Canada, Eh!

[SharperDingaan]

8 hours ago, Spooky said:

 

Any particular index fund? I have been just thinking of putting it into VCN and calling it a day.

 

Pick a couple of ticker symbols that are of interest, and see where they fall in some of these indices; hopefully 2-3 fall in the same index. Thereafter, just roll into the ticker symbol for that index vs holding the stocks individually, and get some more efficient diversification as well. Done.

 

https://tmxinfoservices.com/benchmarks-and-indices/sp-tsx-indices#tsx

 

SD

Edited April 17 by SharperDingaan

[bizaro86]

On 4/17/2026 at 7:11 AM, Spooky said:

Anyone got some ideas for a Canadian company I could hold in my RRSP for the next 10+ years? I've already got a sizeable position in Fairfax and very large one in CSU although I'm always tempted to add more.

 

I really like E-L Financial as a permanent/long-term hold. Trades at a big discount to NAV, which is mostly a very diversified portfolio of stocks (eg they have a huge SP500 position). They also own Empire Life, and book value for that is very conservative, if they ever sold it they'd get 1.5x at least imo. Trades at a significant discount to growing book value and have been buying back shares.

[bargainman]

On 4/8/2026 at 5:43 AM, Marco Van Basten said:

welfare that allows women to have kids out of wedlock - kids grow up without fathers and role models, not seeing anyone who works for a living.  

 

wow, so are you implicitly blaming women who have had their partners leave them with child?  Or you're blaming the system for letting them be left?  or blaming it for them leaving abusive situations?  Perhaps a single mom who juggles raising kids and doing everything she can to keep them fed and alive isn't a good enough role model?

[bargainman]

Hmm Carney seems like the polar opposite of the previous guy.  I wonder how much is talk vs substance.  He sure doesn't seem to lose his cool easily.  I'm curious if he'll actually end up actually attracting all those investors back.  Curious that he keeps a statue of the general that supposedly protected Canada from US invasion centuries ago.

 

 

 

 

[cubsfan]

3 hours ago, bargainman said:

 

wow, so are you implicitly blaming women who have had their partners leave them with child?  Or you're blaming the system for letting them be left?  or blaming it for them leaving abusive situations?  Perhaps a single mom who juggles raising kids and doing everything she can to keep them fed and alive isn't a good enough role model?

 

Marco is 100% on point here. The welfare system in the USA requires the mother to be single for welfare benefits. Since the 1960's the single mother rate exploded, especially in the black communities with incentives against having a father in the house.  The figures looked something like this: in the 1940s/1950s - the out of wedlock motherhood was around 20% , and after 1970 soared to 75% - all due to Lyndon Johnsons "Great Society" Program.

 

Totally backfired due to incentives. No fathers are needed when you can marry the government.

 

Instead of eliminating poverty - it destroyed the family structure in America.

[Parsad]

44 minutes ago, cubsfan said:

 

Marco is 100% on point here. The welfare system in the USA requires the mother to be single for welfare benefits. Since the 1960's the single mother rate exploded, especially in the black communities with incentives against having a father in the house.  The figures looked something like this: in the 1940s/1950s - the out of wedlock motherhood was around 20% , and after 1970 soared to 75% - all due to Lyndon Johnsons "Great Society" Program.

 

Totally backfired due to incentives. No fathers are needed when you can marry the government.

 

Instead of eliminating poverty - it destroyed the family structure in America.

 

Some of that is true...most of it is not.  Before 1940, most unwed/single/divorced mothers were forced to carry the load themselves...there was no social safety net.  They did it themselves with work, odd jobs, family help, friends, community, churches, etc.  The government did not help...the community did.  

 

Then once the unemployment and welfare system was implemented, widespread abuse began over time and continued to permeate the system.  Eventually, it became more accepted for women to work outside of the home and in full-time positions.  It took decades for any sort of equality to develop there, and it still isn't equal in terms of compensation. 

 

But the fracturing of the family unit started to occur because women were actually given a real choice in how they lived their lives, and didn't have to stay within unhappy marriages because they had children, weren't the primary income earner, and the stigma around divorce diminished.

