The world is awash in oil and gas. Lower energy costs are a big plus for the inflation fight allowing for additional rate cuts. That can provide a boost for the global economy and for stock and bond markets on the whole. But those lower oil and gas prices will suppress the the earnings and […]
Why are most dividend ETFs underperforming? Plus, the Sunday Reads.
Canadians are sitting on a mountain of cash. Higher rates for savings accounts and GICs were too juicy too resist. But with rates coming down, these income lovers have been moving funds back to struggling dividend ETFs and their favourite dividend stocks. After a brief period of catch up outperformance, many dividend ETFs are lagging […]
iShares U.S. Quality Dividend ETF is crushing SCHD in 2024, on the Sunday Reads.
The Schwab U.S. Dividend Equity ETF (SCHD) is very popular with dividend and total return investors alike. The fund enjoyed a solid period of outperformance but has slipped in recent years, relative to the S&P 500. That’s no slight on SCHD as most everyone has underperformed the tech-heavy U.S. stock market. And as we enter the […]
The best year-to-date for U.S. stocks, in decades. Plus, the Sunday Reads.
U.S. stocks as represented by the S&P 500 have gained over 23% in 2024. That’s the best performance in 24 years. It’s the 13th best start, ever. In 1997, Bill Clinton was President, OJ Simpson was in court, Harry Potter is published, Netflix is founded, Steve Jobs is named the interim CEO of Apple. Yes, […]
What to do with the TC Energy spin-off, on the Sunday Reads.
This week delivered the TC Energy spin-off. The popular Canadian pipeline and energy company split into two parts – natural gas and energy production and the smaller oil pipeline segment. Investors received 0.2 shares for every TC Energy share that they held. What to do with the TC Energy holdings? I’d suggest that if you […]
Boost the spend rate in retirement on the Sunday Reads.
Cut The Crap Investing recently looked at the go-to chart on creating retirement income. The post looked at sustainable spend rates. The 4% “rule” suggests that you can start at a 4.2% spend rate, and then increase spending each year to adjust for inflation. That protects your spending power and lifestyle in retirement. That said, […]