This Commodity Keeps your Bones Strong and Investment Returns Strong

30-Dec-2011 | kate | Commodities Economy USA

Milk was the top preforming commodity in 2011, beating out crude oil, gold and cattle.

Milk futures jumped 41% in 2011 due to  an increase in rising populations, increased exports and rising world incomes. Milk futures reached their highs in August 2011, but still ended the year as the number one commodity performer.

Following along with milk is dry whey, a milk by product used in sports drinks, snacks and baby formula. Whey priced increased 75.13%.

 

Lots of analyst believes that milk exports will rise in Canada, Mexico, Japan, China, Philippines and Indonesia, the six biggest buyers in the world.

 

Even though milk future rose during the year, it didn’t necessarily mean bigger pay days for the farmers, as feed prices also increased throughout the year.

This blog has been prepared by the Retire First Team. The blog expresses the opinions of the writers and not necessarily those of Retire First Ltd. Statistic and factual data are from sources Retire First believes to be reliable but their accuracy can not be guaranteed. This blog is furnished on the basis and understanding that Retire First is under no liability whatsoever in respect thereof. It is for informational purposes only and is not be construed as an offer or solicitation for the sale or purchase of securities. Retire First Ltd. And its officers, directors, employees and their family may from time to time invest in the securities discussed in this blog. This blog is intended for individuals where Retire First Ltd is registered as a dealer in securities.

Retire First is a member of the Canadian Investors Protection Fund.

Commission, trailing commissions, management fees and expense all may be associated with mutual funds. Please read the prospectus before investing. Mutual funds are not guaranteed, their values change frequently and past performance may not be repeated. A recommendation of any of the mentioned investments would only be made after a personal review of individual portfolio. Third Party research has been used in formulating the writer's opinions.

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Wendy Bets on $200 million on a $16 dollar burger.

28-Dec-2011 | kate | Asia New Announcements USA

Wendy’s fast food restaurant is betting their return to Japan on a $16 Foie Gras Rossini. The company left Japan in 2009 after 29 years, closing 71 locations (which equaled 20% of their overseas operations) after they closed their relationship with the sole franchise owner, Zenscho Co.

The company knew that they departure from Japan would be short lived and believe that  a new franchise or joint venture partner would provide significant opportunity for the company, they grossed $70 million in sales in 2009.

 

The companies invested $200 million on the plan to return to Japan, and are betting it all on their signature burger. The Foie Gras burger has the traditional square patty topped with truffle butter.  Such a dish would not be popular in North America, but following McDonalds lead on localized menu items, the Japanese diner appreciates the localized menu.

 

Wendy is the world’s 3rd largest quick service hamburger company and owns a variety of corporations such as Arbys, T.J Cinnamons and Pasta Connection in their business portfolio. Their company trades on the NYSE under the symbol WEN. Their first location in Japan will be located in Tokyo’s Omotesando area and they plan to open 100 restaurants over the next five years and believe the country can support up to 700 restaurants. They will be rolling out their restaurants through a joint venture with Higa Industries who operated 180 Domino Restaurants.

 

Wendy’s was down 1.30% today to $5.34 US.

This blog has been prepared by the Retire First Team. The blog expresses the opinions of the writers and not necessarily those of Retire First Ltd. Statistic and factual data are from sources Retire First believes to be reliable but their accuracy can not be guaranteed. This blog is furnished on the basis and understanding that Retire First is under no liability whatsoever in respect thereof. It is for informational purposes only and is not be construed as an offer or solicitation for the sale or purchase of securities. Retire First Ltd. And its officers, directors, employees and their family may from time to time invest in the securities discussed in this blog. This blog is intended for individuals where Retire First Ltd is registered as a dealer in securities.

Retire First is a member of the Canadian Investors Protection Fund.

Commission, trailing commissions, management fees and expense all may be associated with mutual funds. Please read the prospectus before investing. Mutual funds are not guaranteed, their values change frequently and past performance may not be repeated. A recommendation of any of the mentioned investments would only be made after a personal review of individual portfolio. Third Party research has been used in formulating the writer's opinions.

