How I Messed Up When Buying Loblaw and Not Buying HBC

Celery root sold at a No Frills store, which is owned by Loblaw Companies Limited
Celery root sold at a No Frills store, which is owned by Loblaw Companies Limited

Auctions are dangerous and the stock exchange is basically a giant auction. A real auction has a guy announcing bids one at a time, but in the stock market, you have thousands of people putting in their bids. There are only two reasons why someone would sell their shares. First, they believe that the current market value is high enough to make a good sale. That is, the stock is over valued. Second, they need the cash. The buyer, on the other hand, believes that the current market value is fair, so they make a bid. Now the buyer is competing with everyone else who are also looking to buy. This competition drives up prices where people are bidding higher and higher. It’s very easy to lose sight of what was once the stock’s perceived fair value. It’s a dangerous game!

During the week before I decided to purchase Loblaw (TSE: L), I saw Hudson’s Bay Company (TSE: HBC) shoot up $6. I was like, “Damn!” I’ve been wanting to buy it to own a piece of Canadian history, but it’s now too late. It shot up because of an announcement of a real estate joint venture that will eventually bring in $4.2 billion. The market reacted quickly and it’s too late to buy now!

Then, being optimistic from an unrelated news event, I purchased Loblaw (TSE: L) shares on the day of its fourth quarter earnings report, highlighting a 68.4% increase in adjusted earnings per share. I put in a trade right away, but it climbed up to $66.30 by the time that I got my shares. The next day it dropped and a week later it was down to $62. I fucking got tricked! That news heading was accurate, but misleading. The market eventually caught on, so the stock price fell. I was the idiot and tried to get in on the stock during its highest peak. Well played you sons of bitches!

Lessons Learned
1) Treat each stock individually and don’t let unrelated news affect your decision making.
2) Read the financial reports thoroughly before taking any dumb actions.

To sum it up in other words: Don’t be an idiot like me!

5 Reasons Why I Bought TD

Canadian Dollahs
I bought shares of the Toronto-Dominion Bank (TSE: TD) for my son’s RESP account a few months ago. Here’s why:

1) Market Cap
TD’s market capitalization is over $100B. The only other publicly listed company on the TSX with a market cap over $100B is the Royal Bank of Canada (TSE: RY). This means that it’s a huge-ass company and huge-ass companies are in essence, well padded. It’ll be able to withstand a fall on its ass should anything happen to it, whether it’s an economic recession or a rate cut pushing it down and squeezing profit margins. Squeeze a huge-ass and it bounces back. Makes sense don’t it?

2) Growth Potential
Historically, TD has been performing consistently, steadily growing revenues year after year, rolling in the dollahs. Earnings per share has been climbing as well (unlike Bombardier’s CSeries jet that can’t get off the ground). TD has also been opening new branches in the United States and currently has a strong presence along the east coast. Since the U.S. economy is recovering very nicely, there’s plenty of opportunity for growth there.

3) Most of my accounts are with TD
This means that when TD is making money off of me, I’m getting some of that value back. It doesn’t make much of a difference, but it feels good and you can get a sense of how well the company is operating.

4) It’s a Bank
Banks are here to stay, y’know what I’m sayin? The government won’t let a bank of this size fail and Canadian regulations help reduce risk. That’s why the Canadian banks weren’t hit as hard during the financial crisis in 2008. We got it good here in Canada.

5) It Pays Dividends
Who doesn’t like payouts?! With TD, you’ll get a steady flow of cash, yielding between 3-4%. Not bad, eh?

To me, TD is a safe buy, but always check your risk tolerance and do your research!

The Bank of Canada (BoC) Ain’t Gonna Cut Rates

Civilization polluting the environment
Civilization polluting the environment
I predict that the Bank of Canada (BoC) ain’t gonna cut the overnight rate this Wednesday, March 4, 2015 when the interest rate is to be announced. The central bank ain’t no fool, but it takes time to gather data and for the previous rate cut to become apparent, so they’re most likely going to chill out and keep the rate steady. The rate cut was intended to assist the oil industry since they got fucked hard when oil prices were dropping like pieces of heavy shit, splashing the economy with its negative effects and stinking it up as a result. The oil industry has been recovering, which is nice, but the BoC will most likely not up the rate back to 1% because the rest of us ain’t ready for it! No one has seen the rate go upward in a long ass time and once it happens, shit will go down. The economy is still recovering from its hangover and it ain’t ready for more booze yet. On the other hand, they probably won’t drop the rate further because our housing market and household debt levels are ridiculous. The BoC doesn’t want debt levels to increase, so stop taking on more debt… Stop it will ya?

Now if they decide to chill out and let the rate be this time around, then they may start to increase the rate sooner than later, but we’ll see. For now, just stop inflating the damn housing market because I need to buy a home for my family.

Before You Invest – 5 Ways to Check Yo’ Self

Check Yo' SelfInvesting is great, but if you don’t have the cash, then investing isn’t a good idea. Don’t be a fool! Make sure got the following things handled.

1) You have an emergency fund
First things first: you should have an emergency fund where you have enough cash to last you at least 3 months should you lose your job or lose your income stream. A good amount is at least $5000. If you have a family, better step yo game up and keep $10,000 as an emergency fund. Put it in a high interest savings account and don’t touch it!

2) You have no debt
If you’re not paying your credit card balances in full every month, then ya ain’t in a good situation. Ya ain’t ready to be an investor because taking additional financial risk isn’t worth it when you don’t have real hard(-earned) cash. Credit ain’t cash and spending on credit from plastic cards is real bad.

