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.

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

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.

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?

• Happy Thanksgiving was me wishing you and your family a joyous harvest festival (it was for me).
• The job picture in Canada in September was much improved, which makes me happy as well. More young folks with jobs, to ensure they can support the services I have grown accustomed to.
• I am impressed by my son’s ability to be amused by old toys and thus What is Old is New Once More in our house. Maybe I can find an original Nintendo somewhere for him to play with?
• My most popular post continues to be A Script for Customer Retention Deals, may not always work, but it’s a good way to start.

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