ronthecivil

Well, for better or worse, the pipeline to allow us to export world wide will be complete soon. For better or worse, we will have international natural gas soon. But that will likely affect prices here in a way that won't be liked, since we will switch from no external competition to world wide. But you see were damned if we do an damned if we don't. The feds took control of the pipeline, and financially, it hasn't been a joy. Other than the pipeline, when it comes to oil and gas, the government is pulling in lots of tax, from the initial royalties, through the supply chain, and at the pump.

Well I actually like the supply side idea being done by the BC government telling NIBYS to take a hike and force more building within cities. Now on other side, having massive immigration quotas is not going to help with demand. Lets see what higher interest rates do long term.

Why WOULD they actually want to "fix" it. With 70% of Canadians in the ownership category, and with soo many people in a situation where they have had to have their mortgage extended into infinity, what would happen if all these people were suddenly underwater with their housing situation? It would be chaos! It's political suicide. You can fix it overnight by just eliminating the capital gains exemption on your primary residence. And so much tax revenue. But ya, political suicide. So were screwed.

It's not too late to just by shares in the companies if you think they make that much money. As it turns out, right now, they are! But that's not always the case. Would you want the government to own the oil industry when oil prices were negative? Because at that time, if they wanted, it would have been cheep to privatize on of them. But there was no interest in that at the time, many would have been happy to see a lot of them go bankrupt....

What happens if this year, or more likely the next, he makes the team out of camp. Then part way through the year, because of slump or what not, they want to send him down to get more minutes. Do we have to send him to Sweden at this point? Make him sit in the box? Or can we send him to Abbottsford to play 20 minutes a night instead of five?

All the mainstream beer is made either with the water in Creston (Labatt's parents and all the ones that go with it, like Budweiser) that was in (and still is, at least in BC) in original Kokanee, and the other (Molson's parents, and all it's brothers) are made in Chilliwack with water similar to the Nestle factory, so all our bad beer is at least made with good water so it's not THAT bad to drink local. So a low Canadian dollar shouldn't affect that. Now, governments that like to spend more than they can take it, when times get tough, love jumping up the "sin" tax because it's an easy target.

Well on the plus side for you, the more that oil is phased out, the more expensive it is for your competitors from afar to get their products up here. Sure it hits you too, but it will hit the people in other countries too, and really impact the cost of shipping. I think it's the same in construction. The people I talk to say the cost of getting say paving stones has skyrocketed, and they themselves complain that they themselves are being gouged, and thus they have to pass it down the line, just like you are. The soon to be dropping into next to nothing value of the Canadian dollar is going to help you, providing of course, you source your raw materials and such in Canada! Once they open I frequent the farmers market for quality reasons alone.

LOL the older one isn't going to sign an ELC. He can't... That this one wants to come to Vancouver to train with the Canucks staff, even though he is going back to Sweden to play (which is fine, it worked with the older one) is fantastic news and confirmation that at last ONE prospect gets the message from the coach about having a "good summer".

Neither do the people that are at risk from his fires!

Of course they are not ALL like that. It's the small batch of bad apples that makes the misery and spreads it worse. I have nothing against helping someone that is down on their luck and wants a hand up. I have nothing against the peaceful homeless binner that collect cans during the day and drinks the money away under a bridge at night. Even if this kind of person refuses help, if they aren't bothering anyone else, I don't really care (that they want to do that, it's still a little sad). It's the stabby ones that need to be put away first. It's the thieving ones that need to be put away second. The thieving ones often evolve into stabby ones, since they do what it takes to fill their addiction. The people that want to enroll themselves into drug treatment should be supported. The ones that don't and would just as soon steal and stab to get their way should be locked up. No social program on the planet is going to change their way if left to their own devices. Should we do top down things to stop people from going that way in the first place? Of course. But for ones that are down that path, not much is going to change that. Just cave to them and give them free drugs? I mean, it sort of works in Portugal, but they also have big deterrents for going down that road in the first place.

