particularly bad. Is it possible they come out of their degree courses and work cheap until they get a reputation and then move on to greener pastures?

Do you stick with the individual or their company?

If you can find a competent advisor (and that's a very big if, most underperform S&P 500 and chill), try to follow the person. That may not always work out as if they jump from Company A to Company B, Company B may be taking a bigger cut of AUM and while you still have the same advisor, you may now be underperforming S&P500 and chill.

Sadly, many people (I hesitate to call them investors) are focused on the number and if you have more dollars than last year, they consider that a win and if you have less dollars than last year, they have a panic attack. Few realize how brutal inflation is over time and at a minimum your investment returns should be judged vs inflation not absolute dollars. That leaves the door wide open for people to be happy with their advisor while at the same time being actively pillaged.

A competent person made a very good point. If your advisor is selling you investments that have the same name as on the door of the advisors office, you are very rarely in the best spot for you. Your advisor should be focused on you and not maximizing their personal or corporate returns. It would be exceedingly rare that the best fund for you happens to created by the advisors firm (and on the small chance it is, the chance of multiple funds all being the best and from that firm is approaching zero).

Underperforming S&P is ok if that was a conscious decision and made with eyes wide open and the risks and rewards discussed openly. Underperforming inflation on a regular basis is inexcusable.

 

[Scuba Steve]

If you can find a competent advisor (and that's a very big if, most underperform S&P 500 and chill), try to follow the person. That may not always work out as if they jump from Company A to Company B, Company B may be taking a bigger cut of AUM and while you still have the same advisor, you may now be underperforming S&P500 and chill.

Sadly, many people (I hesitate to call them investors) are focused on the number and if you have more dollars than last year, they consider that a win and if you have less dollars than last year, they have a panic attack. Few realize how brutal inflation is over time and at a minimum your investment returns should be judged vs inflation not absolute dollars. That leaves the door wide open for people to be happy with their advisor while at the same time being actively pillaged.

A competent person made a very good point. If your advisor is selling you investments that have the same name as on the door of the advisors office, you are very rarely in the best spot for you. Your advisor should be focused on you and not maximizing their personal or corporate returns. It would be exceedingly rare that the best fund for you happens to created by the advisors firm (and on the small chance it is, the chance of multiple funds all being the best and from that firm is approaching zero).

Underperforming S&P is ok if that was a conscious decision and made with eyes wide open and the risks and rewards discussed openly. Underperforming inflation on a regular basis is inexcusable.

Things are finally coming back for me a bit in 2026 25 sucked but that was because of my investment choices.

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[GreyGhost]

Things are finally coming back for me a bit in 2026 25 sucked but that was because of my investment choices.

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A sad reality is it takes decades for investment returns to be statistically significant. Over a few years, it can be luck (either good or bad). By the time a person or advisor has statistically beaten the market (or lost to it), they are mostly out of the game. One of the keys to buffets crazy multiples is he worked hard at it for 84 years. 99% of his wealth came after he was 60. Most investors that are paying attention will ditch an advisor after at most three years of underperformance. Jumping then often means (but not always) they miss the upcoming stellar returns that the advisors strategy was aiming for. Active management and chasing what did well last year is a great way to get terrible returns.

For most people, once they have won the game, the prudent path is to mostly get out of the game (although that's no fun). Like a lottery winner, put enough in boring investments to support your needs in perpetuity (for instance a target date fund, dividend paying stocks, etc). Use the remainder to shoot for the moon if that makes you happy. Even if you get wiped out by speculating, the base is untouched.

 

[Scuba Steve]

A sad reality is it takes decades for investment returns to be statistically significant. Over a few years, it can be luck (either good or bad). By the time a person or advisor has statistically beaten the market (or lost to it), they are mostly out of the game. One of the keys to buffets crazy multiples is he worked hard at it for 84 years. 99% of his wealth came after he was 60. Most investors that are paying attention will ditch an advisor after at most three years of underperformance. Jumping then often means (but not always) they miss the upcoming stellar returns that the advisors strategy was aiming for. Active management and chasing what did well last year is a great way to get terrible returns.

For most people, once they have won the game, the prudent path is to mostly get out of the game (although that's no fun). Like a lottery winner, put enough in boring investments to support your needs in perpetuity (for instance a target date fund, dividend paying stocks, etc). Use the remainder to shoot for the moon if that makes you happy. Even if you get wiped out by speculating, the base is untouched.

