Offer of BMW driven away
Bleak world view doesn't pay off
By Paul Jackson
"I talked myself out of a long-term free loan of a top-of-the-line BMW sports car this past week. But, as in so many under situations in my life, I immediately started digging a hole under the kind BMW offer. "
"Natural gas is down 40%, I warned my would-be benefactor. Oil has taken yet another dive from its high in the $78-a-barrel range to the mid-$50 range. "
"The fellow who predicted the 1987 stock market crash is predicting a similar collapse within months if not weeks. "
"Warming up to my case, I pointed out there could well be many more Enrons, WorldComs and
Adelphies out there in which tens of thousands of people lost their pension plans and life savings. "
"Even in Canada, we had Nortel, which while not run by a bunch of shysters now serving time in U.S.federal penitentiaries, was surely run by incompetent managers who took the stock down from $120-a-share to less than $1 at one point. "
"More recently, we had the flipflop on income trust policy -- and I have no sympathy for whose loaded with spare cash who invested in income trusts -- on the basis every legitimate financial expert will tell you never to invest in anything simply for the tax advantages. "
"Next I pointed out both Ford and General Motors are losing billions of dollars a year and shedding workers as quickly as they can. If the stock market does collapse, or if Ford and GM and other large companies have to merge with their Japanese competitors to salvage themselves, the ripples will spread throughout the entire automotive industry. "
"Plus, Communist China is about to start dumping under-priced cars on world markets. When all these converge, people -- who already hold sky-high debt -- are going to have to sell
everything off at 10 cents on the dollar and with that the housing boom will fall apart, too. "
"Well, since my friend knows I read every issue of Business Week, Forbes and the Financial Post cover-to- cover, said colleague gulped and decided now was not the time to buy the BMW.
I surely know how to put together a compelling assessment."
"So it's still the $75-a-month Calgary Transit pass for me. " Full Article.
The author of this article has a strong argument for being cautious with your money this year. He also goes on to point out how his friend is making a lot more than him. It makes you think.
Sure, High Rollers do make more money, but they also have a greater potential to lose it all. There is a reason why very successful people only make up a small percentage of the World's population.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
2 comments:
I am not certain how you conclude that investors loaded up on income trusts due to tax advantages solely. There are still several income trusts, even after the correction in the market post Oct 31, that are considered to be good investments in the Capital Market landscape. What the Flaherty did was make income trust distributions taxable at the same rate as corporate dividends for tax deferred retirement accounts and US foreign accounts. With the dividend tax credit, income trusts will still be somewhat tax neutral in Canadian taxable accounts. All the government succeeded in doing is breaking an election promise and double taxing income trusts in senior's retirement accounts.
Sorry for the confusion geoffrey, those are qoutes out of the article. Click the link at the end, and you can read the whole thing.
Post a Comment