February 2009 Net Worth Update (+3.41%)

Here are the assets/liabilities result for the second month of 2009:

Assets

Vehicles: $6500

Cash: $5800

Savings: $22000

TFSA: $5000

Registered Investment Account: $20600

Non-Registered Investment Account: $14200

Total Assets: 74100

Debts

Credit Card Debt: $1400

Total Debts: $1400

Total Net Worth: $72700 (+3.41%)

Started 2009 with Net Worth: $65300

Year-to-Date Gain/Loss: +11.33%

My net worth goal at the end of year 2009 is $90,000, and $17300 to come in the next 10 months.

Weekly Trading Update - Feburary 27, 2009

I was planning to catch a bounce from the oversold position of S&P 500 in the beginning of the week, as most of the indicators show over-sold condition. as being said, I bought in HSU at $4.99 for 1000 shares, and sold it for $5.22 on Thursday as the selling pressure is too overwhelming.

I changed my view on Friday and bought in HFD at $42.44 for 200 shares, as there was breakdown for the consolidation area.

Here is the transactions for this week,

S&P 500 Bull Plus ETF, HSU
Feb 24, Buy, 1000 shares @ $4.99 + $9.95 commission
Total Cost: $4,999.95

Feb 26, sell, 1000 shares @ $5.22 - $9.95 commission
Total Cost: $5,210.05
Realized Loss: $5,210.05 - $4,999.95 = $210.10 (4.20%)

S&P/TSX Capped Financials Bear Plus ETF, HFD
Feb 27, Buy, 200 shares @ $42.44 + $9.95 commission
Total Cost: $8,497.95

Trading Gain/Loss from this week: $210.10

Year-to-date Trading Profit: $3150.05

Weekly Trading Update - Feburary 20, 2009

Two bad trades generated a little over $200 profit for me in this week. The first one is that I sold my position too early, and the other one is that I put wrong stop sell price on the stock which resulted in the loss that I had to take. A couple of things, however, have been learned from these two trades, 1) don't let the emotion and news judge the transactions but the indicators and charts. 2) Stop loss price needs to be set based on the trading situation as leveraged ETF's does not sometimes trace the index perfectly.

Positions From last week,

Davis & Henderson Income Fund, DHF.UN: 200 shares: total cost of $6739.90

Transactions this week,

S&P 500 Bear Plus ETF, HSD
Feb 18, sell, 200 shares @ $36.80 - $9.95 commission
Total Cost: $7,350.05
Realized Loss: $7350.05 - $6739.90 = $610.15 (9.05%)

Feb 20, Buy, 300 shares @ $39.19 + $9.95 commission
Total Cost: $11,766.95

Feb 11, sell, 150 shares @ $37.90 - $9.95 commission
Total Cost: $11,360.05
Realized Loss: $11,360.05 - $11,766.95 = -$406.90 (-3.46%)

Trading Gain/Loss from this week: $203.25

Year-to-date Trading Profit: $2939.95

Weekly Trading Update - Feburary 13, 2009

I made it even with 10 bones made through a couple of trades in this week. I kept my S&P 500 Bear+ ETF with stop loss at $31.03. Average cost price per share is around $33.70. After Timothy's bank rescue "plan", I don't think the economy will be back up anytime soon.

Think about this way for people think Novermber's low is the bottom. Usually, stock market is 6 months ahead of the actual economy, do you see the economy will rebound in April or May in 2009? I am simply not seeing any evidence for that.

Positions From last week,

Davis & Henderson Income Fund, DHF.UN: 500 shares: total cost of $7,569.95

Transactions this week,

Davis & Henderson Income Fund, DHF.UN
Feb 10, sell, 500 shares @ $14.90 - $9.95 commission
Total Cost: $7440.05
Realized Loss: $7440.05 - $7569.95 = -$129.90 (-1.72%)

S&P/TSX Capped Energy Bear Plus ETF, HED
Feb 10, Buy, 150 shares @ $17.10 + $9.95 commission
Total Cost: $2,574.95

Feb 11, sell, 150 shares @ $18.17 - $9.95 commission
Total Cost: $2,715.55
Realized Loss: $2,715.55 - $2,574.95 = $140.60 (5.46%)

S&P 500 Bear Plus ETF, HSD
Feb 10, Buy, 100 shares @ $33.90 + $9.95 commission
Total Cost: $3,399.95

