moneyrelations :: Oct.31.2007
Hello, stranger! New here? How about subscribing to my RSS feed? Thanks for visiting!
No posting today. Busy eating handing out candy *nomnomnom*. Have a safe and happy Halloween! MEeeeeeeow!
Holidays ::
1 Comment »
Did you enjoy the post?
Subscribe to Money Relations and the Comments as well.
Share in Social Media
Related Posts:
moneyrelations :: Oct.30.2007
As I mentioned many times, this blog has opened my eyes to a lot of things. It has motivated me to learn more about investing, introduced me to new technologies, and it has made me into a kinder, gentler, more socially aware person.
I think.
Okay, let’s cut to the chase: when you go shopping, do you go out of your way to buy ecologically friendly products? I really have to say I never thought about it. If two products were priced equally in front of me and one said dolphin friendly, of course I’d choose that one over another product. But would I specifically seek a more expensive product out? I think not. To focus this towards investing, would you pay more to invest in a mutual fund that was socially responsible – and is it really?
I came across an article from the Vancouver Sun which asks, Just how responsible is your ’socially responsible’ fund? In the article, it explains that despite the marketing hype, there’s little difference between the ethical funds and the plain vanilla variety. The depth of the Canadian market leaves really slim pickings for these ethical funds to separate the not so bad polluters from the truly ugly. Due to the driving force of the Canadian economy: mining, energy and financials, it’s a given that a mutual fund would hold companies like HudBay Minerals, Suncor, and Encana – not exactly the model companies for the environmental movement. So how do these socially responsible mutual funds justify investing in these companies? I would describe it as the mole approach. They invest in these companies in the hopes of changing company behavior.
Is that like marrying someone and hoping you can change them later? Has that ever worked?
I decided to look into an ethical mutual fund company for kicks. Who knows, I could learn something. The article mentioned Ethical Mutual Fund Company. Great, they fit my criteria!
The first thing I looked at was the management expense ratio (MER) of these funds. Somehow, I’m thinking social responsibility costs more. This is what I found on their mutual fund basics page regarding MER:
The Management Expense Ratio (MER) is the percentage that the management fee and operating expenses represent of the fund’s average net assets. For example, if a $100 million fund has $2 million in costs for the year its MER will be 2%. MERs can range from under 1% per year for some money market funds to almost 3% for some equity funds. The higher the MER, the greater the impact on the fund’s performance and the return to its investors.
Are they serious in that last sentence? Since when does a high MER have greater impact on fund performance and return? Yeah, by eating up profits maybe. These ethical funds invest in the same companies but they charge more for it. How about being socially responsible by not robbing people blind. That pretty much stopped my research right there as I’m thinking I’m better off with my index funds. But don’t take my word for it, you can research for your self at Alternative Energy Mutual Funds.
Investing ::
4 Comments »
Did you enjoy the post?
Subscribe to Money Relations and the Comments as well.
Share in Social Media
Related Posts:
moneyrelations :: Oct.29.2007
Hello, readers. Notice anything different?
Meh, probably not. It’s like asking your significant other how they like your hair. They never notice.
I just got off the schneid with Google and was minted with a new Page Rank of 3 in their latest updates. I know. It’s like if you could really tell 
If you are a blogger, did you fair well or poorly?
In the blogosphere, the new PR has been met with much skepticism and many question its validity. Many informative blogs got their authority decreased due to the selling of links and advertising – or they used to sell links and advertising. And while it is true that they did have sponsorship, they also had lots of relevant content. I, for one, can appreciate how time consuming it is to write and research for content. It certainly doesn’t come easily for me.
When I first started blogging, I asked myself whether I wanted to monetize or not. I thought I was actually doing myself a disservice as a personal finance blog not to monetize. Now, I have no delusions that I will make loads of cash as I don’t think blogging is the way to go. I believe it’s an avenue to brand yourself and a traffic vehicle for other commercial ventures. I also realize that very few can make a living blogging and I personally don’t have the expertise in any area or the writing chops to make this happen. Still, I think it’s a worthwhile cause to explore what the Internet is capable of and I am actually surprised at some of the resistance of the PF community to monetize. Do they believe that it will diminish their posting impact/credibility if they use Adsense or some other form of advertising? For me, it’s par for the course for a PF blog. I actually expect it and in fact, I applaud the efforts to generate extra income. If people can write about cutting coupons to save a few bucks, then why aren’t they trying to make enough to cover hosting costs? Or if they use a free host then it’s all profit. A modest $10 earnings a month equals $120 a year, which is a nice Christmas present for a hobby you enjoy.
