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The objectives of this website are to encourage you to take more responsibility for your financial future, to help you learn how to invest on your own, and hopefully to make at least a modest contribution to achieving your financial goals.
See also: A Primer for Canadian Do-It-Yourself Investors
Comments? Questions?
Financial Webring Forum or 
Bogleheads Forum |
The Perils of Prosperity: The Story Behind the Economic Crisis [RealClearPolitics, 03Feb09] "Modern, advanced democracies strive to deliver as much prosperity as possible to as many people as possible for as long as possible... The cruel contradiction is that this promise itself may become a source of instability, because the more it is attained, the more people begin acting in ways that ultimately invite its destruction... It might be better to tolerate more frequent, milder recessions and financial setbacks than to strive for a sustained prosperity that, though superficially more appealing, is unattainable and ends in a devastating bust."
Discuss on FWF
Why Some Investors May Be Fooling Themselves [WSJ, 16Jan09] "If your financial planner says he can earn you 6% annually, net-net-net, tell him you'll take it, right now, upfront. In fact, tell him you'll take 5% and he can keep the difference. In exchange, you will sell him your entire portfolio at its current market value... Unless he's a fool or a crook, he probably will decline your offer. If he's honest, he should admit that he can't get sufficient returns to honor the swap. So make him explain what rate he would be willing to pay if he actually had to execute a total return swap with you. That's the number you both should use to estimate the returns on your portfolio."
Discuss on FWF
Efficiency Thoughts 
[CanadianMoneySaver, Jan09] "Vanguard pointed out that Sharpe says the expected return for both active and passive strategies is the market return minus the average cost of the strategies. They then added something so obvious that it amazed me that I had never connected the dots before. Vanguard noted that Sharpe’s logic is not only unassailable, but that the conclusion holds true irrespective of whether the market is highly efficient or not."
Discuss on FWF
Inefficient Markets Are Still Hard to Beat [WSJ, 09Jan09] "Can't anyone here play this game? With the market so erratic at pricing stocks, it is tempting to think you can do better. Between the Dow Jones Industrial Average's record in October 2007 and the bear-market low in March 2009, Bank of America's stock fell 94%. Then, by year-end 2009, it went up 380%. It wasn't just financial stocks that acted like yo-yos: Over the same period, Alcoa's stock fell 87%, then more than tripled. How can such crazy swings in price be "efficient"?"
Discuss on FWF
A unanimous vote for index investing [Financial Post, 07Jan09] "With another RRSP season upon us and the second year for the tax-free savings accounts commencing this week, Canadians have plenty of tax-sheltered savings room to house new injections of cash. But how to invest it? Over the holidays I read three investment guides and was struck by a unanimous consensus that passive index investing is the only way to go."
Discuss on FWF
Reach for Stock Yield, and You Might Get Bit [WSJ, 12Dec09] "With the income from bonds withering away, investors are piling into dividend-paying stocks... Think twice before you join the stampede... don't kid yourself into thinking stock dividends and bond interest are interchangeable. They aren't."
Discuss on FWF
Warren Buffett sings a different tune in his advice to investors [Globe&Mail, 07Dec09] "In short, Mr. Buffett's one best idea for most investors is to invest in index funds via dollar-cost averaging – this is the best way to tap into the dynamism and growth potential of free-market economies. Then focus on your career, your family, and enjoying life: that is where your time is best allocated. Some good advice from the Oracle of Omaha."
Discuss on FWF
The Dark Side Of TIPS [Forbes, 04Dec09] "Inflation-indexed bonds are often described as the ultimate risk-free investment... However, there is another side to this story that is rarely discussed... Real interest rate increases are not the same as inflation-based interest rate increases."
Discuss on FWF
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Older Stuff
Other Stuff
Asset Correlation Data for Canadian InvestorsBuying US Mutual Funds and Stocks from Canada
Bylo's contribution to improving Canadian literacy
Can you afford to invest in mutual funds?
Can you find an honest advisor or broker?
ASL Direct offers mutual fund trailer fee rebate
CIBC's special MER rebate offer to index fund clients with large accounts
How Much Can You Safely Withdraw From Your Savings During Retirement?
How To Measure The True Cost Of Holding A Fund
Exchange-Traded Funds and Indexes
Investment Aphorisms
Low-MER No-Load Index Funds Available in Canada
On MERs, Taxes and Partners
Mutual Fund Fee Impact Calculator
updated Performance of Indexed vs Actively-Managed Portfolios for 15 years ending 31Dec07
Real Return Bonds for Canadian Dummies
Rogues' Gallery
The Stromberg Files
Why Diversify?
Random Stuff
Fama Factors Out French: "I Did All The Work"Bylo rebuts Index-fund pros and cons (and con jobs?)
Bylo rebuts Indexing caused "devastating losses"
Bylo rebuts The problem with indexes
Confessions of a Former Mutual Funds Reporter
Bylo rebuts Investment Café
Dear Bylo
On Buy-and-Hold
Top ten reasons NOT to index
Bylo rebuts Index funds have their dark side, too
Seven Investing Principles
Investing with hindsight
What's in the bag?
Plain language risk disclosure
Securities markets revealed
Improbable probabilities
Investing's rule-of-40
What's a billion?
Something to think about
Warren Buffett's Quiz for Investors
Most clients lost with Lynch? Call it the Magellan Myth
Dilbert, Alex and Herman on Investing
More cartoons on: Investing, Mutual Funds, Retirement, Stocks, Finance
Bylo in the News
We did it! They heard us! Finance department news release of 07Sep00Thank you to everyone who spoke up against the proposed tax changes to US funds and ETFs held by Canadians. With your help we made the Finance department listen to ordinary Canadians before they introduced legislation that would have devastated many of our portfolios. See also Revised Draft of Legislative Proposals for the Taxation of NRTs and FIEs and Proposed rules on treatment of FIEs.
new Primer on ETFs: Some help amid the bear market [Globe & Mail, 21Mar09] "bylo.org: A do-it-yourself investing advocate known as Bylo Selhi maintains this site, and the emphasis is on index funds and ETFs. You'll find a helpful list of links to the websites of the Canadian and U.S. companies offering ETFs, as well as to a web page with a complete inventory of ETFs listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange. If you want to better understand the indexes that ETFs track, this site has links for them as well."
Seven essential websites for becoming a better investor [Globe & Mail, 29Jul08] "Financial Webring Forum is the online financial-discussion board with the highest level of discourse on investing subjects in Canada, thanks in large part to frequent contributions from knowledgeable participants such as Bylo Selhi (an index-fund advocate), Shakespeare (the author of an online investment primer) and Yielder (a dividend investor). And they don’t mind answering questions."
Index investing: 'Just set it and forget it' [Toronto Star, 19May08] "Index funds are suitable for those who have little money to invest and want to buy small amounts on a regular basis. You can find links to low-cost index funds at www.bylo.org/idxfunds.html... Index investing makes sense for people who don't find finance fascinating... It's the perfect 'set it and forget it' strategy, giving satisfactory results and requiring very little attention, so you can get on with your life."
 No big deal - you don't have to worry about risking your life savings. We do it for you. National Post, 19Feb01 |  National Post, 07May03 |
 Investing web site of the month • March 2002 |
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