Burns? That is the question we will have answered today, but my guess is the answer will not really be an answer, just another question.
Financial Recovery?
So far, so good from the actions of the G7 nations, the equities market seems to be recovering, in some fashion or another (remembering full well, that one day does not a trend (or recovery for that matter) make). Stocks are starting to strengthen, but is this a simply stop on the way down or an actual restart or reset of things? I’ll tell you the answer to that…. in 6 months, since I have no idea, nor do I wish to even hazard a guess.
Tuesday is the first chance Canadian investors will have to show their support or concern with the entire recovery, so it will make for another interesting financial day. I will be watching banks very closely to see whether the statements about Canada’s banks being the most “solid” are actually taken as “truth” or “fluff”.
Vote Often!
Sorry, growing up in Quebec, that is one of the fun jokes you always heard, Vote Early and Vote Often! Â Not to say that politics in Quebec was or is corrupt, just that it always had an interesting attitude.
On September 11th, I called for a Liberal Minority as My Election Prediction, and I will stand by that call, even though I feel Monsieur Dion has done his damnedest to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory. My guess is there will be no majority this time, and that more likely than not we will be voting again in 2009 (possibly very early), we shall see if my ability to prognosticate elections is better than my ability to pick the next BOOM stock.
If I was going for an interesting long shot call for this election? There could be a Conservative Majority IF (and only if), the NDP, Greens and Liberals split the vote three ways and a bunch of Tories win in Ontario because of this, but I think this is a 20% chance (i.e. I’d want 5-1 odds if I was betting on this).
Cash is King
Currently I am collecting cash from my severance in a few investment vehicles (and look forward to the TFSA which is coming on January 2nd), but I am still unsure of what to do, so I may stay totally liquid until I am sure of what is going to happen. I think the TFSA is going to be my new favorite topic in the coming weeks, as every bank is offering it, so I am confident this thing is going to be something big in investing.
For now, in investing, Cash is King (i.e. if you have the cash, you are in control of things), no I am not saying cash out of your existing investments, just that it would be good to have some cash right now (as well).
Vote Canada, if you don’t you don’t get to complain!
For now you should keep your cash in the ING Pre-TFSA account, they are offering double interest until the end of the year to cover the taxes that you’d lose, as well as they auto-convert the account to a TFSA come the new year. It’s worth a look if you’re just waiting on the sidelines.