First, a reminder.
- This is a financial blog. Well, okay, it’s also a canine blog with special emphasis on marital relationships, hormonal urges and why real men change their oil.
- But finances, the economy, real estate, tax avoidance and portfolios – that’s the main menu. So stick with it.
- Yesterday my sterilized, nitrite-coated delete finger was busy. Comments about pandemic disaster, Italian horrors, bodies by the millions and the coming collapse of our health care system were nuked. Along the way I was accused of being arrogant, uncaring, callous, flip and imperious. It was touching. Thank you.
- You’re free to panic and drool all you want. Just not here. If we’re all going to get sneezy and wheezy for a while, so be it. Life will continue.
- So, if you’re a snowflake or someone who was busy growing zits when 2008 happened, or Y2K, Nine Eleven, SARS, Desert Storm or any of the other crap which has befallen folks in the last few decades, calm down. Learn from experience. Everybody thinks it’s different this time, until it isn’t anymore. And in a few months it won’t be.
Now, time for a daily update on news you can actually use.
On Monday Mr. Market priced in a possible global recession, cascading corporate profits and a growthless 2020. So he took back a third of the gains that had been made during 2019. Not so bad. It sure wasn’t 2008, when all-in equity investors lost 55% of their wealth.
Get a grip. This is not the same crisis as a dozen years ago. Back then credit was freezing, the US housing market’s ocean of bad debt was sinking banks and systemic financial failure was inches away. Today the financial system is far more solid, bankers have pumped-up reserves and protections are in place to repel a repetition. Moreover, central banks now work in concert, monetary policy is coordinated and the international response you will see over the coming weeks will prove it.
Yup, the global supply chain has been busted. Temporarily. The travel business is decimated. Retail will suffer, along with hotels, eateries, sports and more. But the virus is a different threat. It’s not attacking the system, but demand. As it recedes over the months to come, that demand will be restored. It will surge. Like I said, life will go on.
Stocks have priced in this disruption, along with the mean little Putin-inspired oil war. But both are temporary in nature. Pandemics never last. Nor do wars. History will eventually tell us, but Monday March 9th might have been the bottom for the share values of a bunch of decent companies.
Having said that, there’s no benefit to panicking or going to cash. The drop happened. Too late to sell. Besides, you’ll just miss the rebound, whenever it occurs. Is it time to buy? Maybe. Takes guts and a long-term view. Volatility is still huge. More shocks could be coming. The best strategy, bar none, is to do nothing. If you have a nicely balanced portfolio, ignore it. Remember that during the credit crisis when equity investors needed seven years to recover, folks with balanced assets lost less, recovered in one year and averaged +5% between 2008 and 2010.
So on Monday the market capitulated. On Tuesday the Dow added a thousand points and even oil-crushed Bay Street was ahead about 350. Central banks around the world will crash rates, inject stimulus and start buying up assets, from bonds to corporate equity. In Washington and Ottawa there’ll be massive fiscal stimulus. Tax cuts. Ditto from London, Tokyo, Berlin and beyond. President Xi just showed up in Wuhan, signalling that the Chinese pandemic is coming to a conclusion. And while there are countless cases of the virus to be endured in North American this spring, there will also be an endgame. It’ll be life, not death.
Panic is pointless. Paralyzing. If it leads you to take rash actions like vaporizing your retirement strategy, it’s also destructive. Panic solves nothing. Nor does coming to this blog to unload your insecurities, fear and trembles.
“This is no time for your normally appreciated wit,” Janice wrote me yesterday. “We need you to get on the bandwagon and show some understanding of the seriousness of this dire situation, and also show some compassion & empathy. Money & investing is not on the priority list for most in such dire circumstances. There will not be a short term turnaround. The economic & supply chain disruptions are just starting. This is real, and the widespread implications are unfathomable. It is f’ing serious and deserves a f’ing serious response! Do the right thing – please.”
I just did. And here comes the finger.
218 comments ↓
Phhyyrrzzzt(100% Coronavirus free)
Must be great having a front row seat to the neuroses of the masses eh Garth?
Good times I tells ya. Good times.
Meanwhile, the sale on quality assets persists. Buy! Buy! Buy!
Sail away other day on her ticktock.
https://twitter.com/KianaDanial/status/1235785586637778944
Yup,
saved by the CBs one more time, simply by resetting rates back to 0.
Yay condo investors! boohoo all other investors.
All these flippers will be rewarded once again by the CBs and all other investors will hobble along as they have been for the last,…I don’t know…12 years or so…
At some point the real estate game of cards will have the mother of all crashes,…but alas, due to the policies of big Brother everyone will be destroyed by then…
This should start freeing up some more long term rentals.
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/10/technology/airbnb-hosts-coronavirus.html?action=click&module=Spotlight&pgtype=Homepage
Psst: I bought in yesterday. When billion dollar companies are 25% cheaper in one day you hold your nose and you buy them.
MF
Another finger from me…good column today. Need some toilet paper? I have extra.
Many will give advice like “it’s time in the market, not timing the market.” They are often paid by a % of money under management. Selling everything and going to cash might not be an appropriate response but you must do what lets you sleep at night. A question that should be asked is if you would rather be out and wishing you were in if the market rips up or in and wishing you were out if it falls apart. There is no shame in going partly to cash. Then when you are looking at the market and going there is no way XYZ isn’t worth more than this you’ll actually have something to invest with. How much cash? What lets you sleep at night?….. probably just a bit less than that.
Agreed, no feeding the Panicky Petes. What type of scotch do you like, Garth? That has to be an acceptable, even encouraged, topic of discussion.
I think you’re underestimating the amount of debt at all levels of the system.
Any downward change in revenue assumptions is the danger and now you’re seeing it
2008 was patched up with printing and we’ve simply kicked the can down the road.
Well here we are.
This came up on YT feed. Verbalized your writing on virus and market. You differ on other things but on this you agree in spades it seems. If not a person of faith have that cup of (herbal) tea or pint, listen to the birds…carry on anyway, despite.
https://youtu.be/du1ehAMuy9w
I’m with Janice, Garth! How dare you speak of reason when the rest of us don’t know what that is! Join the flock! Baa! Baa!
https://www.akipaka.fr/dominique/moutons-affiche.gif
The only thing unfathomable is Janice’s silly attitude, and all those like her. That she feels she can insult you because she wants to be soothed is offensive. And I say that as a former pandemic response coordinator in another life, back in H1N1 days.
“Along the way I was accused of being arrogant, uncaring, callous, flip and imperious.”
How come you get all the good ones?
Me, I tend to get “a nice guy” or “what an air-head” or even the odd “drop-dead gorgeous hunk”. Well, maybe not the last one.
Some people have all the luck. :-(
PS – no panic here! Just can’t wait to get the boat back on the water, and go swimming and doing boaty-things. Haven’t even checked the investment balances in a while; maybe will at the end of the month as it’s the end of the quarter.
PPS – a big thanks to you for all of your work in keeping heads level over all these years, both financial and human terms.
#1 Lost…but not leased on 03.10.20 at 4:41 pm
Phhyyrrzzzt(100% Coronavirus free)
Doesn’t sound like it.
C’mon Garth… you and I both know balanced portfolios can not compete with fear. Fear is exciting and more infectious than corona… while balanced is…. boring.
And… Without fear of the masses, the balanced portfolio would hardly even be needed. ;P
Do the right thing – please.”
I just did. And here comes the finger.
———
Feel better now?
Good.
“This is no time for your normally appreciated wit,” Janice wrote me yesterday. “We need you to get on the bandwagon and show some understanding of the seriousness of this dire situation, and also show some compassion & empathy. Money & investing is not on the priority list for most in such dire circumstances. There will not be a short term turnaround. The economic & supply chain disruptions are just starting. This is real, and the widespread implications are unfathomable. It is f’ing serious and deserves a f’ing serious response! Do the right thing – please.”
I just did. And here comes the finger.
Best. Response. Ever.
I am so tired of the panic, seriously wash you hands and don’t sneeze on people. And use your toilet paper sparingly since some sheeple panicked and bought it all out.
I looked at my investments and went ugh, and then promptly logged out and stopped looking. I don’t need them for another 20 years anyways and anything can happen in 20 years.
Buy Air Canada shares ASAP
“or someone who was busy growing zits when 2008 happened”
My next door neighbour had a daughter who grew something else that time too…Good times.
“The best strategy, bar none, is to do nothing.”
I will happily follow that advice.
Thanks.
You and John Bogle are my favorite financial gurus, and you are actually my first choice on current events since you are still alive.
Relax…..it’s just a virus. The worst thing that could happen is that you end up dead. I find it hilarious that most people want to go to heaven, but nobody wants to die.
I simply just love my life, living in freedom,
and am eternally grateful that I was born me.
I am recycling my toilet paper, I have some extra will share.
I’m running low on poop paper and there is none to be found anywhere. Toilet paper hoarders should be ashamed of themselves!
This is not the same crisis as a dozen years ago.
Subprime.. err.. corona virus is contained.
:P
Bought agriculture, cdn bank, s&p index, cdn govt bond, utilities, and reit etfs this morning.
Up nicely by end of trading. Can finally buy that dual sport I’ve been eyeing.
Expecting to be down tomorrow, tho. Gonna hold and wait, wait and hold.
“I just did. And here comes the finger.”
Never change, Garth. You’re the best.
Thanks G-Man. I sleep at night because of your voice of reason and calm rationality.
If the virus is so bad why are teachers forming large crowds to strike for more government money that could otherwise go toward an impending healthcare crisis? I must have missed that day of school. Please explain.
janice needs to get a grip lol
Solo on an engineless sailboat in the middle of the Pacific High is the ultimate in sublimity. 1000 miles from Hawaii, 1000 miles from the Aleutians, 1000 miles from BC and endlessly far from Japan. No wind.
