News Update

Another week has passed on the shore of Lake Superior in my hometown. We've had several dumps of snow, so we've been busy on the driveway. Wendy helps out with that. It's above zero again this weekend and water is running on the streets and driveways. The markets have remained volatile, but it appears they may have turned the corner as gains were achieved this week. I had an excellent week, and almost made quota for the month; this is gratifying as the TSX is down 1.5%. The US indices also seem to have turned upward, but remain further in the red to this point. In basketball, my Jayhawks lost in Iowa early in the week, but returned home to beat Kentucky this evening. Their mediocre work last week dropped them to #4 in the rankings, and they may drop again after this week's efforts. Rock Chalk boys! I've been watching the Junior Curling championships this weekend. It'll be BC vs NS in the women's final, and MB vs N.Ont in the men's final; both games are set for tomorrow. 

Liam is home for the weekend. Friday was a school holiday, so they picked him up on Thursday. He's been having issues with an ingrown toenail, so they made use of the bonus day to get that operated on—these folks know how to have fun! This weekend features a celebration of the boys' birthdays with movies, pizza and crazy cake—that's more like it! Liam turns 16 on Thursday, and Haaken turns 19 next Sunday. Amazing how they're aging so quickly while the rest of us remain the same! Haaken continues with work around the house while he is applying for jobs and following up with potential employers. We pray something will come through soon. 

Erin and Kristian have had a good week. Erin's pushing has moved the school forward toward a new FM system for Kristian's hearing. Kristian had a good week in school. Sadie got her hair cut and styled! Kristian got his hair trimmed as well! 

Travis & Joanna remain very busy with work, and Joanna has received an invitation to apply on some contract work. She's somewhat interested. Gemma and Andrew are in the transition phase between semesters with exams and new course work to consider. Gemma made a nice batch of cinnamon buns, and both have helped out on the driveway clearing. 

That's about it for his week. 

News Update

Another week has passed on the shore of Lake Superior in my hometown. The weather was cold over the weekend, but has moderated to just single digits below zero, and the driveway has burned off in the sunshine. We got the renovated washroom ready in time for Travis and Joanna's return from the Dominican Republic, but there will be more work there once the new shower stall arrives. It's looking better anyway, and the new, insulated floor surely helps. I replaced the bad ABS joint, so that part is good now. Wendy primed the drywall, and we'll paint the whole thing once it's completed with the new shower. The markets have remained volatile, but I had an excellent week, and have moved into the green for the month, although the index remains down 4.8%. North America won the Continental Cup of curling, but it was close. The Jayhawks played two more subpar games this week, but won one of them. However, they've been dropped to #3, so I hope that encourages them to work harder! Women's provincial curling championships are on; I'm tracking results as well as watching a few of the games. 

Haaken continues to apply for jobs and call back to potential employers about his status. We do pray for job for him, although now there is the complication of a planned family trip in three weeks. Eric has been able to end the bus commute, as they got their CRV back on Thursday from its deer inflicted damages. Eric/A are in Saskatoon this weekend as they've begun French classes in preparation for the trip. Liam continues at school, but expects to rejoin the family next weekend. They continue with their downsizing efforts. Next in line is to eliminate Partylite and Tupperware! They are also finalizing plans for the trip to Paris. A small recovery in the loonie may allow them some savings on the exchange!

Erin has been working over some options for improving Kristian's hearing experience. She's pressing the school to upgrade their FM system, so Kristian can receive sound directly through his hearing aids. Otherwise things continue well as they experience their first winter in their first owned home. Erin now has a blood pressure machine, so she can monitor her BP at home. Kristian got to go skating and sledding this week; he had a great week in school with no extra homework because he was doing so well. 

Travis and Joanna returned on Tuesday evening. They really enjoyed the time at Punta Cana, and had clearly been absorbing a few rays while there. Now, they're back to business. Gemma and Andrew are in exam time for the end of semester 1. They both do well at school. 

