Monthly Archives: April 2012

Dear Donald…

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My friend Donald just landed a role in the Disney Channel movie “Girl Vs. Monster”. It’s his first big break and his question to me was, “what should I do with the money?”.

He is in his twenties, lives at home and is still going to school. Since we have both been too busy to get together, I thought I would write to him here. Maybe other actors would be interested in my advice. After all that was the idea behind this site. Actors helping actors.

Dear Donald.

First let me tell you how envious I am of you. Not because you are booking acting work. I have seen how hard you work in class and you deserve your success. I am envious because if I had had someone mentor me in personal finance when I was your age, I would probably be able to retire by now.

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Money News

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  • Statistics Canada said the annual inflation rate fell to 1.9% in March from 2.6% in February, the lowest level since the 1.9% recorded in September 2010.
  • According to analysts a drop in Canada’s year-on-year inflation rate to an 18-month low in March will not delay interest rate hikes by the Bank of Canada.
  • Last week I reported that analyst were saying Apple stock was “extremely under valued” after dropping more than 10% over the past two weeks. After the markets closed on Tuesday, the company reported another round of record-setting quarterly earnings (net income up 94%) and the stock rebounded almost 9% on Wednesday.
  • Has U.S. real estate found a bottom? This week the S&P/Case-Shiller index showed values in 20 U.S. cities fell 3.5% in February, the smallest 12-month drop since February 2011. According to the Commerce Department, new homes sold at an annual pace of 328,000 in March, up 7.5% from a year earlier.

Is it a good time for Canadians to buy U.S. real estate? Garth Turner: America

  • Britain’s economy has slid back into its first double dip recession since the 1970′s. 
  • Shares of Rogers fell over 5% Wednesday after the telecom company missed analysts’ expectations on its first-quarter financial results. The company’s wireless division has faced tougher cellphone competition from players big and small, while its cable division is battling fellow industry giant Bell.
  •  On Wednesday Le Château reported that sales for the fourth quarter were down 5.3%. With still excessively high inventory levels, increasing debt, and a reduction in store count analysts expected share price to remain flat for the foreseeable future.
  • I was stunned on Thursday when shares of Le Château skyrocketed over 50%. Is this stock a classic value trap, or has the market been overreacting to the weak consumer environment? Shares are down 85% this past year.

Bell Media

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Yesterday I was talking about my recent investment in Bell Canada (BCE Inc.). In the comment section I was asked by Canadian MD Investor why I didn’t invest in Telus or Rogers instead. The answer is that as someone who works in TV and Film I am very interested in Bell’s acquisition of TV and Radio stations.

Check out Canadian MD Investor’s excellent blog.

I found this video detailing Bell Media’s recent acquisition of Astral Media.

Bell Media also owns CTV and CTV Two. Check out this promo featuring music by Rob Base and DJ E Z Rock!

Bullish on BCE

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Two and a Half Men on CTV owned by BCE Inc.

I wanted to add a new stock to my portfolio and after reviewing the top Canadian companies that offer dividend reinvestment plans (DRIPs) I settled on Bell Canada (BCE Inc.).

List of the most popular companies that offer DRIPs in 2011

What are DRIPs? The How part II

Originally I shied away from telecom stocks because I thought the cel phone monopoly they had in Canada was fragile. The three big guys (Bell, Rogers and Telus) had the cel phone market cornered, but what if the government opened it up and started letting other companies play in Canada?

They pay a lot less for cel phone usage in the States and I figured if one of their big players like AT&T moved into Canada, prices would drop and profits might be cut in half. After doing a little research though, I discovered that BCE is much more than a cel phone company and may just be one of my best investments ever.

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Money News

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  1. Warren Buffett told his company’s shareholders in an open letter Tuesday that he has been diagnosed with early-stage prostate cancer.
  2. Charlie Sheen’s comeback series “Anger Management” is being sued for $50 million by a producer who says he spent two years developing the property for television but was pushed out when Sheen signed on.
  3. Blockbuster closed more than 400 stores in Canada last year and on Tuesday, Rogers confirmed its more than 90 remaining video stores stopped renting movies.
  4. Aiming to fill the void, Redbox is bringing its popular vending-machine DVD business to Canada. Redbox is a division of Coinstar Inc. (QSTR-Q) The stock is rated a buy and is up over 50% since January.
  5. The Bank of Canada reported this week that the Canadian economy is on track to regain its full productive capacity sometime early next year.
  6. Bank of Canada Governor Mark Carney said this week that the bank is pondering an eventual move higher in its key interest rate, from its current rock-bottom level of 1%.
  7. A Bank of Montreal study finds more than 40% of Canadians surveyed are unsure about their ability to afford their homes in the case of a 2% interest rate hike. Read more. 
  8. After years of trying, AFTRA and SAG have merged creating a new entity, SAG-AFTRA. How will this affect Canadian actors and our two unions?
  9. After rebounding from a 5 day losing streak last week, Apple shares were down 3.44% today to close at $587.44. Goldman Sachs raised its price target Wednesday to $750 and Henderson Global Investors said that Apple is “extremely undervalued” and should rise to $1,200 – without specifying a time frame.