In any case, a new rank of PR3 opens up some new possibilities to monetize. It’s nothing to brag about but still, it’s more than I had hoped for. Since this is my first blog, I didn’t know what to expect and I was just hoping for a 1 to get off ground zero and to have some proof of my existence and credibility. Now that I’ve been promoted, maybe I’ll get invited to play more reindeer games – so leave a comment if you feel inclined, because I follow!
Blogging ::
2 Comments »
Did you enjoy the post?
Subscribe to Money Relations and the Comments as well.
Share in Social Media
Related Posts:
moneyrelations :: Oct.26.2007
The year is coming to an end and soon, financial papers will be out in full force making 2008 predictions. How high will the loonie go? Where is the U.S. economy headed? Instead of looking ahead, I’m going to do some revisionist history and check up on what Warren Buffett himself had to say about the future of the United States. Here is an article Warren Buffett wrote in Fortune magazine dated October 26, 2003, exactly four years ago today, entitled Why I’m not buying the U.S. dollar. It also has a catchy subtitle: America’s growing trade deficit is selling the nation out from under us. Here’s a way to fix the problem – and we need to do it now.
Needless to say, the title is not very encouraging.
My mom told me twenty years ago that the Chinese are going to grow into a superpower just from the sheer force of their population. As a kid, I thought – um, I didn’t think much as a kid, probably whatever. But the time has come for the Chinese on the economic stage. The truth is, it didn’t take a financial genius to predict it.
We can all see the debt trouble the U.S. is in, the credit issues and the foreign ownership. Always the land of dreams and opportunity, Americans take risks on loans for bad credit to achieve entrepreneurial success. Therefore, Buffett has a pretty predictable take on the subject and he admits himself that he’s not a macroeconomics kind of guy and he’s cried wolf before. But has much of the situation changed from 4 years ago?
As described by the Toronto Star on his recent trip in Toronto:
In many of the 10 or so questions he took during the Q&A session, Buffettt dwelled on the weakness of the U.S. dollar and a U.S. trade deficit that shows no signs of easing.
Buffettt said it was “very unsettling” that Brazil now is helping prop up the U.S. dollar with its purchases of U.S. government securities. “Brazil is a country whose own currency has gone to nil five times in the past century,” he noted.
Will this also turn into an issue of “it was predicted” twenty years from now?
Warren Buffett ::
4 Comments »
Did you enjoy the post?
Subscribe to Money Relations and the Comments as well.
Share in Social Media
Related Posts:
moneyrelations :: Oct.24.2007
Domestic retail sales data for the month of August was released yesterday and it beat expectations. As a result, the loonie hit a 33-year high touching $1.0337 US.
This is interesting news for me because I own shares of Reitmans (Canada) Limited (TSX: RET.A) but the share price keeps on falling. Last week, it even reached a 52-week low of $17.35. I don’t get it. This is historically a good Canadian company with strong cash flows and steady dividends. Yes, it had a disappointing Q2 report with regards to the baby boomer Cassis chain but that’s being overhauled. Of the 935 stores under its Reitmans umbrella, only 12 are Cassis. Are you telling me that it had that much of an impact? It’s probably a case of hit and miss with the fashion trends so I don’t think the stock price should be punished that severely. Reitmans also had a slow start with Q3 due to the credit crunch but I think that has been turned around with the strong Canadian dollar. Reitmans buys its materials overseas in American dollars which will surely help lower the manufacturing costs. And despite the urgings of Finance Minster Jim Flaherty for retailers to lower prices to reflect the new purchasing power of the loonie, it seems some aren’t listening. From the Globe and Mail’s article, Retailers to play Scrooge despite soaring loonie:
Reitmans, which has posted some record margins over the past few years, has kept its prices stable or even lowered some of them over that period, Mr. Reitman said. But consumers can’t count on lower prices for their holiday shopping.
Lululemon Athletica has profited from the stronger loonie, but also won’t be dropping prices in the coming months, Mr. Meers said. “We do not price based on currency strength or weakness – we price based on quality/value.
Well, we know where Reitmans stands for the holidays. In other news, Reitmans announced launching ecommerce capability later this year starting with its stores targeting plus-sized women which I think makes sense. Heavier ladies might prefer shopping from home rather than at a brick and mortar place.
So yes, Reitmans has had a couple of disappointing quarters recently but I’m in this for the long haul. I’ve added to my position in Reitmans.
In the news, Investing ::
4 Comments »
Did you enjoy the post?
Subscribe to Money Relations and the Comments as well.
Share in Social Media
Related Posts:
