Search found 290 matches

by apater
04 Jan 2016 15:55
Forum: Community Centre
Topic: Virus and Malware protection
Replies: 11
Views: 402

Re: Virus and Malware protection

Semantics. It should not matter to anyone except hardcore technicians whether your operating system is infected by a virus or malware. Any product worth paying for should protect you from both.
by apater
27 Dec 2015 22:47
Forum: Community Centre
Topic: Veganism
Replies: 133
Views: 2630

Re: Veganism

Zipper wrote:Homo Sapiens aren't rabbits.

Over millenia they ate rabbits, roots, insects, small game, birds, eggs, fish, nuts, berries,...... whatever they could find.
Homo sapiens sapiens are smarter than that. There is no biological imperative to live the same lifestyle as our ancestors.

You're second mistake is a quite common one. Rabbits don't eat many of the plant foods that humans have developed over millennia. Nobody sane is advocating a diet of lettuce and alfalfa pellets for modern humans.
by apater
26 Dec 2015 08:54
Forum: Community Centre
Topic: Veganism
Replies: 133
Views: 2630

Re: Veganism

kcowan wrote: They should have a good life before the one bad day. ... have no idea whether they are sentient.
Of course the same logic applies to eating human flesh. ;-)
by apater
17 Oct 2015 09:31
Forum: Community Centre
Topic: Veganism
Replies: 133
Views: 2630

Re: Veganism

SkaSka wrote: What I read somewhere was that:
Somewhere?

Anyway, many people with pet animals seem to believe, and have written "somewhere", that animals have emotions and do suffer.
by apater
03 Aug 2015 13:21
Forum: Under the Mattress: Protecting Your Money
Topic: USA versus Canadian $
Replies: 19
Views: 1429

Re: USA versus Canadian $

brucecohen wrote:A friend of mine spends just under 6 months in Mexico to avoid winter. He averages his FX by purchasing 1/6 of his US$ requirement each month while in Canada.
Why would he buy USD for a country which does not use that currency?
He is a masochist who enjoys paying double the fees and double the exchange spread?

http://markets.ft.com/research/Markets/ ... y?s=CADMXN
by apater
02 Aug 2015 09:40
Forum: Financial Planning and Building Portfolios
Topic: Bond ETFs within Portfolio - Short Term or Longer
Replies: 11
Views: 1865

Re: Bond ETFs within Portfolio - Short Term or Longer

longinvest wrote:... Did you know that there exist bonds that guarantee that your principal will not be eroded by inflation ...
There is no inflation risk anywhere on the visible horizon. The risk from bonds is not inflation.

There is however a widely held assumption that interest rates will be going up over the next few years. The value of any held bonds and bond funds will therefor go down, resulting in a capital loss over those same next few years.

Long term couch potato investors can likely ignore widely held assumptions as well as assumptions less widely held.
by apater
17 Jul 2015 15:12
Forum: Property: Owning, Renting, Managing, Investing and Mortgaging
Topic: Housing Bust 2015
Replies: 239
Views: 26368

Re: Housing Bust 2015

Flaccidsteele wrote:
apater wrote:Seriously, with interest rates at record lows, taking out a business loan is a no-brainer. There are so many un-touched opportunities out there.
There are?
Oh ye of little faith ...

and imagination.
by apater
17 Jul 2015 13:24
Forum: Property: Owning, Renting, Managing, Investing and Mortgaging
Topic: Housing Bust 2015
Replies: 239
Views: 26368

Re: Housing Bust 2015

patriot1 wrote:
One private lender, who asked not to be named because she is close to the real estate market and fears hurting her business, took out a C$400,000 mortgage on her paid-off home at 2.49 per cent and then gave that money to a broker that lent it to a borrower at a higher rate, for a fee.
Do you know where I can get in contact with these lenders? I have some great business opportunities on the burner. :wink:

Seriously, with interest rates at record lows, taking out a business loan is a no-brainer. There are so many un-touched opportunities out there.
by apater
13 Jul 2015 19:08
Forum: Financial News, Policy and Economics
Topic: Greece
Replies: 397
Views: 43180

Re: Greece

schmuck wrote: ...
BN-HD953_GKPENS_G_20150227120214.jpg
by apater
10 Jul 2015 20:37
Forum: Stocks, Bonds, ETFs, Funds, REITS and More
Topic: Anyone familiar with Zag Bank?
Replies: 10
Views: 4108

Re: Anyone familiar with Zag Bank?

CROCKD wrote:
apater wrote:Weird. They require one to travel back to the last century and write out a physical cheque in order to open an account with them.

How quaint.
Every online account I have ever opened, and I have quite a few, has required the same. So which century are you living in?
So if everyone is doing the same thing, I retract the "weird" comment. I'll stick by "quaint" though.
by apater
10 Jul 2015 18:47
Forum: Stocks, Bonds, ETFs, Funds, REITS and More
Topic: Anyone familiar with Zag Bank?
Replies: 10
Views: 4108

Re: Anyone familiar with Zag Bank?

Weird. They require one to travel back to the last century and write out a physical cheque in order to open an account with them.

How quaint.
by apater
01 Jul 2015 09:42
Forum: Financial News, Policy and Economics
Topic: Greece
Replies: 397
Views: 43180

Re: Greece

fraser wrote:If indeed pensions take up 60 percent of the Greek GNP ...
When Greece has the GNP per capita of, say, France, the pension issue disappears.

