I've been really MIA on Blossom since the passing of my sister... It's given me a lot of time to reflect on things. I still enjoy everything about finance and check my portfolio often, but I really want to stress the importance of realizing why we are doing this. What is the end goal of all of this? Seeing a loved one go in their early 30s is difficult, and it's made me realize that the time we have on this planet is really, really short. I have come to the realization that staring at numbers and watching them grow isn't as important as spending some of that time with loved ones. I want to start taking the kiddos on more vacations, buy the van that the wife wants, and try to see my parents more. The key for me will still be to be responsible with my finances, but instead of waiting for that next portfolio goal, waiting for the kids to grow older, or waiting to retire... why not live now? The whole point of becoming wealthy is to USE THE WEALTH, not to stash more and more so we can become so rich that we never actually enjoy the short time we are given on Earth. When the drunk driver went head on with her Uber vehicle, I truly believe she had no clue, could've just been chilling on her phone in the back then dead the next second...goes to show our life could end at any second and we might not even realize it. This post isn't saying we shouldn't be financially responsible, but that we should also enjoy life today... Tell your loved ones you love them, and use your finances to better your life. Willread more
What’s the most important thing you look for when researching a stock and finding a winner? What are the things that a stock must have in order for you to own it? Let me know below, i’m super curious!
On the All-In episode released on 17 October 2026, with Ben Horowitz filling in for David Friedberg, the panel opened with the week CoreWeave’s bonds cracked. Horowitz brought the best story of the show, from 1999, when he and Marc Andreessen were running Loudcloud. Bandwidth was scarce, he said, so you signed long contracts to lock it in. He remembered bandwidth costing about $1,500 per megabit in 1999 and seeing it at about $50 by 2001. His conclusion, if you held bandwidth and “you borrowed money to get it, you’re dead.” He described today’s neoclouds as Rube Goldberg machines of finance, and said a16z had stayed out of them partly for that reason. Then he drew the line that made the clip travel. The dot-com era died of missing demand, he argued, and AI does not have that problem. In his words “We don’t really have a lack of demand in AI.” He said Andy Jassy had told him Amazon’s compute could stay sold out to the end of 2028 or beyond, and that GPUs are earning money for six, seven, even eight years, longer than investors had assumed. It is a good parallel and I want to take it seriously, which means testing both halves. The first half, that debt plus a falling unit price kills capacity owners, holds up. The second half, that demand is the shield, does not. Internet traffic did not stop growing in 2001. It roughly doubled every year right through the bust. The bandwidth owners were not killed by a lack of demand. They were killed by supply that grew faster than an already enormous demand, which turned into a price that fell every year, which met debt that did not. So the useful question about AI is not “is the demand real?” It obviously is. The question is the one that sank Global Crossing which is ‘can supply outrun even real demand, how fast does the unit price fall when it does, and who is holding the debt on the day it happens?’ Continue reading here: https://cycledesk.substack.com/p/internet-bubble-vs-todays-ai-buildout?r=7unzzg&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=trueread more
“we want to be one of the largest AI clouds in the world” - $NBIS CEO, Arkady Volozh Jensen Huang says $NBIS is “doing really well” at his event this morning. Nebius says it could sell out its entire 2027 capacity today but is holding some back for shorter deals reportedly priced at $50M per MW. What a morning for the Neb’s!