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What if the US Government was Household?

31-Aug-2011 | kate | Budgeting The Wise Investor US Markets USA

I received an interesting email from my boss, Doug Allan. He sent me a satirical email regarding the US debt crisis put in terms of the average house hold.

The first rule to living on your own is to spend within your means, which means that individuals and government bodies have to learn how to budge and if there is a short fall of funding, both parties have the option of borrowing money.

So going along this idea, let’s take a look at the email that Doug sent along the other day.

The US Government

US Tax Revenue: $2,170,000,000,000

Federal Budget:    $3,820,000,000,000

New Debt:             $1,650,000,000,000

National Debt:      $14,271,000,000,000

Recent Budget Cuts:    $38,500,000,000

In house hold terms:

Annual Income: $21,700

Money Spent:   $38,200

New Debt:         $16,500

Total Debt: $142,721

Total Budget Cut: $385

 

So if you were a family who was over spending by $16,500 a year, and only cut back your spending by $385 a year, your total reduction on your loan a year wouldn’t even cover your early interest. (Let’s just assume they are only paying 1.75% on their loans, they would still be paying nearly $2500 in interest charges over one year).

Well this isn’t the reason that the US Debt Rating was decreased, it certainly is an easy way to look at how spending too much money and not cutting enough from your excess spending will result in you ending up with a pretty big bill at the end of 20 years. In this case, our small family will owe over $590,000 at the end of 20 years if they continued spending at the same rate and only paid 1.75% interest.

This blog has been prepared by the Retire First Team. The blog expresses the opinions of the writers and not necessarily those of Retire First Ltd. Statistic and factual data are from sources Retire First believes to be reliable but their accuracy can not be guaranteed. This blog is furnished on the basis and understanding that Retire First is under no liability whatsoever in respect thereof. It is for informational purposes only and is not be construed as an offer or solicitation for the sale or purchase of securities. Retire First Ltd. And its officers, directors, employees and their family may from time to time invest in the securities discussed in this blog. This blog is intended for individuals where Retire First Ltd is registered as a dealer in securities.

Retire First is a member of the Canadian Investors Protection Fund.

Commission, trailing commissions, management fees and expense all may be associated with mutual funds. Please read the prospectus before investing. Mutual funds are not guaranteed, their values change frequently and past performance may not be repeated. A recommendation of any of the mentioned investments would only be made after a personal review of individual portfolio. Third Party research has been used in formulating the writer's opinions.

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Gold Bugs Beware

24-Aug-2011 | Reggie | Commodities Currency USA

 

Just because something goes up, doesn’t mean it has to go down, but in the case of Gold bullion which has risen nearly 25% in value over the past weeks, you start to wonder if the dramatic price increase is reasonable and sustainable. The price of gold started the month of July just under $1500 an oz. Fast forward to August 22nd and we’re looking at $1900 an oz. That type of dramatic increase raises some eyebrows when the main value is to be a store of value.

 

That kind of rapid ascent is usually reserved for more speculative holdings that are subject to huge shifts in supply and demand. The majority of the world’s gold supply is held by governments and central around the world Up until 1971 currencies were linked to the price of gold. A reserve form of currency is something you wouldn’t really expect to increase by 25% in value over a few weeks or nearly double over the past year unless something really awfully terrible was happening in the economy.

 

While some might argue that’s exactly what is going on right now, I believe the facts hang on the other side. TheUnited Statesdropping from AAA credit rating to AA+ according to 1 debt rating agency has been attributed to much of the rapid ascent in the price of gold. While this is not a good thing, it has little to no impact on how theUnited Stateswill continue to operate their country and pay their debtors. The debt issues ofGreecehave also been attributed for much of the rise in Gold. However,Greeceis one of the smallest countries in the European Union and of very little consequence to overall EU productivity. While unfortunate, these types of issues aren’t anything new. Countries are like businesses. They go through ups and downs. First world countries like theUSare not going to disappear and devolve into panic and pandemonium.

