CIBC Visa statement improved

Here's something I meant to talk about a while ago: my CIBC Visa statement is now showing spending categories. This way I see how much we spend on restaurants, groceries, etc. every month. There are a few mistakes sometimes in terms of what gets allocated to which category but overall it's pretty good. I find this really helped me get an idea of where my money is going. It really works well for me because I put EVERYTHING on credit card (to get all those Aeroplan miles :-). I also always pay my card in full every month.

Why is this so good? You see, the thing is I don't like to do a budget or track my expenses. I pay myself first (investing, travel money), then my bills (mortgage, VISA) ... I try never to spend more than what I have in cash. I buy my cars used and pay them cash, etc. So far, this has worked really well for me but it's not for everybody. In my case, this gives me more time to do stock research for example instead of spending countless hours playing around in Quicken to track all my expenses. It really helps that my wife and I have the same spending habits and we're not impulsive buyers. We spend a lot on travel and restaurants, but so far that never busted the bank :-) Although I won't stop buying lattes, maybe cutting on 50% of the restaurants would make me save a good 200$ a month.

I know a lot of you are budgeting out there so what am I missing that would really help me save more money?

Where NOT to invest: Ontario lotteries (why? frauds!)

Here's a Canoe.ca piece that mentions there's a statistically impossible amount of lottery retailers that win prizes. I could understand that it happened a few times before being stopped by authorities, but apparently, the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation is sleeping with the retailers! Here's a quote:

Public Infrastructure Minister David Caplan asked police to look into ombudsman Andre Marin's report probing a disproportionate number of jackpot wins by so-called lottery insiders - a report that amounted to a searing indictment of the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation.Marin showed no quarter to the corporation, which he said ignored allegations of widespread retailer fraud, "coddling" retailers and front-line ticket sellers while playing "games" with customers who complained they had been cheated.

I already thought spending money on lottery tickets was a waste of money. Now I think it makes people victim of pure and simple theft!

Finally a real SEC in Canada?

Some good news for our badly regulated Canadian Stock Markets: it seems that Flaherty thinks that there is enough support from provinces for establishing a single regulator for securities in Canada.

That might help curb all the frauds at different levels or at least give a stronger way to fight back for the fraud victims. With some luck, that new "Canadian SEC" could also act on the insider trading going on in Canada. (You don't believe there is? Look at this article.)

It's time that Canada gets a real financial backbone!

Nuclear is good but ...

Now we're starting to see a lot of ads on Nuclear energy saying that it's clean. I'm also personally buying uranium stocks. So some food for thoughts now ... Business Week has an article that says it's not as safe as we think.And look at this quote I found on CFRA from the industry:

A just-released report from the Nuclear Waste Management Organization gives a tentative green light to locations such as Ottawa, Toronto, London and Windsor-Sarnia.

The nuclear industry says storing millions of bundles of intensely radioactive waste fuel underground in heavily populated areas is a geologically safe choice

Who should I use to replace Etrade?

As you've read in one of my recent blogs, I am really unhappy with Etrade's customer service. I have a friend who just switched to Credential Direct and he's really happy with their service. The user interface for their web platform seems really good too. I am wondering if I should switch to these guys or to Questrade...

He had filled a Questrade form but then canceled it when he realized there was a 5000$ account minimum where there's no minimum with Credential Direct. The funny thing is that Questrade called him a few weeks later to say they had lowered their minimum, but too late :-)

I had found Credential Direct tanks to Million Dollar Journey's excellent review of discount brokers.

1929 crash: good to keep in mind

I found an interesting piece in the Globe Investor Gold edition from the Contra Guys regarding what was being said by the media and the big banks as the stock market was going down before the big 1929 crash. Everybody was reassuring and saying the fundamentals were sound. It finally took until 1954 for the stock market to come back to the 1929 high.

They don't give specific advice in their article. My personal advice is too always remain cautious about the stock market (diversify, hold some bonds, buy good companies, etc.). On the other hand, I don't think there is any need to panic. The markets have been pretty resilient even through the 2001 bust. They recovered very quickly since then.

That said, there is always a part of me wondering if a 1929 crash is still possible ... if yes, is there any way to have a portfolio that would prevent major losses? I've been investing in defensive stocks since last year and I almost didn't feel the recent drop. I've also been investing in some highly speculative uranium and junior mining stocks and they've been doing incredibly great lately. But in any case, I have no confidence that I have a portfolio that could withstand a big crash. What's your take on this?

E*trade : I've changed my mind!

I used to say that Etrade was the way to go for an investment account. Well, I've changed my mind. Their customer service is reallly bad. I've convinced a family member to switch to Etrade. That person moved a large amount of RRSP money from ING Direct to Etrade more than 3 months ago and the money is still nowhere to be found! ING Direct says they've sent the check 2 months ago and they've since then sent cancellation forms to Etrade to be able to cancel the check (at our request). Somehow, the reps at Etrade can't seem to figure out how to fill that form! Talking to a supervisor at Etrade is pretty much impossible. Talk to the Ombudsman? I've found his name, but he does not work there any more! And nobody replaced him! The whole process of talking to multiple reps has been very painful and it seems nobody can really help. Arghh!

Any ideas how I could help resolve that situation? I will definitely never recommend Etrade again to anybody that's for sure. I am even thinking of switching everything I've got with them to another place (any ideas?).

back from vacation: let Dilbert to the financial talk :-)

I've made it back from California ... very nice place but nothing is cheap.

Anyway, to resume blogging on a very light note, here's a funny Dilbert comic strip that summarizes very well some of the bad sides of the investment industry (mutual funds high MER, big front-end load and often below average returns).