As for the loan for your ride, if you can make your payments and have money left over, then you can invest the remainder.

If you have a mortgage, it’s best to pay down your principal as much as possible to save on paying interest. The whole idea is to get out of debt as soon as possible because that shit ain’t good. It’s like eating fried chicken; it’s good in the short term, but that shit clogs your arteries in the long run. If you can make your mortgage payments while paying down your maximum principal amount, then you’re ready to get dutty with investing.

3) You ain’t livin’ paycheque to paycheque
Make sure you got the cash rolling in steady! And make sure that your cash flow is positive. You better be making the rain faster than it evaporates or your pool of cash is going to be dried out and empty. You basically need to be making more than you spend. So damn it, skip the expensive meals and overpriced branded goods. You better than that!

4) You have a savings plan
Having a savings plan, is knowing what you want. You want a new car? You want a new house? You want to get educated? You want to get married? You want to retire by fiddy?! Then you betta have a plan sucka! Set your savings goals bruh!

5) You feel risk is your homie
Ya gonna have to be comfortable with risk if ya gonna invest. This homie called risk could take $1000 from you and never return it! Sometimes this homie can be sketchy, take your cash, and return it to you two years later. So be ready to lose what you hand out, aaiight?

Get these things handled before you start investing. Not living paycheque to paycheque and having an emergency fund ain’t easy, but if you develop the right habits of saving more and spending less, you can do it. BELIEVE!

3 Principles of Investing for Beginners

When it comes to investing, a lot of people don’t know where to begin or what it is about, so I’d like to introduce you to the principles below to get you started.

1) Be a creeper
Read business and financial news to get an understanding of how the general market is doing. Creep the shit out of the daily news and keep an eye on your investments as if they’re the girls/boys next door. Check them out once in a while and make sure that they’re still looking good.
Give Zero Fucks
2) Give zero fucks
Don’t listen to market analysts because they are sell-side analysts. They’re just like salesmen for stocks, trying to get you to buy their shit. You can listen to what they have to say, but in the end, don’t give them a flying fuck because you know better than to get ripped off. Fuck the trends and do your own thang! You be the analyst!

3) No one night stands
Think looooong term. Investing isn’t a one night stand where you fuck it and leave it. Investing requires a long term approach. The longer the better (that’s what she said). The earlier you start, the more time you have, so start now and think long term. It takes you almost 20 years to become an adult, so treat investments the same way; it can take companies many years to grow.

You got it? Ya got it? Good!

Time is CASH

Sometimes you ain't got the extra minutes
Sometimes you ain’t got the extra minutes though

Listen here mother fuckers: Time is CASH!

Why? Because time is a limited resource. You can’t create time and because we are all going to die, we all have a limited amount of time. What I’m sayin’ is: your time is very important. Don’t waste it foo! Your time translates to money because anything you do, whether it’s sitting around or working your ass off on a 12 hour shift is using up your valuable time.

Because you only have so many years, the goal is to be more effective in your daily life and to generate passive income, so you can spend your time on others things like your family, your homies, your hobbies, and changing the world for the better! Passive income means that your money is working for your fat ass while you sit and do nothing if you choose to do so. But don’t choose to do that. Spend your time wisely!

How do you generate passive income?
You put your hard earned cash into investments motha fucka! And because your cash is so hard earned, you better invest it the right way. Don’t worry, I will show you how. In the meantime, just remember not to waste your time, aaiight?

What is Cash and How to Make More of It

Cash is what I need! Cash is probably what YOU need if y’all reading this blog. But what is it?

Cash was invented by society as a way to exchange (valuable) things. Cash is a representation of value. When you make it rain at the strip club, you’re exchanging cash for a better show or a lap dance, which may be valuable to you after a hard ass day at work. We use cash as a way to exchange goods and services.

So, you want to make more cash? Then become more valuable!

How can you become less like a bitch and more like a high valued individual? Here are two ways:

1) Become more productive
Y’all need to step yo’ game up and work smarter. If you’re more productive and produce better results, then you’d be more valuable and peeps/companies be throwing cash IN YO’ FACE! To really be more productive, you have to think about what’s important and prioritize your tasks. There are a lot of things that can wait, so choose the things that will create the most value. Set goals and invest your precious time into achieving those mother fuckin’ goals, son!

If you don't listen to me, listen to Bruce Lee!
If you don’t listen to me, listen to Bruce Lee!

2) Specialize your skills
Rare things are valuable. A big fat flawless diamond is valuable because they’re hard to find. It would be rare and as a resource, it would be scarce. So, for you to be like that big fat flawless diamond, you’re gonna need to be rare and scarce. You’re gonna need to specialize. Get educated foo! Or get extra training in your field of work. Take classes to expand your knowledge and to eventually become an expert. Practice your skills. Whether they’re communication skills, Photoshop skills, or forklift driving skills, practice them as much as possible and aim to be better than the rest. Aim to be flawless, ya hear?!

In other words, don’t be a lazy ass! Diamonds take many years to form and a lot of energy to become what they are, so that’s what you need to do: spend your energy on the important things and practice your skills. Bitches love diamonds!

Something New

Ooooooh shit! It’s happening! This blog is about to bring in some much needed wisdom. What’s market cap you ask? Well, I’m about to pop a cap in the market’s ass, wait for its bubbles to burst, and take advantage of discounted stocks. That’s how we make stacks… stacks of cash!