|
Market bounce | Life-time travelling | A drone air show
Well, somehow it's almost August - where has the time gone? But, what a year it's been. We've seen
markets fall, markets rebound
; oil crash to multi-decade lows and partially rebound. We've seen Donald Trump insult his way to the Republican nomination, Hillary Clinton edge out a 74-year-old social democrat to
win her party's nomination
, but not without some controversy; high profile police shootings and murders, increased terrorist attacks, massive wildfires in Alberta, Brexit...and we still have five months to go.
This trip down memory lane has a point though. Even though a lot of what of has happened this year isn't of the warm and fuzzy variety, most global markets-Europe and Japan excepted-are enjoying positive returns in 2016.
How is this possible? Sometimes the markets just do what they want to do, and it doesn't need to make too much sense to you or me. Although you could argue we were due for a bounce given the state of markets last year and early 2016, the last five months have seen most markets do more than bounce. Actually, with the exception of the couple of days after the Brexit vote, they've been positively hopping! Go figure.
Don't get me wrong. I'm fine with this, especially since
we rebalanced portfolios
in February, allowing us to add to downtrodden positions before they took off. Did I know what the future would hold? Of course not. The markets could have kept falling, which would also have been fine, as a subsequent rebalance would have been even more lucrative.
Source: Brett Ryder, The Wall Street Journal
However, I digress, now that we've enjoyed some nice returns we'll be rebalancing in the near future. This time we'll likely be trimming some positions that have done particularly well, like energy and REITs, and add to ones that haven't, like the international (not including U.S.) index ETF.
A client story
Throughout the market ebb and flow, I'm lucky to have many clients who are not only wonderful people, but also have very interesting and inspiring lives. Two such people are Troy Young and Dorene Wharton. I've been a friend of the couple for a while, but in 2014, they came to me with a question: "Would it be possible to sell virtually everything we have and travel the world, potentially for the rest of our lives?"
After getting a clear idea of what that would look like, my team and I sat down to help make it a happen - at least from a financial perspective. Troy and Dorene have since created their own company,
Travel Life Experiences
, to document their journey and to act as a how-to guide for others who are interested in doing the same.
They soon discovered that many of their followers had the most trouble wrapping their heads around how the financial side of the equation would work. With that in mind, they decided to write a blog series about understanding money and realizing your goals-with some thoughts and tips from yours truly.
Their first blog
discusses how they used to think and feel about money-something most people don't pay enough attention to. If you've ever wondered whether you could be in a position to sell everything and travel the world...you'll want to check this series out!
I'm seeing more and more people decide they either aren't content with working nine to five at the same job for the rest of their lives or just want to try something new. Troy and Dorene are at the forefront of what may become a larger movement in years to come, I'm excited to be able to help on the planning side.
In the review queue
Plato and a Platypus Walk into a Bar by Thomas Cathcart and Daniel Klein: Thomas Cathcart and Daniel Klein have created a wonderful introduction to philosophy that hits each point home through jokes and funny stories. This highly enjoyable book not only gave me a better understanding of the different school of philosophy, but also made me laugh out loud. It's a short read, but given the breadth of material it covers, I'll likely go back to re-read it to make sure I've understood all the points, and also for a good laugh.
Mental Models I Find Repeatedly Useful by Gabriel Weinberg: Ever since reading Charlie Munger's Poor Charlie's Almanack, I've been a huge fan of acquiring and using mental models to help me think quicker and clearer. Gabriel Weinberg's article is perhaps the best list I've seen and, more importantly, has allowed me to build from it. If you have any interest in learning more about mental models, you need to give this article a good look.
Eager to be Wrong by Shane Parish: Another great article from Shane Parish of the Farnam Street blog. One thing I'm actively trying to get better at is figuring out when I'm wrong, especially when having a conversation with someone with a different point of view. This is still a work in progress for me, but articles like this remind me why it's so important to do so.
Being Brilliant Every Single Day by Dr. Alan Watkins: I've been meaning to get to this TED Talk for a while, and am glad I finally did. In it, Alan Watkins explains how your personal performance is directly affected by your physiology, emotions, feelings, thoughts, and behaviour. He finishes the talk with a demonstration of one of the things you can do to improve these factors. If you enjoy it as much as I did, you may want to watch Part 2 of the lecture, which expands on these ideas.
Going Viral
- Tesla Motors officially unveils its massive new Gigafactory 1 at a grand opening event on July 29, 2016. These visuals from the Visual Capitalist illustrate exactly what that means for the future of electric cars.
|
|
Matthew Lekushoff, CIMA
Financial Advisor
Raymond James Ltd.
T: 416-777-6368 | F: 416-777-7020 www.Matthewlekushoff.ca
  
|
|
|
|
|
This provides links to other Internet sites for the convenience of users. Raymond James Ltd. is not responsible for the availability or content of these external sites, nor does Raymond James Ltd endorse, warrant or guarantee the products, services or information described or offered at these other Internet sites. Users cannot assume that the external sites will abide by the same Privacy Policy which Raymond James Ltd adheres to.
The views of the author do not necessarily reflect those of Raymond James. This article is for information only. Raymond James Ltd. Member-Canadian Investor Protection Fund
|
|
Copyright © 2014. All Rights Reserved.
|
|
|
|