Nokia, $NOK reported Q3 results, and there's plenty for investors to digest. THE GOOD NEWS: 1) Revenue increased 10% year over year to €5.15 billion. 2) Comparable operating profit jumped 35% to €605 million, beating analyst expectations. 3) AI and cloud customer sales surged 123%, with €1.5 billion in new orders during the quarter. 4) IP Networks revenue grew 43%, while Optical Networks grew 18%. 5) Nokia expects combined IP and Optical Networks growth of 25–30% in 2027. 6) Nokia, T-Mobile and NVIDIA completed the first AI-RAN call on a live commercial network. This is an encouraging step toward making AI-RAN a real business. THE BAD NEWS: 1) Reported operating profit declined 22% year over year, reflecting restructuring and integration costs. 2) Nokia lowered its expected free-cash-flow conversion to 35–55% of comparable operating profit as it invests in working capital and continues restructuring. 3) AI-RAN is still an emerging opportunity. Successful demonstrations and field trials must translate into commercial contracts and profitable revenue. 4) Nokia maintained its full-year comparable operating profit outlook of €2.1–€2.6 billion. That's reassuring, but it isn't an increase in guidance. MY TAKEAWAY: Nokia's AI networking business is already growing, while AI-RAN could provide another growth engine over time. My speculative thesis is that Nokia can build on its existing telecommunications technology, improve network performance and develop additional revenue streams. The opportunity is real, but execution matters. I'll be watching commercial adoption, cash flow and profitability rather than just the headlines. I do have a call option on this position as I'm using the premium as a substitute for the dividend and giving myself an exit price. read more
I asked ChatGPT work to give me its top 10 stock buys for growth right now in the market And here’s what it gave me: 10. $GOOGL 9. $CRM 8. $NVDA 7. $SE 6. $META 5. $NOW 4. $NU 3. $AMZN 2. $UBER 1. $MELI Thoughts? Do you hold any of these? read more
The Fidelity team is BACK with another user research sessions to better understand how Canadian retail investors think about ETFs. This is a great opportunity to sit down, this time with their Marketing team, and share your honest perspective on the ETF space, and discuss what works (or doesn't work) for you when it comes to ETFS! Whether you actively hold Fidelity funds or hold funds from other providers, you should participate! Any feedback is very welcome Session Details: Date: Thursday, October 29, 2026 Time: Between 2:00 PM – 3:00 PM EDT (Toronto time) Format: 1 hour virtual interview - come ready to share your thoughts! No prep needed, it will be over Zoom! Honorarium: $15 gift card or e-Transfer as a token of appreciation for your time Who we’re looking for: ⚡️ 10 ETF holders of any kind (any provider, style, or asset class) If you’d like to participate, please fill out this quick screening form: https://forms.gle/SQeyKxedRsTznje18 (If you can’t make the 2:00 PM – 3:00 PM window on Thursday but are open to future user research studies with Fidelity, feel free to submit the form anyway so we have you on our radar!)read more
Investing $5/month is better than $0 Investing $10/month is better than $0 Investing $20/month is better than $0 Investing $30/month is better than $0 Every dollar counts. Just start small now, increase your contributions later.read more
Starting my investment journey has taught me one big lesson: consistency beats timing every single time. Watching the market’s daily swings made me realize that true growth comes from patience, not trying to predict tops and bottoms. Sticking to the basics of risk management and avoiding emotional trades is the foundation I'm building on.
I am currently 47 years old. Unfortunately in that time frame I have lost a lot of family members. Some (most) were accidents, some to age, some to cancer, and one to suicide. That’s 11 deaths total. Only 1 person out of 11 had a will. When you are grieving the last thing you want to do is close an estate up. It’s even harder if nothing has been prepared in advance. After the initial shock of the death settles (the phase where everyone is usually nice), greed comes through in a most alarming manner. I’ve watched people turn into monsters. Make sure you have a will!!!! or people will fight. I know most people hate thinking about their death or their spouses death but honestly it’s just a fact of life. I’ve personally been the executor of 2 estates now. This is my advice: 1. If your young get life insurance. If you’re retired it’s not worth it. 2. Make sure you have a will. 3. Make sure you have a personal directive. 4. Make sure you have a power of attorney set up. 5. If your married make your spouse the beneficiary of your TFSA and RRSP(has to be done through the account not the will), they will roll into the spouses account without taxation. 6. If you’re married, and you own a house, make sure both names are on the title, joint tenant, NOT tenant in common. This activates right of survivorship on property and doesn’t have to go through the estate. 