I really don't have anything too exciting in my portfolio but oil and gas definitely underperformed last year and is coming back very quickly now

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[Brian P]

You know all the companies people love to hate because their profit margin contributes to the cost-of-living crisis?

Buy those.

 

[GreyGhost]

You know all the companies people love to hate because their profit margin contributes to the cost-of-living crisis?

Buy those.

Not a bad strategy but I avoid most of those. Their profitability (and by extension stock price) are largely driven by their pseudo-monopolies. It is possible (although unlikely) that a government will grow the stones to throw a grenade into their environment. Concurrent dividend cut and permanent lower valuation are a painful combination.

 

[crankcall]

There is nothing in my portfolio that is morally or ethically driven . Gas , oil , munitions and arms , used to be pot , now pharma and tech . Even the evil tech , I can wear Birkenstocks and street preach once my yacht is paid off ….


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[Gary]

CLS.to into my tfsa at the beginning of the month.

 

[GreyGhost]

CLS.to into my tfsa at the beginning of the month.

Every month or this month? If you have been doing that for a while, congrats.

 

[Mad Mike]

There are very few people at a bank I would trust with money or financial advise. A friend has money with someone that's as good as it gets at a major bank (advisor meets weekly with CEO to advise ceo on markets and the future). After fees, he's not much different than S&P 500 and chill. Sadly, that's astonishingly good performance for a bank advisor. Most of the bank advisors normal people can access will barely beat inflation.

If someone thinks they should get advice, I would highly recommend fee-for-service instead of asset-under-management. AUM is a huge conflict and normally the investor gets fleeced (grossly overpaying for services, getting bad advice that maximizes AUM instead of maximizing after-tax money for the client, etc). When I think my plan is solid, I'll pay the few thousand for a sober second look to make sure I don't have a scary hole I missed.

If you are going to borrow to invest, don't screw up the timing or the investment (as you so painfully found out).

At the end of 2021, I borrowed an amount I would be annoyed to lose but it wouldn't change my life if I lost it. Bought three dividend paying securities (33% each). Dividends have been paying off the loan and I threw some extra money at it when rates spiked and one of the dividends was paused which made the house of cards not happy. Four years in, the loan is ~20% of the original amount borrowed and the investments are up about 68%. It was the opposite of insurance, I took on risk to gain money. One of the securities has been running as a DRIP for a while. One was running as a drip for a few years but I turned that off to speed up the loan repayments in 2026 (and now all are in TFSA so interest is not deductible). One has been paying out the whole time as it more than covers the interest payment.

Banks have salespeople that can size up your situation and offer you basic advice - they call them financial advisers. They passed a securities course and got 4 week training at the bank on how to sell securities. Their motivation is selling you bank products and commissionable investments.

Unless you go over to the wealth management. Every bank has wealth management practice that operates outside day to day banking. They are in offices - not retail bank branches. They are called wealth managers, not financial advisers.

Sally most are not available until you have $500k to invest - not $500k net worth, $500k in liquid money they manage. For the best of the bunch the in is well over $1m. These are the folks that advise on tax, portfolio, succession and financial goal planning (I need a McLaren or to retire at 59).

They’re going to get you decent returns, but more importantly they will save you taxes. They also do much better in turbulent times by helping you keep your money.

 

[Gary]

Every month or this month? If you have been doing that for a while, congrats.

Just once. (tfsa)
Sold off some dying holdings I had there (BB.to, AC.to, etc) and used that $$ with the 7k to get a few CLS.
(I have a "gentleman's" bet with a technical analyst who makes appearances on Market Call, on BNN. He doesn't like cls.to, I do.)

 

[nobbie48]

There is nothing in my portfolio that is morally or ethically driven . Gas , oil , munitions and arms , used to be pot , now pharma and tech . Even the evil tech , I can wear Birkenstocks and street preach once my yacht is paid off ….


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Someone was complaining about the service we get today in general.

Me: Do you have any financial investments, RRSPs, Pensions etc?

Them: Yes

Me: Do you like it when they go up?

Them: Yes

Me: They go up because the companies you're invested in cut half its staff and sent the other half to India.

Them:

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