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Black Friday is Here, Advent, and #BestThisWeek

Black Friday

The month of November is effectively Black November, but today is allegedly the beginning of the Christmas rush with Black Friday. The folklore behind it being called Black Friday is that this day is when Retailers actually get into the Black (in their accounting books), and from now on is profits. My e-mail inbox has been inundated with great Black November sales and such, some almost too good to believe. Who would believe I could buy a TurDuckEn 🍗 at Costco for $95?!?

Will all this spending help everyone get that much more festive about Christmas and such? I really have no idea, but Advent begins on Sunday for those wondering what the Christian Church view is on the topic.

There is talk again of the Tampa Bay Rays moving, for now to St. Pete’s (across the bay) but there is also an undertone of Montreal getting in the mix as well. Thanks to Jeffrey Loria (one of the most hated owners in sports) Montreal lost it’s team in the 90’s, but a returning team that was in the same division as Toronto and had the hope of a new downtown stadium? That brings old Expo lovers like me, hope. I grew up within walking distance of Jarry Park âš¾  , and would go to games if they came back.

There seems to be a bit of a backlash in the US about stores opening on Thanksgiving Day, for the Black Friday sales, and I support that backlash. The next logical step is opening on Christmas Day for Boxing Day sales. We live in a Consumer Society, but we do not need to consume that much!

My Writings for Week Ending November 28th

The snow all went away this week, but we are left with the cold weather and we can now see all the “early deployment” Christmas Lights as well:

  • Inflation Stays High Despite Lower Gas in October is another example of how numbers don’t necessarily mean what you think they do. I still think the collective lifestyle of Canadians is slipping due to price increases, but you wouldn’t think it looking at the reports.
  • I tried a small poke at the mainstream media with the TFSA Retirement Welfare Bums, but no one seemed to get too indignant about my analysis.
  • RRSP to TFSA Grand Jeté is really just a rehash of many other articles about what to do with your RRSP refunds, although Mark from My Own Advisor pointed out the model does loan the government money, which is something I never like doing.
  • I had some spare time on the weekend so I came up with Financial Tweets of the Week, just to expose you to some other good financial stuff.
Read More »Black Friday is Here, Advent, and #BestThisWeek
Winter Sucks

Lake Effect Snow, Web Cameras, Travel Insurance and #BestThisWeek

We got to see what Lake Effect Snow means with some vivid photos of Buffalo getting buried by 7 feet of snow. They are getting more snow today. This is why I am happy that Ottawa only has a river running through it. The worst part of this is that it might rain in Buffalo putting all roofs in the area in peril (7 feet of heavy wet snow is not what anyhow is designed to support).

Winter Sucks
Mr. Cardinal Confirms, Winter Sucks

Enjoy  your web cams and such? The laptop I am typing on has one pointed right at me, but evidently our Russian hacking friends have sites from hacked cameras that folks can go and check. You know how to fix this (aside from having good anti-virus and security), cover the camera up with a piece of paper and tape, or point your web cams elsewhere when you aren’t using it.

A couple in Alberta learned just how expensive medical costs are in the US, when their bundle of joy showed up 9 weeks prematurely, and they are now stuck with an almost $900K bill, that their insurance provider (Blue Cross) refuses to pay. Travel insurance is always a tricky world, always be sure you are covered

My Writings for Week Ending November 21st

Winter has come with snow and all of that, but luckily this is Ottawa, so it is supposed to rain on Monday. Note that I am experimenting with a new grading system for comments (so far I only have Gold Stars, but I will be looking to expand that capability very soon).

Read More »Lake Effect Snow, Web Cameras, Travel Insurance and #BestThisWeek
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Asteroids, Tax Cuts, Lemurs and #BestThisWeek

We have successfully landed on an asteroid! This is a tremendous accomplishment! Despite the challenges presented by the asteroid’s size and speed, the attachment mechanism is experiencing some glitches. Nevertheless, the team is working tirelessly to ensure that the dishwasher remains securely attached throughout the journey. However, concerns have been raised about the feasibility of a full rinse cycle. Nonetheless, it is an extraordinary feat to have a dishwasher onboard a fast-moving object in space.

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I must thank my parents that they pushed me to get a University Education, after watching those two window washers at One World Trade dangling 69 stories up. I’d need to be paid a lot more than I currently make to do that job, but I guess there are folks who don’t mind that kind of risk in their day-to-day jobs (but I am not one of them).

Plenty of talk about the coming tax cuts in the next budget, whether they deliver, is another question, and whether the Public can be bought off or not (sorry that is a cynical view of politics (or is it?)). Maybe they will cut our EI premiums a little more? A few other carrots being tested via “leaks” from the government. Start paying down the National Debt would be a very good thing.

Sad to read of the deaths of two of my favorite supporting characters on TV. First Carol Ann Susi passed away this week, you may not recognize her name, but she was the voice of Howard Walowitz’s mother, “HOWARD!!!“. Wonder what they will do about this on the show? The second passing was Jovian the Lemur from ZooBooMaFoo, who would leap around on the show. Jovian died of kidney failure.