And that's about enough for this week. 

News Update

Winter has come to our home on the shore of Lake Superior. We've had a good dump of snow, and I've been clearing the driveway on Thursday and Friday. We've been working all week on a renovation of the downstairs bathroom. I have the plumbing done, although I may buy a replacement for one joint where the glue set up before I had it at the angle I wanted. We got the new flooring down for most of the room, except under the shower, since we're still waiting for the new shower stall to arrive. I got the first coat of mud on the drywall this evening. The markets have continued their downward slide although I did get my first two green days of the year. Still, not making any gains, but at least I've stopped the bleeding. The opinions of the experts are not encouraging. All indices are down over 7% already this month. I've reduced my investments, but if this continues, I will reduce further next week. Brad Jacobs and Jennifer Jones won their respective Skins championships last weekend. This week it's the Continental Cup in Las Vegas. Kevin Koe, Pat Simmons are representing North America on the Men's side, while Jennifer Jones and Rachel Homan are on the Women's team. To this point, the World Teams are leading, but the big points are tomorrow, and nothing has been decided yet. The Jayhawks played two mediocre games after their big triple overtime win over the Sooners. They lost earlier this week, and made a better effort to win today. Still it seems certain they will lose their #1 status when the new rankings are announced tomorrow. Rock Chalk Jayhawks!

Liam is home this weekend. He's playing drums for the worship team! Baileys are also making some final plans for their Paris trip. Part of those plans is hoping for the exchange rate to improve over the next few weeks, but their financial advisor advises that that's not going to happen! Haaken has submitted his application for Capilano University. He is putting the finishing touches on his portfolio as well. He continues to apply for work and make follow up calls on resumes he's distributed, but nothing has come through yet. Tonight, they are enjoying The Martian in 3D. Later, they may enjoy a non-festive showing of Die Hard in honour of Alan Rickman.

Kristian has experienced both ups and downs at school! We're cheering for more ups! Erin is back in good health, but intervention continues on her blood pressure medication. Sadie seems to be having a solid week!

Trav & Joanna started the week with more photo shoots of the hockey teams in Nipigon. They're narrowly missed getting stranded by the bridge failure there. On Tuesday morning, they left for a week in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic. They seem to be having a great time there! Gemma and Andrew are keeping us company here in the frozen north!

And that's about it for this week. 

News Update

The first week of a new year has passed on the shore of Lake Superior in my hometown. The weather has continued very mild (most days above freezing) with some snow and showers to add to the mix. It has turned colder today, -10, so now it's icy on the vehicles and driveway. The streets that haven't had much traffic are likewise slippery. Wendy has been busy with puzzles, and I try to locate an occasional piece! We've had a terrible, no good, very bad week on the markets. It's been the worst opening week ever recorded, and I suffered along with the indices. According to my definition (short term average falling below long term average) the TSX has been in a bear market since last June, and now others who use the -20% definition have joined my analysis. Anyway, it's been hard to make money in the current circumstances. However, there were strong economic indicators both sides of the border as jobs data were positive, although some pundits question the quality of jobs created here. However, it seems the main issues are elsewhere, where softness in China meshes with softness in the rest of Asia and Europe and leaves investors feeling negative. The World Juniors had an exciting conclusion as the host country Finland beat Russia in overtime to win Gold. The NFL season has moved into the playoffs and my guy (Peyton Manning) is back at the controls, so I'll be following that. The Jayhawks were awarded #1 seed after their win last Saturday, but were sorely tested before beating the Sooners in triple overtime on Monday night—it was fun to watch!. They travelled to Lubbock and beat TCU tonight in a poorly played game—still a win! This weekend is the Skins game in curling, so I've been enjoying that. Sweeting and Jones are in the women's final. Gushue will face Jacobs on the men's side. 

