Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - December 28, 2008, Winnipeg, Manitoba C m y k Page b7 Winnipeg repress. Com Money matters Winnipeg free press sunday december 28, 2008 b 7 raging resolutions top 10 tips for business to survive a subprime hangover find religion Dow Jones Industrial average Friday close dec. 19 8,579.11 yearly change Down 4,685.69 investment Banks marketing subprime unsuspecting world. Debt rating agencies giving it All a big thumbs up. Like did we ask for this Nash a chairman ponzi schemes regulator complicity the whole thing seems Rotten to the Core. But we cant blame eve. Its the big Apple. Cut the drama Bce inc. On the tax Friday close dec. 19 $ 22.64 yearly change Down $ 17.01 to be or not to be that was the question. And for what so holders of Bce Stock could suffer the slings and arrows of outrageous misfortune so some leveraged buyout types could perchance dream but twas not a consummation devoutly to be wished this debt Ridden takeover. Now were right Back where we started. Aye theress the rub. Get More assertive Eldorado Gold on the tax Friday close $ 8.49 yearly change up $ 2.66 pleased As Gold bugs May be about Bullions late year rally and Eldo Radows top 10 tax performance the yellow Metal really needs to get a Backbone. The supposed Safe havens performance this year was better than most commodities but tepid at Best. Running in fear every time the moribund u. S. Dollar raises a palsied hand is just wimpy. Get in shape general motors corp. On the nose Friday close dec. 19 $ 4.49 us yearly change Down $ 20.40 us the bloat of Turkey dinners gone by Ripples like pallid cellulite on North americans automakers. But what a party it was with wonderful gifts under the tree for one and All a toy Gulf Stream for daddy and a bigger allowance for the kids. But the Gravy train is Over. All thatus left is a dried up Wishbone. Quit drinking Nortel networks corp. On the tax Friday close dec. 19 $ 0.27 yearly change Down $ 14.71 with this former telecoms Star now being bankruptcy candidate aass serenity prayer seems in order god give us Grace to accept with serenity the things that cannot be changed Norte courage to change the things that should be changed buying its Stockand the Wisdom to distinguish the one from the other weave finally Learned think outside the Box Fairfax financial on the tax Friday close dec. 19 $ 380.56 yearly change up $ 93.65 All around the Mulberry Bush the mortgage Boom was Sublime everyone thought it was All great fun pop went the subprime. That Jack in the Box caught most everyone off guard. But not Fairfax Boss Prem Watsa who proved one of the few Bright lights to bet against the u. S. Real estate Bubble and made billions doing it. Go Green pure technologies on the tax v Friday close dec. 19 $ 2.70 yearly change Down $ 0.02 no need to be Browbeaten into going Green by the birkenstock crowd. It could be the next big thing. Witness pure technologies a water play whose pipeline monitoring systems helped it outperform virtually All of the Oil companies on the venture Exchange. The Odd twist the companies in this space evolved out of serving not so Green Oil Sands projects. Eat better metro inc. On the tax Friday close dec. 19 $ 36.00 yearly change up $ 9.65 the triple Cream brie the Black chocolate they re out the new years resolutions gods Tell you. The shrimp dumplings too Mem hmm. Guess Well just have to live the Good life vicariously through the High calorie shares in grocery Chain metro inc., vying for the top spot on the tax composite this year. Quit smoking Canadian Oil Sands Trust on the tax Friday close dec. 19 $ 18.69 yearly change Down $ 20.02 As if crashing crude a snot enough a world suddenly sensitive to Albertas Carbon spewing Oil Sands operations Isnit helping either. Blame the dead ducks at the sync rude tailings Pond. Or Obama decrying that dirty Oil. Whatever. But now the Industry and canadians too have to wonder if Hopes for the economic engine of our future Are going up in smoke. Get out of debt teck Cominto on the tax Friday close dec. 19 $ 5.81 yearly change Down $ 29.62 teck thought the Best present it could buy shareholders this year was a big Lump of Coal. And thatus pretty Well what they got. A pricey $ 10 billion acquisition made at the height of the commodity craze. Now the company itself is Worth Only one Quarter of that. Ebenezer can you straighten this out age at us Lions race met tive in Birk Enate out tion. Arro e subterfuge to an cies old Sands y its poles layers of makers ing viewed As a w hat a year. The Only thing it gave us was an unwanted vocabulary in arcane financial acronyms. But if collateral Zed debt obligations structured investment vehicles and the like left you confused the end result was simple. We All lost big. Here in simple English Are some not so lofty resolutions for the corporate world to get us through what lies ahead. Bulls & bears v Vancouver the