My Writings for Week Ending November 14th

Remembrance Day in Ottawa is always an awe-inspiring event, and this year it was that much more, truly astounding to see that many folks come out to say thanks to those who defend our rights and freedoms.

Read More »Asteroids, Tax Cuts, Lemurs and #BestThisWeek
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Lame Ducks, Financial Literacy, Working for Free and #BestThisWeek

This week, our friends in the South have politically weakened their President by electing a Republican majority in both the Senate and Congress. This creates a situation where the President is essentially a lame duck. While there are discussions of “working together for a better America” right now, it is expected that by January, there will be talk of impeachment and attempts to undo Obamacare. These developments are likely to make the next couple of years in US politics very interesting. Although Canada has had some not-so-pleasant stories this week about harassment and overspending in elections, US politics always seems to be a more fascinating topic.

Vacation Photo
Me and Mrs. C8j on Vacation MANY Years Ago

For Montreal Expos diehards like me, MLB threw us a few more crumbs of hope, with the Blue Jays playing some exhibition games at the Olympic Stadium in the Spring. Might go down to watch, but I also remember just how old the concrete is at the Big Owe, so maybe I’ll just watch it on TV.

Remember that November is Financial Literacy month here in Canada, so look for Tweets with the #FLM2014 on them, for interesting stories about financial literacy. I am also growing back the Big C8j Mostache for Movember (I shaved it off, and four people thought I was Jim Watson, and no I can’t help you with the parking problem on your street in the Glebe).

Stephen Poloz the new Bank of Canada Czar had a novel way for todays youth to get jobs, that is to work for free. I have always wondered about this whole Intern Works for Free scam that has been going on at many companies, but Mr. Poloz thinks his exact quote is:

When I bump into youths, they ask me, you know, What am I supposed to do in a situation? I say, look, having something unpaid on your CV is very worth it because that’s the one thing you can do to counteract this scarring effect. Get some real-life experience even though you’re discouraged, even if it’s for free

I see where he might be coming from, and it does somewhat make sense (i.e. better to have experience working for free than, “I sat at home and played X-Box” as a statement about that time in your CV ) maybe he could have put it in a way that the media talking heads didn’t have such an easy talking point?

Mrs. C8j and I were immortalized on the Twitter, talking about my retirement plans (currently, not being dead by age 65 is the first thing on the list). Nice picture of us on our last vacation together in 1992 (yeh, that’s 22 years ago). The tweet is at the bottom of this article.

My Writings for Week Ending November 7th

Christmas ads are in the air, it’s dark at 4:30 PM, must mean it is Autumn in Ottawa.

  • Given this is financial literacy month, I felt it important to start with some Key Financial Rules, and then lampoon them as best I could. Remember a penny saved, is still worthless.
  • Most folks don’t think about how much it costs when you buy something with a credit card, but you are paying for that privilege, but luckily that transfer fee is now frozen The Cost of a Credit Card Transaction, outlines that.
  • Keeping in mind it is financial literacy month, maybe you want to ask, What is Financial Literacy ?
Read More »Lame Ducks, Financial Literacy, Working for Free and #BestThisWeek
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Crashing Markets, Ebola, Low Loonie, Cheap Gas and #BestThisWeek

As predicted a market correction is happening (where predicted means, 8 out of the last 2 market corrections have been correctly predicted), and the world is excited. We have the crazed old sages saying, “See I told you!“, others saying, “Nothing to worry about“, and still others saying “this is why you should have an actively traded portfolio“, naturally my philosophy is, “I am an indexer, I don’t care what the Index did this past week“. I buy my Index Funds, I re-balance every 6 months or so (need to get my robo-balancer up) and that is about it. I lived through the great crashes of ’87, ’93, ’00, ’08 and hopefully I’ll live through this as well.

FinancialHaiku
Fall Financial Haiku

Ebola is here on the North American continent and it has killed as many people this week, as were murdered in Toronto this week, but luckily it is filling every media outlet, all looking for new angles on how to scare the public more. I believe the odds of you getting hit by a car are a little higher than getting Ebola (currently), but those odds may shorten should Ebola become air-borne (cue dramatic music). Yes, it is an important problem, but right now, there is far too much being said about something that isn’t understood (much like money, these days). You are also more likely to die from the Flu this year (than Ebola), but will hospitals be full to the gunnels with folks with the flu thinking they have Ebola? I think so.

The Loonie is at a 5 year low being about 88 cents to the Mighty American Buck, but that will help Canadian exporters (not folks wanting to buy American deals for Christmas though).

Gas is dropping in price again, which will mean screwed up Inflation numbers next month, where I am sure even though food costs 10% more than last year at this time, we will actually be in a state of DEflation. I love how data can be jumbled around to reflect any message you want.

Good news on the Hockey front, neither the Leafs, Sens or Habs are already eliminated from the playoffs (but it is early yet).

My Writings for Week Ending October 17th

The turkey genocide of 2014 happened, with very little fan fair, but there is talk of more atrocities against our avian friends in the coming months in the name of American Thanksgiving and worse still Christmas! My writings were pretty thin this week, I guess I made a bit too merry for Thanksgiving?

Read More »Crashing Markets, Ebola, Low Loonie, Cheap Gas and #BestThisWeek
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