Canadian Dollars Blog

The Apple iOS platform is a brilliant one. It's fast and responsive nature make it an ideal operating system for researching information on the go. When connected to Wi-Fi or 3g, the device is even more powerful. The wealth of information that you can download in the apps is so useful that whenever I need to travel long distances, I no longer bring my netbook or notebook - I just carry around my iPod Touch. The following apps are my favorite financial apps that I find indispensable. 1. CB Mobile (Canadian Business) My favorite thing about this app is the financial news and opinion sections. It is updated regularly and like the bi-weekly Canadian Business magazine, it contains well researched and timely articles. 2. MarketWatch MarketWatch is an indispensable part of both my mornings, afternoons and evenings. When I need to know earnings results, I usually check here first. Also before the markets open up in the morning, MarketWatch has a good summary of what happened in Eur...

Those that follow this blog know that I'm a lover of technology. I'm quick to adopt the latest gadgets whether it's a new notebook, xbox, or camera when they're released. There's one area that I've been neglecting while I notice everyone else 'catching up' - the smartphone. Although I totally understand the utility and amazing features that come with owning a fancy smartphone, I haven't really bitten the bait. I can honestly say that I have been tempted though. So why the hesitation you might ask? As with most of my purchasing decisions I make them based on two main factors: price, and utility. Cost: The truth of the matter is, in Canada our cell phone and data rates are atrocious. We pay the third highest rates in the world and the mobile competition is a giant oligopoly. The fact that our regular bills are higher means that those that opt for smart phones will end up paying close to $100 a month on the data and phone services alone. This ...

Jae Jun of Old School Value has an interesting take on the whole EMMS merger investing arbitrage situation . While he makes some valid points I disagree with some of them. First off let me disclose that I am still retaining my position in EMMS and have voted to tender the shares. Should the tender not work, I'm not seeing much further downside in this stock as the activists could very well be getting Mr. Smulyan to offer a higher bid. It's clear that Jeff Smulyan is very willing to take the company private - the question is are we reading his hand correctly? I believe that he is willing to pay more than the 2.40 if there is dissent from the activists. Of course this is merely speculation as we don't have a view of Mr. Smulyan's hand. Only time will tell but the tender deadline of August 2 is quickly approaching. I'm holding my shares and will ride this one out. The potential further upside is potentially huge. Disclosure: Author has a position in EMMS acquire...

At what point do you get rid of your preferred shares? Suppose that in the depths of the financial armageddon, you were able to pick up some bank preferred stocks are ridiculously low levels. There was a period of time when preferreds were yielding 13-14%. While in many cases, this would be a warning sign, those that saw the blood in the streets and bought instead, were rewarded handsomely. Ironically enough, I bought these stocks for the sole purpose of being defensive. Now these very same preferred stocks are yielding about 6-7%. So from the time of financial armageddon until now, if you are still holding bank preferred, the upside you've received alone in capital gains can be anywhere from 60-80% (or even more). With the bonus of high yield that you're receiving, the question is - when do you decide to sell the preferred shares? Or do you just keep it indefinitely or until the bank retracts? What are some strategies in this regard? Do you hold or sell? I'm choos...

What a rough year it's been so far for stocks in general. I've been attempting to buy on the dips but have had an equal amount of successes and failures. Intrinsically RIM looks cheap and I bought after the drop last quarter at around 55. It's since recovered but it may take some time for investors to see the true value in this one. For my TFSA I started out the year fairly conservatively. I had kept last year's TFSA account half in cash and half in equities with ING. In hindsight this was not a great move as I only earned 4% last year. This year, I've moved my TFSA over to iTrade with the hope of taking better control of my destiny. In Jan 2010, I started the year off with 10,400 in my TFSA. I decided to spread that out evenly between 5 stocks: GRVY - Gravity Co Ltd Sponsored SINA - SINA Corporation DL - Daniel Leather EMA - Emera Inc SJR.B - Shaw Communications As EMA and SJR.B have DRIPs, I am reinvesting all dividends into their shares. These are long ter...