Saturday, May 9, 2020
Thursday, February 22, 2018
Saturday, February 20, 2016
Investing In Your Health
Diet pills. Diet products. Diet fixes. Supplements. Programs. Ezines. So many business are directed at diet. Since nearly 50% of North Americans are overweight, this certainly makes sense. And the newest dietary push attempts to recreate our ancestors diet by eliminating processed foods, carbs and sugars and focusing on hunter-gatherer-forager diets of mostly fat, protein and fibrous carbs. This great movement toward a "ketoadaptation" or, the use of fats for primary energy source in place of crappy carbs, is at the heart of a growing business and an investment opportunity--from both a health perspective on an individual note, and a financial perspective on a business note.
How can we invest in the revolutionary diet focus? One way is to get involved in the network marketing companies that sell ketogenic products and meal replacements:
It is essentially a ketone supplement in a drink formula that is sold by the tub or in individual packets which help dieters enter a ketoadapted state. To learn more about ketoadaptation watch Nora Gedgaudas here.
Another network marketing company, Ketopia offers a selection of products including meal replacements which also help dieters enter a ketoadapted state to enhance weight loss.
Weight Watchers: when Oprah Winfrey bought 10% of the most famous weight loss firm in the world, the stock soared. "Winfrey will spend $43 million on the investment, according to a regulatory filing, buying 6.4 million newly-issued shares at $6.79 apiece."
Herbalife- one of the original manufacturers of meal replacements and supplements to aid in diet and nutrition, Herbalife is a network marketing company that is also public. They have a P/E ratio of 11.4 and an EPS of 4.9 and have been recently upgraded.
Nutraceutical International makes and markets thousands of nutritional products that are sold in stores throughout the U.S.
The wave of "organic" products, healthy alternatives to fast food, healthful restaurants, and nutritional programs is growing in response to the fat epidemic in the US and UK. I've been watching with interest a program "Fat Surgeons" on Youtube, filmed in the UK, featuring bariatric surgeon Shaw Somers and his team of fat-busting specialists as they attack the problem one stomach at a time. What I learned from the series, in addition to a second series of interest "Supersize v Superskinny"--another UK hit, is that we are getting super big super fast in the world and it may be as simple a reason as the availability of crap carbs to eat and the lack of incentive to forage, hunt and gather.
Have a low carb week!
Saturday, May 7, 2011
Hedge Funds Trading on the TSX?
I must admit I've been jealous of those investors qualified to purchase hedge fund positions. I have a dream goal of entering a long term position with Stephen Palmer's AlphaNorth Partners Fund, which I've discussed before in past blogs. The returns over time are excellent, not without higher risk of course, and seem to perform much better than the index and most mutual funds.
You need to have money to make money
The problem is, however, that you must be an accredited investor or have a great deal of cash to enter a position in most of the highly ranked hedge funds in Canada.
The FUND of Hedge FUNDS Investment
I've found a fund of funds, trading in a manner most similar to an ETF, of three top hedge funds available for investment on the TSX.
Star Hedge Managers Corp .
These "funds" issue "units" which trade like stocks, and aim to provide long term capital growth by investing in a portfolio of private investment funds managed by three of Canada's leading portfolio managers: Rohit Sehgal, Eric Sprott, and Frank Mersch. The Fund invests on a equal weighted basis in units of the Dynamic Power Hedge Fund (Sehgal), the Sprott Hedge Fund (Sprott) and the Front Street Fund (Mersch).
Trading Like a Stock is An Attractive Alternative
These "units" are attractive to me since investing in these funds individually is typically only available to high net worth or institutional investors requiring a $100,000 or $150,000 initial investment.
For example, the Dynamic Power Hedge prospectus can be found here. A $150,000 investment in 2002 would be worth around $2 million dollars today.
The Sprott Hedge Fund boasts an 805% cumulative return since inception in November 2000 which correlates with 23.4% annualized compared to a 4.9% loss by the S&P500 (CAD) over the same time. Therefore a $100,000 investment in 2000 would be worth over $800,000 today.
The Front Street Canadian Hedge Fund launched in August of 1999 has returned an average of 10.9% per year compared to a 6.4% return by the S&P/TSX Composite Index over the same period.
The Canadian Newswire reported on March 31, 2011 the availability of the Star Hedge Manager Corp II units.
If you know of any other Canadian Hedge Funds or groups of hedge funds trading on the TSX in this way, please drop me a line. I would love to review them here.
Happy Investing
Disclosure: the author does not own positions in any of the funds listed here at time of publishing.
You need to have money to make money
The problem is, however, that you must be an accredited investor or have a great deal of cash to enter a position in most of the highly ranked hedge funds in Canada.
The FUND of Hedge FUNDS Investment
I've found a fund of funds, trading in a manner most similar to an ETF, of three top hedge funds available for investment on the TSX.
Star Hedge Managers Corp .
These "funds" issue "units" which trade like stocks, and aim to provide long term capital growth by investing in a portfolio of private investment funds managed by three of Canada's leading portfolio managers: Rohit Sehgal, Eric Sprott, and Frank Mersch. The Fund invests on a equal weighted basis in units of the Dynamic Power Hedge Fund (Sehgal), the Sprott Hedge Fund (Sprott) and the Front Street Fund (Mersch).
Trading Like a Stock is An Attractive Alternative
These "units" are attractive to me since investing in these funds individually is typically only available to high net worth or institutional investors requiring a $100,000 or $150,000 initial investment.
For example, the Dynamic Power Hedge prospectus can be found here. A $150,000 investment in 2002 would be worth around $2 million dollars today.
