Staying put in a tough market is hard: Trying to time the market is worse

 November 13, 2023 |Alan MacDonald
Investors have been on quite the roller coaster over the last five years. We’ve had three bear markets – when markets go down more than 20 per cent – since 2018. Equities (like stocks) have bounced up and down more times than most of us care to count...
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Fat tails and the precautionary principle: How Isaac Newton lost his shirt in the stock market

 October 17, 2023 |Alan MacDonald
Sir Isaac Newton was a mathematician, physicist and philosopher who was considered by many to be the father of the scientific revolution, and one of the greatest thinkers of the seventeenth century. He was also a wealthy man, who inherited a small fortune...
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Cheap and boring: Why the least exciting stocks look pretty good right now

 July 31, 2023 |Alan MacDonald
Mark Twain has been credited with saying that “history doesn’t repeat itself, but it often rhymes.” In my experience, this sage observation is particularly fitting when it comes to stock markets and the behaviour of investors. In the 1960s and 1970s,...
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Too many investors fear longevity too little – and market volatility too much

 May 15, 2023 |Alan MacDonald
In 1993, the cost to mail a letter in Canada was 43 cents. Today (assuming anyone were to actually want to mail a letter) it would cost $1.07. That’s an increase of just over two a half times, and it’s pretty close to the average inflation in the price...
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How to crash-proof your retirement income

 April 12, 2023 |Alan MacDonald
As I write this article, the latest crisis du jour is the collapse and insolvency of the Silicon Valley Bank. We here in Canada tend to think of our banks as being virtually invulnerable. But as the 2008 banking crisis taught us, even the biggest blue-chip...
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An Investor checklist for 2023

 February 27, 2023 |Alan MacDonald
An investor checklist for 2023 The first month of the New Year is officially behind us. Traditionally, this is the time when all our well-meaning resolutions are forgotten until next January rolls around, and our old habits start to rear their ugly heads...
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There’s a recession coming in 2023. So why am I still in stocks?

 January 16, 2023 |Alan MacDonald
The debate is over. We have an inverted yield curve in fixed-income securities, where short–term rates are higher than long–term rates. Consumers are stretched thin, battered by the twin spectres of rising interest rates and higher-than-average inflation...
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How to get a perpetual 6.5 per cent return on your investment capital

 November 15, 2022 |Alan MacDonald
Many investors these days are wondering how they can capitalize on the incredible run-up we’ve been seeing in interest rates lately. According to the RBC Strategy Committee, the current high rates will probably be with us for a while. But with ongoing...
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Too many investors fear longevity too little – and market volatility too much

 September 16, 2022 |Alan MacDonald
In 1993, the cost to mail a letter in Canada was 43 cents. Today (assuming anyone were to actually want to mail a letter) it would cost $1.07. That’s an increase of just over two and a half times, and it’s pretty close to the average inflation in the...
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Why not wait until things look better?

 June 20, 2022 |Alan MacDonald
“Let’s hold off on putting any money into the markets for a bit and wait until things settle down.” I’m hearing these words from a lot of investors these days. Especially from people who have recently sold a business or property, had a bond or GIC come...
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