 

As always, noted investor and market commentator Dennis Gartman made some very impactful statements regarding the whole gold issue.

“To bring fact to this story, as of last Friday, the SPDR

Gold Trust’s market capitalization rose to $76.7 billion as

gold moved to and through topped $1,880/ounce. The

SPY’s “capitalization” was that day $74.4 billion. It is

senseless that the SPY has a lesser capitalization than

the gold ETF and it will not much longer, either because

stocks rise or gold falls or both; but as Herb Stein said,

that which cannot continue won’t. This won’t.”

As of writing this, the price of Gold is already down over $120 from its peak of $1900/oz and further decline is expected. Some are calling it investors cashing in gains, and others are calling it the end of the bubble.

 

This blog has been prepared by the Retire First Team. The blog expresses the opinions of the writers and not necessarily those of Retire First Ltd. Statistic and factual data are from sources Retire First believes to be reliable but their accuracy can not be guaranteed. This blog is furnished on the basis and understanding that Retire First is under no liability whatsoever in respect thereof. It is for informational purposes only and is not be construed as an offer or solicitation for the sale or purchase of securities. Retire First Ltd. And its officers, directors, employees and their family may from time to time invest in the securities discussed in this blog. This blog is intended for individuals where Retire First Ltd is registered as a dealer in securities.

Retire First is a member of the Canadian Investors Protection Fund.

Commission, trailing commissions, management fees and expense all may be associated with mutual funds. Please read the prospectus before investing. Mutual funds are not guaranteed, their values change frequently and past performance may not be repeated. A recommendation of any of the mentioned investments would only be made after a personal review of individual portfolio. Third Party research has been used in formulating the writer's opinions.

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Postive Earning News

11-Aug-2011 | kate | Canadian Investing New Announcements US Markets USA

After a couple years, I finally have something nice to say about Manulife on the Retire First Blog, after the insurer reported second quarter profits of $490 million Thursday after posting losses last year of $2.4 billion.

 

Manulife strong number would have been $929 million were it not for the direct hit the company took from the weak stock market and interest rates, as indicated by the company in their press release. The company also indicated that they have made progress towards removing their exposure to interest rates. Their exposure is currently 1.2 billion per 100 basis point drop compared to 1.5 from the previous quarter and hopes to have it down to 1.1 by the end of the year.

 

The company has also been working hard on hedging their exposure to the market over the next few years. By the end of June 2012, 60-66% of their stock portfolio would be hedged against a 10% drop in the market. They have started the process by changing their equity hedges to better match their current market exposures.

 

Another company with good earning (although no surprise by the line ups) is Tim Horton’s.  The company’s profits were up slightly to $95.5 million for the second quarter, amounting to net earnings of 58 cents per share.

 

Tim Hortons same store sales were up 3.8%, while US same store sales climbed 6.6%  Tim Hortons is the biggest restaurant chain in Canada and the fourth largest in North America with 3,700 restaurants.

 

This blog has been prepared by the Retire First Team. The blog expresses the opinions of the writers and not necessarily those of Retire First Ltd. Statistic and factual data are from sources Retire First believes to be reliable but their accuracy can not be guaranteed. This blog is furnished on the basis and understanding that Retire First is under no liability whatsoever in respect thereof. It is for informational purposes only and is not be construed as an offer or solicitation for the sale or purchase of securities. Retire First Ltd. And its officers, directors, employees and their family may from time to time invest in the securities discussed in this blog. This blog is intended for individuals where Retire First Ltd is registered as a dealer in securities.

Retire First is a member of the Canadian Investors Protection Fund.

Commission, trailing commissions, management fees and expense all may be associated with mutual funds. Please read the prospectus before investing. Mutual funds are not guaranteed, their values change frequently and past performance may not be repeated. A recommendation of any of the mentioned investments would only be made after a personal review of individual portfolio. Third Party research has been used in formulating the writer's opinions.

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