The Sprott Hedge Fund boasts an 805% cumulative return since inception in November 2000 which correlates with 23.4% annualized compared to a 4.9% loss by the S&P500 (CAD) over the same time. Therefore a $100,000 investment in 2000 would be worth over $800,000 today.
The Front Street Canadian Hedge Fund launched in August of 1999 has returned an average of 10.9% per year compared to a 6.4% return by the S&P/TSX Composite Index over the same period.
The Canadian Newswire reported on March 31, 2011 the availability of the Star Hedge Manager Corp II units.
Star Hedge Managers Corp I and Star Hedge Managers Corp II trade on the TSX under the symbols XHM.A (priced at $5 on opening day Dec 31, 2008 and closing at $15.80 on May 5, 2011--an over 300% increase in less than 2.5 years) and XHG.A (ranging from $9.40 -$10.40 since launching on April 20th, 2011).
If you know of any other Canadian Hedge Funds or groups of hedge funds trading on the TSX in this way, please drop me a line. I would love to review them here.
Happy Investing
Disclosure: the author does not own positions in any of the funds listed here at time of publishing.
No News is Good News for Market Mood
How News and Mood Affect the Markets
The old adage "no news is good news" seems to relate well to the stock market. And investor moods plays a big role in market swings.
Market volatility can be very different at different times. For example, the announcement of rising unemployment is good news for stocks during periods of economic expansion and bad news during economic decline.
A rise in unemployment tends to signal a decline in interest rates--good for stock prices-- and yet a decline in future corporate earnings--bad for stock prices. The combination of these two effects and the result in stock prices varies depending on the state of the economy.
Pietro Veronesi, University of Chicago, showed that investors rationally anticipate that during periods of high uncertainty their expectations of future cash flows tend to react more swiftly to news. This predictable higher sensitivity to news tends to increase the asset price volatility, against which risk-averse investors are willing to hedge. His research shows that "in equilibrium, investors' willingness to hedge against changes in their own "uncertainty" on the true state makes stock prices overreact to bad news in good times and underreact to good news in bad times."
Good News in Bad Times Ignored?
The main result is that when times are good, a bad piece of news leads to greater price reductions in investments greater than the reduction in expected future dividends.
Bad News in Good Times Overreacted?
Conversely, a good piece of news in bad times tends to increase the expected future dividends, but also increases the discount investors require to hold the asset, such that the increase in price is lower than the increase in expected future dividends.
As well, the degree of investor reactions to news tends to be high in good times and low in bad or uncertain times. Volatility as a response to news in bad times is also much higher than volatility in good times.
Some Funny Cartoons:
Twitter Predicts Market Swings!
Twitterverse mood predicts stock market moves. In a study from the University of Indiana, it was found that the overall mood of Twitter users could be used to predict market swings.
By creating search queries for popular phrases using keywords such as "happy", "sad", "fearful" or optimistic, a daily "Twitterverse Mood Score" could be compiled which correlated with the direction of market expansion or contraction.
Shifts in Twitterverse moods scores predict market shifts by nearly 90% accuracy.
So What Does Mood and News Mean for Private Investors Like Us?
1. No news is likely good news.
2. Investor mood seems to play a major role in driving markets on any given day.
3. Bad news in good times tends to lead to greater reactions from investors.
4. Good news in bad times does not necessarily lead to increase in stock prices.
5. Twitter can be used a social barometer and therefore predict market moves. 6. Maybe I should get out of the market and put my money in a savings account. (just kidding!)
Happy Investing!
Some funny cartoons
The old adage "no news is good news" seems to relate well to the stock market. And investor moods plays a big role in market swings.
Market volatility can be very different at different times. For example, the announcement of rising unemployment is good news for stocks during periods of economic expansion and bad news during economic decline.
A rise in unemployment tends to signal a decline in interest rates--good for stock prices-- and yet a decline in future corporate earnings--bad for stock prices. The combination of these two effects and the result in stock prices varies depending on the state of the economy.
Pietro Veronesi, University of Chicago, showed that investors rationally anticipate that during periods of high uncertainty their expectations of future cash flows tend to react more swiftly to news. This predictable higher sensitivity to news tends to increase the asset price volatility, against which risk-averse investors are willing to hedge. His research shows that "in equilibrium, investors' willingness to hedge against changes in their own "uncertainty" on the true state makes stock prices overreact to bad news in good times and underreact to good news in bad times."
Good News in Bad Times Ignored?
The main result is that when times are good, a bad piece of news leads to greater price reductions in investments greater than the reduction in expected future dividends.
Bad News in Good Times Overreacted?
Conversely, a good piece of news in bad times tends to increase the expected future dividends, but also increases the discount investors require to hold the asset, such that the increase in price is lower than the increase in expected future dividends.
As well, the degree of investor reactions to news tends to be high in good times and low in bad or uncertain times. Volatility as a response to news in bad times is also much higher than volatility in good times.
Some Funny Cartoons:
Twitter Predicts Market Swings!
Twitterverse mood predicts stock market moves. In a study from the University of Indiana, it was found that the overall mood of Twitter users could be used to predict market swings.
By creating search queries for popular phrases using keywords such as "happy", "sad", "fearful" or optimistic, a daily "Twitterverse Mood Score" could be compiled which correlated with the direction of market expansion or contraction.
Shifts in Twitterverse moods scores predict market shifts by nearly 90% accuracy.
So What Does Mood and News Mean for Private Investors Like Us?
1. No news is likely good news.
2. Investor mood seems to play a major role in driving markets on any given day.
3. Bad news in good times tends to lead to greater reactions from investors.
4. Good news in bad times does not necessarily lead to increase in stock prices.
5. Twitter can be used a social barometer and therefore predict market moves. 6. Maybe I should get out of the market and put my money in a savings account. (just kidding!)
Happy Investing!
Some funny cartoons
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