You may not have heard of rare-earth metals, but you're likely familiar with the technologies they make possible. Without them, your BlackBerry, iPhone, car, computer and just about any electronic gadget would not exist as they do today...continue reading

As consumers, we all invest in some way in commodities. Be it gold, oil or soybeans, these are all items we buy and often use daily. Yet when it comes to buying these tangible assets as part of our investment portfolios, we often only own commodities indirectly...continue reading

In the wild kingdom of investment, it seems derivatives are among the most fearsome of beasts. This species of finance, which includes credit default swaps and synthetic collateralized debt obligations (CDOs), is largely blamed for our Great Recession. But not all derivatives are necessarily risky and complex investments...continue reading

Winnipeg investment adviser with Union Securities David Derwin says he began recommending San Gold when its share price was hovering at 30 cents about five years ago...continue reading

August 2009

We will present you with a few straightforward investment strategies that are essential to building a truly strong investment portfolio in up, down or sideways stock markets...continue reading

We all know positions are not always marked-to-market, hedge books are not always hedged, proprietary black models don't always work, a AAA-rating is not really a AAA-rating, discount bids occur, greed overpowers fear, markets are not always efficient, and not all derivatives are benign...continue reading

We initially forecast the strength in the C$ more than five years ago, when the loonie was still drowning near 65 cents...continue reading | see chart