Crystal blue water, tropical sun and silence. Long days laying on the foredeck with a book, swimming, dropping a quarter in the water and watching it wink down forever, writing and drawing, sewing sails.
Sometimes whales come close. Schools of flying fish and tuna pass by. Dorado and pilot fish travel with the boat. Dolphins. Basking sharks and ocean sunfish.
Then a puff of wind. Another. It builds to a gentle breeze. Sails up. Off to BC.
Thanks Garth. It’s just friggin’ amazing how addicted people are to the hype of social media and TEE VEE news these days.
A bunch of damn drama addicts.
#3 NoName on 03.10.20 at 4:48 pm
Sail away other day on her ticktock.
https://twitter.com/KianaDanial/status/1235785586637778944
————————–
Outed!
#32 Sail away on 03.10.20 at 5:14 pm
Solo on an engineless sailboat in the middle of the Pacific High is the ultimate in sublimity.
For every five minutes of sublimity on any personal boat, there’s about six hours of work and probably 2-3 hours of rough seas, high winds and squalls, rain, risk, anxiety and repairs.
So ya, those fleeting moments of sublimity really do stand out.
Whacking a whack job is sometimes the only way to make a point. Thanks for continuing to be a voice of sanity and reason.
Thanks, Garth! Bought a little yesterday and some today :)
I remember you promised a series of posts on reducing taxes. Isn’t it a good time now? Could distract people from building castles out of toilet paper.
“The greatest of faults is to be conscious of none.”
Not all with a platform know how to use it wisely. I will leave you to it.
Wishing you a great night with your finger ;-)
Just bought TD Bank shares at $58, Royal Bank at $91 and Mastercard at $270. I figure that if those institutions go bust we will all have bigger problems.
Tomorrow may be a great day to buy me some Cardinal Energy and more Vermilion!
Remember to wear your mask and sanitize while you buy stocks at discount prices.
You sure did. Among many other “lessons” that clearly went over your selfish head.
It’s not “government money”, it’s their salaries/incentive/compensation.
That’s the main point of “work”. To be compensated.
There you go.
MF
last message was for:
#30 GrumpyPanda on 03.10.20 at 5:14 pm
MF
#25 Slim on 03.10.20 at 5:09 pm
I’m running low on poop paper and there is none to be found anywhere. Toilet paper hoarders should be ashamed of themselves!
//////////////
Someone told me there are toilet paper shortages in Toronto.
I said ‘no kidding, they’re all a bunch of a-holes’
us blog dog’s are Garth’s finger. Let her rip …
These dogs need to learn from that doggo champ! Enough of this crap!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6QHIdMIKIXI
Going up one more time and then it’s over. Dead cat bounce..
Who needs toilet paper? Bidet is the way to go!
“ The majority of people who get this infection have mild disease and recover,” said Dr. Jocelyn Srigley, a physician and clinical assistant professor with the department of pathology and lab medicine at the University of British Columbia.
https://www.google.ca/amp/s/www.cbc.ca/amp/1.5491907
Chronic worry raises cortisol which lowers our immune system. So stressing over the virus isn’t productive and makes you more likely to get it. My husband and I are at high risk for different reasons but still just living life best we can. Listen to some favourite music, watch funny videos, get some air. Despite. Anyway. Life can/will throw worse at us.
Anyone else having fun playing catch the falling knife today? I caught BMO just after lunch.
I fully expect the return to value differential between balanced and all stock to be much closer this time around. Why? Because in 2008, bonds yielded 7%. The drop to 2% created capital gains. The drop from 2% to 0.5 % won’t create anything measurable on the upside to offset the 25% drop in equity.
Not only that, when folks come out of their turtle shells and decide they want to get a return better than inflation, they need to be in stocks anyways because interest rates aren’t going anywhere. Once things start going the other way, expect a tidal wave of buying in the equity markets.
Balanced portfolios reduce short term volatility at the expense of long term gains but if your investing timeline is more than 5 years, you should implicitly understand what your time horizon means, get 100% in equity and take it on the chin until you are 5 years away from retirement. Diversified portfolios cost more, take more time and will make you comparatively less well off.
The correct investing strategy is to learn more about how time horizons work and just accept that sometimes you will be down 50% as part of the journey. Don’t spend your nest egg to be better off at certain points in your journey when it’s only the finish line that matters.
The Romans used circuses to placate the people till it no longer worked. Throwing money at every problem that comes along will also stop working sooner or later.
A snowflake was offended by a joke.
Q’uelle surprise.
And the entire world must change to cater to the offended….
The anti PC backlash is building…
>So, if you’re a snowflake or someone who was busy growing zits when 2008 happened, or Y2K, Nine Eleven, SARS, Desert Storm or any of the other crap which has befallen folks in the last few decades, calm down.
What I want to know is how I managed to get zits through all of those events (and even now)? I thought the 2nd best thing about getting older was the fact that acne was supposed to end!
(The 1st best thing being the size of one’s balanced portfolio, now vs then. =P)
Just because CBs can get on the phone at the same time now doesn’t mean the system is more stable.
We have moved supply lines off shore and 10,000km across an ocean and behind a communist curtain in a country with huge lapses in regulations and first world practices. There are companies losing $10k a day waiting for a $10 part from china.
Garth is wrong, this is the swan song for globalization. Anyone who was disrupted by this will be diversifying their chains now, some will go to other countries, many others will just come back to NA.
And to think of it, I had people tell me we should get our food from china too. Watch a video of a wet market and give that a think. Not a chance.
“Central banks around the world will crash rates, inject stimulus and start buying up assets, from bonds to corporate equity. In Washington and Ottawa there’ll be massive fiscal stimulus. Tax cuts. Ditto from London, Tokyo, Berlin and beyond.”
Not really a free market is it? It’s a rigged system.
“millions dying” – curiously enough, a million is a small number. I’m watching with interest, and updating my calculations of death rates as new data comes available. My “absolute, totally horrible worst case” for the US is around 2 million. The US has something north of 330 million citizens. So, in that limiting case, one in about 160 people would die. Well, I got news for ya: about 1 in 85 people would die anyway. Further, COVID-19 is a threat primarily to the elderly – economically significant mostly for their spending. Their children would notice their passing, but only if they had the bad luck for them to actually die – even among the elderly the fatality rate is under 15%. As for the rest of us, well, some of us would take some time off work – bad, but not catastrophic. So I finish with with the cruel assertion I started with: a million is a small number. Wash your hands, don’t send Grandma on a cruise.
PS – best case fatality rates are 0.6 % over-all, and that’s only if it actually goes pandemic – losses are much less if the outbreak is contained, and we’ve seen evidence that containment, done early and aggressively, works. If the government tells you to stay home, stay home.
All hail the finger! Stocks are on sale what is wrong with people?
#13 Chimingin on 03.10.20 at 4:54 pm
The only thing unfathomable is Janice’s silly attitude, and all those like her. That she feels she can insult you because she wants to be soothed is offensive. And I say that as a former pandemic response coordinator in another life, back in H1N1 days.
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Ah H1N1, good times. I was a professional mucus bullseye back then, and got nailed. Promptly got on the antivirals and had a very mild case of what seemed like garden-variety flu. No lasting —Oink, Oink, Rheeee, Rheee —- ill effects.
Is it still treacherous to think or imagine you, Mr. Garth Turner, to be the PM or in wanting?
Me, Phartzy and MF just bought up all existing Bre-X shares…
You snuuze …ewe Luuuzzz
I’m in London, flew over on Sunday. Business as usual here, and aside from a few more bottles of hand sanitizers at shop tills and notices in the washrooms of the British Library to make sure and wash your hands regularly life goes on.
I’m old enough to remember the long list of Apocalyptic Disease Microorganisms That Will Fersure Bring The End Times, ditto financial events, so I don’t tend to panic. I wish some of my colleagues at work had this same attitude. I must say it’s pretty nice not having to listen to them anticipating imminent death in the streets.
I’m hoping that what actually comes out of this is that people really do start washing their hands, bringing fewer infections from all contagious diseases like flu and the common cold. Maybe just in time/sole supplier supply chains will be reconsidered and made more robust. The market needed to blow off, and if history is any indicator we will remember that it always comes back just fine. And maybe our societies can more and more reconsider our dependence on oil and where we get it. Maybe local energy, whatever that may be, isn’t a bad thing to consider. And maybe we’ll all stop paying so much attention to the TV talking heads and get.ouside in the fresh air.
In the meantime I’ll be shopping tomorrow and seeing Hamilton tomorrow night. Greetings to all blogdogs and thanks, Garth, for continuing to be a voice of reason.
Rather surprised the GF brain trust hasn’t exposed coronavirus as nothing but a scam…but as a masking agent for the medical consequences of the 5G rollout.
And then watch stocks drops to lower lows
$600 billion+ injected so far into the repo markets. These Fed interventions were supposed to end in October. Then December. Then extended to April. Now will almost certainly be extended thereafter.
“Capitalism”.
#35 Attrition on 03.10.20 at 5:24 pm
For every five minutes of sublimity on any personal boat, there’s about six hours of work and probably 2-3 hours of rough seas, high winds and squalls, rain, risk, anxiety and repairs.
So ya, those fleeting moments of sublimity really do stand out.
———————-
Like the stock market, conditions vary. Tradewinds are pure relaxation rocking downwind with double headsails and autopilot. Full days without touching the tiller.
A bat caused all of this , some people believe?
Suspension of travel rights. Forced containment. Devestation of industry. A bat.
Wait until elections are suspend and new regional/global governments are given “temporary” contorol.
2020-21 I maintain there is a plan. Been rolling out since Jan.
…”So on Monday the market capitulated”. – G.T
Not yet!
It is not close with March 6, 2009
Then, I was capitulating…
30 GrumpyPanda on 03.10.20 at 5:14 pm
If the virus is so bad why are teachers forming large crowds to strike for more government money that could otherwise go toward an impending healthcare crisis? I must have missed that day of school. Please explain.