7. If you’re married, both people should have their name on all the vehicles, joint, otherwise it’s a headache after death. 8. Buy a file folding system. I have a plastic one that has a clasp and handle. 9. Put EVERYTHING in this file folder that would be needed if you died tomorrow. a) all land titles B) information on house insurance so it can either be eventually canceled or name changed over. C) your will (or the location of your will), power of attorney, and personal directive D) the information for your car, car insurance, and registration on vehicles. E) information on life insurance. F) all current year papers needed for filing your taxes. Because the survivor will have to do it and will need that information. G) where your household bills are. ALL OF THEM, electricity, gas, Netflix, magazine, subscriptions everything you can think of that is in their name. Because you are going to have to cancel them. H) their credit card information where to contact to cancel the cards I) birth certificate, SIN numbers, marriage, license, etc. J) information on all your investments accounts, bank accounts, etc. K) anything else you can think of for your situation If you’re married, I’d have one box per person. When you die, the funeral home will issue many death certificates. And your lawyer will give you copies of the will. These will be needed to change over any accounts. Everything else goes through the estate which is taxed and the lawyers take their fees so I’d avoid this as much as possible especially if you’re married. This is why having property in both people‘s names is so important because it doesn’t have to go through probate. I am widowed now and I have my black file folder and my two remaining children know if something happens to me, all they have to do is grab the folder. Everything they need to take care of my estate will be located in this folder. At the beginning of every year, I open this file up and go through everything to make sure it’s up-to-date. If you are young and do not own much or can’t afford a will, you can draft one up but it must be handwritten to be classified as a legal document. You cannot type it out!! If you’re not worth much, everything will most likely be sold to pay your bills and cover your funeral expenses. But you can state who your executor will be in your handwritten will. Disclaimer I’m not a lawyer or an accountant and this is not legal advice. Talk to a lawyer and talk to an accountant. Make sure everything is set up for you and your situation. These are situations that I personally ran into. Good luck Also I’ll add in. IF you have a lot of assets make an appointment with your accountant first. They will tell you how to properly set things up. Then take that information to your lawyer. read more
🔒Ex-date Oct 20th 💰Paydate Oct 21st $TDAQ$0.38252⬆️ Last month : $TDAQ$0.3824⬇️ 2 months ago : $TDAQ$0.39274⬆️ 3 months ago : $TDAQ$0.39002⬇️ 4 months ago : $TDAQ$0.39547⬆️ 5 months ago : $TDAQ$0.38246⬆️ 6 months ago : $TDAQ$0.35022⬇️ 7 months ago : $TDAQ$0.35372⬇️ 8 months ago : $TDAQ$0.35722⬆️ 9 months ago : $TDAQ$0.37620⬆️ 10 months ago : $TDAQ$0.37405read more
I spoke to a police officer today in the lower mainland who had a 300k down-payment for his house in Chilliwack, BC and his monthly mortgage payment is still $4500....thats 3 times my mortgage payment and we make roughly the same salary.... I literally don't know how folks out in Vancouver and Toronto do it? Unless someone has rich parents or living in tiny places... is everyone else just house poor?
I have been stacking up a good amount of cash to make a move on some positions. I need to keep doing my research but I know I will be adding $ZETA$AAPL$UNH$NBIS
added: nothing thesis has not changed, but considering rotating my entire $MSTR position into who i think is their biggest competition. not spoiling who it is yet, but their debt to equity is incredibly low (0.25%), rate of accumulation has been much more aggressive, & they've learned the same lessons strategy has without making the same mistakes with their balance sheet in the past $MSTR is still the pioneer & will not be going anywhere. they have the largest market cap, one of the current best balance sheets, & lowest risk of any btc treasury rn. i've made a decent short term profit from them already but would be very comfortable maintaining my position for the duration of this new cycle onward
Well!! Today isn’t a day to jump back into $XEQT hopping $TSLA and $META bring the market down tomorrow after earnings it has already jumped before the numbers are even out. 😵
