Argentine Government Hate Foreign Investment

26-Oct-2011 | Reggie | Canadian Investing Commodities Economy Investment Ideas

The Argentine Government is infamous for protectionist policies and poor fiscal management.  Keeping their track record, they today announced that all export revenue stemming from oil, gas, and mining companies must be repatriated, meaning any funds derived from the sale of these natural resources must flow through the country.  This was an increase from the 2002 law which stated that 30% of all revenue has to flow through.

 

The law was passed by Argentine President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner, who just won her second term on October 23rd.  It was largely expected that rules pertaining to foreign companies would be maintained and many stocks rose on the news of her re-election.  The move is designed to help maintain capital in the country and keep the Peso strong, but the detriment done to foreign investment seems to be a much bigger blow.  The United Nations estimate that foreign investment in Argentina has already decreased by 30% since the beginning of the year.  Companies with significant operations in Argentina all fell on the news.

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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Euro Debt Crisis Under Control?

12-Oct-2011 | Reggie | Banks Economy Europe

It would seem as though investors are starting to believe that this latest European debt crisis is under control.  Markets throughout the world took some pretty serious hits over the past few weeks as investors headed to the exits based on fears that European banks could begin to collapse.  With the monetary union rallying behind the common cause of keeping the economy afloat, investor confidence seems to be on the rise.

 

The latest refinement of the bailout fund, referred to as the EFSF European Financial Stability Facility, has just been approved by Slovakia, one of the smaller nations of the Eurozone.  The EFSF will have a total value of €750 billion, part of which will be raised by issuing its own bonds that will have an AAA rating. 

 

The other big news is that the Belgian government agreed to nationalize the domestic operations of Dexia bank.  Dexia was in dire straights thanks to the bad European debts it was holding and weak capitalization that resulted.  With not having to worry about a run on the bank, investors and asset holders could take a breath.

 

Also, the Chinese sovereign wealth fund bought shares of the four big banks.  The move is meant to shore up capital of the banks and increase investor confidence.  The Chinese markets were closed when the announcement was made, but shares on the Hong Kong market rallied hard immediately following the announcement. 

 

With this latest round of good news, the TSX has managed to rebound over 1,000 points since the lows hit last week.

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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Markets Tumble again on European Debt Woes

03-Oct-2011 | Reggie | Asia Banks Europe Government

Following their Asian counterparts, North American markets took quite the tumble on the first day of October, a notoriously bad month for stocks.  The Hang Seng was hit the hardest with a 4.4% drop while the TSX and Dow Jones dropped 3.2% and 2.4% respectively.  This decline put the TSX into official bear market territory now that the index is off more than 20% from its April high.  Once again, the European debt troubles are front and center of the blame. 

 

Greece once again failed to meet its target set for spending cuts for both this year and next.  Failure to meet the deficit target set means Greece is far less likely to receive any additional bailout funds which have prevented the country from claiming bankruptcy thus far.  That said, many are predicting that the next round of funds will be paid out to Greece in order to give the policy makers more time to formulate a plan. 

 

Accompanying the bad news, Bill Gross the world’s biggest bond manager outlined in his monthly investment outlook that a recession is becoming quite likely at this point. “Sovereign balance sheets resemble an overweight diabetic on the verge of a heart attack.” 

 

Making things worse, consumer spending in the US is likely to fall in the future thanks to declining wages for the US work force.  Consumer spending has been a huge proponent of the world’s largest economy.  With spending on the decline, the writing could be on the wall for growth in the United States.

 

These headlines, combined with others have investors throughout the world on their heels as they hope to avoid huge losses like those we saw in 2008 and a full out recession.  The one ray of hope in the news for today was that China’s service industry managed to expand faster than expected last month.  If the Chinese economy manages to stay afloat throughout this European crisis, there is a good chance the rest of the world can remain afloat.

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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Benchmark Interest Rate to hold Steady

08-Sep-2011 | Reggie | Banks Canadian Investing

 

Today the Bank of Canada Governor Mark Carney announced that he will once again be leaving interest rates flat, as he has for the past 8 meetings.  This was not much of a surprise as the Canadian economy struggled to put forth positive growth data for the 2nd quarter.  In his announcement he made mention that he was not worried about the Canadian economy as it seems to be growing, but for the rest of the world which could have a deep impact on our exports as Europe and the United States continue to struggle with debt and employment issues.

 

The stock market reacted quite well to the announcement, jumping up by 200 points for the TSX, 75 for the NASDAQ, and 275, for the DJIA.

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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ETFs for Every Occasion

08-Mar-2011 | Reggie | Asia Canadian Investing Commodities Market Strategies

Exchange Traded Funds really are an amazing tool for investing.  They have the ability to make investing so incredibly easy and give the possibility for investors to easily and quickly switch up their investments.

If you think Oil is going up, there is an ETF for that.  If you think the TSX is in for a good year, there is an ETF for that, if you think Chinese, Russian, or Middle East stocks are in store for some good returns, there is an ETF for that too.  Most are quite inexpensive and can easily be bought on the market just like any stock and of course sold just as easy.

The Globe and Mail had an interesting article that highlighted just how useful ETFs can be.  The first was about how hot the Canadian metals and mining sector has been.  Iron ore, coal, potash, rare earth metals, and copper have all posted remarkable returns over the past couple years as China and other emerging nations continue to grow at a frenzied pace.  Many investors have had absolutely incredible returns by picking and choosing stocks that mine and sell these commodities.  However, this requires a fair bit of research to make sure you’re getting the right ones.  By buying a metal and mining ETF an investor immediately gets ownership of numerous metal and mining companies which gives them exposure to basically the entire sector.  Owning an ETF basically gives you a little bit of everything which is great because it can be very difficult to predict which companies will be the ones bought out.

Whether you’re an experienced investor wanting to take advantage of particular sectors or a novice investor that is wanting to start, there are a ton of ETFs out there that can be of great use.

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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