It was great to see the Saturday, February 3, 2007  Globe & Mail Report on Business ranked Stock Pickers Digest as Canada’s top investor newsletter in 2006. (The Successful Investor, our flagship newsletter for less aggressive investors, was #3 in the Globe’s analysis.)

We achieved this ranking despite a couple of formidable obstacles that we faced this past year.

First, we advise …read more »

A question investors often ask at this time of year is “What role should bonds play in my RRSP?”

If you’re going to hold bonds, an RRSP is a good place for them.  That’s because bond interest lacks any tax advantages, unlike dividends from Canadian companies, which carry the dividend tax credit. Bonds usually have fixed maturity dates as well, so …read more »

You can now take out $2,000 a year from a RRIF without paying federal income taxes i f you’re over 65, up from $1,000 previously.

This will let you save around $305 a year in tax, up from $153.

To take full advantage of the credit, you can transfer approximately $9,100 to a RRIF at age 65 (which assumes a …read more »

Starting in 2011, Ottawa will impose a tax on income trust distributions that will put the income trusts on an equal tax footing with conventional taxable corporations. Trusts will pay a 31.5% tax on distributions to unit holders, so your cash flow from those trusts will fall by the same amount.

However, if you hold trusts outside of registered plans such …read more »

Here are three key rules you’ll need to follow to invest safely and successfully in 2007.

1. Make sure you have substantial U.S. market exposure — 20% to 30% of your equity investments, if not more.

Some Canadian investors have avoided the U.S. market recently. They worry that Americans are spending too heavily on consumer goods, especially with borrowed money, while neglecting …read more »

You can now take out $2,000 a year from a RRIF without paying federal income taxes if you’re over 65, up from $1,000 previously.

This will let you save around $305 a year in tax, up from $153.

To take full advantage of the credit, you can transfer approximately $9,100 to a RRIF at age 65 (which assumes a growth …read more »

This past year brought richly rewarding takeovers of several of our long-time favourites including Falconbridge, Inco, Fairmont and Sleeman. As a result, you may face a substantial capital-gains tax bill.

Before yielding to the year-end tax-loss selling urge, keep in mind that it’s always a mistake to sell good stocks at this time of year. Tax-loss selling sometimes drives share prices …read more »

When the Resources sector is booming, as it is now, it’s easy to think we’ve entered a new era of eversoaring prices. That’s a common belief today, due to growing demand for resources in China, India and other developing countries.

However, as the saying goes, “The best cure for high prices is high prices.”

For instance, copper prices have risen nearly five-fold …read more »

We’ve often pointed out that perhaps a third of your stocks will perform much better than you expect. Telus, up nine-fold from its 2002 low, is a good example. It’s also a good example of why we never set target prices for our recommendations. Targets spur investors to quit buying or even sell our best picks way too early.

If we …read more »

One of our main rules for successful investing is to spread your money out across most if not all of the five main economic sectors: Manufacturing & Industry; Resources & Commodities; Consumer; Finance; and Utilities.

If you follow this rule, you improve your chances of making money no matter what happens in the market. For example, manufacturing stocks may suffer if …read more »