………
Globalist scam…. All design to take out Trump.
All companies like RBC big contributers to Davos and world economic form.
Won’t work…. The left is insane…
@#30 GrumpyPanda on 03.10.20 at 5:14 pm
If the virus is so bad why are teachers forming large crowds to strike for more government money that could otherwise go toward an impending healthcare crisis? I must have missed that day of school. Please explain._________
_______________________________
greed knows no bounds
re: Me on 03.10.20 at 4:50 pm
Oban 14yrs works for me.
9 Lost…but not leased on 03.10.20 at 6
Jakes on you. I didn’t say what I bought.
Like you read here yesterday, fortune favours the bold.
MF
Mom came from Germany in the 50s. I grew up during the Cuban Missile Crisis. Mom was a prepper because of World War 2. She filled plastic garbage pails with water and bought lots of canned meats, namely Klick, Spam and canned goodies.
Years later, dad and I ate those supplies during fishing trips which did not yield fish, so you can bet I was motivated.
I am prepared for what happens. Garth….you were wearing nitrile gloves…your fingers were not nitrite. You did not wear gloves when you scooped icecream for me at the Belfountain General Store and I am still okay. Why wear gloves for your delete finger?
Dear MF, regarding your response posts #40 and 41 please explain how gathering in large crowds is a sensible strategy when there is a contagious and potentially fatal virus spreading. I apologize in advance if I used words that are too big for you. Also I hope you strategy of buying large companies on 25% drops works out for you. Should you run out of toilet paper you can always use your Enron share certificates.
I love the calm, common sense you dole out every day. Please keep it coming, especially in these crazy times when everyone is losing it. Toilet paper anyone. Have to laugh!
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-51816083
Garth et al:
My apologies. I won’t post anything about Italy again.
Sorry for you to have used your finger. It is pretty stressful, when all your aunts and uncles are 70 to 80 and their lives are flipped upside down.
I got my citizenship last year, but didn’t make the trip to scope out Villa’s. I had to cancel my planned June trip to Italy. So I hope when things clear up in a year or so, I can get a decent property….for a lot less than it costs now. There is a bright side to every stormy day.
Lake Como here I come!
@#67 Smoking Man
How was the Cruise ship?
Two LPC cabinet ministers in self quarantine now.
Might be able to slip a non confidence motion I after all.
Here’s how it likely will play out. A miracle injection will be developed for it. You must get it. Or else.
Corporations and companies will demand it before you are let back into the building. Dissenters would lose it all. That’s why in the past year we’ve had this phrase hammered into our heads: anti-…
You know the one.
It as was all predictive programming. Familes and friends will be torn up. Shunning . Hysterical attacks will become commonplace . All because someone in rural China ate a bat right? Total global control.
Sell everything then buy low duh!
Don’t worry be happy.
Won the real estate lottery.
With no debt, if a 2008-style crash arrived, substantial amount of property-backed LOC cash, at super low interest rate could be invested and doubled+, as icing on the cake.
Awesome gifts from those people, who create these messes and then save the world.
The chance for this to happen is real.
Right on, Garth! As for the coronavirus hysteria, I think of Hamlet’s speech to the skull of Yorick – ‘tell my lady in her chamber that she too will come to this, though she paint an inch thick’. Still holds true today. Since death is inevitable, concentrate on stuff you can control, like not selling into a storm or buying every roll of toilet paper in sight. Though right now the resale value of said product is likely all the market will bear:)
Bob Dog, it is global socialism. Capitalism looks like Garth has forgotten what it really is. Central banks are the biggest modern thieves that think they are god. We need a real great depression which Bernake was so sacred of as with the Fed, other central banks because it means they are not god.
Black swan and all the flaneurs are here. Snap of elastic gloves. Ohhhh Canada….
I often think back to the early 1970s as my litmus test for things going wrong in the world: Vietnam with its protests, energy crisis, Watergate, inflation, plane hijackings, oodles of terrorism, including within Canada (IRA, Baader-Meinhof Group, Munich Olympics, FLQ), and probably a whole lot more. Scary times, yet nothing but distant memories now. Someday, this all too, will be a distant memory.
This blog is about Garth’s chiselled abdomen.
This post reminds me of the old Tasmanian proverb.
A leopard never changes its spots.
A leper never stops giving you the finger…
M45BC
Economists calling on Chateau Bill to create a stimulus plan but disagreement on what form it should take.
Probably be just like the ones Trudeau has been doing for the past 5 years, massive debt, dump into a hole in Quebec or downtown Toronto (Bombardier, transit, etc) and get Ab to service the interest with equalization.
Anybody expecting real leadership out of this govt is dreaming. Canada will probably crack for good at the end of it all.
https://www.macleans.ca/economy/economicanalysis/canada-needs-a-coronavirus-stimulus-plan-heres-what-it-should-look-like/
#40 MF on 03.10.20 at 5:30 pm
Yeah, too bad we can’t all have a union and an employer that isn’t directly affected by our action, but is highly motivated to satisfy the union’s demands lest they (the employer – i.e. government) doesn’t get reelected next time around. Too bad for them they’ve come up against a government that’s willing to fight.
Yeah, I’m not a big fan of public sector unions, especially for “essential” services like police, fire, medical, and government-provided babysitting (i.e. public school – ’cause let’s face it, most parents aren’t that upset about the “learning” that their children are missing out on, just the fact that now they need to find something to do with them).
#70 MF on 03.10.20 at 6:31 pm
9 Lost…but not leased on 03.10.20 at 6
=====================
9 ???
Can’t you civil servants with (entrenched DB +COLA) count into double digit #’s ?
Well my crystal ball was pretty accurate. Yesterday it predicted a nice bounce up and volatility and a close even.
Here is what happened. Close March 9th. 14514. Open March 10th. 14950 up 3%. Day low 14516 down 2.9% from open. Close 14958 up 2.9% from days low. You’d almost think that it was programmed that way.
I expect we will see the TSX trading like this for quite some time as it slowly moves back up. All the money is being made in intraday trading just like in times past.
We may not see the February high for a few months but I expect the TSX to give us 10% return this year. Stay invested, stay on course. Good times ahead. This will all pass as it has before.
#84 Indigirl on 03.10.20 at 7:23 pm
…early 1970s…
Scary times, yet nothing but distant memories now.
Someday, this all too, will be a distant memory.
——————————
Yes… Thursday
Just in time for the NEW PANIC!!
A butterfly flaps its wings and it leads to a hurricane on the other side of the world.
Apparently a bat defecating has a similar downstream effect…
-LD
UK Health Minister tests positive. Should have followed Dr. Garth’s advice.
“Stocks have priced in this disruption, along with the mean little Putin-inspired oil war. But both are temporary in nature. ”
Temporary in nature probably or should I say most probably but the US started the oil war by forcing Putin’s and Germany’s contractors to drop the Nord Stream 2 pipe in the ocean when the were nearing completion via sanctions. Did they think that wouldn’t piss Putin off? Putin did not start the war. US shale drillers did, and since they were never economic we must assume it was the US Fed, under direction of the US government.
Karma is a bitch.
Any person who thinks they can tell other people what to do and what they must settle for is in for a large amount of Karma. It just doesn’t work that way.
The Nord Stream 2 pipe is capped and cabled so resuming construction won’t be a big deal, but what this episode will show is that 340 million Americans probably no longer can boss around a world of some 7+billion. They can’t even boss around a country of 140 million (Russia).
However you do your calculations, take Putin on his word that oil will be $35 per barrel for 6-10 years unless he gets Nord Stream 2 finished (which is actually a natural gas pipeline). Alberta is going to die on the vine. Sell everything and leave, if you can find somewhere to go. And no, my beloved teachers, your jobs will not be safe when all the Alberta oil workers have to move to Texas or even Russia, you will have to follow them. You can’t tax a teacher to pay a teacher.
I have many different accounts at some GTA credit unions that pay higher longer term GIC rates 2.7% to 3.0%. They are offering credit union share offering that pay 3.75% to 4% annual dividend rates. These are past and current offerings.
I am thinking this is a good option as some of these financial institutions are many years old 50 years to 75 years old. I like the fact that they don’t trade on stock markets and are based on the success, expansion of the credit unions. They are also RRSP, TFSA eligible which is good for compounding them.
The toilet paper hoarding was rather ridiculous….
The attempt by government and banks to paper things over might come back to bite them though.
Reading all the virus-related debates here in last few weeks, one thing amazed me. Somehow people are capable of taking two independent and equally true statements and turning them into two opposing sides in a ferocious argument.
STATEMENT A: Average person has little reason to fear COVID-19.
STATEMENT B: COVID-19 is a serious problem for the society.
Both statements are true. At the same time. Just think about it.
They are really two slightly different lenses or perspectives on same reality. One is the perspective of typical individual. The other is the perspective of greater society or government.
It amazes me how recently on this blog people have treated them as two opposing sides to pick from in a raging debate. They are not. Why does it even need to be explained?
VIEW A: From perspective of average, strong and healthy person in the street, yes, the stuff isn’t that dangerous. It’s absolutely laughable to get worked up about something with puny single digit mortality rates. i.e. The danger to me personally is very very low. So no reason to freak out.
For me. Or you. Or any other individual on this blog. Individually.
Agreed? Agreed.
VIEW B: From perspective of the society – all of us collectively as a group, a community, a country – this is a serious problem. Governments are totally right to freak out, lose their sh**, and use seemingly harsh measures like quarantines, travel restrictions and varous shutdowns. Why?
Well assuming 80% or so cases are mild, asymptomatic, stay-and-get-well-at-home stuff. That would leave 20% or so being serious cases. So let’s be conservative and assume, say 5-10% of those who get sick need to be hospitalized.
