Investing | Crawford • Ashwood Financial

We are moving into a period of uncertainty with mounting tensions over trade wars, and continued surprises via Tweets from the U.S. President. I thought this a good time to share what the effects may be on your investments. 2017 was the year of calm, with little volatility in the markets; surprising – given the almost constant flow of tweets and government chaos south of the border. In fact, business enjoyed lower taxes and improved earnings in the U.S. throughout the year. This was reflected in their stock market. Lesson: the noise and silliness from Trump has largely been ignored…

I should probably have called this article The Trump/Clinton Non-Effect. There is plenty of discussion about what the repercussions would be on business and the markets if either of these candidates become President. I have been talking to various money managers and market analysts to get their take on what to expect. I thought you might be interested in some of their insights. First of all, I have to disclose that I prefer to place my own and my client’s money with portfolio managers who tend to have concentrated portfolios of companies that they know extremely well. Whether we own…

We are sharing this short video with you to answer some common questions about the current state of the world’s economies and markets. Myles Zyblock is the Chief Investment Strategist at Dynamic Funds. Myles has some interesting insights on the future of the Eurozone, Brexit, the U.S economy and more.

Given recent market volatility, it is worth my comments to our clients to outline what is going on and why. As usual when uncertainty rears its head in the stock & some bond markets, investors hit the exits. The question is why now and when will things calm down so that markets can go back up. Canadian market uncertainty, of course, revolves around the price of oil and other commodities. We have a glut of oil reserves. The Saudi’s continue to pump out at high rates, technology is allowing better access to North American oil, and lower consumption due to…

Our new government has kept their promise to reduce the Tax Free Savings Account (TFSA) limit back down to $5,500 per year. But don’t worry; you aren’t losing any contribution room that has already accumulated. Anyone opening a brand new account today would have a limit of $41,000, and that will rise by another $5,500 on January 1st, 2016. So, new accounts or maximums for previously opened accounts will be $46,500 in the New Year. We recommend you check with your accountant or tax preparer, or log into your CRA My Account online, to ensure you don’t over contribute if…

Given the headlines of the past few days I thought I would share some comments below from a small collection of experienced money managers; and add a couple of my own. Fidelity Investments: Long-term bull markets never move in a straight line and it is normal to see short-term corrections along the way. Staying fully invested can give investors an opportunity to fully participate in the markets long-term upward trend. Waiting until the backdrop feels “safe” to make an investment in stocks, has historically not been a good method of achieving future returns. Many of the best periods to invest…

I am sharing this article with you (written by one of our favourite investment managers) because it echoes some of my Basic Financial Principles. I have always coached my clients down the emotional road to financial success, and we can’t overstate the emotional part of that statement. Read on to see how successful investing is and is not accomplished. Written by EdgePoint Wealth Apr 14, 2015 Time and again, do-it-yourself investors pile into the wrong stuff. They want to build their wealth yet end up in investments that separate them from their hard-earned savings. Following are some classic bad moves…

Earlier this week, the 2015 Federal Budget announced that the Tax Free Savings Account annual contribution limit will be increased from $5,500 to $10,000 per year. The government has said that this change will be effective immediately (and be retroactive to January 1st). What This Means for You If you have not already made a 2015 deposit into your TFSA, you can do so now up to the new maximum of $10,000 (if you have not maximized previous years contributions you may actually have more room). If you have already made a contribution of $5,500 this year, you can add…

I recently attended HollisWealth’s 9th annual Year Ahead Investment Conference in Toronto, featuring some of North America’s top investment minds. The focus of the conference was to hear first-hand from experts on the economic and investment outlook for 2015. A number of speakers presented throughout the day including Scotiabank’s Chief Economist, Warren Jestin, Scotiabank’s Commodity Market expert, Ms. Patricia Mohr, Dynamic’s Chief Investment Strategist, Myles Zyblock, three sector analysts from Scotia Capital as well as panel discussions with Portfolio Managers and ETF experts. The speakers discussed a range of topics and some of the common themes that emerged are highlighted…

It has been a good eighteen months since we have seen any significant corrections in the world’s stock markets. We have enjoyed a long stretch of growing portfolios, and now we are experiencing a normal correction in the markets. To put this into some perspective I will share some thoughts from a selection of sources, including some portfolio managers I spoke to last week at a conference I attended in the U.S. Taking a macro view (large overview) there are a few things that are affecting the psychology of investors at the moment. The first is simply that many stock…

Category Archives: Investing

Trade Wars and the Tweet Effect

The Trump/Clinton Effect

Market Outlook

Bumpy Markets

2016 TFSA Limit

Market Shock

How not to pick a mutual fund

Save More for Later

2015

Today’s Markets