Spooky

Canada really needs some more options haha. The GTA is a trap as well, becoming way too crowded and expensive.

Thanks SD, not a bad idea at all. Was talking to some friends from Calgary and they said the demographics of the city are changing fast, lots of new people moving there.

I hope not. What is happening in Canada doesn't make sense, it is artificial scarcity. There is also a higher proportion of GDP and bank loans going to housing which is a non productive asset and is detrimental to long term productivity growth and prosperity.

Can someone please let me know what will happen with Canadian housing? I need a place to live without a giant mortgage.

What year is this? So interesting to see the pendulum of investor sentiment / momentum swing back and forth so dramatically.

I don't think my limit order at $315 is getting filled

Still talking about his super bubble eh?

Thanks gfp. That gives a possible range of roughly $307 - $341 per B-share for the recent buybacks.

Anyone have any intel on share buyback prices lately?

I tend to agree, I'm 90% invested in equities for the long term with about 10% cash looking to find a home. I just want to structure things in a way where I'm antifragile so I would benefit from a big market panic if there is one. My latest thinking is to set up a line of credit that will remain undrawn that I could use if there is another market meltdown.

This. I just want to make sure I have a bucket if it starts raining gold.

A masterclass in capital allocation once again.

I'm 37. Starting to slow down but feeling pretty good. I'm getting back into tennis so I can play when I'm an old man. Been thinking a lot lately about what I want out of life, looking forward to Act II.

There was an academic study recently advising that young people should borrow to buy stocks early in life. I've been considering getting a line of credit to invest in stocks and not buy on margin to avoid any possibility of a margin call. In Canada you can write off the interest expense from your taxes. This strategy assumes that the future will look similar to the past though.

I've been following WFG a little bit here and there, is the price attractive now? It seems like they have a lot going for them in terms of the macro set-up: 1) shortage of housing that needs to be built; 2) increasing use / demand for timber in construction; 3) less competition from Russia; 4) alternative timber products as mentioned above; 5) ESG rules potentially limiting supply.

Ya this is where I ended up - I have simplified my portfolio significantly and have a big chunk of VOO and VIOO in my retirement account. The rest of my portfolio is pretty bomb proof with big positions in BRK and CSU. I could go to sleep for 10 years and feel comfortable with what I hold. I have been trying to check the market less and less and focus on doing something in the real world like start a business... try to find some other avenues to create wealth outside of the markets while my money compounds.

Ugh... I struggle with this myself. My rational brain tells me just to buy the S&P 500 and forget it. But the investing game is just too much fun.

Not sure if this is the right thread but it is related to Canadian real estate / interest rates. https://www.wsj.com/articles/whats-killing-productivity-some-think-its-the-banks-9d1d0c50 Came across this article in the WSJ today about the UK's productivity issue and the fact that the bank's there are not lending to businesses but rather most of their loans are going to finance mortgages which is possibly damaging / limiting their economy. A similar phenomenon is happening in Canada with 33 per cent (Bank of Montreal) to 53 per cent (CIBC) of the bank's loans tied up in mortgages and only about 13% of the bank's loan book going to business loans (https://www.theglobeandmail.com/opinion/editorials/article-the-big-banks-dependence-on-housing-undermines-canadas-prosperity/). Small businesses in the UK are relying on start-up loan providers with much higher interest rates. The article also referenced the McKinsey report below which shows that two-thirds of the western world's net wealth is in real estate and only a fifth is in productivity-boosting assets such as factories, equipment and infrastructure. https://www.mckinsey.com/~/media/mckinsey/industries/financial services/our insights/the rise and rise of the global balance sheet how productively are we using our wealth/mgi-the-rise-and-rise-of-the-global-balance-sheet-full-report-vf.pdf Does anyone else see this as a big problem for the future in Canada (and some other jurisdictions)? It seems to me that banks are loaning more / borrowers are borrowing more to finance home purchases, driving up the cost of homes but not having any productive impact on the economy and diverting capital which could go to more productive uses for society.

Damn, she should have sold out at the top. Would have been a legendary move.

It's true, the Bank of Canada announcing a pause led many to jump back into the real estate market in Toronto with renewed FOMO.

Raising interest rates is not going to solve the problems of higher inflation through geo political tensions / near shoring etc. How long are we going to outsource decision making to the central banks? It seems to me like we need to identify which parts of inflation are a problem and have a government policy response to address it. On housing, I find the Canadian government's policies to try and address the problem laughable.

Another factor with Canadian real estate is that it has become a global capital sponge - very common for Chinese and other foreign investors to park their capital in Canadian real estate looking to get around capital controls etc. Also, many immigrants coming from countries with weak banking systems don't trust the banks and put all of their money into real estate.

What do you think the best alternatives are SD? I am holding a more meaningful allocation in cash these days in case there is a good opportunity.

This is something I want to devote more time to - curating my news / information sources to only have high quality inputs. I pay for both the WSJ and FT and I've stopped getting my news through social media entirely. I've been poking around with Nikkei Asia and some German sources. What are people's go to publications / sources? I also truly believe in Charlie Munger's approach - read as widely as possible about as many topics as possible. Pick up Poor Charlie's almanack or get a copy of his book recommendations and start there. Lots of books about science, economics, etc. Understanding the world better is key. I'm always looking for insights which are counter-intuitive and go against accepted wisdom. I also have found that some of the great investors have an almost philosophical bent like Bill Miller and I have been reading a lot of books on Stoicism lately. My favourite line from Sam Zell: when everyone is going right, look left.

Also we just hit bull market territory on the S&P 500 again... up 20% since October.