So what happens if as a society we get complacent and let this stuff get out of hand? Say 10%, 20%, 30% of population gets infected. And up to one-tenth of those need to be hospitalized. That’s 1%, 2%, 3% of the population suddenly being wheeled in needing hospital beds. That’s one metric eff-load of people and hospital beds. Enormous sudden strain on healthcare system. Big monetary and humanitarian costs.
***
So yes, both views are right simultaneously. I don’t see what the As and the Bs have been arguing about.
As an average individual, hale-and-healthy a-hole on the street, I don’t care about this virus and will only mock silly peeps running around in fear of the contagion.
If I pause for a second and think, I realize that besides healthy a-holes like myself there are other people in our society: sick and vulnerable folks needing/using the hospital system. Then I realize they will all be royally screwed if the spread of this is left unchecked and allowed to get out of hand.
So as a society we need to take this seriously and have right measures taken. As individuals all any of us can do is keep calm and carry on.
Why is it so hard for most people to reconcile those two thoughts and carry them in their heads at the same time?
DELETED
Ring around the rosie, …
In times like this I walk the German Shepard a lot more…just watching him chase the ball when I throw it takes all the concerns away. Priceless.
#54 Bob Dog on 03.10.20 at 5:57 pm
“Central banks around the world will crash rates, inject stimulus and start buying up assets, from bonds to corporate equity. In Washington and Ottawa there’ll be massive fiscal stimulus. Tax cuts. Ditto from London, Tokyo, Berlin and beyond.”
Not really a free market is it? It’s a rigged system.
–
It’s all relative, after all. It’s really a ‘free-er’ Market (as opposed to 100% Centrally planned). Makes people feel better to say it though – that we have ‘free markets’.
Just as it makes people feel better when they’re buying ‘diet soda’, along with the chips and decaf coffee. Meanwhile, the scale and mirror don’t lie…
DM is back pushing the globalist manifest.
https://business.financialpost.com/news/fp-street/rate-cuts-alone-wont-curb-coronavirus-coming-disruption-to-corporate-and-consumer-cash-flows-royal-bank-ceo-warns/amp
So when this is over in a few months we will have
-FED interest rates near 0%
-10 year treasuries paying less than 0.5%
-S&P yielding north of 2%
-Massive stimulus packages (one coming tomorrow, expect many more)
-Trump re-election
-Massive supply chain rebound affect that will show up in Q3 numbers being reported
Dow 35,000 DECEMBER 2020 BUY BUY BUY
So is it Bidet or Biden?
This is the first major market downturn since I’ve been actively working on TFSA & RRSP accounts.
Used the opportunity to get a good discount on the TSX60 & S&P500, after reading Garth’s advice of do nothing I was a little concerned but then thought, any decision is risky and this is just doing dollar cost averaging (hopefully). Either way, we’re in for a ride!
Now, time for a daily update on news you can actually use.
_________________________________
Yes, … it’s all about two black swans swimming in a lake of a park in Shenyang, China. It’s true, … picture:
https://i2.wp.com/asiatimes.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/blackswans-scaled-e1583878787777.jpg?resize=1200%2C674&ssl=1
… and an accompanied screed:
How black swans are shaping planet panic
A case can be made that the current financial panic will only subside when the ultimate black swan – Covid-19 – is contained.
https://asiatimes.com/2020/03/how-black-swans-are-shaping-planet-panic/
… read at your peril!
F.S. – Calgary, Alberta.
Sail away on 03.10.20 at 3:35 pm
#215 Easypeasy on 03.10.20 at 2:38 pm
Some of my rental real estate already paid for some with small mortgages all about to drop in cost.
Meanwhile rents keep rising and ALL holdings cash flow positive.
Let the RE drop in value. Irrelevant and I will buy more.
You can keep slugging it out in the financial markets. Best of luck to you.
——————————-
Let’s examine this objectively using top figures in each field: Donald Trump and Warren Buffett.
Trump started with a number of properties and inherited cash and turned it into (let’s say) $10B and a presidency.
Buffett started with a father as a Congressman and very little in the way of cash, and turned it into $80B.
Choose your path. Either can be lucrative.
————-
True both can be lucrative but far easier using RE , rents
and leverage than repeating what warren has been able to do.
That’s why you see far more wealth created investing in RE than stocks.
Too each there own though
Hi Garth, re: ‘Along the way I was accused of being…’
I have never felt you were anything like.
But you don’t need me to telling you that.
Dorothy and your Dog (Bandit?) knows what the facts are.
Your Blog, your rules. (Some people just can’t see a good thing even when it right in front of them.)
Very glade to know the people managing others retirement funds like yourself are staying focused on what you do best. It does seem to be helping the greatest number of people, who are willing to pay attention. You and your team are doing a great job IMO, in the good times and the difficult times, like now.
Seems it will get better eventually.
That husky today has found the winning strategy LOL
I hope you were successful finding your favorite scotch the other day.
Thanks for being you! (Finger and all)
#67 Smoking Man:
trump is a narcissistic psychopath that will say anything, do anything, to get re elected in 2020. Trump knows he MUST get re- elected to avoid years of legal prosecution from the corruption he and his family has committed while in office. This Nov 2020 election will be the ugliest removal of a sitting president in democracy’s history. Trump would incite a civil war if it would prevent his demise.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XolimveZdrQ
LOVE U GARTH !!!
DON’T Worry. BE Happy.
EVERYTHING’S going to be alright.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=L3HQMbQAWRc
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=OD3F7J2PeYU
Stocking up on toilet paper in the Okanagan. Too funny.
https://www.castanet.net/news/Poll/279119/Stocking-up-on-toilet-paper#279119
Bernie Sanders goose is cooked. Suburban women, blue collar workers not buying. Americans politically demonstrating better sense than Canadians. Get over it millennials.
Just to re-cap 2020-21 and chronicle it :
Jan 2020:
– Pickering Nuclear plant false alarm – mass panic
– Iran downs Canadians from the sky – mass outrage
Feb 2020:
Protestors block vital rail supply lines – mass outrage
– A guy eating a bat causes a global pandemic & lockdown – mass panic
March 2020
– Stock markets plunge – mass panic.
It’s been only TEN weeks of 2020 and this is what they give us? Softening us up – a scared populace will accept ANYTHING put in front of them.
Can’t wait for remainder of 2020…so random I bet
When asked why people were hoarding toilet paper, leading economists said that for petrocurrency countries like Canada and Australia, the paper fiat currency would become worthless and people would exchange toilet paper instead. Used notes would be worth less. In other news, the new James Bond sequel about a toiletpaper hoarding villain is to be named….wait for it….Brownfinger
Well said.
3 Decent Majority on 03.10.20 at 9
Get over what? What a stupid comment.
Joe Biden looks to be becoming senile. Seriously.
Check out #bidenscognitivedecline on Twitter.
Scary. If the dems are smart they will fight fire with fire with Sanders, the anti establishment hero..who Trump is for the republicans.
And lol at your jab at Canadians. Look at the lineup of democratic nominees and ask yourself if that is the best the country can offer. Do it. Please.
MF
#5, Rosie.
Thanks for the link to the NYT article on the plummeting of AirBnB bookings. I’m already seeing AirBnB and Booking.com houses appear for sale in Niagara Falls. It’s striking that, as a would-be home purchaser, I’ve sent several email messages to local politicians over the past few months, asking them to better regulate AirBnB rentals in the Niagara Region; but I never received any replies. It looks like only the fear of contagion will reign in the behemoth that is AirBnB in the Niagara Region.
https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-51827356
Coronavirus: Health minister Nadine Dorries tests positive
Stox falling again, that reversed quickly
What’s with toilet paper? My wife always stocks up, when it is on sale. We always have a couple months supply on hand, along with paper towels and kleenex. Ditto with canned food and most everything else. Freezers are always full. Almost nothing is bought at regular price.
I like buying stocks on sale most.
Diversion of sort: … long, long report from Finland! Some 520 pages, … abstract starts with:
“Today, approximately 90% of the supply chain of all industrially manufactured products depend on the availability of oil-derived products, or oil-derived services.”
… while reading it, keep in mind what happened last Friday in Vienna when Russian Energy Minister declined to extend Russia’s agreement with OPEC, … think of a possible motive. [ Hint: think of a potential end of the petrodollar! ]
Anyway, … the report, link:
Oil from a Critical Raw Material Perspective
http://tupa.gtk.fi/raportti/arkisto/70_2019.pdf
Good reading,
F.S. – Calgary, Alberta.
#97 HH
Well put. Facts over fears. Wash hands. Be kind.
#FlattenTheCurve
#72 GrumpyPanda on 03.10.20 at 6:39 pm
Dear MF, regarding your response posts #40 and 41 please explain how gathering in large crowds is a sensible strategy when there is a contagious and potentially fatal virus spreading. I apologize in advance if I used words that are too big for you. Also I hope you strategy of buying large companies on 25% drops works out for you. Should you run out of toilet paper you can always use your Enron share certificates.
————
I got this one, MF.
GrumpyPanda, it’s called collective bargaining. With the costs of living going up their salaries must be increased to match the increased costs of their lives. No one should be paid less in real terms today to do the same job they did yesterday.
Also, teachers are the front line in the protection of our educational system. Your wonderful conservative elites have been trying to pick apart the system instead of what they should be doing which is enhancing it. I, for one, applaud their dedication to the education of our children.
A quality education is a right, not a privilege.
By the way, almost every virus has the potential to be fatal. Get over it.
#84 Indigirl on 03.10.20 at 7:23 pm I hear you. A little earlier and closer to me were the riots in detroit. Later when i got on a sempta bus, i never understood the risks of being there alone.
SM nice to hear u 2, care to elaborate?
#88 RyYYZ on 03.10.20 at 7:30 pm
Haha! You just poked the most “triggered” happy commenter on here… Whatever you do, don’t mention what a dung heap Toronto is (I think he’s part of the city’s welcome wagon)
Ha ha….excellent blog Garth. Panic deserves the finger for sure.
