Modest Equity Market Returns: In this recent paper, Elroy Dimson, Paul Marsh and Mike Staunton authors of Triumph of the Optimists update their research into stock returns relative to bonds in 19 different countries. They estimate that the expected returns from stocks will be a rather modest 3% to 3-1/2% relative to bills.
Modest Asset Class Returns: The Economist magazine points out that it is not just stocks; all asset classes are priced to provide low returns going forward. It seems to me stocks are the best of the bunch. A real return in the range of 3% isn’t too shabby (assuming valuations remain comparable to today).
Donate shares, not cash: Tax expert Tim Cestnick explains why donating publicly-traded shares or flow-through shares is better than donating cash.
Changing Investment Strategy: Should you abandon buy-and-hold and adopt a market timing strategy? Asking the question after markets have fallen is a clue to what the answer should be says Preet in his Globe column.
Around the blogs
Money Smarts Blog is not convinced that paying directly for investment advice alone will make much of a difference.
Why we pay more for dairy products: Larry MacDonald writes that not only does supply management forces us to pay more for dairy products, tax payers will also be on hook if highly-indebted farmers start to default. (NB: The post originally said we are paying more for “diary” products. Thankfully, we don’t have supply management of diaries in Canada.)
Canadian Couch Potato reported that QTrade is now offering commission-free ETFs.
Million Dollar Journey likes the ING Streetwise Funds for its simplicity. One potential downside with balanced funds is the inability to locate assets in different accounts based on their tax efficiency.
Estate Litigation: The Blunt Bean Countered featured a guest post by a lawyer specializing in estates on the top five areas that are the subject of estate-related litigation.
Today’s Economy Blog’s Kevin Press interviewed an Occupy Bay Street protester to learn more about the movement and comes away very unsure what the protest is about.
Thicken My Wallet offered some do’s and don’ts for holding an open house.
That’s it for this week. Have a great weekend everyone!