Feb 11, Buy, 100 shares @ $33.30 + $9.95 commission
Total Cost: $3,339.95

Total Cost: $3,399.95 + $3,339.95 = $6739.90

Trading Gain/Loss from this week: $10.70

Year-to-date Trading Profit: $2736.70

Comments on Geithner’s Rescue Plan Outline

The Treasury provided only the most general descriptions of how struggling homeowners and small businesses would be helped on Tuesday. And officials said they have yet to design a program that is a core part of the plan which is based on three parts:

1) Give $50 billion to homeowners struggling with foreclosure. Details on this will come later but it is, in my opinion, a necessary element.
2) Institute a “stress test” to determine which of the remaining banks are insolvent. If they are found to be insolvent, then…
3) Establish a public-private entity to swallow up the bad assets and sell them later

The heart of the problem is this: how do you price those toxic assets?

Geithner seems to be calling in the vulture investors to buy up this junk as they have done before. But the vultures are unwilling to do so at this point because the banks won’t sell the bad assets at their true bargain-basement value.

It isn’t buyers who cannot be found. It’s sellers: the banks don’t want to sell at market prices because then they would have to take a massive loss on their books and be revealed as utterly insolvent.

As Nobel economist Joseph Stiglitz argues: the banks are already insolvent and just don’t want to admit it. If the housing market dropped one percent more, those 18-28 billion would fall to zero and the gig would be up officially.

I don't get why Secretary Geithner continue to insist that a public private partnership can somehow coax the big banks to sell their toxic assets at a price that won’t rob taxpayers?

Weekly Trading Update - February 6, 2009

In this week, I tested out the income trust sector against my trading theories/system, and found out that it does not work very well due to the nature of the income trust that tend to lag the market a little bit. Well, here is the update for the week.

Positions From last week,
None

Transactions this week,
Davis & Henderson Income Fund, DHF.UN
Feb 2, Buy, 500 shares @ $15.12 + $9.95 commission
Total Cost: $7569.95

Fort Chicago Energy Partners, FCE.UN
Feb 4, Buy, 800 shares @ $7.45 + $9.95 commission
Total Cost: $5969.95

Feb 5, Sell, 800 shares @ $7.50 - $9.95 commission
Total Cost: $5,990.05
Realized Loss: $5990.05 - $5969.95 = $20.10 (0.34%)

Loblaw, L
Feb 6, Buy, 190 shares @ $33.98 + $9.95 commission
Total Cost: $6,466.15

Feb 6, Sell, 190 shares @ $32.50 - $9.95 commission
Total Cost: $6,165.05
Realized Loss: $6165.05 - $6466.15 = -$301.10 (-4.66%)

Trading Gain/Loss from this week: -$281.00

Year-to-date Trading Profit: $2726.00

10 tips for RRSP Contributions

The annual rush to beat the deadline for RRSP contributors can be stressful. No less worrisome is the nagging feeling that you may have missed an opportunity by neglecting some step in the process.

Patricia Lovett-Reid, Senior Vice President, TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. outlines ten ways to make a more effective RRSP contribution In her recently published retirement planning guide.