Stimulus = excessive money printing + debt…not fairy dust…
Will be interesting to see how the US financial sector manages the implosion of the shale oil companies with humungous amounts of debt. A good test of the fantastically more resilient banking sector…
And what about flu deaths? Has anyone ever heard of someone dying of the flu (like a real person, not a statistic). Turns out in the US the total deaths due to influenza, as recorded on death certificates (~ low thousands per year), are no where near the numbers produced by the CDC (5-10x higher).
And how does the CDC get its high numbers you ask? Why by…you guessed it…computer modelling…because actual recorded cause of death is too simplistic and doesn’t capture the “true impact” of influenza…
When compared against actual documented cases of flu death, the impact of COVID-19 is much bigger than the flu, bro…
Getting that time of year for the snakes to come out in the California desert. The dog guys can’t send their Labs charging through the course after ducks. Rattlers will hit em. Retriever Trials Season over. No more buying water by the acre/foot for the water hazards.Time to convoy up with your buds & your dogs. Leisurely drive back to the 49th via the high country. By the way, real dog handlers never drive anywhere with a loose dog. “Always” in a locked kennel tied down.
Coming back to hard times. Hard times bring snakes out too. Take a tip from Wily Coyote. He ceases charging madly after the rabbits & mice. Now its more careful, tentative, sneaky, tiptoe around the danger zones, not so greedy: the old ones anyways.
And now back to regularly scheduled broadcasting…How many AirBnB individual real estate speculators in are going to wilt and blow away with the freeze up in travel? The cash flow crunch for these tycoons must be a real ulcer inducing party. Can’t wait for your analysis and the numbers.
Sheeple and the fear that rules this herd. Let’s take a moment to think of these poor folks.
…Janice… and for how many years has she been visiting the wrong blog for her?
Some people need special therapy. Like the 88 year old in the club bathroom yesterday who demonstrated to my mother how raw her hands were from ongoing, repeated washing. Ummmm… she is participating in a huge group event at the club… she is 88… and she is focused only on pounding the crap out of her hands.
Does Mr. Market have a clue at this point? These wild daily swings point to no.
@#86 Flop
Good one.
Reminds me of the schizophrenic alcoholic’s pledge…..
“I’d rather have a bottle in front of me than a frontal lobotomy”
#49 Nan on 03.10.20 at 5:52 pm
TL;DR I’m in 100% equities, and while my total return is a bit higher than 60/40 so far, the ride is rough and probably not worth it.
Here’s how things are shaping up so far:
-6.96% My 6 ETFs 100/0 (+23% in 2019)
-9.90% VEQT 100/0 (n/a est. Feb 8 2019)
-6.83% VGRO 80/20 (+17% in 2019)
-4.09% VBAL 60/40 (+14% in 2019)
My all equity PF is doing 3% better than VEQT this year and 3% worse than the 60/40. So far.
While I’m still patting myself on the back for being so smart in 2019, I’m acutely aware that going +20,-20,+20,-20 is a losing game.
Re:your advice to “just accept that you’ll be down 50% sometimes” :
Based on how I’ve felt the last couple of weeks I shudder to think about riding out a 2008 55% drop. I imagine that despite being a 40y old man people would think I’m pregnant with all of the morning porcelain prayers I’d be making.
It’s too late for me now, I can’t rebalance into something safer (and less stressful) without buying high and selling low.
Perhaps the most annoying part is that I’m fully invested so I can’t even buy what’s “on sale”. If I had even a 20% weighting in ief, for example, I’d feel better that I could swap a quarter of it every week to pick up some deals.
If the oil fight / covid-19 go away and the world leaders put a bandaid on the economy with a massive round of stimulus my PF will rebound nicely, but I think I’ll take the win and go more conservative– believing that I’m smarter than the average bear(heh pun) and could therefore handle the big swings was pure hubris- I’m just incredibly lucky that I started DiY in 2019 so I get to hold down my breakfast.
It was just a week ago when there where a few infected seniors in a Seattle old age home and the Prez called it a Democrat hoax.
Now we have over 30 dead and over 1,000 infected.
All over the States.
To early to call, but this may not end well.
The situation must be serious.
Even Smoky has come back from the dead.
1dead, 71 infected in Canada.
So glad, I live in the Best Place on Earth.
You guy know that small businesses buy from Costco and re-sell, right? Sense of superiority just shattered.
#9 Me on 03.10.20 at 4:50 pm
Agreed, no feeding the Panicky Petes. What type of scotch do you like, Garth? That has to be an acceptable, even encouraged, topic of discussion.
————————————
Single Malt !
I’ll go in with You on a bottle for Sir Turner. Any other takers? “Here’s the finger….” Actually an appropriate response, all things given.
As Alan Watts once said, life is like music. The goal isn’t to get to the end of a song (a destination), it’s simply to play.
Dance while the music is playing, people.
Garth, yes it will pass, guaranteed. At the very least because once enough people acquire immunity epidemic will die off.
However I can find no reasons to convince myself that it will not get worse before it returns to normal. And no, this week is not the bottom for financial markets. With all respect, you are continuing to misjudge the situation.
And there will be cascading effects out of this epidemic and hospital triage situation. For example you keep bringing to light how indebted Canadians are. This disruption will require financial buffers both for businesses and families. So maybe tell us what your expectations are for personal bankruptcy statistics for end of this year? Hypothetically, if this epidemic really does hit Canada hard, won’t it also cause many families to default?
Actually I said there will be ‘countless’ cases to endure before the virus diminishes. Plus I said this week could mark the bottom for the stocks of certain (energy) companies, not markets in general. Be accurate, then emote. – Garth
@#138 Ponzie Pilot
“So glad, I live in the Best Place on Earth.”
++++
When did you move back to your beloved Austria?
@# 124 T
“Also, teachers are the front line in the protection of our educational system. Your wonderful conservative elites have been trying to pick apart the system instead of what they should be doing which is enhancing it. I, for one, applaud their dedication to the education of our children.”
++++
Yeah, well remember that the next time they hold all the parents hostage during ANOTHER strike because ….” its about the kids…”
Teachers, apparently , sit at the right hand of God
Yep.
The politically correct indoctrination factories where the kids learn to…. “wear a pink shirt, bullying is wrong” as bullying on the internet twitterverse explodes.
The same pc factories that require the “highly skilled teachers” take “professional development” days off each month ( usually tacked onto a holiday Long Weekend natch).
Then we have the 2 weeks off at Christmas.
The 2 weeks off at Spring Break.
The 2 months of in Summer.
Barely leaves the teachers time to collect their $80,000 per year salaries.
Yep. The pc factories that send another generation of kids off to university to learn how to become pc bureaucrats in a world that is awash in university educated, pc slogan spewing bureaucrats.
Here’s a thought. How about telling the impressionable kiddies that getting their hands dirty in a skilled red seal trade is what built this country….before the last skilled tradesman retires….?
I cringe every time I hear another politician announcing another billion dollar construction project.
Who is going to do the work?
China?
124 T on 03.10.20 at 10:43 pm
Boom.
End of discussion.
Thanks T.
MF
This is for Garth’s sterilized, nitrite-coated delete finger: Angela Merkel says she expects around 60-70 per cent of Germans will be infected with the coronavirus. She has fallen victim of panic and now she is drooling about abandoning Germany’s famous zero-deficit economic self-quarantine. Let’s hope the TP hoarders will never get the wind any of this.
How many Germans caught colds last year? Sheesh, this is not a death sentence. 97% of people recover. With Germans it’s likely higher. – Garth
#107 Easypeasy on 03.10.20 at 8:50 pm
True both can be lucrative but far easier using RE , rents
and leverage than repeating what warren has been able to do.
That’s why you see far more wealth created investing in RE than stocks.
___
You sound like you know what you are talking about, so I went out and bought a couple condos and a few houses in Toronto.
Now, I can’t even get enough rent to cover the mortgage payment -, forget about land transfer taxes, condo fees, property taxes, insurance, maintenance, and just forget about any money for myself.
How are you supposed to make money at this?
Now all my buddies are pointing their fingers and laughing at me. I kind of regret reading your posts and taking your advice.
@ #32
Anyone who’s been there understands. No photo in existence can do this place justice. Transformative. Absolute paradise. Can’t wait to return. It’s spoiled me for most of the rest of the world, plus, the people are simply wonderful.
tough times for financial advisors . Ryan L was telling to buy last week then the markets drops 7% in a day. Garth doing his best to downplay the virus, not a good look.
real estate rental income looking better and better and better…..
Ryan did not tell anyone to buy. My efforts are not to downplay things, but to counter some of the emotional, toilet-paper-wrapped public lunacy. Enjoy cleaning up after your tenants. – Garth
Garth keep up the good work! You are the salt of the investment world at least in Canada. Good common sense is good to hear. Thanks for all you do.
Well watch it rocket in Canada now because we took no reprecautions. The one guy who got it rode montreal transit for a week. Another guy attended the 26,000 person mining conference just 6 days ago.
Like always, Canada drags its feet on everything. Cant offend anyone by testing them or restricting travel or cancelling a big gathering.
Thanks for saving my sanity. I have been following you for 2 years and wish I would have found you years ago.
I was even more chiseled then. – Garth
Panic is more contagious than the virus.
How many Germans caught colds last year? Sheesh, this is not a death sentence. 97% of people recover. With Germans it’s likely higher. – Garth
———————————————-
Totally agree with you. The fear mongering is at an astronomic level.
I just witnessed a manager send an employee home because he’s “sneezing and coughing”.
Are people this dumb or is there something they have not told us?
Been watching the virus thingy closely since late January.
I think this little bugger is just getting started with North America and many will be caught off guard before this is over. Misplaced hubris sometimes demands a heavy toll.
