Huh? From Sept to Dec of 2014 Canadian Oil stocks dropped by 60+% resulting in billions of dollars.... They most certainly will fluctuate in short time frames.
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You're correct Jeff - I'm underweight on CDN energy stocks, so I've dodged that a bit.
The entire crude oil and gasoline pricing is all based on speculation, and the two aren't particularly linked in the short term.
I usually agree with you Jaycee - but on this corporate greed thing - sure there are a lot of guys at the top of corporations who are making more money than any person deserves...and as a shareholder, I'm doubly annoyed, because that's my money he's taking home. But until shareholders figure out how to deal with that were screwed.
But as far as the corporations being greedy - well there are guys like me with no pension other than the investments I make, about two thirds of them in publicly traded corporations. And I need these greedy buggers running them to get me the best return on my investment I can so I can hope to retire - be it gasoline, telcos, insurance, banks - yup, pretty much everyone (except the gov't) that's putting the screws to John Q. Public.
And before you PS pension people get to righteous - you might want to take a look at what OMERS, OTTPB and the like are up too - same stuff.
I'm hopping this is an opportunity for me at this age to take advantage of the low oil stock prices. I hope it's not unreasonable to modestly assume I can double up over the next 5 years (dividends included) on my recent initial investment and average an annual 20% return as opposed to other areas of the market where I might be happy with 3-5% return.
In the short term, I'll be happy I'm paying around $1 a litre and not north of $1.30 like we were just 6 months ago....
Our "small" market has an impact on liquidity. In essence relatively speaking compared to elsewhere we are illiquid. Just look at the daily volumes on the TSX say versus the NYSE.
Without getting into long discussions liquidity or the lack thereof is deemed as bad/risky thing. In short, liquidity provides stability, lack of it you get volatility in price fluctuations. It can be all over the map. Up 10% one day, down 10% the next.
The more "volatile" something might be, the riskier it is.
http://www.investopedia.com/terms/l/liquidityrisk.asp
When the public says or thinks "risk". Most think of the "the risk something might go down/tank".
To us, risk is a measure of volatility.
Many don't like short sellers for example. How often are hedge funds, etc "blamed" for things? Often.
However shorting adds liquidity to markets...Selling short is meeting demand. Adding liquidity, reducing volatility. What happens if there are lots of buyers and no sellers (illiquid), or not enough shares outstanding and in the float? The price sky rockets.......Demand>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>Supply (this is where short selling will add liquidity, and........) . The opposite holds true as well.
YEP, something they always seem to conveneiently over look when slamming corporate greed.
:)
Corporate greed hurts us all.....what ever happened to share the wealth?
I guess the whats best for me mentality is alive and well..... Too bad money has such a great impact on our lives....
It ($) makes the world spin F. Whether that's a good or bad thing, shades of grey.
Some will complain/slam/discuss corporate greed. See so many threads, discussions about it, or about Companies that pull up stakes because labor is cheaper in Mexico, China... Slam them for exec bonuses etc, or when times get tough it's always the little/middle people getting laid off..
Then complain, when their investments aren't returning 5%-10%-15% or dividends get cut etc.
The problem with "sharing the wealth" is if it get "shared too much", there is no incentive for anyone to create wealth. And then there is no wealth for anyone. The extreme opposite of the corporate greed we see in America and Canada today is the soviet communist economy. No incentive to create wealth - therefore, not wealth and nothing to share.
Lets not blame the corporations... they are in fact just pieces of paper representing inanimate legal entities.
Blame the shareholders - they are the ones who's will the 'corporation' follows.
Wants and needs..... We (humans) have a very hard time satisfying our wants.... In most cases we always seems to WANT more than we need.... Its just the way we humans have become/learned/trained to be. The big corps just take advantage of this.
Fear and Greed F.
Two the more primal emotions we can feel, and they can color anyone's decisions.