Focus On The Way Forward      Reflect On What Transpired

The History

It's been a long time participating in the equity markets in North America. Starting late last century after travel and university. Both educational in a sense, but not as esoteric as the financial markets which were discovered after leaving the ivory tower and the wandering road. It was with a sense of wonder and inquiry as to how the entity known as 'the stock market' could be the step beyond money. How it could be an extension of the civilization that created it, a purer form of human interaction that creates wealth. 

Since then it has been a daily involvement with the markets through actual trading, going through all the significant market events, both positive and negative over the decades.

There have been traumatic events that changed the course of history somewhat,  things like the Bear Sterns collapse or Lehman Bros., the currency crises out of Thailand, how about the crash of '87 (the time the market just stopped, no one wanted to trade.) and all the mini tsunamis between those events like Long Term Capital, the flash crashes and more.

The recent past has seen the market enter a new phase. One that is filled with 'passive ' investing (or indexing) and the machine age powered by algorithms, as well as the personal touch for investing. Each one has its benefits at particular times. As the situation changes, so should the investing style. 

Yes, investing can be gut wrenching at times. But as in life, good and bad things can happen at any given time for no apparent reason. Remember the flash crash of 2:45pm in 2010, close to a thousand point drop in minutes, it made for some interesting headlines. Coding error in an algorithm causing it to go rogue, or an automated trade with a fat finger, lots of theories of what could have happened. 

Then there are things like war, lesser conflicts, politics, economic numbers, failure of drug studies, new tech overcoming old tech, the old accounting scandal. All this and more enter into the daily, monthly and yearly actions of the stock market. For some it is crunch the numbers, for others it is all about speed, and still others go technical. Every participant has a unique approach, whether it be an individual or a corporation. Everybody has an opinion, and so does Simplyalpha.ca.

The Simplyalpha section of the websites' name has two parts. The Simply part and the alpha part. Investing should be simple, and one should be looking for the alpha (the alpha being the excess return over the interest rate). That is where SImplyalpha.ca can provide it's opinion to reach both the goals. The actual buying and selling of stocks (and options) so you too can be part of that great financial enterprise, the stock market. The focus is on the equity market, and it is the only focus. No financial planning, no lifestyling, no annual reviews. You have the statements from the discount broker to show you where things stand and to judge performance. The planning and lifestyle opinions I leave to others. SimplyAlpha.ca just buys and sells. 

As in any endeavor that involves choice, there are absolutely no guarantees that I, or anyone involved in the stock market , including the algorithms, makes correct decisions all the time. Each investment choice is unique, and each result is unique. The results are the only thing to be judged.