Between Trudeau and the Sh!t- storm everywhere else on the planet, I think the time is finally getting close to just turning off the lights in AB.
I don’t think I’ll still be working when the next oil boom hits – US fracking is going to have to die off somehow before anyone anywhere sees an Oil boom again. Even if it did, we’d be the last country to approve an expansion, and the last to increase production. In Ontario, the ring of fire project took so long to approve, an entire nickel price boom ran its course before a shovel ever hit the dirt.
Likewise for mining and resource extraction in Canada. We’ve degenerated to the point where a half dozen dudes parked on a major rail route can shut down entire industries for weeks – even months. We’ve elected governments that pass laws which sweep any interested investment dollars out the door, and a whole bunch of Canadians actually think this is a good thing.
Canada used to be a fairly good bet for building a prosperous life, but this window is definitely starting to close up.
Payments on mortgages are to be suspended in Italy due to the coronavirus outbreak, the country’s government has announced.
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/coronavirus-italy-economy-mortgage-payments-symptoms-lockdown-latest-a9389486.html
Govt handing out the cash today. Only half what African dictatorships got. Thanks Justin.
https://www.msn.com/en-ca/news/politics/canadian-press-newsalert-federal-government-promises-dollar1-billion-for-covid-19-fight/ar-BB111P2b?ocid=spartanntp
This crisis is so instructive. It has exposed so many things. Our fragile supply chains, our fragile front line health system, our paralyzed politicians, how much energy and oil power our economy.
But the most instructive thing of all is how much of our GDP is made from people just moving about. Travel, work, meetings, vacation industry. If anyone is still serious about climate change, you know the real place to go after now.
#102 Smoking Man on 03.10.20 at 8:36 pm
DM is back pushing the globalist manifest.
https://business.financialpost.com/news/fp-street/rate-cuts-alone-wont-curb-coronavirus-coming-disruption-to-corporate-and-consumer-cash-flows-royal-bank-ceo-warns/amp
__________________________________________
OMG the Old Man has returned from the departed. Mckay is correct this is not a market rate control issue that will quell the foreboding storm. People get sick, people stay off work, people may or may not earn income, bills will not be paid on time and will be delinquent, money that would normally be spent on fuel, consumables and sustenance’s will be trimmed back significantly, discretionary spending will be cut, travel will be curtained and the industry will suffer, people will eventually be laid off, people who are laid off will not get loans. Need I say more or should we continue the basic lessons of how the income vs spending in financial system functions later after you nap. As crowdedelevatorfartz so eloquently stated “How was the cruise ship?” So Old Man I have to ask why the hell do you even care about David McKay and the RBC? He is in Toronto Canada and you are in Orange Co, USA. It is like me talking about the price of date palms in Buraydah, Saudi Arabia date market. Who gives a flying F, I don’t live there. So update us on your narcissistic psychopathic demigod and how he is going to avoid incarceration. Oh yes and Trumps greatest statement on Covid -19 so far is that “this thing will go away. ”Waiting…………………..crickets………….
#156 IHCTD9 on 03.11.20 at 9:40 am
Between Trudeau and the Sh!t- storm everywhere else on the planet, I think the time is finally getting close to just turning off the lights in AB.
I don’t think I’ll still be working when the next oil boom hits – US fracking is going to have to die off somehow before anyone anywhere sees an Oil boom again. Even if it did, we’d be the last country to approve an expansion, and the last to increase production. In Ontario, the ring of fire project took so long to approve, an entire nickel price boom ran its course before a shovel ever hit the dirt.
Likewise for mining and resource extraction in Canada. We’ve degenerated to the point where a half dozen dudes parked on a major rail route can shut down entire industries for weeks – even months. We’ve elected governments that pass laws which sweep any interested investment dollars out the door, and a whole bunch of Canadians actually think this is a good thing.
Canada used to be a fairly good bet for building a prosperous life, but this window is definitely starting to close up.
__________________________________________
We had our opportunity the change the course of this ship last fall and very soon that same captain will run it aground. The problem is you have the NDP seeing blood and the Liberals willing to bend over and perform for favours in the house to keep their jobs. Went the house finally wakes up and realizes that this ship is aground we may get another vote for a new captain.
#146 Ubul on 03.11.20 at 8:35 am
This is for Garth’s sterilized, nitrite-coated delete finger: Angela Merkel says she expects around 60-70 per cent of Germans will be infected with the coronavirus. She has fallen victim of panic and now she is drooling about abandoning Germany’s famous zero-deficit economic self-quarantine. Let’s hope the TP hoarders will never get the wind any of this.
How many Germans caught colds last year? Sheesh, this is not a death sentence. 97% of people recover. With Germans it’s likely higher. – Garth
Hopefully she reads your words, gets her TP-reliant act together and abandons that sinking into deficit nonsense. Hi five!
#124 T on 03.10.20 at 10:43 pm
A quality education is a right, not a privilege.
___
In the Public School system, delivering quality is a pretty tall order. Half the time school’s out due to the teachers being on strike again for more money. When school is finally back in again – the kids seem to learn just the same as they did before the strike. Maybe worse even.
I’ve sat in on dozens of regional chess tournaments, math competitions, spelling bees, poster contests, etc… as my kids grew up. The public school kids usually ended up dead last – especially at the spelling bees. They were easily out-gunned by the Home-Schooled kids – who were educated by a non-educator who did the job for free.
Yeah, it’s pretty well established that more money and all that crap the teachers are yipping about do not actually improve the quality of education delivered. I’ve seen an absolute mountain of proof for this first hand.
I get the feeling the teachers just want an even bigger paycheque. I mean look at Ontario – the Teachers got all the concessions they asked for – except for more money. So are they back to work now?
Nope.
One thing that bothers me during times like these is that you’ll start to notice the inherent inequality between people’s retirement plans.
What I am talking about here is the difference between someone with a DB pension plan, especially one backed by the government, and some left to figure everything out by themselves.
All things being equal, the lone wolf needs to absorb these losses. This means in the end that perhaps they can’t retire as early as previously thought, they have to retire with less income…
The DB folks on the other hand, well, at some point, provided funding thresholds are crossed, magically money gets thrown into their plan. No taxes are paid on these contributions of course and ultimately they don’t have to consider or bear the consequences of these downturns at all.
In an equitable society, I think RRSP limits ultimately are discriminatory against non DB people. You should be able to top up your RRSPs to account for losses in bad years…at least. I mean, DB folks effectively get this plus free extra contributions.
#156 IHCTD9 on 03.11.20 at 9:40 am
—
Don’t despair yet. There are enough oil sands leases and potential fracking and new well sites to take Canada to 10M bbl a day. Just going to be a pause here while the system reboots.
And yes pipelines capacity is coming. Keystone, L3 and TMX will add about 3mm bbl a day capacity in just a short while.
I bet dollars to donuts someone will convert Alliance pipeline from NGLs to oil. Also enbridge will be optimizing their system to add 400k bbl of extra capacity.
The guys in the patch are way smarter than the fools holding the signs.
The resource will be developed. The only question is if the RoC is stupid enough to miss out on it.
#154 Captain Uppa on 03.11.20 at 9:36 am
How many Germans caught colds last year? Sheesh, this is not a death sentence. 97% of people recover. With Germans it’s likely higher. – Garth
———————————————-
Totally agree with you. The fear mongering is at an astronomic level.
I just witnessed a manager send an employee home because he’s “sneezing and coughing”.
Are people this dumb or is there something they have not told us?
————————————————————-
That’s a good manager.
I don’t want any of my people coming in to the office sick, at any time.
We work in relatively close quarters and one person infecting multiples in the office later in the year could make it impossible for us to hit our plan number.
While I agree it’s a long shot that that person has the virus, why take the chance for one extra man day of productivity?
#20 Buy AC now? Down 10% and further down = nope not today!
It is unfortunate that we now have to deal with two viruses in this country, Trudeau-2 and Covid-19!!
@T 124
A quality education is a right, not a privilege.
Do tell… Where is this quality education?
Take a look around and you will see that public education in Canada is a massive fail
Fact, big pharma is exempt from all vaccine liability
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=mzn10x25JoE&time_continue=195&feature=emb_title
Well the algo’s are doing what they’re programmed to do. Whack it down at the open but not as much as yesterday, only 2.2%. Bring it back up by noon and down again by 2:00 and close even for the day. HFT’s having a hay day. Seen it all before.
#162 IHCTD9 on 03.11.20 at 10:18 am
Totally agree with you re public school education: a horrid state of affairs. My lad went through it 90s and 2000s.
It is WORSE than when I went through it but even then poor – I attended 5 years of private school 4 through 8 and then floated for 5 years at high school (mostly skipping classes) leveraging my prior 5 years learning. But at least then most of my public school peers had obtained fundamental grammar and basic math.
Not so during my son’s tenure. (While he went to ‘socializing childcare’ 9am through 3pm Monday through Friday, I homeschooled him during evenings and weekends – where he learned grammar, math fundamentals, cursive, prose and typing.)
#164 not 1st on 03.11.20 at 10:30 am
#156 IHCTD9 on 03.11.20 at 9:40 am
——————————
Don’t despair yet. There are enough oil sands leases and potential fracking and new well sites to take Canada to 10M bbl a day. Just going to be a pause here while the system reboots.
And yes pipelines capacity is coming. Keystone, L3 and TMX will add about 3mm bbl a day capacity in just a short while.
The resource will be developed.
——————————
…said Venezuela
#171 Wallflower
Not so during my son’s tenure. (While he went to ‘socializing childcare’ 9am through 3pm Monday through Friday, I homeschooled him during evenings and weekends – where he learned grammar, math fundamentals, cursive, prose and typing.)
