|
Statistics
Members: 237
News: 1054
Web Links: 17
Visitors: 642960
|
MEDIA KIT |
With a turbulent start to the year in global stock markets, there has been a lot of talk about bear markets, which can make investors feel uneasy.
When investors see stock prices begin to fall, they can be tempted to limit their losses by selling. But this can be just the opposite of what should be done. In fact, as a long-term investor, the difference between success and failure may be determined by your actions during a stock market decline.
A bear market is called that because it is analogous to a bear's attack - in which the animal rears up on its hind legs and swipes its paws downward. According to survivalist Peter Kummerfeldt, if you come face to face with a real bear, it's essential to stay calm and keep a cool head. He says you should not panic or make sudden moves. Instead, you should stand your ground and never try to outrun a bear because injuries that occur have mostly to do with how the human resists.
You might find that advice helpful in an investing context as well. While you'll probably never encounter a real bear in the woods, long-term investors can expect bear markets with almost total certainty. A bear market is a sharp and prolonged stock market decline - usually 20 per cent or more - and is almost always triggered by unexpected events or economic conditions. Bear markets are normal, happen frequently, and are not a reason to sell quality investments.
Consider what happened in 2002. On October 9 of that year, the TSX Composite closed at 5695, its bear-market low. The U.S. Dow Jones Industrial Average bear-market low was 7286 on the same day. In both countries, these lows were followed by one of the longest market rallies in stock market history. It underscores the fact that in bear markets, investors may find that sage advice is to keep a cool head, a steady hand and to ignore extreme predictions of doom and gloom.
If talk of a bear market has you thinking about selling quality stock and bond investments or changing strategies, you might want to reflect on the notion that time in the market is more important than timing the market. Although past performance is not an indication of future results, high-quality stock-market investments have proven to perform well over the long term.
But investors who try to predict when to get in and out of the stock market can pay a severe penalty for not being fully invested when the market is rising. Missing the best 30 days between 1976 and 2007 would have reduced the annual gain from an investment in the TSX from 8.8 per cent to just 4.8 per cent.
Many also will argue that if you had missed just a handful of the worst days, returns would have been better. This is true, but predicting the worst days can be even more difficult than predicting the best ones. And many times the best days follow worst ones.
Either way, you're trying to time the market, and it's almost impossible to do that consistently. Instead of trying, you might find that staying invested throughout market ups and downs is a better way to help achieve your long-term goals. It's a discussion that's well worth having with your financial advisor.
Edward Jones, Member CIPF.
|
|
Poppy flowers are so dramatic and exotic that most gardens contain at least one variety, but I was a bit surprised to learn how extensive the Papaveraceae family really is.
There are 23 genera and 210 species of perennials, annuals, biennials, and subshrubs. Identifiable by the white, yellow or orange milky sap, with flowers that are usually large, solitary and produce seeds inside a capsule that is often very attractive.
The poppies we are familiar with belong to the genera papavar, argemone, corydalis, eschscholzia, hunneremannia, maclearya and meconopsis.
Extremely easy to grow, most poppies love the sun and tolerate nearly any soil condition. They range in zoning from zone 3; Papaver Orientale or the Oriental poppy, to zone 8, Meconopsis napaulensis.
Annual poppies are extremely easy to grow year after year. Simply crush the seed pods and spread them about in the garden and they pop up, sometimes in unexpected places. More exotic varieties of poppies can be purchased at nurseries or through seed catalogues. Thompson and Morgan have some of the more unusual ones.
Some varieties of poppy are monocarpic [they die after they flower] this includes N, betonicifolia, the blue Himalayan poppy. Some people are lucky enough to have it become a short lived perennial, but I have not been that fortunate with it. It is, however, so lovely that it is worth the effort.
If you like the blue color but not all the work, try Cordalis flexosa ‘Blue Panda”. Its zone 6 and I have it in a slightly sheltered spot in my garden, where it does extremely well and is very spectacular in the late spring with its slender blue tubular flowers.
Two species of romneya are native to California [zone 7]; the California tree poppy has beautiful papery white flowers with bright golden centers. It suckers, making it slightly invasive, but if you are lucky enough to have a spot in your garden where it will grow it is unlikely to become a problem.
