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A dream of most investors is to find the elusive “Big Winner”—that life-changing stock that goes up by multiples of the price you initially paid. In many cases owning (and holding) just one of these stocks can make a material difference in someone’s life. It can mean that down payment on a house, a catalyst that jumpstarts the compounding of a diversified portfolio over the long-term, or some inheritance money you always hoped to leave behind for your family.

As people age, it is common for them to consider whether they should be gifting assets during their lives, as opposed to upon their deaths. They may be motivated by their adult children’s financial needs or by the opportunity to reduce tax payable. Regardless, there are several tax considerations when contemplating the gifting of assets.

We took our daughter clothes shopping in downtown Toronto on her birthday. Many of the stores we visited are owned by publicly traded corporations. Always attuned to investment prospects, I noted that Aritzia has been among the top performers on the TSX over the past year, and the company’s boutique was indeed crowded with customers. Along with Aritzia, we visited Abercrombie & Fitch, American Eagle Outfitters, Urban Outfitters, Reitmans and Winners (TJX).

Inflation is the year-over-year price increase of an item or service compared to last year. To calculate the overall inflation rate in the Canadian economy, Statistics Canada measures the price changes of a basket of goods and services typically consumed by Canadians.

I’m a 55-year-old woman nearing retirement. I’m thinking about using Chat GPT for planning my long-term asset mix, but I’m worried about bias. What is your view on using generative AI (GenAI) in this context?

As a general rule, for the majority of use cases, experts suggest we use AI as a guide rather than a source of accurate responses.

A recent visit to several local auto dealerships found salespeople pitching an assortment of sales on their vehicles, some of which had been on display for a year. High inventories of slow-selling vehicles, particularly luxury brands, appear to have made salespeople even more overzealous than usual.

The real bargains, however, appear to be in their companies’ shares.

Although several studies have shown that wealthier people tend to be happier, prioritizing money over all else can also be harmful. Money correlates with happiness, but only to a point.

The investment community tends to evaluate a company’s quarterly earnings based on the Earnings per Share (EPS) metrics. Companies that miss earnings expectations are usually punished hard, as investors tend to sell off the company’s share price materially.

New alternative minimum tax (AMT) provisions came into effect on January 1, 2024.

The federal government introduced AMT in 1986 to ensure high income individuals paid a fair share of tax.