—————————————————————–
Good for you. I did the same with my 2 sons. They were so far ahead in math the teachers didn’t know what to do with them. When they got into secondary school I told them that if nothing else, take typing. This was in 86 when computers were starting to enter schools. My son is doing the same with his daughter who is in grade 3 and recently told by the teacher that she is operating at a grade 5 to 6 level in math. The teacher now has her helping other students. So much for quality education.
@#94 Nonplused on 03.10.20 at 7:47 pm
‘Temporary in nature probably or should I say most probably but the US started the oil war by forcing Putin’s and Germany’s contractors to drop the Nord Stream 2 pipe in the ocean when the were nearing completion via sanctions. Did they think that wouldn’t piss Putin off? Putin did not start the war. US shale drillers did, and since they were never economic we must assume it was the US Fed, under direction of the US government.’
Totally agree with your comments. Russia isn’t even an OPEC member, but agreed to reduce outputs to stabilize prices. All the while the US fracking industry producing more than needed and selling the surplus while they flared methane into the atmosphere in huge quantities. So Russia decides they will not agree to further cuts and Saudi Arabia turns on the taps. Why are we naming “Putin” when it was Saudi that responded with turning on the taps first? Because people get sucked into the same narrative the Democratic Party has been putting out there for the past 5 years about ‘bad old Russia’.
Nonplused has it exactly right.
Trudeau will give 1 billion to Canada for Corona after spending 2 billion on his Africa Bribery Tour. He really hates us.
https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/liberals-support-workers-businesses-covid-19-1.5493454
#154 Captain Uppa on 03.11.20 at 9:36 am
Totally agree with you. The fear mongering is at an astronomic level.
I just witnessed a manager send an employee home because he’s “sneezing and coughing”.
Are people this dumb or is there something they have not told us?
———————————-
Oh my god what a horrible manager. Encouraging the employee to take care of his health and get well rather than “power through it” and damage his health further and infect colleagues. What is this world coming to?
Public education is not a failure. You as parents are failure.
My child graduated McGill, which you illiterates cannot imagine. That’s why you have tribal economy and stupidity as is not important what you know but who you know.
May Devil know you….
Oh yeah,
What’s that saying, don’t catch a falling knife.
This isn’t your grandparents economy.
There is so much panic because it is hard to face one’s own mortality. This reminds me, I have to stop procrastinating and finally get a will.
Are we at the bottom yet of this stock market drop? I don’t know but what I do know is there are some awesome deals out there now.
A friend (Chinese descent) who just came back from Singapore and who is self isolating for 3 weeks sent me this video. Listen and especially at the 4:18 where he plays a song for his audience. Enjoy, you will probably have a good laugh as well.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?reload=9&v=mP-mCfo4-f8
#176 Howard on 03.11.20 at 11:49 am
#154 Captain Uppa on 03.11.20 at 9:36 am
Totally agree with you. The fear mongering is at an astronomic level.
I just witnessed a manager send an employee home because he’s “sneezing and coughing”.
Are people this dumb or is there something they have not told us?
———————————-
Oh my god what a horrible manager. Encouraging the employee to take care of his health and get well rather than “power through it” and damage his health further and infect colleagues. What is this world coming to?
————————————————————-
*insert old coot raging about toughness back in his day*
#165 Mattl on 03.11.20 at 10:33 am
#154 Captain Uppa on 03.11.20 at 9:36 am
How many Germans caught colds last year? Sheesh, this is not a death sentence. 97% of people recover. With Germans it’s likely higher. – Garth
———————————————-
Totally agree with you. The fear mongering is at an astronomic level.
I just witnessed a manager send an employee home because he’s “sneezing and coughing”.
Are people this dumb or is there something they have not told us?
————————————————————-
That’s a good manager.
I don’t want any of my people coming in to the office sick, at any time.
We work in relatively close quarters and one person infecting multiples in the office later in the year could make it impossible for us to hit our plan number.
While I agree it’s a long shot that that person has the virus, why take the chance for one extra man day of productivity?
————————————
Fair point.
I guess context is lacking, however.
He sneezed like once and had the same small cough that 90% of people have around here, especially during winter.
What are workplaces going to do come allergy season??
$50M given to other vulnerable countries? Trudeau never misses a chance to virtue signal even when Canadians are in danger.
$500k given to study racism against Chinese Canadians as a result of the outbreak.
Seriously you cant make this up.
Do people have any interesting stocks or ETFs on their watchlist, now that the markets looks like they will stay volatile for a while.
Up to 70% of Germany could become infected – Merkel
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-51835856
#135 SoggyShorts on 03.11.20 at 1:15 am
If the oil fight / covid-19 go away and the world leaders put a bandaid on the economy with a massive round of stimulus my PF will rebound nicely, but I think I’ll take the win and go more conservative– believing that I’m smarter than the average bear(heh pun) and could therefore handle the big swings was pure hubris- I’m just incredibly lucky that I started DiY in 2019 so I get to hold down my breakfast.
———————
Funny. Bet you a dollar that when the markets recover you’ll feel like a genius again with your 100% equities portfolio and forget all about rebalancing! Human nature…
@#162 IHCTD9 on 03.11.20 at 10:18 am
#124 T on 03.10.20 at 10:43 pm
A quality education is a right, not a privilege.
___
In the Public School system, delivering quality is a pretty tall order. Half the time school’s out due to the teachers being on strike again for more money. When school is finally back in again – the kids seem to learn just the same as they did before the strike. Maybe worse even.
I’ve sat in on dozens of regional chess tournaments, math competitions, spelling bees, poster contests, etc… as my kids grew up. The public school kids usually ended up dead last – especially at the spelling bees. They were easily out-gunned by the Home-Schooled kids – who were educated by a non-educator who did the job for free.
Yeah, it’s pretty well established that more money and all that crap the teachers are yipping about do not actually improve the quality of education delivered. I’ve seen an absolute mountain of proof for this first hand.
I get the feeling the teachers just want an even bigger paycheque. I mean look at Ontario – the Teachers got all the concessions they asked for – except for more money. So are they back to work now?
Nope.
_____________________________________
lol, more anecdotal nonsense from IHCTD9.
Corona virus is now officially a..
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZJxS1Bpnkl4
What’s interesting is that soap is way more useful than TP. But there is no run on soap?
#30 grumpy panda
Stop believing the govt line…the “more money” is to pay for EAs and custodial staff. Currently the two primary teachers I know personally are washing their students’ desks twice a day (because the kids eat there twice a day) and at day’s end are sweeping then mopping the classroom floors. There are too few custodians who are given too few hours a day for each of the 3 (yes, three) schools they must clean. In this time of hyper-vigilance for germs and viruses, why is classroom cleanliness given such short shrift?
Parents and grandparents if that bothers you at all, then please let your MPP know it.
Payments on mortgages to be suspended?
What about renters, are their rents going to be suspended too,?
Right.
Psychological emotional walls, right Garth?
I know you won’t post this.
#187 IHCTD9 on 03.11.20 at 12:47 pm
Corona virus is now officially a..
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZJxS1Bpnkl4
—————————————————————
OK, I’ll say it. P A N D E M I C. That should scare the crap out of them. Now watch the TP sales soar.
https://www.castanet.net/news/World/279158/WHO-declares-global-virus-crisis-is-now-a-pandemic#279158
#160 James on 03.11.20 at 10:01 am
Oil and nat gas is currently below the cost of production. Blaming political parties for what’s happening in the patch now…. the elephant in the room is bottoming commodity prices. Unless you believe the Libs and NDP can somehow fix world prices, start a war or cripple Kuwait’s oil production with a trade embargo or think the Cons can do the same… then what are you talking about?
Seriously. Market prices are in a depression. Hopefully a V depression. No amount of tax cuts and anti environment bravado and zero royalties is going to fix that. Perhaps you should factor that in next time you think about proposing partisan arguments that have no merit?
#162 IHCTD9 on 03.11.20 at 10:18 am
#124 T on 03.10.20 at 10:43 pm
A quality education is a right, not a privilege.
___
In the Public School system, delivering quality is a pretty tall order. Half the time school’s out due to the teachers being on strike again for more money. When school is finally back in again – the kids seem to learn just the same as they did before the strike. Maybe worse even.
I’ve sat in on dozens of regional chess tournaments, math competitions, spelling bees, poster contests, etc… as my kids grew up. The public school kids usually ended up dead last – especially at the spelling bees. They were easily out-gunned by the Home-Schooled kids – who were educated by a non-educator who did the job for free.
Yeah, it’s pretty well established that more money and all that crap the teachers are yipping about do not actually improve the quality of education delivered. I’ve seen an absolute mountain of proof for this first hand.
I get the feeling the teachers just want an even bigger paycheque. I mean look at Ontario – the Teachers got all the concessions they asked for – except for more money. So are they back to work now?
Nope.
—————
1. I never said teachers didn’t want (or deserve) more money. Read what I wrote being getting triggered and writing your anecdotal and clearly biased response. Teachers deserve money money as their salaries have not paced the cost of living.
2. Have you ever thought that maybe, just maybe, the public system is underfunded and thus the poor results are to be expected? Do you think a solution is to continue to poorly fund? Do you think a solution is to fund less? Unbelievable.
3. Education is how poor are lifted out of poverty. We should all strive to bring up everyone around us, not push them down.
#144 crowdedelevatorfartz on 03.11.20 at 8:18 am
4. Skilled tradespeople require a quality education. Your shallow view on trades is just another example of you shooting your mouth off without any real knowledge on a subject. If we want more tradespeople we need to educate them well before they head to trade school – in the public system.
Notice how for the last few days the S&P 500 has been bouncing off 2750>/b? like a drop of water on a hot skillet? Ryan L. was mentioned something about support forming at the third Fibonacci level.
Is it a floor? Well… let’s hope so.