Apple stock - 5 day range

 

 

Commercial auditions

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The thing I love most about being an actor is that every week is different. Monday I got to be an extra on the AMC show “The Killing” and play a detective. Tomorrow I am going to photo-double on the CW show “Supernatural”, and today I had a commercial audition.

I got up at 7am, got my picture and resume organized, figured out where the studio was, had a hot shower and a cup of coffee, put on a shirt and tie and headed to the studio.

I always find auditioning humorous because they often have one holding area for all the actors and then several different studios, each one filming auditions for different commercials. When your name is called, you go into the door corresponding to the spot you are auditioning for. You often end up waiting in a room where half the guys are dressed like cowboys and the other half are dressed like lifeguards.

Today there was an audition for “hot chicks”, an audition for “good-looking guy in suit” and an audition for “middle management type with a dead-pan face”. I was in the latter group…

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Money News

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  1. Canada is eliminating the penny. The cost of minting the coin has risen to 1.6 cents or $11 million a year. Australia and New Zealand got rid of the penny about 15 years ago and the whole world is moving closer to a cashless society.
  2. Higher gas prices are angering many Canadians, but can you share in the profits? CBC News: Can you invest in rising gas prices?
  3. Alex Avery, an analyst with CIBC World Markets Inc. predicts REITs (real estate investment trusts) will generate total returns (that is, dividend payouts and capital gains) of between 15% and 25% during this year and the first half of next.
  4. U.S. discount retailer Target arrives in Canada next year and plans to hire 25,000 employees, but the real winner may be RioCan Real Estate Investment Trust, Target’s largest Canadian landlord with 24 of its stores.
  5. Individual REITs can be bought just like stocks, or you can buy a diversified basket of REITs through an ETF (exchange traded fund) which is a type of low-cost mutual fund that trades on the stock market. Learn more: Canadian REIT ETFs… is now the time?
  6. Apple Inc., already the world’s most valuable company, hit the $600-billion (U.S.) level for the first time Tuesday. Only one other company has been worth $600-billion — Apple’s old sparring partner Microsoft Corp.
  7. Also this week, the U.S. Justice Department took Apple Inc. and two major publishers to court for conspiring to push up the prices of e-books.
  8. Vancouver’s Lionsgate Entertainment hit the jackpot with its Hunger Games franchise. Hunger Games opened to a staggering $214-million global debut weekend (the 3rd biggest opening weekend ever). The stock is rated a “buy” and has more than doubled in the past year.
  9. Vancouver’s Thunderbird Films announced Sea to Sky Entertainment, a partnership with Lionsgate to create television programming for broadcast and cable networks. Days later, Thunderbird opened a new office in L.A., followed a week later by Thunderbird picking up a Digital Emmy in Cannes for the TV show “Endgame”.
  10. On Tuesday Spanish bond yields approached their highest levels this year, raising concerns that the country is headed toward a financial crisis. Stocks were hit hard for a fifth consecutive day, sending Canada’s benchmark index into a loss for the year and marking the worst losing streak for U.S. stocks since November and their biggest one-day declines of the year.
  11. Fortunately, a good start to first-quarter earning season has seen a major rebound for North American markets the past two days.

Canadian stock market

American stock market

The cool kids

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Me and my cool friends circa 1987 Victoria, B.C. (I'm in the red sneakers).

When I went to junior high school, I noticed right away that there were “the cool kids” and then there was everybody else. The cool kids played sports and wore rugby pants, beer shirts and jean jackets with “Def Leppard” patches on the back.

The cool kids smoked, got into fights and went to parties with the prettiest girls in school (where I assumed there must have been lots and lots of sex happening).

I on the other hand had short spiky hair, listened to new wave music and hung out with the punk rockers and nerds from band class (where there wasn’t lots and lots of sex happening). We made fun of the cool kids and said how we didn’t want to go to their parties anyways.

Then in the summer of 1984 I discovered something that changed my life…

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Road Trip!

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Canadian shoppers have been frustrated that although our dollar has been at or above parity with the U.S. dollar for the past two years, we continue to pay up to 20% more than Americans do for the same products.

Last year Finance Minister Jim Flaherty asked a Senate committee to study the pricing disparities and is now awaiting its report.

I guess he got tired of waiting because he announced new spending limits this week that will benefit all Canadians who enjoy shopping in the States.

Thursday’s budget raises the limit to $200 from $50 for residents who have been out of the country for 24 hours. The exemptions for longer trips are going up as well – doubling to $800 for those who have been away for 48 hours. Retailers anticipate a surge in cross-border shopping starting in June, when new rules are slated to take effect.