mikazo

SGA (Saga Communications Inc.)

As a holder of several different TD e-Series index mutual funds, I received some mail advising me of proposed changes to investment objectives of several of the TD mutual fund offerings. I was intrigued, so I read the management information circular (available here: https://www.tdassetmanagement.com/document/PDF/news-insight/MANAGEMENT_INFORMATION_CIRCULAR_IN_RESPECT_OF_SPECIAL_MEETINGS_OF_UNITHOLDERS_EN.pdf) To summarize, several of the index mutual funds propose to change the language that describes the index on which they are based. More specifically, to "replace the name of the benchmark index with a general description of its benchmark index instead". The intention is to change the index to one of the appropriate Solactive indices. In addition, a second change is proposed, that would allow up to 100% of the mutual fund to be invested in the equivalent TD index ETF. I wonder if this would allow the mutual funds not to have to pay fees to Solactive at all, since the funds would hold the ETFs, and not direct positions to mimic the index. Here's a summary of the proposed changes: TD Canadian Bond Index Fund -> Solactive Canadian Select Universe Bond Index -> achieved with TD Canadian Aggregate Bond Index ETF TD Canadian Index Fund -> Solactive Canada Broad Market Index -> achieved with TD Canadian Equity Index ETF TD U.S. Index Fund -> Solactive US Large Cap CAD Index -> achieved with TD U.S. Equity Index ETF TD International Index Fund -> Solactive GBS Developed Markets ex North America Large & Mid Cap CAD Index -> achieved with TD International Equity Index ETF The resulting lower fees paid to Solactive are partially passed on to the investors in the form of management fee reductions on each of the affected mutual funds. The e-Series funds see a small reduction, and other series a more significant reduction (details in the circular). With regard to taxes, the circular mentions that small portions of the funds will incur capital gains tax, but not enough capital gains to warrant a special dividend. Units held in tax-sheltered accounts would not be affected. There has been some discussion elsewhere on the internet about the changes, but most people don't seem too worried. https://www.reddit.com/r/PersonalFinanceCanada/comments/cwa7bn/td_eseries_index_switching_index_provider/ https://www.reddit.com/r/PersonalFinanceCanada/comments/cgw4yl/investing_changes_to_td_eseries/ http://www.holypotato.net/?p=2242 https://www.canadianmoneyforum.com/showthread.php/138494-TDAM-e-series-funds Two specific questions come to my mind: [*]Will Solactive indicies affect the asset mix in any negative way? These indicies are calculated in large part by computers and automation. [*]Is it too risky to invest in a mutual fund that invests solely in a single ETF? Specifically, if there is a liquidity crisis and high demand for fund redemptions, I assume it would be much harder to liquidate units of a single ETF, rather than various stock or bond positions.

Would the unrealized gains/losses on this spreadsheet be accurate? I think so, if it's pulling latest quotes from Google Finance. Interesting to see where this fund ended up, especially compared to SPY.

I decided a few months ago to transition away from value investing and toward index investing. I simply don't have the time required to research value ideas. It makes me feel better to see others have come to the same realization.

Just finished the book last week. It has made me more interested in researching small-cap bank stocks!

Considering EFN.TO, trading was halted and resumed due to -38% drop today. Probably something to do with a new issuance of $1.2B in asset-backed securities yesterday? https://www.elementfleet.com/binaries/content/documents/elementfleet/global/investors/newsroom/element-issues-ususd1.2-billion-of-rated-abs-term-notes-through-chesapeake-ii/element-issues-ususd1.2-billion-of-rated-abs-term-notes-through-chesapeake-ii/elementfleet%3Afile/elementfleet%3Alink

My experience has generally been fine. I use Google Chrome on a MacBook, if that helps.

Hello everyone, Despite following Buffet's practices for a few years now, I've never bought any shares in Berkshire because I was just playing around with small sums of money. I recently had a pension cashed out to a discount brokerage account, so I have more significant sums to invest, a portion of which I'd like to put into BRK.B. I'm aware of the many difficulties in valuing a company like Berkshire and the vast amount of discussion on that topic, so I'm not really asking for valuation opinions. What I'm wondering is, what approach to people use to initiate a position in BRK.B and add to it over time? Do you try to value the company yourself? Do you take Buffet's word on whether it's under/overvalued and watch his share repurchases (if any)? Do you take others' word on valuation (for example, this message board)? Do you worry about exchange rate? (I have to deal with USD/CAD conversion) Do you just add to your position blindly because it won't matter much over the span of decades? I'd really appreciate any advice on the topic. I'm saving a Cherry Coke to drink in celebration of my first shares of BRK.B! Thanks, -Mike

Bought more WestJet (WJA.TO)

http://www.bloomberg.com/features/2015-stock-chart-trading-game/ How many of you will just hold it down for the whole duration? ;)

Bought some more WestJet (WJA.TO) after its ~%7 dip.

