22-Mar-2011 | kate | Asia Investment Ideas Market Strategies
Dr. Doom made the announcement that he would like to invest in the Japanese market. Japan has had a 20 year bear market and low stock valuation, Japan stock market is positioned to rally from the re-building efforts. He thinks the market is showing a base building and is looking forward to future growth.
He thinks that the North American markets are in correction period and it is time to move into Japan. Watch the video on globeandmail.com
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.
03-Mar-2010 | kate | Canadian Investing Currency Economy Market Outlook
Exchange traders are taking an interest in Canada, as they are identifying our country as the likely early rate hikers in the upcoming months.
For FX traders, an interest rate changes represent “carry trade” opportunities, where trader can borrow in one currency and invest in a second in order to profit off of the difference in interest rate paid. Carry traders are one of the key drivers of the fx markets.
Carry traders are looking at Canada since we are leveraged to the strongest area of the global recovery (commodities and exports) and expect us to move to the forefront as ourselves, and most likely Australia raise our interest rates. Most carry traders who view Australia as leading the pack since they have been raising rates slowly since October, believe Canada isn’t far behind even though our central bank decided to hold our rates in the near future.
Other countries FX traders are closely watching:
Mexico: Changing their image from a serial defaulter, Mexico has grown into a healthy budgetary leader and has good trade exposure to the United States. The county has strong fundamentals, including a better than expected fourth quarter GDP leading to the conclusion rate hikes are in the near future.
The Scandies- The Two Scandinavian currencies- the Norwegian Krone and Swedish Krona- are primed to be two countries that would benefit from being early rate hikers. So far, Norway has confirmed this by raising their key policy rate by a quarter point to 1.75% in December. Sweden has held steadfast on their rate so far, but has indicated that the summer may bring changes. Underlying the FX traders beliefs are strong growth rates and export levels.
Brazil- The country has big exposure to commodities making them a major play in the emerging markets. While Brazil used to be an investment risk, credit agencies have recently upgraded Brazil to investment grade.
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.
25-Jan-2010 | kate | Investment Ideas Uncategorized
Olympic fever is here! With less than one month to the Olympics and the fanfare about to begin, the question was raised…do Olympic Sponsors out preform the rest of the market?
Well it turns out that someone was interested in this very question and Dow Jones Summer/Winter Games Index was born. Consisting of 36 publically listed companies that are the official partners, sponsors and suppliers of the game; the Dow Jones Summer/Winter Index really does perform better than the benchmark.
Climbing 47% from December 2008; when the composition was changed to meet the 2010 sponsors, the Olympic sponsors almost doubled the 26% returns achieved by the DJIA and the Dow Jones Global Titan Index during the same time period.
During the same time period the S&P 500/TSX composite index was up 41%, a great return but not as fast as the Olympic sponsors. However, there was one way that you could end up at the top of the podium without investing in the Olympics- Investing Metals.
The Dow Jones Canadian Titans took down the Olympics’ by a staggering 17% at a 64% one year return. Let by several successful mining companies, the average took down the Olympic Sponsors and took the gold medal for top performance in 2009.
Company Weight
General Electric 10.02%
McDonald’s 9.84%
Royal Bank 9.67%
Coca-Cola 9.11%
Suncor Energy 8.30%
3M 8.15%
VISA 6.04%
Dow Chemical 5.24%
Panasonic 5.07%
TransCanada 3.46%
Source: Dow Jones; as of Jan. 19, 2010
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.
11-Dec-2009 | kate | Canadian Investing New Announcements Stocks Technology
CRTC has reversed their decision barring Globalive Wireless from entering Canadian Telecom space, allowing the forth wireless player to enter the Canadian market.
The decision has been reversed on the legal grounds, but the decision means that there will be a near national player entering the country, and will help consumers by introducing a new level of competition.
Not to much surprise, Roger, Telus and BCE have been working tirelessly to derail the start up carries entrance into the market. Globalive is a significant new player and just might be the biggest competitor the Canadian wireless market has ever faced.
Competition in the Canadian Wireless market is certainly needed, as it is a well known fact that wireless minutes in Canada are significantly more expensive than else where in the world.
The reversal put Globalive Wirelss, months ahead of rival’s entrants Public Mobile and DAVE wireless, which have hired equipment vendors to build their networks and are expected to launch within 6 months. Globalive has begun to hire and roll out their network which is already covering Toronto, Ottawa, Edmonton, Calgary and Vancouver.
Globalive will be branded under Wind Mobile and is expected to thriving competitor, bringing heightened risk to the big three and their investors, who have enjoyed soaring profits in recent year and generous dividends. The entrance of Wind has resulted in at least one analyst downgrading his rating on Rogers to a “hold” and lowered his target by $1, to $35.
The same analyst from Canaccord Adams, has also lowered his target on TELUS to 40 from 43, based on the expectation of fewer new subscribers but has yet to change his “hold” target on BCE.
Egypt’s Orascom owns almost all of Globalive debt and 65% of their equity, well the Wind brand is an import from Naguib Sawaris’s two European carriers.
On the news, Telus is down 2.07% this morning at $32.95, BCE is trading down 3.24% at $27.50 and Rogers is down 4.42% at $32.45.
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.
10-Dec-2009 | Reggie | Asia
After finally getting the go-ahead from antitrust authorities, Sanyo Electric Co and Panasonic Corp got the go ahead to merge. This will create the second biggest electronics company in Japan, only behind Hitachi, with sales over $9.5 trillion yen. Although the two companies are well known for their home appliances and other gadgets, the new entity plans to go after the much more lucrative battery market. Its estimated that between Sanyo and Panasonic they will have a combined 30% of the worlds market share for batteries. Based on the outlook against greenhouse gases and for electric vehicles, things should be shaping up nicely for the battery market.
Both Sanyo and Panasonic have been struggling recently thanks to price deflation in Japan, rising costs, and lower demand from the recession. The merger should help to reduce costs from R&D and management expenses.
The merger seems to be part of a larger trend facing many businesses today as they struggle to recover from the recession and slower sales. Rumours are once again circling the idea of a merger between US cellular providers, T-Mobile and Sprint. Both companies have struggled because of their older and smaller networks compared to heavyweight rival AT&T. Another possible merger up for discussion among anti-trust watchdogs is that of Comcast and NBC Universal. Car manufacturers Volkswagen an Suzuki have also been in talks to merge. Notable mergers of the recent past also include Satellite radio companies, Sirius and XM, Canadian Oil giants, and Suncor and Petro-Canada. Consolidation among businesses definitely seems to be picking up as companies look for a way to prosper during a difficult time.
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.
Toll Free 1-877-314-5553