1. Don't make contributing to your RRSP a once-a-year-event. With a regular contribution plan, you'll avoid the February rush and your money will start working for you sooner.
2. Don't let your tax refund go to waste. Rather than spending your tax refund, consider repaying your loansand credit cards, paying down your mortgage, or if you have the RRSP room, topping up your contribution.
3. Don't forget about your long-term financial plan. By establishing a formal plan and monitoring your progress regularly, you'll have a far better chance of reaching your retirement goals.
4. Maximize your RRSP contribution. Your maximum contribution for 2005 is $16,500.00, or 18% of your previous year's earned income, whichever is less. This may be reduced by a pension increased by your "carry forward" amount, which is the dollar amount you can carry forward to another year when you contribute less than the full amount in any given year.
5. Diversify your portfolio. Studies have shown that more than 90% of your portfolio's return is the result of asset allocation and not individual investment selection. By ensuring your investments are allocated across all asset classes (cash, fixed income and equities), it will help to ensure that you always have the best performing asset class in your portfolio.
6. Designate a beneficiary for your RRSP. Despite the fact that RRSPs make up the bulk of many people's assets, some still do not designate a beneficiary or take into account the tax consequences when they do name a beneficiary. Under the Income Tax Act, upon death, the assets in an RRSP that are designated to a spouse can be automatically transferred tax-free to their plan, avoiding probate fees and income taxes.
7. Consider income-splitting strategies. Spousal RRSPs can provide a means of income-splitting for couples. They can help defer taxes right away for the contributor and reduce taxes at retirement. Shifting investment income from a higher income earner to the lower income earner can mean less tax payable if the lower income earner is in a lower tax bracket during retirement
8. Don't "park" your RRSP contribution indefinitely. Every year, many Canadians "park" RRSP contributions in money market funds. These contributions could be missing out on growth potential and the opportunity for a better rate of return if invested elsewhere.
9. Don't miss an RRSP contribution just because you're temporarily short of money. If you are short of cash at RRSP time, borrowing may be the answer. RRSP loans are usually offered at attractive rates and often give you the option of deferring the first payments for up to three months, potentially allowing you to repay all or part of the loan with your tax refund.
10. Don't contribute in-kind of securities that have capital losses. If you contribute securities into an RRSP, the Canadian Revenue Agency deems this a disposition, or sale, of the securities. If the sale is done at a profit, taxes must be paid on the capital gain. If you contribute securities to an RRSP that carry a loss, you will lose the ability to net these losses against taxable capital gains at tax time.

Carnival #1 - Stock Trading & Investing

Welcome to the 1st edition of the 17th Avenue Money Talks Carnival - Stock Trading and Investing! In total, this Carnival received over 30 submissions, and the following entries have been carefully selected for this edition of the Carnival.

David presents The Benefits Of Owning A Corporation posted at Personal Finance Ology, saying, "Own your own business and be your own boss, its the perfect job. Make sure that you follow the correct steps to becoming incorporated!"

Bill Spohnholtz presents Stock Market 101 posted at Learn The Stock Market And How to Trade, saying, "Sometimes when I review the basics I think of my best new strategies. Whether refreshing or learning for the first time I challenge you to not have at least one "ah ha" moment while reading through these."

MoneyNing presents HSBC Direct Online Bank Review posted at Money Ning, saying, "Great look at what is a HSBC Direct online bank account means for you."

Investing School presents Zecco vs TradeKing Discount Brokerage Comparison Review posted at Investing School, saying, "Want to know whether Zecco or TradeKing is better? This is the comparison you need to read!"

Darwin presents SuperFund Review - Are the Returns Too “Super” to be True? posted at Darwin's Finance, saying, "This article highlights an up and coming investment vehicle that will soon be garnering much press - consider these facts before signing up."

VC presents A Voice to Shake Wall Street posted at The Penny Daily.

KCLau presents Procrastinator, plucker, plotter, and prober posted at KCLau's Money Tips, saying, "Recently I was reading the book titled “The Number: What do you need for the rest of your life and what will it cost?” A rundown on what the book has to offer"

FIRE Getters presents Investing - Which Stock Market Indexes to Choose? posted at FIRE Finance.

Pinyo Bhulipongsanon presents Should You Invest In Target Retirement Funds? posted at Moolanomy.

Tyrone Solee presents How Stock Market Works posted at Millionaire Acts, saying, "A great article on how stock market works"

Patrick @ Military Money presents 2009 Retirement Plan Contribution Limits posted at Military Finance Network, saying, "Information on 2009 Retirement Plan Contribution Limits for those who plan on maxing out their retirement accounts this year."

Investing School presents What is a Hedge Fund - A Definition posted at Investing School, saying, "What is a hedge fund? Here's a definition."

CreditCardAssist.com presents Don't Treat Your Credit Card Limit as Income posted at Credit Card Assist.

The Smarter Wallet presents Charting Stock Movements With Fibonacci Trading Techniques posted at The Smarter Wallet.

Raily Arena presents Tips to Increase Your Chance of Selling Your Home posted at How to Sell Your Own Home.

Dave presents Why Muni Bonds Are A Bad Investment! posted at Cheapo Groovo.

Ralph Jean-Paul presents How To Make Important Decisions Quickly posted at Potential 2 Success, saying, "Quick decision making is critical in just about every aspect of life. Every decision you make produces a result. In every line of business, quick decision making is crucial for success."

Carrie presents Less is More: Stock Market Concepts posted at Less is More.

That concludes this edition. Thanks a million to all the contributors of this carnival!