Almost $100 Million of VIX Options Traded Hands in a Split Second Today http://bloom.bg/1zTuBV4

Thank you for all the great responses so far! It's given me a lot to think about. I plan to summarize all the advice and then print it off to go in the front of my investing binder. Maybe people are just greedy hoarders? :D

Hey everyone, I was just curious, did anyone have trouble with getting comfortable investing progressively larger sums of money? Does anyone have advice for dealing with this change? Did it make you invest more carefully when you went through this process? I have been value investing for a few years now, but only ever with a few thousand dollars. Now that my wife and I are in better positions to save more money, I will have more cash to invest and larger position sizes over time. I trusted my convictions enough to invest say, $1000 in an idea, as it would be possible to recover from that kind of loss if I turned out to be dead wrong. But with larger sums, I worry about whether I should be more cautious. Just curious what others think. Thanks.

Elon Musk’s SpaceX Is Raising Money At A Valuation Approaching $10B http://techcrunch.com/2014/08/19/spacex/?ncid=fb&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=fb&utm_content=FaceBook

Thanks kevin4u2! I'm definitely going to look into those.

I'm reading "The End of Poverty" by Jeffery D. Sachs. Very interesting book on the economics of developing countries.

I don't think Bitcoin will end up being similar to a traditional currency, but I'm guessing one of the many alternative cryptocurrencies might someday achieve that status. The value of the system comes from the fact that it's fundamentally impossible to print money. No one individual, corporation or government can devalue the currency for their own benefit. If all the technical problems and security problems surrounding the relatively new concept of a cryptocurrency can be solved some day down the road, then they might have a shot at truly widespread use.

Found an interesting alt coin that claims to be resistant to ASIC miners (Application-Specific Integrated Circuits). These purpose-built ASIC machines mine coins like crazy, making it hard for ordinary people to keep up. But Vertcoin employs adaptive memory requirements over time, making it uneconomical to build ASICs for Vertcoin in the first place. Once more ASICs come out for more coins, I'm guessing Vertcoin will become a popular choice. https://vertcoin.org/

Annual reports can be retrieved from the SEC website in text or XBRL form. You could always code up some kind of script that uses diff tools to look for small changes. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diff#Free_file_comparison_tools

I have a degree in computer science and started software development in 2009. I wouldn't consider a switch to finance. Software development is my passion, and finance is just an interesting side-hobby for me. I wouldn't want to do asset management, as I'm not confident enough in my decisions to manage other people's money. If I end up being wrong about something, I have only myself to hurt. Also, I can't picture a job in asset management making the days fly by like my software development job does. I wouldn't want to do software development for high-frequency trading, as I've heard that that can get very stressful, and I don't think it really makes much of a positive contribution to humanity anyway. As for the salary, you can make a pretty decent living from being a software developer. Tech companies seem to always be hiring more developers lately, so I have the option of changing jobs within my field, if I so choose. It's not really about the money for me anyway, it's about doing what I love. I'm only 5 years in and I feel like I've only just scratched the surface on the amount of knowledge and experience there is to be gained. I look forward to learning and improving over my entire software development career. The industry is always evolving, and that's what makes it exciting!

I've never thought of an S&P500 index ETF as the greatest idea for an average joe looking to invest. Odds are he will watch the value of his holdings, and if it drops like 2008, fear will take over, he will sell, and money will be lost. I've always thought that a good Dividend Aristocrat type of index ETF would be better. You still get a wide variety of large-cap quality companies with dividend growth potential, and the income from the ETF helps calm fears when the market takes a downturn because money is still coming in, despite the loss in market value. It helps you hold on through the bad times.

I'm a software developer.

+1

FLIR would benefit from the recent growth in the ghost-hunting industry ;)