Interest on a credit line used to invest is not approved once, on the day of the first purchase, and then left alone. Two tests apply, and one of them never stops running. The first is the purpose test: when the first investment is made, there needs to be a reasonable expectation of income from it, such as interest, dividends or rent. The second is the use testl: unlike the purpose test, the use test is ongoing, and the onus is on the taxpayer to trace the borrowed money to a specific qualified use. CRA's guidance on the carrying charges line says in general that interest on money borrowed to try to earn investment income can be claimed, and that there is no claim when the only earnings are capital gains. Put those together and the deduction depends on what the borrowed money owns today, not only on what it bought at the start. A worked example shows the size of it. Take a $100,000 credit line at 4.95 percent, which is $4,950 of interest a year, or $412.50 a month. With the whole $100,000 sitting in non-registered holdings expected to produce income, that interest may be tax deductible, when set up properly with an accountant. The relief would be about $2,149 at a 43.41 percent marginal rate, or about $1,468 at 29.65 percent. Now suppose that over several years $40,000 of the portfolio moves into a holding expected to produce only capital gains and no distributions. The interest tied to that slice is $1,980 a year. If the slice no longer qualifies, the relief on it, about $860 at 43.41 percent or about $587 at 29.65 percent, may go with it. Relief on the whole line falls to about $1,289 or $881, while the cash interest stays $4,950. After tax, the yearly cost rises from about $2,801 to about $3,661 at the higher bracket, and from about $3,482 to about $4,069 at the lower one. Drift like this rarely looks like a decision. It comes from rebalancing, replacing a fund, a distribution being cut, or a switch to a growth-only holding for reasons that have nothing to do with the credit line. Whether any particular holding qualifies is a question for an accountant, and nothing here suggests choosing one holding over another. Three habits keep the question visible. Ask the accountant before a holding changes, not at filing time. Keep each draw tied to a dated record of what it bought. And re-check what the line funds once a year, on the day the interest statement arrives.read more
Pre Market Report Futures are green Watch $SPY support and resistance Support 753.10 Resistance 778.32 Pivot 765.71 You won’t get this information from certain paid discordsread more
📊 SpaceX pulled investors back into tech. The Nasdaq jumped 1.05% to 26,702.86, the S&P 500 rose 0.58% for a third straight gain, the Dow added 0.69% and Canada’s S&P/TSX Composite climbed 0.60%. 🚀 SpaceX ($SPCX) surged 7% after reporting third quarter revenue growth of 161%, with its AI business up ninefold. Musk also said SpaceX and Tesla have formed special committees to discuss a merger. 🎬 Netflix ($NFLX) tumbled more than 5% after its full year revenue forecast came in below expectations. The streamer also cut its full year ad revenue guidance. ✈️ United Airlines ($UAL) rose 3.99% to $101.67 on record quarterly revenue of $17.9 billion, up 17%. Fuel expenses jumped 62% though, and fourth quarter guidance of 50 cents to $1.50 per share landed well under the $1.76 expected. United sees fuel at $4.80 a gallon next quarter, up from $3.90. 🍁 Mark Carney and Doug Ford announced $9 billion in support for Canadian sectors hit by the trade war. Carney said he spoke with Trump Wednesday morning about trade, Iran and Ukraine, the same day U.S. officials released a fact sheet accusing Canada of interfering in American elections. 📱 Meta ($META) gained 3% after hours on third quarter revenue of $64.60 billion against the $63.37 billion LSEG consensus, with fourth quarter guidance also ahead. Tesla ($TSLA) beat on both lines at 48 cents per share on $28.05 billion but still slipped 2% in extended trade. 👨🏻💻 Researched and written daily by @timemino read more
These aren’t rules, facts or anything definitive; just some of the many opinions I’ve built over nearly 30yrs of stock investing. Take em' or leave em', it's all good to me because they're accurate. 🤷♂️ Here goes, in no particular order. Far too many investors… … have a gambling mentality when it comes to investing. ... focus on where a stock once traded to determine 'fair value’. ... think their pain threshold for unrealized losses is far higher than reality. ... risk far too much for a potentially very small win. ... create a lot of bad habits during bull markets. ... fail to acknowledge mistakes, so they fail to learn from them. ... under-estimate how can be lost going all-in on high or no P/E growth. ... rely on 'wishful thinking' over an actual 'investment thesis'. ... ignore anything negative about their stocks due to confirmation bias. ... will jump into day trading and/or margin usage at worst possible times. ... make blindly 'buying the dip' they're primary investing strategy. ... consider bullish "what-ifs" , while ignoring bearish "what-ifs". … equate every bit of news as a catalyst, while it's just ‘business as usual’. .*. spend too much time on small positions & not enough on large positions. .*. fall prey to "how much lower can it go" thinking, and later learn A LOT! ... underestimate 'company specific risk' and invest too much in one stock. ... worry about how they rank against others instead of focusing on self. … don’t understand what ‘the market is forward looking’ truly means. ... fail to factor 'we don't know what we don't know' in investment thesis. ... confuse getting lucky with having a sound investment thesis. ... will eventually get kicked in the throat by an unexpected margin call. .