Bonds may be the adult in the room, but they are certainly afraid of inflation. Bonds usually do their thing – they go up when stock markets get hit hard. They provide ballast. During periods of expected high inflation, or during rising inflation bond prices go down. That can create and contribute negative returns. The […]
How do we defend against stagflation?
It has been more than two weeks since the U.S. attacked Iran. And while the U.S. was quick to knock out much of Iran’s traditional military capability, Iran has turned to asymmetric war and has also weaponized oil, fertilizers and other materials that pass through the Hormuz Strait. With threats and some strategic attacks on […]
A look at our U.S. stock portfolio on the Sunday Reads.
Back in early 2015 I created a U.S. stock portfolio for my wife and me. It’s a real public portfolio available on Seeking Alpha. I have done several updates on Cut The Crap Investing, as well. The strategy was to create a stock portfolio with a quality skew. I skimmed the Dividend Achievers Index that […]
Canadian and international stocks wow in February and in 2026.
So much for the February blahs. Canadian stocks delivered some February wows. We can add in international developed and international developing markets as well. The U.S. market stays in the basement where it resided in 2025. For the month, the TSX added 6.9%, marking its biggest monthly gain since November 2020. The Toronto market has […]
What to do about your stocks that are flying high, on the Sunday Reads.
It was a tumultuous week for the U.S. markets. And it’s been a wobbly 2026. U.S. stocks are down over the last week, month and year-to-date. Of course, Canadian and International equities greatly outperformed the U.S. market in 2025. The U.S. Dollar has been in ‘free fall’ as well. We keep hearing about the ‘great […]
Giving up trips to Portugal in your sixties to fund nursing care in your nineties?
Retirement planning introduces many difficult questions, and some very interesting and meaningful trade-offs. Including, how much should you sacrifice your high-quality go-go years in retirement to fund your expensive no-go years that might arrive in your 80’s and continue into your 90’s and perhaps beyond? For many, residence and healthcare costs can skyrocket late in […]