Keeping informed - keeping up with business information

You may find this hard to believe but even in a great bull market many people lose money. Even most professional money managers tend to under-perform the market. If you analyze mutual fund performance you will find that a majority of funds perform worse than the market index.

There are two main reasons why investors fail. One is an unrealistic expectation that one can become rich very quickly in the stock market. When we have unrealistic expectations, we tend to become impatient and make unwise investment decisions. It is possible to become rich investing in the stock market but it takes time and discipline. The other reason for failure is blindly acting on `hot tips'. Following `hot tips' usually means that we do not know why we are investing in a given stock, but simply trust whoever gave us the tip. If the tip does not work out (and most don't), the recipient of the `hot tip' loses the money and not the person who offered us the tip.

We can avoid all these traps by keeping ourselves informed. If we can do that, and avoid greed and impatience, our investing efforts can be successful. Keeping informed is both easy and inexpensive. All you need to do is read the business section of a good newspaper regularly, read some good books and read a well-balanced financial periodical. We try to help investors by presenting a wide range of investing possibilities and offering good investment books at a discount. We hope you find them useful.

Periodicals

Here are some periodicals that deal with investments. Try to read one or more of these publications regularly.

Money Digest is published 12 times a year and contains tightly edited and well-balanced articles written in plain English. The articles are timely, short, to the point and are written by a small group of contributing editors. It also contains articles written by brokerage firms and an Investment Capsule section that identifies better performing investments. (Available only through subscription. Not available on newsstands.)

IE: Money (400-99 Richmond St. E., Toronto, On. M5C 1P1) is published six times a year and contains excellent in-depth articles on investing and personal finance. The articles are well-conceived, well-written and balanced. $3.95 per copy at newsstands. Also available by subscription.

Canadian Money Saver (Box 370, Bath, On. K0H 1G0) is published 11 times a year. The magazine includes a variety of articles on personal finance and investing. The articles generally represent the views of the individual writers. $3.25 per copy at newsstands. $21.35/year.

Investor's Digest of Canada (MPL Communications, 135 Richmond St. W., Toronto, On. M5H 3M8) covers areas covered by Money Digest but in greater detail and more frequently. $137.00/year or $6/copy.

All Canadian Mutual Fund Guide (Pursuit Publishing, 118 Eglinton Ave. W., Suite 200, Toronto, On. M4R 2G4) is published four times a year. Contains articles on mutual funds. $14.40/year or $4.50/copy.

Special purpose newsletters

The following newsletters present a conservative, value-based approach to investing:

Successful Investor (Ste. 977, 6021 Yonge St., Toronto, On. M2M 3W2) is edited by Money Digest's contributing editor Patrick McKeough and contains more detailed analysis and recommendations of Canadian (and U.S) stocks. Monthly. $99/year.

Investment Reporter (MPL Communications, 135 Richmond St. W., Toronto, On. M5H 3M8) carries analysis and recommendations of Canadian and U.S. stocks. Carries lists of stocks to buy and stocks to avoid. $279/year.

Money Reporter (MPL Communications, 135 Richmond St. W., Toronto, On. M5H 3M8) is geared more towards fixed income investors. Bi-weekly. Subscription $197.00/year.