stomach churning drop in Stock markets in the past few months has Many investors redefining their tolerance for risk even As we enter what some experts Are predicting could be a recovery beginning later next year. There is a realization amongst investors that what they previously thought of in terms of risk is not accurate Andrew Pyle investment adviser at Scotia Mcleod in Peterborough ont. A lot of people who maybe thought of themselves As medium risk investors. Have gone through an emotional rollercoaster and Are saying i am no longer that person i am a different person. I did not realize How bad i could feel about the markets. This has been one of the most volatile years in history on the Stock markets and the most punishing for investors. The Toronto markets main Index has fallen about 40 per cent since hitting a record High of above 15,000 Points in june. Toronto is up tax composite Index fell to As Low As 7,724 Points in late november. Hundreds of billions of dollars of value has been lost by millions of canadians in their pension funds Mutual funds or individual Stock investments. Many have been forced to reassess their retirement plans and investing strategies. While Many investors have been shaken Pyle said a healthy outcome from the Market meltdown is that Many investors Are being forced to re examine their portfolios. For a lot of investors that process in the past May have been brushed Over in a sense said Pyle adding that Many investors and or their advisers May not have properly explained what actually is considered a High or medium risk investment. Pyle Points to the Bond Market which is usually considered Low risk. He said the Bond Market today has risks on All Levels. For instance general motors Bonds once considered a Good investment is now paying about 15 cents on the Dollar As the giant automaker Aims to restructure itself to stay alive in a battered North american car and truck Market. Part of the problem for some investors have not updated their portfolios and May have gone overweight in equities As a result of the Market run up in recent years. If they we rent re balancing they could have drifted into Waters they have been in Pyle said. Pyle believes risk tolerance Levels will return the question is How Long will it take and if it will be in step with a Market recovery. I think people will eventually get Over the shakes when it comes to investing and they will be smarter Pyle said. While it has been a Rocky Road for investors in the last half of the year some economists Are calling for Calm in 2009. Financial markets however gingerly Are starting to look ahead to a better if not yet glorious summer Cibic world markets economist Avery Shenfeld wrote in a recent note to clients. We cant Call this optimism but its Worth exploring Why greater doom in the Outlook is no longer punishing equity markets As much. Cibic economists predict 2009 will not be another losing year for equities noting that since the 1920s, Canadian stocks have tended to Bottom Between three and nine months before the end of a u. S. Recession which is now 12 months old. The exception was in 2001, with the combination of the technology bust and the sept. 11 terrorist attacks. After a Steep slide in prices valuation measure Are looking More attractive Cibic economists Peter Buchanan and Meny Grauman say. Past evidence also Points to a Market Bottom about now if As we expect the u. S. Economy is set to resume growth in the second half of 2009. That said Given that the average tax Bear Market takes three years to recover we continue to recommend staying Neutral equities with an emphasis on defensive sectors. Danielle Park an adviser at Venable Park investment counsel in Ontario said watching the Market mayhem has been like torture for investors told to hang on. Its like a fresh wound each time it goes another leg Down said Park. She believes we Are in the bottoming process and that there May be a rally before the end of the year or in Early january but that stocks will sink again when fourth Quarter results Are released starting in late january and into february. But Park said her team is ready to put its clients Back in the Market soon. We Are getting pretty excited about some of the prices said Park. But first we have to make sure the wave of forced Selling is Over. The Canadian press investors Learned hard lessons on risk tolerance advisers wonder when people will regain their Faith in markets by Brenda Bouw 2008 daily close the Canadian press 6000 8000 10000 12000 14000 16000 18,0 1 0 8 0 00 1 0 6,000 14,000 12,000 10,000 8,000 6,000 december 24, 2008 8,310.55 1.36 i think people will eventually get Over the shakes when it comes to investing and they will be smarter Andrew Pyle investment adviser Scotia Mcleod Richard Lam / the Canadian press archives some investors did not care for roller coaster markets and wanted off the ride. A 07_ dec 28 08. Ind b7 12/ 27/ 08 7 01 44 pm ;