*. own too many individual stocks complicating things for no reason. … don’t spend enough time trying to break their bullish investment thesis. … scream "manipulation", when wrong about their favorite stock. ... spend too much time on social media telling others their stocks are best. ... think 'time in the market' guarantees profits, which isn't true for stocks. ... fall for recency bias when projecting future returns. … think they know more about a stock/company, than they actually do. ... sell their winners early and hold their losers indefinitely. ... willingly pay high expenses on ETFs that don't deliver. .*. happily DCA to lower cost basis, but won't do it to raise cost basis. ... turn a blind eye to dilution from rampant share issuance. ... ignore importance of long-term diversification. ... assume any ETF or mutual fund is safer than a stock. .*. get caught up believing the hype of a highly speculative stock. ... don't bother researching balance sheet & other key metrics.. ... under-estimate what's needed to retire 'comfortably', incl. fire/coast fire. .*. over-estimate what's needed to retire 'comfortably' (opposite of above). ... are far too quick to give advice while being ill-equipped to do so. ... over-estimate their true returns by failing to offset deposits. ... get cocky during bear markets & ultimately lose years of gains because of it. I think I've shared something similar to this in the past, so if I'm being honest, not really sure why I'm sharing... As with most of my posts, it's likely driven by what I'm seeing in my Blossom feed. And full disclosure, I've been guilty of a few of these (.*.) myself. Maybe you're guilty of some too. ** Wanted or not, I'll add to this list as more come to mind. **read more
This video is probably more relevant to those who have already implemented the Smith Manoeuvre or are considering implementing it. 🙂 I wanted to share a behind-the-scenes look at how I do it in practice. My Smith Manoeuvre portfolio is now worth over $246,000 after nearly five years, and in this video, I walk through the step-by-step process of borrowing from my Scotiabank HELOC, transferring the funds to Wealthsimple, and using the money to buy more shares of XEQT in my non-registered investment account. I also share a few lessons I've learned along the way, including why I leave some available credit as a buffer for interest charges, how I keep track of transactions for tax documentation, and the differences I've noticed between using Wealthsimple and Questrade for the Smith Manoeuvre. ⚠️ This video shares my personal experience and is for educational purposes only, not financial advice. Borrowing to invest involves risk, including the possibility of investment losses, rising interest rates, and owing more than your investments are worth. Tax deductibility depends on your specific circumstances and applicable CRA rules. Do your own research and consider consulting a qualified professional before implementing a similar strategy. 💬 For those who have implemented the Smith Manoeuvre or are considering it, what's your biggest question about the process?** https://youtu.be/i_Somn5JrjQ read more
📊 Strong earnings and cheaper oil steadied the market. The Dow jumped 1.02% to 52,495.88, the S&P 500 added 0.29%, the Nasdaq slipped 0.02% and Canada’s S&P/TSX Composite climbed 0.50%. WTI fell 1.8% to settle at $101.79 and Brent declined 0.7% to $108.79. 🔧 3M ($MMM) popped 5.78% to $171.37 after posting adjusted earnings of $2.50 per share against the $2.38 LSEG estimate and raising full year guidance. It was the Dow’s biggest boost. 📊 Equifax ($EFX) leapt almost 12% on third quarter adjusted earnings of $2.26 per share, beating the $2.20 FactSet consensus. Revenue of $1.69 billion landed in line, though the credit bureau trimmed its 2026 revenue guidance. ✈️ GE Aerospace ($GE) fell 3.67% to $299.87 despite beating on both lines and hiking full year guidance. Adjusted earnings of $2.25 per share topped the $2.01 estimate, but free cash flow of $2.04 billion came in under the $2.2 billion expected. ☁️ CoreWeave ($CRWV) gained more than 1% even as its credit stress deepened. The spread on its five-year credit default swap topped 1,121, up more than 17% over the past week, and anything above 1,000 is generally read as distress. 🏠 Housing starts tumbled 5.2% in September to an annualized 1.22 million, well under the 1.3 million consensus. Single-family starts fell 4.6% to 859,000, though building permits came in slightly ahead of expectations at 1.4 million. 👨🏻💻 Researched and written daily by @timeminoread more
If I could only hold ONE fund for the next 30 years, I'm STUCK between two. $VOO is the simple, classic answer. $QQQM turned $10K into almost $65K over the last decade, but 2022 showed how brutal that ride gets. $VTI owns every corner of the US and $VT owns the whole planet for 0.07%. Me, I'm an S&P 500 guy long term, but I'd be lying if I said I never peek at $QQQM. One fund. 30 years. No switching. Which one are you picking?