 

Yes, you have fraud in the system, it is abused and the incentives aren't always aligned properly.  But the world is not necessarily worse off after the unemployment/welfare system was created...it's not necessarily better off either because now the onus is on government to support, rather than community.  There is a better system like any thing else...whether politicians have the courage to make those changes always seems to be the main problem when fixing something that has huge lobbyists on both sides!

 

Cheers!

[cubsfan]

47 minutes ago, Parsad said:

 

Some of that is true...most of it is not.  Before 1940, most unwed/single/divorced mothers were forced to carry the load themselves...there was no social safety net.  They did it themselves with work, odd jobs, family help, friends, community, churches, etc.  The government did not help...the community did.  

 

Then once the unemployment and welfare system was implemented, widespread abuse began over time and continued to permeate the system.  Eventually, it became more accepted for women to work outside of the home and in full-time positions.  It took decades for any sort of equality to develop there, and it still isn't equal in terms of compensation. 

 

But the fracturing of the family unit started to occur because women were actually given a real choice in how they lived their lives, and didn't have to stay within unhappy marriages because they had children, weren't the primary income earner, and the stigma around divorce diminished.

 

Yes, you have fraud in the system, it is abused and the incentives aren't always aligned properly.  But the world is not necessarily worse off after the unemployment/welfare system was created...it's not necessarily better off either because now the onus is on government to support, rather than community.  There is a better system like any thing else...whether politicians have the courage to make those changes always seems to be the main problem when fixing something that has huge lobbyists on both sides!

 

Cheers!

 

I did not say a thing about fraud. Zero. What I said was women could not get welfare if there was a married man in the house. Therefore, the incentive was to NOT marry a man, but have children out of wedlock and get their welfare payments, which were deserved.  Unfortunately, it resulted in young black men growing up without a male role model - which is a true tragedy.

 

The Great Society envisioned by President Johnson was counterintuitive - and ended up destroying the nuclear family.

[Hoodlum]

17 minutes ago, TB said:

 

 

All eleven sectors are reporting (or are projected to report) year-over-year growth in revenues, led by the Information Technology, Communication Services, and Financials sectors.

 

 

As someone who works in the IT distribution industry, I can tell you that large price increase due to the memory and other chip price increases have been driving revenue increases in this industry.  I would be careful about reading too much into this. 

 

Some good examples from last week are Samsung increasing existing phone prices by 10-15% and Microsoft increasing prices of all their Surface laptop by average of 25%.  The bigger concern is the coming part shortage that is starting to seep in to certain product lines as companies focus on the higher margin products.  Sony has stopped manufacturing Solid State cards due to memory shortage.  Micron has totally existed from their consumer SSD business.  Even Apple who are generally the masters of supply chain are showing long lead times of many months for some of their devices as they priority where to sell.  Some larger memory configs for Apple Systems have been completed removed as an option from the Apple Site.

 

It will be interesting to see how this evolves in the coming months.

 

Edited April 20 by Hoodlum

[Parsad]

3 hours ago, TB said:

Interesting short video/analysis from a Canada channel 

 

You're posting podcasts done by an advertising company????  If this is your sense of research and analysis, I would suggest you find new sources!  Cheers!

 

https://www.nowmediagroup.ca/

[SharperDingaan]

2 hours ago, TB said:

what is incorrect with the Canadian channel discussion and what sources you read daily to be on top of Canada developments.   

 

Nothing wrong with starting at a marketing podcast .... just make sure that you also verify against independent sources (audit). Most would look to the local industry publications in those industries of interest, talk to the provincial/federal trade reps, and contract a researcher for a few weeks to pull together a dossier. The DD should tie.

 

Good provincial/federal trade reps will sing praises, but they will also facilitate one-on-one discussions with senior managements, and those administering various trade improvement programs. The buy a pair of execs at XYZ company an (arranged) dinner, &/or get an overview of governmental FX and investment incentives aligned with what you hope to do.  

 

SD 

Edited April 24 by SharperDingaan

[Parsad]

2 hours ago, TB said:

@Parsad may be you can educate us, what is incorrect with the Canadian channel discussion and what sources you read daily to be on top of Canada developments. 

