Sunday, June 22, 2008

Big Volume on TSX

The S&P/TSX Composite Index closed Friday at 14,580.67 (-209.48, -1.42%) on a volume of 392,121,642.

The high volume caught my attention as it was one of the highest volume days in the past year based on the chart below.




I guess we'll soon see if this higher volume is a pre-cursor to a bigger move in the TSX.

Retirement is for Losers

Some food for thought for those of you thinking about early retirement...

Saturday, June 14, 2008

A Car That Runs on Water

Imagine having a car that simply runs on water...

Well, you no longer have to imagine!

Earlier this week, Genepax Co Ltd revealed a car that uses its new "Water Energy System" fuel cell system that uses water as a fuel and does not emit CO2.

The system can generate power just by supplying water and air to the fuel and air electrodes, respectively. Since they are still working on the patent, they aren't providing many details on how the system actually works but its current prototype allows a litre of any kind of water - rain, river or sea - to get the engine going for about an hour at a speed of 80 km/h. With those kind of numbers, it's no surprise the Internet is abuzz about its potential.


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I really hope this technology is the real deal and can't wait to see these cars for sale in showrooms around the world.

Tax Freedom Day, TSX Index Changes, and Floods

Happy Tax Freedom Day Canada!

The day Canadians have paid off the total tax bill imposed on them by government and can finally start working for themselves, arrives today, four days earlier than in 2007, according to The Fraser Institute’s annual Tax Freedom Day calculations.

Canadians can calculate their personal Tax Freedom Day using The Fraser Institute’s Personal Tax Freedom Day Calculator.


Toronto Stock Exchange Index Changes

According to Reuters, six stocks will be removed from the Toronto Stock Exchange's main index, while three will be added as part of a routine quarterly review.

The changes to the S&P/TSX composite index will take effect at the start of trading on Monday, June 23, S&P said.

Removed from the index will be:

  • Crystallex International KRY.TO
  • Breakwater Resources BWR.TO
  • Aastra Technologies Ltd AAH.TO
  • Tesco Corp TEO.TO
  • Ballard Power Systems BLD.TO
  • Allen-Vanguard Corp VRS.TO.

The additions will be:
  • Birchcliffe Energy Ltd BIR.TO
  • Crew Energy Inc CR.TO
  • Iteration Energy ITX.TO.

Record Corn prices with Floods Hitting Mid-West Cities

Heavy rainfall and floods in the U.S. mid-west have in my opinion, pretty much ruined any hopes of a decent corn and soybean crop from these areas this year. It will be interesting how this weather event will effect agricultural stocks in the weeks to come as the fertilizer plays don't seem to be affected by it just yet while corn futures have gapped up a few times over the last few weeks. Ethanol stocks have already been downgraded as a result.

Tuesday, June 10, 2008

Out of Hanfeng

I sold my position in HF today to break even on the trade. Of course, it scurried on up afterwards but settled back down a little by the end of the day.

After reviewing the charts of several agricultural plays last night, I came to the realization that HF hasn't been participating in the most recent rally and the chart doesn't look too promising. I'm not smarter than the market! As such, I have revised my trading strategy; I now intend to stick to stocks that are leaders in their sectors and those sectors must be in solid uptrends. So I'll try to invest in momentum plays in the months to come and see how that goes.

Saturday, June 7, 2008

Back in Hanfeng

I've talked about Hanfeng on several occasions in the past so I won't tell its story again. I'll just say that I now have a new position in the stock.

I was banking on it bouncing off of its short-term support level yesterday (as shown in the 1-year chart below) but it of course, had to keep going down.

That's one of the downfalls of setting target buy prices for stocks when you don't have access to your trading account and want to make short-term trades. Sometimes, they work and sometimes they don't. Oh well, HF is a well-positioned company so I'm not concerned for the time being.

HF-T ended the day yesterday at $10.99 (-4.43%).

Monday, June 2, 2008

Shop Online & Get Cash Back

With gas prices soaring, more and more people everyday are doing their shopping online to save on gas money and the hassles of going to the mall.

Well, now there's another great reason to shop online:
You can earn additional savings on your online purchases!

How?

Simply visit a site that offers to share some of their commissions with users such as yourself and you can save a bunch of cash!

From books to computers to airline tickets to hotel rooms and everything in between, these sites provide you with the opportunity to get a rebate on your online purchases.

  1. Great Canadian Rebates is probably the most popular Canadian cash rebate site.
    Before making any online purchases, visit their site and shop at over 300 of your favourite merchants and automatically earn Cash Back Rebates.

  2. Smart Canucks also offers Cash Back Rebates.
    Their program is a little more hidden on their web forum but they're there. Just look for the 'Cash Back' links on the left-hand side of the web page.
Both sites provide you with a monetary registration bonus, special promotions, and access to different retailers so it doesn't hurt to register right away and shop at both sites to maximize savings.

And while on the subject, Visa offers its cardholders VisaPerks at selected retailers online and in-store.

So the next time, you go shopping online, be sure to check out these three sites to make sure you're not missing out on any special deals.

Sunday, June 1, 2008

Is it Worth Being a Farmer?

With food prices on the rise, one would think that these are good times for farmers but think again: fuel prices have gone up, so has fertilizer, herbicide and seeds amongst others things.

Saturday's Globe and Mail looked at who is responsible for the global food crisis and as part of the article, they including a flow chart that demonstrates some of the challenges a Canadian grain farmer faces to make a living. It looks a bit like a 'Snakes & Ladders' board game that pretty much screws the poor farmer unless he's extremely lucky which makes me wonder if it's even worth the time and effort to be a farmer nowadays. One can make as much money, if not more, by playing the futures and stock markets, without getting your hands dirty and taking on that much risk. With all the games being played on the markets by the big boys, you also have to wonder if this is all just part of a bigger plan to kick small farmers off their land so the huge corporations can take over and control the entire food market from end-to-end.

So if you ate today, thank a farmer!

And be sure to buy Canadian, if not locally-grown produce, to help your small, independent farmer continue the honourable tradition of growing food for generations to come.