Financial Planning, Investment & Insurance Solutions

  • Goals of a Lone Wolf

    Goals of a Lone Wolf

    Campbell River is about 250km from Victoria on Vancouver Island in British Columbia. It’s a long walk. If you want to take the most direct route you need to swim more than a kilometre across the Saanich Inlet. Discovery Island is several kilometres off the coast from Victoria. It’s a long swim. Though it’s nothing for a determined wolf. Takaya the wolf (as he’s been named) showed up on Discovery Island and its sister, Chatham Island, back in 2012. Both are small uninhabited islands. No one really knew what was going on or why Takaya ended up there. Wolves generally…

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  • 2019 September Quarter Review

    2019 September Quarter Review

    Economic Overview It was a mixed quarter and economic data reflected that. Developed markets making small gains while emerging markets fell. The US-China trade dispute rumbled on, as did global growth concerns, but central banks remained supportive with the US, Australian and European Central Banks cutting interest rates throughout the quarter. US economic data was mostly stable. Unemployment held at 3.7%, with wage growth in August stronger than anticipated. However, new non-farm job additions were lower than expected in August, at 130,000 versus predictions of 158,000. Consumer confidence also weakened. The US yield curve inverted, a phenomenon which often precedes…

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  • A Shock from The Electric Car Revolution

    A Shock from The Electric Car Revolution

    They were the subject of much derision at the last federal election. Before you say the Labor party, no. Electric cars. What’s powering them (besides electricity)? Batteries. Charge them up and away you go – hopefully for a few hundred kms. Most of the battery focus has centered on the lithium-ion battery. There’s no need to get too deep into various battery chemistries, but some of the minerals and metals required to make the battery are lithium, nickel, cobalt, manganese and graphite. The race to manufacture the batteries has resulted in the construction of a significant number of battery mega…

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  • More Stakeholders at The Table

    More Stakeholders at The Table

    Shareholders aren’t everything. That sounds like a concerning statement to hear if you’re a shareholder. It might be the sort of thing you’d hear said by less than business friendly types. Hippies, socialists, gasp… millennials! Well no. It was essentially the message that came out of the Business Roundtable last month as they released their Principles of Corporate Governance. The Business Roundtable? Who are they? Business Roundtable is an association of chief executive officers of America’s leading companies working to promote a thriving U.S. economy and expanded opportunity for all Americans through sound public policy. Not exactly the socialist collective and…

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  • Media Omission & The Market

    Media Omission & The Market

    “The markets haven’t been very good lately,” the investor said with some concern. “Should we be doing something?” Markets were off their highs. Trump was being Trump. August had been one of those months. Off nearly 5% in a week. Sideways for the next three. A slight upward burst at the end, but the media had been salivating at the prospect of more losses. The wind had stopped blowing and the seas had calmed. The investor was still thinking about those storm warnings. “Well the ASX All Ords is up about 19% until the end of August,” the adviser said,…

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