Papaver orientale is of course a common sight in many gardens, and the only drawback is finding a way to deal with the empty space in the garden after it is finished flowering, because it is so showy you want to have it front and center in your garden. I plant an annual or two in front that will take over the space after the poppy is finished flowering.
There are far too many fabulous varieties to mention, but it’s always tempting to try any new varieties that one happens upon. Why is it that there never seems to be enough garden space no matter how many new beds have been dug?
By Lindi Karmason
|
|
Alzheimer’s disease is an ailment of the brain that touches almost everyone in some way. Most of us either have a friend or family member who suffers from this common and devastating disease.
Once considered rare, Alzheimer’s is now known to be the leading cause of dementia in the aging population and is one of several disorders that cause loss of brain cells and function.
As many as 10% of people over the age of 65 have dementia and that number increases to as many as 35% of people over the age of 85. This is a serious problem for an aging population with major implications for how to provide adequate care for such a huge number of people.
The most common and widely understood symptom of Alzheimer’s is a gradual loss of memory. If a loved one begins to regularly misplace things or forget information, Alzheimer’s is usually one of the first worries to surface among family members.
Memory loss is indeed a hallmark, but there are other important symptoms in this disease. Problems with reasoning and judgment, disorientation, difficulty in learning, loss of language skills and decline in the ability to perform routine tasks are some other common manifestations of Alzheimer’s.
People with Alzheimer’s also experience changes in their personalities as well as behavioural problems such as agitation or anxiety. Psychotic symptoms like delusions and hallucinations can also affect those suffering with this disease.
All of these symptoms work together to make this a particularly upsetting disorder to experience or to witness in a loved one. Taking care of a loved one with Alzheimer’s can be extremely distressful and difficult.. It is also unpredictable in its rate of progression and can take anywhere from three to 20 years to reach its most severe state.
It is not known exactly what causes Alzheimer’s, but there seem to be both genetic and environmental factors. Family history is a known risk factor and studies show that multiple genes seem to be involved in Alzheimer’s.
Two types of Alzheimer’s have been identified in genetic research, familial and sporadic. Specific genes have been isolated for familial Alzheimer’s and if a person inherits one of these genes, it is highly likely they will develop the disease and will likely develop it before the age of 65.
Sporadic Alzheimer’s has no known pattern of inheritance, but also seems to have a genetic component to it and several genes that may be involved have been isolated.
In both types of the disease, something goes wrong with the way the brain processes proteins. The result is that the brain becomes littered with toxic pieces of protein. Some occur as neurofibrillary tangles and some as amyloid plaque.
Researchers are still working to fully understand the exact causes of these plaques and tangles and feel that results will lead to a much better understanding of the disease.
Although there is no cure for Alzheimer’s, there are some drug treatments that may improve or stabilize symptoms as well as care strategies and activities that may minimize or prevent behavioural problems.
There are also some protective measures that may help to prevent the onset of Alzheimer’s. Some research suggests that vitamin supplements (particularly E and C) can help protect the brain. Keeping your mind sharp and active with intellectually challenging activities is also thought to have protective effects.
If you or a loved one is experiencing symptoms you feel might represent the onset of Alzheimer’s, it is important to visit your family doctor. While you won’t be able to stop the disease, it is possible to improve quality of life.
Dr. Latimer, president of Okanagan Clinical Trials and local psychiatrist, can be reached at (250) 862-8141 or by email at
This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it
All previous columns can be found on the investigators page of his website at www.okanaganclinicaltrials.com.
|
|
|
David and Dorothy Counts – Anthropologists in perpetuity … |
|
|
|
David Counts and his wife Dorothy retired from teaching anthropology at McMaster  University and University of Waterloo respectively in 1996, but that hasn’t stopped them from pursuing their life-long passion: the study of people. Their doctorate research evolved into a long term study of the culture of West New Britain, an island located off the north-east coast of New Guinea. |
|
Read more...
|
|
| | << Start < Prev 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Next > End >>
| | Results 1 - 9 of 814 |
|
Subscription
Special OfferOrder 12 ISSUES of the CHOICE for family and friends for only $12.00 plus gst (Canada only). Send your name and address and a cheque to Seniors Choice at Box 41075 RPO South, Lake Country, BC V4V 1Z7
|