I borrowed $42,000 to invest in XEQT using a Wealthsimple Portfolio Line of Credit (PLOC) — and after about two and a half months, here's exactly how it's going. 📈💰 In this video, I share an update on my ongoing experiment with borrowing to invest, including my current XEQT portfolio value of $42,362, approximately $362 in total returns from price appreciation and dividends, and roughly $300 in accrued interest so far. After accounting for the interest I've paid, am I actually ahead? Well, sort of! I explain how I went from borrowing $35,000 to $42,000, how much more I could potentially borrow based on my linked investment accounts, and why I'm being cautious about taking on additional debt. I'll break down my monthly interest costs, how XEQT's dividends contribute to the overall return, and how I plan to manage this portfolio going forward. Another important part of this strategy is the potential tax benefit for Canadian investors. When borrowed money is used to invest in eligible income-producing investments, the interest may be tax-deductible if CRA requirements are met. Based on my family's tax situation, I estimate that the potential tax benefit could offset some of the borrowing costs. I'll explain how this factors into my calculations, while keeping in mind that tax treatment depends on individual circumstances. I also discuss why I chose a Wealthsimple Portfolio Line of Credit instead of a margin account, the built-in borrowing limits that help me manage risk, and what could happen if the stock market takes a significant downturn while the debt remains outstanding. This $42,000 XEQT investment is an ongoing experiment that I'll continue documenting here on Moementum Finance. I'll share the returns, dividends, interest costs, potential tax benefits, market downturns, and ultimately whether borrowing to invest was worth the risk over the long term, for me. 💬 For those of you who have borrowed to invest, what is your main holding (stock or ETF) purchased with your borrowed money? Let me know in the comments! ⚠️ DISCLAIMER: This video is for educational and entertainment purposes only and reflects my personal experience. It is not financial, investment, tax, or legal advice. Borrowing to invest involves significant risk, including the possibility of losing money while still owing the full amount borrowed. Investment returns are not guaranteed, and interest deductibility depends on CRA requirements and individual circumstances. Do your own research and consult qualified professionals before making financial decisions. https://youtu.be/kbCg0PAwSIEread more
Caution... this is a loooong one... A while back, I showed y'all our plans to build a cabin on our property. We wanted to do this for more than one reason. It would sure be nice to have extra space for visitors, a place to set up my drums and to earn some extra income, via short term rentals. I have been terrible, but lucky with money, for most of my life. But then our luck turned, we sold our condo in the city and moved to the North of BC. Not too long after, we bought a property and cleared it to build a house. Things were getting pretty exciting. Then the fire happened. On a Friday in April, one of the burn piles that we all thought was out, turned out to have gone underground and as soon as the hot weather hit, it reignited! Turns out, it travelled underground, a substantial distance and reared it's ugly head again. I learned later, that this is why they call them "Zombie Fires". 27 hectares burned. No one got hurt and no infrastructure was hurt, save for a few fence posts. Talk about lucky... More than 3 years later, I got a big binder in the mail. There was an investigation going on, behind the scenes and this binder laid it all out. On one of the last pages, the conclusion... it's my fault. I owe the government $108,000. 💰 💰 💰 I appealed. I lost. 😞 While analyzing the documents through the appeal process though, I noticed something... they were wrong. Some would say they were lying, or misrepresenting the evidence, or maybe it was an honest blunder. So, given this, I hired a lawyer. We appealed again. We won. 🙌 We won so good, that the judge awarded us damages of $10k. 💸💸💸 Then things got real interesting. While the judge chastised them for omitting inconvenient evidence, he admitted that he didn't have the authority to kill the whole thing and set me and my family free from this massive stress. The most he could do, was to leave it up to the Government, to decide if they wanted to have another crack at pursuing it... and they did. Months passed by (or was it years? It was all a blur). Finally, their new investigation came through. This time, while reading it through, I noticed something that was missing from the other reports... this person really knew their 💩...uh oh... 😬 As I read through the entire report, word for word, I finally got to the dreaded ending (this is where they tell you how much trouble you're in). Only this time it said, I was right. I wasn't in trouble. I didn't have to pay the $108,000. I would've happily crapped my pants, if my brain wasn't telling me that this can't be real. I called my lawyer. He said it looks like you won! I still didn't believe it. I asked him to get it in writing that they were never going to pursue this again... and he did. We won. Full stop. I still get a lump in my throat when I think about this (let alone write about it). All I can say, is that a lot of lessons were learned. The obvious one: never trust fire. The one that sticks just as much, but in a different way: Never give up! I saved money like Scrooge McDuck, the whole time this appeal process was going on. I realized just how insane it is that someone can save $100,000 in a short time, with a decent job, low debts and a huge dollop of discipline with a side of sacrifice. It's never knew I had it in me and it took a forest fire and the government suing me, to realize that I actually did. So I guess if I'm gonna demand your attention for this long, the least I can do is leave you with a moral to the story. Here goes: Don't wait for tragedy to set you straight. You you know you've got it in you. I knew. I just buried it deep for no good reason. Let that shit go and get on with building the life you know you deserve! As for the cabin... The land is ready and we are looking at building next spring! 🏠🌳🏔️ *some of the key investments that helped get me here: $FINN$POW$ARG$LBS$APLD$APPread more