 

I and a few business associates plan to visit greater Vancouver next month for business purposes.  

 

Read the Globe & Mail and the National Post...one is left of center, the other is right of center.  I wouldn't watch the stuff on most Youtube or television networks.  A lot of it is opinion, not fact, and usually sensationalistic takes on recent events. 

 

The major newspapers, as biased as some people seem to think they are, have safeguards for fact-checking, liability, accuracy and in-house counsel.  It is at a totally different level than podcasts and most television.  They spend months working on some stories...have more strict editorial standards...etc.  

 

If you want to understand more specific regional issues, read the local papers (community papers) in those regions.  Again, they have certain editorial standards, generally rely on advertising for much of their revenue so they aren't selling content like some media outlets, and usually are local residents writing exactly about what they know. 

 

And one of the best sources...boots on the ground, explore the city (cities), and ask local people about regional issues!  Welcome to Vancouver...hope the weather is very nice, so you can really see our beautiful city in full spring bloom!  Cheers!

[TB]

1 hour ago, Parsad said:

 

Read the Globe & Mail and the National Post...one is left of center, the other is right of center.  I wouldn't watch the stuff on most Youtube or television networks.  A lot of it is opinion, not fact, and usually sensationalistic takes on recent events. 

 

The major newspapers, as biased as some people seem to think they are, have safeguards for fact-checking, liability, accuracy and in-house counsel.  It is at a totally different level than podcasts and most television.  They spend months working on some stories...have more strict editorial standards...etc.  

 

If you want to understand more specific regional issues, read the local papers (community papers) in those regions.  Again, they have certain editorial standards, generally rely on advertising for much of their revenue so they aren't selling content like some media outlets, and usually are local residents writing exactly about what they know. 

 

And one of the best sources...boots on the ground, explore the city (cities), and ask local people about regional issues!  Welcome to Vancouver...hope the weather is very nice, so you can really see our beautiful city in full spring bloom!  Cheers!

Thanks Parsad - I will report back later 

[Parsad]

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/canada-shows-purpose-in-gas-pipeline-approval-enbridge-says-180445482.html

 

Cheers!

[cwericb]

On 4/24/2026 at 12:02 AM, TB said:

Interesting short video/analysis from a Canada channel 

 

I hope that is not the kind of news information you rely on. Some right wing British guy currently living in Mississippi making comments on Canada on some YouTube Channel?  I would willing to bet that I can find several YouTube clips about the poster being taken by aliens. These days YouTube features so much completely bogus "information" that one really needs to treat much of it simply as entertainment. 

 

Just for the record that clip is definitely NOT from any "Canadian channel". 

 

The main Canadian TV news channels are:

 

CBC (Canadian Broadcasting Corporation), Canada's national public broadcaster, providing services in English (CBC) and French (Radio Canada). It is a Crown corporation headquartered in Ottawa.

 

CTV - (The CTV Television Network, commonly known as CTV, is a Canadian English-language terrestrial television network. Launched in 1961 and acquired by BCE Inc. in 2000, CTV is Canada's largest privately owned television network and is now a division of the Bell Media subsidiary of BCE.)

 

Global TV - Global Television Network) is a major Canadian English-language terrestrial television network. It is the second most-watched private network in Canada after CTV

 

Those news sources, along with the ones Sanjeev quoted are pretty reliable and unbiased (certainly in comparison to some found in the US).

 

 Hope this helps.

[Parsad]

About time...good job Carney!  Canada launches its own sovereign wealth fund.  Cheers!

 

https://www.pm.gc.ca/en/news/news-releases/2026/04/27/prime-minister-carney-announces-canada-strong-fund-canadas-first

[Hoodlum]

38 minutes ago, Parsad said:

About time...good job Carney!  Canada launches its own sovereign wealth fund.  Cheers!

 

https://www.pm.gc.ca/en/news/news-releases/2026/04/27/prime-minister-carney-announces-canada-strong-fund-canadas-first

that is quite interesting.  I may do a contribution to the fund in my kids names.  I will wait to see the structure of the fund and how it will be run. 

