Member Documents

Why do we talk about book value?

February 26th, 2010

The much anticipated Berkshire Hathaway annual letter penned by Warren Buffett will be released tomorrow. Book value has always been a key topic for Mr. Buffett as well as QV. Book value (BV) is defined as the assets of the firm minus ...

Third fire strikes Suncor

February 10th, 2010

Author, Carrie Tait, features Darren Dansereau in an article published in the Financial Post, February 10, 2010. Click on the link to read more...

Why a weak US economy matters.

January 15th, 2010

Canada has faired relatively well in this extremely difficult economic environment. Canada did not have to rescue any Canadian Banks like in the US, nor did the Federal Government have to come up with an insane number of programs (e.g. cash for ...

Surprise!

December 4th, 2009

I haven't been able to decide what has been more of a surprise - the better than expected job reports today, or the reaction in North American markets.

Fixing the System

November 20th, 2009

On Nov. 18th, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez stated in a televised address that he wants to find a different way to calculate his country's GDP. This was after the release of the third quarter 2009 GDP figure of negative 4.5%. He stated ...

Trick or Treat?

October 30th, 2009

The tradition of trick-or-treating dates back to the middle ages. The act of people going door to door resembles what was known as "souling," in which people went door to door begging for food. In exchange for food, the beggars would pray ...

Environmentalists applaud Total's choice for oil sands chief

September 30th, 2009

Author, Carrie Tait, features Darren Dansereau in an article published in the Financial Post, September 30, 2009. Click on the link to read more...

What does the Q & V stand for again?

September 25th, 2009

Jeremy Siegel, who is a well regarded professor at the Wharton School of Business, has written books outlining the benefits of long term investing. In his most famous book titled Stocks for the Long Run, Dr. Siegel has studied asset class returns ...

What are we worried about?

August 14th, 2009

In his August Insight, Gary Shilling superbly outlines six key factors which he believes will restrain global growth. Dr. Shilling is a US economist who correctly forecasted the most recent global slowdown, and he was also one of the few voices calling ...

Monthly Update - July 2009

August 10th, 2009

The S&P 500 is today 49% above its lows of March 9, 2009. The TSX is up 42%. With such a rapid rise in the markets, we thought we would outline our strategy and thoughts for each of the QV Funds.

"Grab that cash with both hands and make a stash" - "Money", Pink Floyd

May 22nd, 2009

Initial Public Offerings (IPOs) were all the rage during the technology bubble. In 1999 there were a total of 492 IPOs in the United States totaling $63.7 billion. In 2000, the number was 422 with a total dollar amount of $97.35 billion. ...

Inflation vs. Deflation

April 24th, 2009

My father always referred to economics as ikcy-nomics. I agreed with his conclusion in University as I studied obscure theories and hideous formulas. However, economics is essential to understanding what is occurring within the current marketplace. It is not the obscure theories, ...

Lessons from a Surgeon!

March 27th, 2009

If I am ever faced with the need for heart surgery, I wouldn't want a brain surgeon performing the operation. I would want the most experienced and knowledgeable heart surgeon. If I was facing what some call the worst recession since the ...

Remember China and India?

February 27th, 2009

Remember the inundation of articles over the last few years promoting the notion of infinite demand in China and India for commodities. The Chinese population was reported to be moving into cities at the pace of one New York City a month.

Misconceptions in Finance

January 23rd, 2009

Many years have passed since I finished my business degree, but academic misconceptions in finance remain. Dividends are promoted as payments made by companies that are unable to grow. Business textbooks state the only reason people will buy these companeis ...

Stimulus Please

November 28th, 2008

Today is "Black Friday" in the United States; the official beginning of the US Christmas selling season. This term is used to reference the Friday after Thanksgiving. It originated in Philadelphia in the 1960s to refer to heavy traffic flow, but the ...

Sporting Contests Have Two Halves

October 17th, 2008

What a week this has been! Currently, governments around the world are trying to alleviate liquidity problems in the first half of this economic environment. The halves of this sporting contest can be separated into liquidity concerns in banks and a slowdown ...

Buyers Market for Financials

September 12th, 2008

We have been inundated with news on the bailout of Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae. These firms, which the Globe & Mail calls "Fraudy and Phony" have further displayed the turmoil in the US credit markets. We believe the authorities placed a ...

An Unhappy Anniversary

August 15th, 2008

This Sunday marks the one year anniversary of the beginning of the US Federal Reserve's rate reduction program in response to the global credit crisis. On August 17, 2007, the Fed delivered their first of seven rate cuts to alleviate pressure on ...

There is Some Light at the End of the Tunnel

June 27th, 2008

These markets are volatile! As I write this letter, the Dow Jones Industrial average is down 9.9% month to date. Most European markets are down over 10%. The S&P/TSX Composite is down only 3% as it has benefitted from the strength in ...

What inflation?

May 30th, 2008

Mark Carney, the relatively new Bank of Canada governor, dropped interest rates 0.5% at the end of April. In their release, the Bank of Canada stated: "The Bank is now projecting a deeper and more protracted slowdown in the US economy. This ...

High Expectations

April 11th, 2008

According to the consensus earnings estimates in Canada and the United States everything is going well. The anticipated growth in Canadian earnings is 10.0% for 2008. In the US, the market is even more optimistic with an expectation of 16.6% earnings growth.

The Gifts in Santa's Sleigh

December 21st, 2007

David Rosenberg, the North American Economist for Merrill Lynch, summed up his and our stance for the last few years perfectly. He stated this week that "it sounds strange to hear a positive story coming from the skunk at the picnic…". We have been concerned about liquidity in the market. We have also been concerned about ...

Monthly Update - July 2007

August 10th, 2007

North American equity indices continued their increase during the first half of July. The S&P/TSX hit a high of 14,656 on July 19 and the S&P 500 hit a high of 1,555. As we write this letter, the S&P/TSX has fallen nearly ...

Monthly Update - May 2007

June 8th, 2007

The Canadian dollar cannot seem to stop climbing! Foreign interest in our dollar has been fuelled by strong economic fundamentals and firm commodity prices. The possibility of Canadian/US dollar parity is now more of a reality than a pipe dream!