#186 Ron on 03.11.20 at 12:38 pm
#135 SoggyShorts on 03.11.20 at 1:15 am
Funny. Bet you a dollar that when the markets recover you’ll feel like a genius again with your 100% equities portfolio and forget all about rebalancing! Human nature…
*********
Godamnit now my portfolio is basically down another dollar. Thanks Ron.
#185 SimplyPut7 on 03.11.20 at 12:33 pm
Do people have any interesting stocks or ETFs on their watchlist, now that the markets looks like they will stay volatile for a while.
——————————
Interesting, eh? In volatile times, it’s best to look at company stability first. There are/will be lots of big drops that look like value, but some will continue down to zero.
Index is safest. Major/indispensable utility and service providers next. Check debt levels.
A downturn is not the time to take a gamble on any unproven quantity. Index is good, Berkshire’s portfolio is ok.
TP report: local Walmart is now paperless. Soap still there.
“…With Germans it’s likely higher. – Garth”
————————————
It’s the sauerkraut.
“So, if you’re a snowflake or someone who was busy growing zits when 2008 happened, or Y2K, Nine Eleven, SARS, Desert Storm or any of the other crap which has befallen folks in the last few decades, calm down. Learn from experience.”
2008 I was just starting to invest…but also started reading a blog by a guy name Garth… I stayed calm.
Y2K, I was on a beach in South America, a guy named Garth said stay calm…I stayed calm.
911, My flight was grounded in YVR. I went home and chilled…
SARS, I caught that $#@t in 2003 from working in SE Asia. What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger. That was a tough one…
Had a near miss with a cruise missile while working in then Middle East when Desert Storm started…
I have learned from experience but my best lessons came from right here. I am now happily retired with an awesome balanced portfolio thanks to you know who… :)
Thanks Garth.
Apparently Mark Carney has been calling on the Thunbergs to enlist their help in the battle against COVID-19 and (thankfully) Greta has agreed – she was recently spotted outside the Swedish parliament holding a sign that read “Skolstrejk för virus”.
#179 Blog Bunny on 03.11.20 at 12:04 pm
This reminds me, I have to stop procrastinating and finally get a will.
———————————-
Just get a McDonald’s napkin:
https://www.msn.com/en-ca/news/canada/judge-rules-sask-mans-will-written-on-mcdonalds-napkin-is-valid/ar-BB112h8w?ocid=spartanntp
I really wish I had taken that video of the dog. Just incredible. They really are smarter than humans.
@#194 Tea-cher
“Skilled tradespeople require a quality education. Your shallow view on trades is just another example of you shooting your mouth off without any real knowledge on a subject. If we want more tradespeople we need to educate them well before they head to trade school – in the public system.”
++++
Add subtract, multiply and divide, Basic reading skills .
Nothing fancy, basic skills.
Then off to an apprenticeship. Earn while you learn, 4 years later ….big bucks….and marketable skills.
Unlike the heavily indebted, Bachelor of Arts barrista at Starbucks….
Some of the smartest people I know never finished high school.
Some of the stupidest people I know are University educated Teachers …or the even more useless “Guidance Councillors” ( teachers that couldnt cut it… teaching 7 months out of 12…..).
#187 bill hilly on 03.11.20 at 12:45 pm
lol, more anecdotal nonsense from IHCTD9.
___
The sooner we start laying off teachers, the better everyone will be.
Especially the students.
For what it’s worth my sources tell me that the fed will blink again early next week. Rate cut plus open up the fire hoses.
Actually I said there will be ‘countless’ cases to endure before the virus diminishes. Plus I said this week could mark the bottom for the stocks of certain (energy) companies, not markets in general. Be accurate, then emote. – Garth
Thank you for pointing out ‘countless’.
Don’t mean to be annoying, but I have re-read the paragraph about “Monday March 9th” and the paragraph before it and I don’t see it talking about energy companies, which is why I thought you were talking about markets in general.
Anyway, I believe it will get worse, for all stocks, energy included. It will be grim before there is hint of normalcy on the horizon. The reasons are obvious for those who care to look- exponential infection growth, overload of healthcare systems (now obvious in Italy), lack of proactive measures by governments (in particular in North America), complacency and lack of preparedness, careless behavior by Canadians (I know only one who cancelled his international air travel plans and many more how did not). Now we will have to endure double hit on both healthcare/lives and economy. The former was not necessary, it is going to happen purely because of how our society acted. Just hope something else does not happen on top while we are in the middle of this epidemic. Like earthquake for example- that would be truly horrendous…
I wrote you days ago that you will have to change your view of this thing. You are already in process of readjusting, but you still have ways to go. Unfortunately. I wish it were me who had to adjust expectations but I keep coming up short looking for scenarios in which my expectations are off.
#170 Ronaldo on 03.11.20 at 11:08 am
Well the algo’s are doing what they’re programmed to do. Whack it down at the open but not as much as yesterday, only 2.2%. Bring it back up by noon and down again by 2:00 and close even for the day. HFT’s having a hay day. Seen it all before.
——————————–
Actually none of that happened so far. Not even close.
Get a new crystal ball.
#204 crowdedelevatorfartz on 03.11.20 at 2:51 pm
@#194 Tea-cher
“Skilled tradespeople require a quality education. Your shallow view on trades is just another example of you shooting your mouth off without any real knowledge on a subject. If we want more tradespeople we need to educate them well before they head to trade school – in the public system.”
++++
Add subtract, multiply and divide, Basic reading skills .
Nothing fancy, basic skills.
Then off to an apprenticeship. Earn while you learn, 4 years later ….big bucks….and marketable skills.
Unlike the heavily indebted, Bachelor of Arts barrista at Starbucks….
Some of the smartest people I know never finished high school.
Some of the stupidest people I know are University educated Teachers …or the even more useless “Guidance Councillors” ( teachers that couldnt cut it… teaching 7 months out of 12…..).
—————
I’m not a teacher nor do I have family that are. I do, however, have many family members and friends in skilled trades.
You don’t get into high level trade schools without a decent level of intelligence and high school or equivalent.
There are trades such as bricklaying which you can just show up and apprentice without any qualifications. However there are many more where this is not possible; mechanic, hvac, electrician, fitter, etc.
Your whole idea around teachers pushing university and useless degrees is a sad display of intelligence in itself. Do you think teachers are pushing and funding this education path? I can tell you it’s not teachers, it’s parents. Place the blame where it belongs.
#205 IHCTD9 on 03.11.20 at 2:55
-Definitely not the real IH. He’s too smart for a comment/thought pattern like that.
MF
#209 T on 03.11.20 at 3:22
Correct. The whole idea that university = useless is pushed generally by tradespeople. Maybe they feel self conscious about it?
One thing is for sure though. In 90% of countries on earth there is an abundance of non-university educated tradespeople who are looked down on and treated as low class. The pay is garbage and work crap. This is how most people on earth live.
That’s not the case in Canada, where, at least in my circle of university educated friends, there is a respect and an appreciation of the practical element of it…and pay. Yet, we have people on here calling university useless while they live in a bubble, and teachers are the easy target.
MF
Ottawa and Hamilton record first COVID-19 cases. In particular, the Hamilton case is a cancer oncologist who recently returned from vacation in Hawaii. She’s seen 14 patients since, who it can be assumed would already have weak immune systems. Not good. By chance my mother-in-law was not at the hospital during this time as she’s in between chemo treatments. Say what you will but this one hits close to home for our family.
#211 MF on 03.11.20 at 3:37 pm
#209 T on 03.11.20 at 3:22
Correct. The whole idea that university = useless is pushed generally by tradespeople. Maybe they feel self conscious about it?
One thing is for sure though. In 90% of countries on earth there is an abundance of non-university educated tradespeople who are looked down on and treated as low class. The pay is garbage and work crap. This is how most people on earth live.
That’s not the case in Canada, where, at least in my circle of university educated friends, there is a respect and an appreciation of the practical element of it…and pay. Yet, we have people on here calling university useless while they live in a bubble, and teachers are the easy target.
MF
————
What really boggles me is how people who hate on teachers and the teachers’ union and push trades as a career path fail to realize trades are also unionized! The teachers union leads the way in fair negotiations for all unions.
We wouldn’t have fair compensation for trades if it wasn’t for teachers leading the way. Plain and simple.
The best news I’ve heard in the past 11 years. Sure I had to hit that buy button late in the afternoon to make sure the bear would finally hit after an eternity. I sold within 3 seconds to the close. I’ll never know if the bear would have occurred if I didn’t buy something today? I’ll be celebrating tonight and right now. I made a lot of money the other day betting on the Fed and PPT but didn’t give it all back today.
Stupid people. Plumber is a plumber is a plumber
in any european country. That means it is rich trade.
Who are you to know how people look down on trades
in other countries. Unwashed people without languages
travelling to sudbary….
3 seconds without calm can destroy a portfolio.
Supply chain disruption? I have staff here behind the Great Firewall calling in sick this week. Stuffy nose, sore throat sort of thing. Coronavirus one would think but they would be wrong. Air Pollution. China Inc is reopening for business and fast.
A month prior I could stroll with impunity down the middle of major roads, the king of my own 28 Days Later (minus the human flesh eating horde). Now, I scurry for safety lest be trampled by the mass of scooters paying no heed to traffic laws.
This panic will pass, normality with return. Take a deep breath and step away from the ‘sell button’
Always happy to see mortgage advice from you. My mortgage is up for renewal in June. Care to use your Crystal ball on how long i should hold
out before renewing? Also I’d assumed fixed made the most sense, but the Globe and Mail just suggested variable, which surprised me. Any wisdom to share?
Variable rates will hold or increase since banks are under pressure and would rather you not go there. I still see fivers at 2% or a little less in a couple of months. I’d wait and go long. – Garth
@The Orange, post #216:
Keep away from the sell button? I’ve made use of the sell button to get rid of some bond funds, at a nice profit, and using the proceeds to buy some DIRT CHEAP stocks and equity ETFs.