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Buffett cancer diagnosis hits stock, raises succession questions
When Susy Abbondi heard on April 17 that Warren Buffett had prostate cancer, she quickly turned to CNBC to find out just how severe the diagnosis was. Like most people, she wanted to know what had happened to the world’s most famous investor. But she had another reason to tune in: her company owns Berkshire Hathaway stock.
The president of Montreal-based Duncan Ross Associates has owned the...
Emerging markets offer investment upside
For many years, billionaire investor Warren Buffett promoted a “main street” approach to investing that favours companies you know well over companies in far-off lands. But take a closer look at some of his recent investments and you’ll find buys that have significant exposure to rapidly growing overseas markets. In March of last year, for instance, Buffett bought Lubrizol Corp. for US$9...
Stock market to underperform in Q2
Investors who bought into the market six months ago are feeling pretty good right now. Since early October, the S&P 500 has climbed an amazing 24%, while the S&P/TSX composite index has risen nearly 6%. Not bad, especially considering the losses many experienced in 2011. Some hold out hope this market rally will finally replenish lean retirement portfolios. But if the past few weeks...
U.S. bank stocks are a good investment
Here’s one more sign the U.S. economy is getting back on track: the banks are starting to call the shots again. On March 13, Jamie Dimon upstaged—some would say told off—the U.S. Federal Reserve by revealing that the bank he runs, JPMorgan Chase, had essentially passed its government-mandated stress test. The announcement was supposed to have taken place two days later, but Dimon, who...
Apple dividend benefits income funds
You have to know that Tim Cook, Apple Inc.’s new CEO, will never win, competing with the ghost of founder Steve Jobs. He’s overseen two product launches since his late former boss stepped down last August: the iPhone 4S and the new iPad, neither a significant improvement over its predecessor. But his biggest moment so far had nothing to do with technology. On March 19, he revealed that Apple...
Have gold prices already peaked?
It’s easy to tell when Ben Bernanke says something important: markets tend to rise or fall depending on what the U.S. Federal Reserve chairman telegraphs. But when gold prices dropped about 2% early this month, it had nothing to do with what he said. It was what he didn’t say that many blamed for the slump.
On March 1, Bernanke spoke to the Senate about employment and interest rates, but...
Cut your taxes
Whatever you think of Mitt Romney, you’ve got to hand it to the Republican presidential candidate for taking advantage of his country’s tax system. In January, Romney revealed that he paid an effective tax rate of around 15% on his more than US$20 million income in 2010. Only about $375,000 of that—“not very much,” as Romney put it—was income he earned on the speaking circuit. The...
Facebook: Should you invest in social media?
It’s no secret how much Mark Zuckerberg will make from his company’s initial public offering. As the listing date draws closer—it could be as early as April—the Internet is littered with colourful charts and graphs detailing what the Facebook founder will be worth. It’s expected the total will hit somewhere around US$24 billion. About a thousand others will become instant millionaires....
Bryan Borzykowski is a Toronto-based writer and editor working mainly for business publications. He writes for the New York Times, Canadian Business magazine, Globe and Mail, Bloomberg Businessweek Custom Publishing, Toronto Star, MoneySense and more. Bryan's the editor of Review magazine and is a senior editor with Connected for Business magazine. He's also a contributing writer with Hello! Canada and was once a weekly music columnist for Metro News. He's been nominated for several National Magazine Awards and he's co-authored