I'm working on an ETF deep dive into $HDIV, one of the most requested ETFs. I want to know what YOU actually want answered.... not just the advertised yield or how much it pays every month. I want to dig into the numbers and the questions that matter to YOU. How sustainable are the distributions? How much comes from return of capital? What are the underlying holdings actually doing? How does the leverage affect risk? Is HDIV delivering enough total return to justify its costs and complexity? Those are just a few starting points and examples.... What are the HARD questions you want me to answer? And as always, this is open to all, whether you're a holder, thinking of buying it ... or skeptical of the whole covered call strategy. I'd love to hear what you want to know and then i'll do my very best to separate the marketing from the data. Ps. The tougher the questions, the better 😏
$VXUS holds 8,790 stocks.. That’s EIGHT THOUSAND, SEVEN HUNDRED and NINETY….. To some, that sounds like diversification on steroids, over kill… HOWEVER, those 8,790 stocks are actually equivalent to owning only about 239 equally weighted stocks. That’s its effective number of stocks. It's a lot more than the S&P 500... but not as much as I personally thought! And that’s just ONE of the things I found digging into VXUS, Vanguards Total International Stock Index ETF. I also found some pretty surprising differences between VXUS and the S&P 500 ($VOO / $VFV ) that made me rethink what “international diversification” means to your portfolio. I broke down the performance, valuation, holdings, sectors, countries and risk in my latest VXUS deep dive. I’d love to know your perspective on this! https://youtu.be/NcafSSVfMXs It’s definitely more complicated than the “US is expensive, international is cheap” .... Would you include international stocks in one ETF as part of your portfolio? Why or why not? Let's get this conversation going guys!!! read more
Just arrived home from a quick trip to London - it was my first time visiting. What a cool city. Full of friendly people. And so much character! Found it super interesting to learn that there’s still very much a ‘saving’ mentality in the UK. But that seems to be changing. Shoutout to Max for delivering an incredible speech (as usual) about Blossom. He presented our platform and mission in a great way and it was very well received by the Brits!
Here are 🚩3 big flags🚩that signal a company might not be a good investment, and I'll walk you through how to check for each one. (Free Stock Checklist at the end) --- 1️⃣ Declining Revenue or Earnings📉 🛑 Why it’s a red flag:A company with falling revenue or earnings may be losing market share, dealing rising costs, or the overall industry is shrinking. ✅ How to Check for This: A) Look at the Income Statement📊 - Find the company’s total revenue and net income in its latest financial report. Top-line & bottom-line, respectively. - Compare revenue and net income across multiple quarters/years. 3 years or 12 quarters is more than enough to indicate a trend - If both are consistently declining, it’s a warning sign. B) Check Earnings Reports🗂️ - Look at the company’s quarterly earnings reports to see if they’ve missed expectations multiple times. C) Compare to Competitors🔍 - Is the entire industry struggling, or just this company? 📚Website for financial reports: https://www.marketwatch.com/ --- 2️⃣ High Debt Levels 🛑 Why it’s a red flag:Companies with a capital structure heavily debt-reliant are more vulnerable in economic downturns and might struggle to repay obligations. ✅ How to Check for This: A) Find the Debt-to-Equity Ratio (D/E)📊 - Go to the company’s Balance Sheetin its latest report. - Find Total Debt and Total Equityand calculate: Debt-to-Equity Ratio = Total Debt ÷ Total Equity** - A D/E ratio above 2.0 (varies by industry) is usually risky. B) Check Interest Coverage Ratio🔍 - Look at the Income Statement for EBIT (Earnings Before Interest & Taxes). - Find Interest Expense and calculate:Interest Coverage Ratio = EBIT ÷ Interest Expense - If this ratio is below 1.5, the company may struggle to pay interest. 📚 Resources: https://www.investopedia.com/terms/d/debtratio.asp#:~:text=Key%20Takeaways&text=A%20company's%20debt%20ratio%20can,has%20more%20assets%20than%20debt --- 3️⃣ Poor Cash Flow 🛑 Why it’s a red flag:A company can be profitable on paper but still run out of cash to fund operations. ✅ How to Check for This: A) Find the Cash Flow Statement📜 - Look at Operating Cash FlowOCF). - If OCF is negative for multiple quarters, the company may be in trouble. B) Check Free Cash Flow (FCF)💰 - Free Cash Flow = Operating Cash Flow - Capital Expenditures - A company with negative FCF can’t reinvest in growth without taking on debt. 📚 Read more about Cash flow: https://www.investopedia.com/articles/stocks/07/easycashflow.asp ___________________________________________ Thanks for reading, I am open to engage in friendly conversations so I encourage you to leave a comment!💬 Access my free stock checklist at the link below⬇️ https://investingwithcole.gumroad.com/l/stockchecklist read more