[Parsad]

2 hours ago, Hoodlum said:

that is quite interesting.  I may do a contribution to the fund in my kids names.  I will wait to see the structure of the fund and how it will be run. 

 

Thinking of the same thing for my niece and nephew.  Will also wait to see the structure.  One of the few in the world that will allow citizens to invest in the wealth fund directly.  Cheers!

[bizaro86]

2 hours ago, Hoodlum said:

that is quite interesting.  I may do a contribution to the fund in my kids names.  I will wait to see the structure of the fund and how it will be run. 

 

If you're looking at it as a donation to the public good then good for you!

 

But any vehicle where the investments will be selected by the government with politics involved seems unlikely to earn premium returns. Maybe it works out if they put their finger on the scale regulatory-wise (eg, if pipelines/mines backed by the fund get easier approvals).

[Parsad]

1 hour ago, bizaro86 said:

 

If you're looking at it as a donation to the public good then good for you!

 

But any vehicle where the investments will be selected by the government with politics involved seems unlikely to earn premium returns. Maybe it works out if they put their finger on the scale regulatory-wise (eg, if pipelines/mines backed by the fund get easier approvals).

 

Depends on how it is used...what they invest in...duration...expected returns...fees...redemptions/withdrawals...tax sheltered or not...consequences of passing it on...etc.  Alberta's went boom to bust...but Norway's is a juggernaut that has made each citizen far wealthier!  Cheers!

[Lazarus]

Mining, oil, mineral extraction, fertilizers, etc., are all heavily dependent on the regulatory environment. And since the gov't controls the regulatory environment, that's a good sign for the fund I would guess. The devil will be in the details but I suspect this will be a winner. 

[K2SO]

On 4/19/2026 at 3:06 PM, bargainman said:

Carney seems like the polar opposite of the previous guy.

Or very similar, in that he believes that the answer to every problem Canada faces is more government. 

Instead of creating a "fund" with public money, how about drastic cuts to tax rates and regulations for everyone? Not just the Laurentian elite who are sure to make huge bank off of this "sovereign wealth fund." 

 

[K2SO]

https://x.com/franco_nomics/status/2048793310135751038?s=20

[RichardGibbons]

3 hours ago, bizaro86 said:

But any vehicle where the investments will be selected by the government with politics involved seems unlikely to earn premium returns. Maybe it works out if they put their finger on the scale regulatory-wise (eg, if pipelines/mines backed by the fund get easier approvals).

 

Yep, I think it's likely to have poor absolute results, because they are leaning into the politics, not the business.  The key line from the CBC article is:

 

Carney said Indigenous peoples will be full partners in the projects through equity stakes; that the projects being financed will be built by Canadians in "high-paying union jobs";

 

When your plan involves giving gifts to special-interests right from the start, then it's a sign that your projects aren't likely to be economically compelling investments.

[SharperDingaan]

On 4/27/2026 at 9:37 AM, Parsad said:

About time...good job Carney!  Canada launches its own sovereign wealth fund.  Cheers!

 

https://www.pm.gc.ca/en/news/news-releases/2026/04/27/prime-minister-carney-announces-canada-strong-fund-canadas-first

 

Subject to the details emerging, this could be a very good deal;

 

Assume a medium-term bond; cashable any time, principal guaranteed by the BoC, tax-free floating rate coupon equal to the inflation rate. Canada essentially guaranteeing the purchasing power over the term of the bond.

 

Assume annual bonus payments, based on portfolio performance. Investors choice as to either a tax advantaged cash payment, or additional bonds at the original terms. Higher returns, the longer one opts to not receive cash bonuses; integration with TFSA accounts.

 

Assume restricted to Canadian residents only; CPR type nation building owned by Canadians, for Canadians. Foreign participation limited to other vehicles, at commercial rates.

 

Government of Canada, BoC, and Canada's pension funds as your partners; seat at the table, quality independent professional investment management. Lowest risk possible.

 

No longer governments making the case for energy corridors; everybody in Canada also benefiting from the employment and returns on their money. 

 

Game changing.

 

SD   

[Spooky]

Nice, a sovereign wealth fund for Canada makes a lot of sense to me.