Due to the depression, Greek GNP is way lower then it should be.
by apater
28 Jun 2015 20:20
Forum: Financial News, Policy and Economics
Topic: Greece
Replies: 397
Views: 43180

Re: Greece

OK, this is real: Greek banks closed, capital controls imposed.
The other shoe drops hard.
Krugman wrote:... they made Tsipras an offer he can’t accept ...
For those vacationing in Greece, bring cash. In small bills.
by apater
28 Jun 2015 07:26
Forum: Financial News, Policy and Economics
Topic: Greece
Replies: 397
Views: 43180

Re: Greece

As it happened – Yanis Varoufakis’ intervention during the 27th June 2015 Eurogroup Meeting
How do you expect common people to understand such complex issues?
by apater
25 Jun 2015 22:13
Forum: Financial Planning and Building Portfolios
Topic: Should I add metals to my portfolio
Replies: 29
Views: 3969

Re: Should I add metals to my portfolio

MMcLaurent wrote:Are precious metals a good investment?
No.
MMcLaurent wrote:I have a number of stable investments and i'm looking for something a little more volatile.
Try bitcoin.
by apater
18 Jun 2015 17:27
Forum: Financial News, Policy and Economics
Topic: Greece
Replies: 397
Views: 43180

Re: Greece

Wallace wrote: Looking through "twitter" this morning, there seems to be increasing consensus that Greek default is not only inevitable but the least disastrous option.
For whom? Lenders can't be choosers.
Bob wrote:When you have nothing, you have nothing to lose.
by apater
16 Jun 2015 08:16
Forum: Community Centre
Topic: LastPass password manager
Replies: 95
Views: 6754

Re: LastPass password manager

I have used the KeepassX family of password managers for years on both Linux and Android. I understand there are versions for other those other OS' as well.
by apater
15 Jun 2015 18:17
Forum: Financial News, Policy and Economics
Topic: Greece
Replies: 397
Views: 43180

Re: Greece

Defaulting on any debt, public or private, will ruin Greece's credit rating. Private lenders may breathe a sigh of relief to get paid ahead of the Germans but they sure won't lend any new money. I think Wolfgang is living in uptopia if he thinks Greece can get away with shoving its middle finger up ECB/German/IMF butts. There will be forgiveness of debt all around just like it has been in the past for banana republics, but with continued austerity measures. There has to be consequences to discourage a defaultor nation from repeating a similar situation a generation from now. There has to be consequences to discourage lender nations from getting arrogant. Debt is a two-way street. If lenders haven't done due diligence, they get burned. The ...
by apater
09 Jun 2015 17:14
Forum: Financial News, Policy and Economics
Topic: the concept of a “Carbon bubble”
Replies: 50
Views: 4768

Re: the concept of a “Carbon bubble”

start putting hundreds, if not thousands, of electrical charging stations in towns and cities within the province. I am guessing that would result in many more electric cars on the streets. I just bought a low-milage well-equiped 5 year old Corolla for $10k, from the local Toyota dealer, tax included. I intend to keep it 10 years (like I did with the previous one), so $1k per year in depreciation max (there should be a small residual value). Fueling up takes a few minutes, there are gas stations everywhere and you're good for at least 400-500 km on the highway. I don't think you get this kind of deal with an electrical vehicle, and you cannot do 500 km without stoping. Test drive of a petrol car Having heard so much good about petrol cars,...
by apater
28 May 2015 22:15
Forum: Financial News, Policy and Economics
Topic: the concept of a “Carbon bubble”
Replies: 50
Views: 4768

Re: the concept of a “Carbon bubble”

chufinora wrote:All I get is an error message saying sorry.
You mean the message saying:
Alphaville is completely free. All you have to do is register.
?
by apater
28 May 2015 12:21
Forum: Financial News, Policy and Economics
Topic: the concept of a “Carbon bubble”
Replies: 50
Views: 4768

Re: the concept of a “Carbon bubble”

AltaRed wrote:All I get is a scummy blog with that link.
If the link does not take you to http://ftalphaville.ft.com/ there is something wrong on your end. If you think FT Alphaville is scummy :rofl:
by apater
28 May 2015 08:36
Forum: Property: Owning, Renting, Managing, Investing and Mortgaging
Topic: newcomer entrepreneur mortgaging questions
Replies: 8
Views: 1934

Re: newcomer entrepreneur mortgaging questions

zinneken wrote:
apater wrote:Renting shelter makes more business sense. Why would you insist on doing otherwise?
renting a personal home is a reduction in net worth for one. Current low interest rates for two. etc.
I don't get the math. Any type of liability including a mortgage is a reduction in net worth. Net worth = Assets - Liabilities.

Low interest rates = high prices. See The Economist house-price index
The.Economist.House.Price.Index.png
by apater
28 May 2015 08:20
Forum: Financial News, Policy and Economics
Topic: the concept of a “Carbon bubble”
Replies: 50
Views: 4768

the concept of a “Carbon bubble”

From FT Alphaville Stranded assets and climate stimulus
Trillions of dollars worth of financial assets could be grossly mispriced due to the incorrect valuation of fossil fuel assets — many of which probably can’t ever be burned if the world is to limit global warming to 2 degrees.
Thoughts?
by apater
19 May 2015 13:13
Forum: Property: Owning, Renting, Managing, Investing and Mortgaging
Topic: newcomer entrepreneur mortgaging questions
Replies: 8
Views: 1934

Re: newcomer entrepreneur mortgaging questions

Renting shelter makes more business sense. Why would you insist on doing otherwise?
by apater
12 May 2015 20:28
Forum: Property: Owning, Renting, Managing, Investing and Mortgaging
Topic: Housing Bust 2015
Replies: 239
Views: 26368

Re: Housing Bust 2015

Koogie wrote:... he says that he is often outbid on local properties by foreign investment buyers (mostly mid-east and indian origin).
Just because someone is not white does not mean that they are foreign.