Most pension plans in Canada are restricted by the Pension Benefits Standards Act of 1985 from owning more than 30% of the votes attached to shares issued by a public company. The rationale, among other things, is to prevent pension plans from controlling large chunks of the Canadian economy.

The financial blogosphere in Canada has been abuzz since Derek Foster disclosed he sold most of his stocks in February. The reaction hasn’t been favorable, as one would expect when the guru doesn’t practice what he preaches in his bestselling, dividend-investing guide “Stop Working: Here’s How You Can.” A caption ...

A working paper by professors Kingsley Fong, David Gallagher and Adrian Lee has some findings that may be of interest to do-it-yourself investors. Specifically, DIYers would be well advised to avoid trading just after the market opens and to beware of using limit orders if they don’t have the time or ...

It’s hard to get more down-and-out than Canadian forestry stocks (except possibly U.S. financial stocks). Yet, some Canuck lumberjacks are attracting substantial insider buying, a case in point being International Forest Products (whose stock has also been exhibiting relative strength).

Michael Panzner’s When Giants Fall: An Economic Roadmap for the end of the American era takes a look at what’s likely to follow the financial meltdown of 2008. If the scenario laid out in the book turns out to be as accurate as the forecast in the author’s 2007 book, ...

On a day like today, as stocks plummet further below their November lows, it’s hard to blame investors for failing to “be greedy when others are fearful,” as Warren Buffett advises. Buying into this market would feel like throwing money into a meat grinder. Indeed, it may be enough of ...

Online financial calculators can be informative but sometimes there may be a fine line between information and marketing. That’s one caveat that has come to mind while reviewing the various calculators and preparing summaries in Online Calculators (Feb. 12, 2009) and RRSP Calculators (Feb. 26, 2009).

With stocks falling to their November lows, a critical inflection point has been reached. A convincing breakthrough could precipitate substantial selling by chartists, traders other technicians who view the November low as a key support level. If stocks hold, it could conversely precipitate substantial buying by the technicians because they ...

Media catching onto distorted house-price statistics Another reason for do-it-yourself investing. And a second reason. And a third.  A clear winner in the RRSP vs. TFSA debate. Shopping for corporate bonds like going into a candy store. More love for bonds. Special report on self-directed investing. Eliot Spitzer’s thoughts on salary caps for CEOs  

I talked recently to Richard Deaves, a professor of finance with a specialization in behavioural finance. As mentioned in his book, he thinks investors should become do-it-yourselfers and adopt the passive-indexing approach (e.g. Couch Potato Portfolio). There are just too many behavioural traps such as overconfidence, performance chasing, and the like; ...