One of the best parts about the Blossom community is how open everyone is sharing knowledge and experiences. To make things easier for anyone just starting their investing journey, here’s a simple glossary to help understand and simplify various terms. Common Terms: Dividend: A share of a company’s profits paid to shareholders, usually quarterly. Ex-Dividend Date: The cutoff date by which you must own a stock to receive its next dividend. ETF (Exchange-Traded Fund): A fund that holds multiple stocks or bonds, traded like a single stock. Covered Call ETF: An ETF that owns stocks and sells call options to generate extra income (higher yield, limited / capped upside). Earnings Report: A company’s quarterly financial performance summary. EPS (Earnings Per Share): A company’s profit divided by its number of shares. Market Cap: A company’s total value (share price × number of shares). ACB: The total amount you’ve paid for an investment, including the purchase price plus any fees or commissions. Book Value: The value of a company according to its financial statements (assets minus liabilities). Yield: Annual dividend as a percentage of the stock/ETF price. Liquidity: How easily an asset can be bought or sold without impacting its price. Volatility: The degree of price fluctuations in a stock or market. Index: A benchmark of stocks (e.g., S&P 500, Nasdaq, TSX). Bull Market: A period of rising stock prices and optimism. Bear Market: A period of declining stock prices and pessimism. False Breakout: When a stock’s price moves above (or below) a key level, making it look like a new trend is starting, but then quickly reverses back. P/E Ratio: Price-to-earnings ratio (stock price ÷ EPS), used to assess valuation. Blue Chip: Well-established, financially strong companies with a track record of stability. Diversification: Spreading investments across assets to reduce risk. Broker: A platform or firm that facilitates buying and selling investments. Limit Order: An order to buy/sell a stock at a specific price or better. Market Order: An order to buy/sell a stock immediately at the current market price. Bid/Ask Spread: The difference between the highest price buyers offer and the lowest price sellers accept. Dollar-Cost Averaging (DCA): Investing a fixed amount regularly to reduce the impact of market swings. Capital Gain/Loss: Profit or loss from selling an investment for more/less than its purchase price. IPO: When a company first sells shares to the public. Index Fund: A fund designed to mirror the performance of a market index. Short Selling: Selling borrowed shares, hoping to buy them back cheaper. Margin: Borrowing money from a broker to buy investments, which amplifies gains and losses. Margin Requirement: The minimum amount of your own money (equity) you must maintain in a margin account to open or keep a leveraged investment position. Margin Call: A demand from your broker to deposit more funds or sell assets because your account equity has fallen below the required margin level. Time Horizon: The length of time you plan to hold an investment before needing the money. Short horizons = more risk-sensitive, long horizons = more room to ride out volatility. Stock Split / Reverse Split: A split increases the number of shares (e.g., 2-for-1) while lowering the price per share. A reverse split reduces the number of shares (e.g., 1-for-10) while raising the price per share. Your overall value doesn’t change just the math. Long (Being Long): Buying a stock or asset because you expect the price to go up. Short (Being Short): Selling a stock you don’t own because you expect the price to go down, so you can buy it back cheaper later. TER: The total yearly cost of owning a fund, including the management fee plus other costs like administration, audits, and legal fees. MER: The annual cost that a fund charges for management (includes any leverage costs if used). Management Fee: A portion of the MER that goes directly to the fund managers for running the fund. Withholding Tax: A tax deducted on dividends/distributions from foreign investments (e.g., U.S. dividends to Canadian investors face a 15% withholding in TFSA/Non-Registered accounts). Total Returns: The full picture of an investment’s performance, including both price gains and dividends/distributions. CAGR: The average yearly growth of an investment over time. NAV: The price of one share of a fund (stock or etf) NAV Depreciation: When the fund’s share price goes down over time. Mutual Fund: A pool of money from many investors used to buy a mix of stocks, bonds, or other assets. Bond: A loan you give to a company or government, and they pay you back with interest. Asset: Anything valuable you own that can generate money. Portfolio: Your collection of investments. Option: A contract that gives you the right (but not the obligation) to buy or sell a stock at a set price. Future: A contract to buy or sell something at a set price on a future date. REIT: A company that owns real estate and pays investors income from rent. Alpha: A measure of how much better (or worse) an investment did compared to the market. Beta: A measure of how much an investment moves compared to the market. Sharpe Ratio: A way to see if returns are worth the risk taken. Hedging: Protecting your investments from risk. Rebalancing: Adjusting your portfolio back to your target mix of assets. FCF: Free Cash Flow Understanding these terms makes investing far less intimidating. If anyone feels other terms should be included, please share in the comments. I’ll update this post so we can build a complete beginner-friendly resource together! *Sorry tagged a few etfs for reach 🫣read more