Eric/A and the boys are still basking in the after-glow of the Force Awakens! Their FaceBook entries continue to be dominated with references to the movie and expectations of the next one! We really enjoyed it as well. Erica had some extra excitement this week as she hit a deer on her way to work—some repairs may be needed to the bumper and grill. The deer ran away—should be charged with leaving the scene! Otherwise they're involved in a version of Spring Cleaning—they're searching, sorting, and discarding stuff! Since it's still Winter, we'll call it, "Searching for the Camera!" 

Erin has experienced much improvement in her infected finger, and it appears to be well. She is also being treated for high blood pressure, and more work remains to be done there. I told her that high BP is an inherited disease and she thought I meant because Wendy has high BP, but I corrected her understanding—we get it from our children! Since she was working with Kristian on his math, she was quick to agree! 

Travis and Joanna are busily engaged in the Puckshots business again. They had eleven teams scheduled for photographs this week to raise their total to ninety-three this season. I noticed one cute piece of photographic magic that Trav uses to provide better-than-expected service to these teams. Why should a picture lose value just because one guy is not wearing skates?! 

And that's about it for this week! 

The Year/Week that Was

Another year/week has passed on the shore of Lake Superior in my hometown. It has been another year of adventure with my best friend, Wendy. We began the year with two months on Vancouver Island,  where we were hosting Haaken as he finished his high school program. We took a tour to visit family and friends in Kansas, Oklahoma and Texas in the early Spring. We spent most of the summer in Regina providing day care and golf practice for Kristian—that was a pleasure! For October and November we joined a team for a mission to India where we enjoyed working in the schools and congregations connected to Ray McMillan's work there. After another short sojourn on the prairies, we closed out the year in the comfort of our house on Lake Superior. We have spent the week leading up to the new year making great efforts to clean up the turkey and baking leftovers! I've enjoyed too much of both! The weather has remained unseasonably warm, but we did get a little snow at least. The Santa Claus rally in the markets ended way too soon as Wednesday and Thursday suffered deep losses and I barely had any gains for the month. World Junior Hockey has completed the preliminary round and moved into the playoffs. Our guys did not perform well, but we made the playoffs. However, we lost today to Finland, so we're out of the tournament. The US college football playoff began yesterday, but my Sooners lost out, and my interest died with them! The Jayhawks have completed their preseason schedule and enter the regular season ranked #2 in the country—I guess that means they will try harder! They did today, opening conference play with a win over Baylor. 

News from the family in Saskatchewan has been slim as they're busy enjoying the festive season as well as getting back to work. We wish them all well in the new year. The weather has been nice there also, so they've been able to get outdoors to play in the snow and enjoy the scenery. Trav, Joanna, Gemma and Andrew are managing some relaxing, but also have some photoshoots and hockey card orders to complete.

And that's about it for this time. 

Money Management 2015

Happy New Year! 

2015 was a year many in the investment community will wish to forget. All North American indices struggled, and most were down. The TSX, which I invest in, suffered the most (-11.1%), and only the Nasdaq was in the green, gaining 5.7% for the year. The broadest index, the S&P500 was pretty much flat (-0.7%), so that gives the clearest definition of how things went. There were opportunities, especially for those who play the markets both ways, and also for little guys like me who can manage their buys and sells more nimbly. In the final summation, I did well, not quite up to quota, but at least managing to cover the payouts we have planned for our retirement needs. It helps that both of us qualified for our OAS this year, hitting the magic 65 for the government to begin paying us! That lowers our needs from the investments, and we've finally begun building up our TFSAs once again. Big thanks are due to Wendy, as she does the work to maintain our household budget, and keep us on track with our expenditures. It has also been great to have my brother to chat with every day; we are able to bounce ideas off each other even though we invest in different markets. And, of course, it always leaves us with someone else to blame!! 

We are well blessed financially, and it remains my assignment to continue to try to learn better ways to manage and invest the accounts. I hope for positive markets in 2016.