Topic: How To Invest

What is Pat’s commentary for the week of May 7, 2013?

Article Excerpt

A couple of decades ago, I began advising Canadian investors to put 20% or so of their investment funds into U.S. stocks. I wanted investors to be able to invest in the great U.S. multinationals. These companies were likely to profit from the downfall of communism and the swing toward free enterprise that was getting underway back then. I also wanted investors to be able to profit from the incredible advances that were taking place in communications and computer technology. Since then, the U.S./Canada foreign exchange differential has at times worked in our favour. Other times, it has worked against us. In years of rising commodity prices, our Canadian stocks beat our U.S. stocks. When commodities were weak, U.S. stocks often did better. Recently, commodities have been weak and the U.S. market has been strong. The Standard & Poor’s 500 index has risen 13.1% so far this year, and 26.5% since the start of 2012. The Standard & Poor’s TSX index…