So I am going to after talking to the people I go with, keep on going, but to less games, but here's the problem, and a business mode, that someone should tell Aquilini. It's the Bill Wirtz vs. Rocky Wirtz Bill was a guy who was all about maximizing profit. If the people didn't fill the old stadium in the ghetto, then no way it's going on TV. Sure, make some playoff games for some extra dough, but if someone wanted a big contract, whether earned or not, even if it might lead to more fans in the future, then pass. It was all about money now. Just like our current guy. Now he might sign players, but he has the cap on his side. And the whole point is to win now because playoff tickets is money now. And all about money now is squeezing every last penny out of the people going. Save money on printing tickets and the hassle with an app? You bet! But is that enough? Nope! Gotta have some ads. Maybe even steal some customer info and sell it to third parties with that app. Who knows? If it's money now, then why not? Super high priced tickets that always go up whether they deserve to or not? You bet! Cheap out on staff to the point that half the time I have to instruct them when to let people into their seats? You bet. Insanely priced concessions and beer? If you can squeeze a few more pennies out, you bet! Cheap out on staff? Years ago I had a very good rep that would call me when the season ticket location event was had. Now? I don't even have one, and good luck trying to get one to call you! It's just "check you email!". Because I don't get enough emails in life as it is, I have to wade through countless spam emails to find the important ones. First in line concerts, free stuff, and official business, sure! But ad after ad after ad after ad is just more trying to nickel and dime me. And I really hate that, as I bet a lot of other do! And both those guys have to lead very shadowy private lives, well, because a lot of people, and for good reason, don't like them. Now consider the Rocky Wirtz model.... He immediately put the games on TV. He rebuilt the team, but he spent a lot on developing and scouting to do it right, and when those players earned contracts, he signed them. He built a new arena and brought the best part of the old barn (the organ) with it. He did everything fan friendly! Before long, the team won the Stanley cup, and they had a massive parade and millions of fans ready to buy jerseys, go to games, and hand the guy who actually looked after the fans cash. Safe to say that his model drastically out earned Dad's model. The guy I have been to the most games with was actually at the Hawks game (in Chicago) last night (he is a Toews fan and wore his Canada Toews jersey to the game, winning him lots of fans.) A big beer was $11 and it was high quality local beer to boot. And where was Rocky? In the freaking lower bowl with a few security guys! My buddy even went up to him during an intermission and said "thank for developing my guy for me" which got a laugh out of Rocky. Too bad he didn't tell him to call up Francesco and give him some tips on how to REALLY make money with his NHL franchise.

Well I think I am done with them forever. Just changed my credit card number so they can't get payment. Going to block their email. How do I delete my account and profile on here?

Ya great start winning when it's counter productive. I think I am cancelling my seasons tickets.

IF we keep our interest rates low, while others raise them, our dollar will go down. It will mean our economy will stay strong, our exports will be appreciated, people won't get priced out of their mortgages, and the cost of internal things should stabalise. But things we import, like coffee, ya, they are going to keep on going up. Can't recommend any local alternatives to that, but at least brewing your own at home will let that tin of coffee save you a lot more than getting it made by someone else.

It's how I see people that refuse help, are violent, want all kinds of sex and drugs, and will happily prey on others to get what they want. I have run into too many of these people in my own life to have any sympathy for them....

Exactly. If you are trending in the direction of trying to help yourself, you can go in the direction of restoration. If you are trending in the direction f**k you I won't do what you tell me, then you go in the direction of institutionalization. What important here is a lot of these people are all together. The ones that want to help themselves and try will be the happiest to get rid of the demons that only want the instant carnal gratification of pleasure now.

And even with a giant cash infusion from the feds that they can't afford, and even with health care taking more and more of the provincial budget, that will continue to be the case, if only because of demographics.

And those are the people that should be in a place like Riverview. And your probably right, that even with the lessons learned, going back to that might be considered cruel. But is it as cruel as putting them in jail? Letting them battle it out on the street? To let the drug dealers determine the appropriate medication? To force them to subsidize that medication though theft and prostitution? The more you fight and refuse treatment, the more your just going to be locked in a room. The more you decide to get treated, the more likely you can eventually get out, maybe for a day at a time at first, depends on how things progress. And if the reason your in there is because your violent, you should be happy your not in a maximum security prison, and enjoy all it has to offer. Should we have more top down mental health centres and what not for people that think they might have a problem, and want to seek treatment on their own, absolutely! Would I feel guilty warehousing as you put it the ones that don't, that are a threat to themselves and the community, that have no interest in helping themselves? Not as guilty as leaving them in the situation they are in! Not as sad as watching them not only bringing themselves down, but the community, and more importantly, the people that are trying to get help and help themselves up.

The problem with trying to housing everyone is there is literally some people that will refuse to be housed. There was a guy being decamped the other day who said "I am a fire hazard. Anywhere you put me it's going to create a fire hazard". That sounds like a guy that you might actually be able to help. But it might not be at his own will, at least at first.

Should have at least sent anyone and everyone that would could to Abbottsford, so at least that team can succeed in the playoffs. Maybe that would have helped? I don't think ownership can be more clueless with regards to what the season ticket holders want. A chance at a couple over overpriced first round loss tickets might sound good to them, but I have no interest in them. But keep on raising the prices of everything at the same time. Get ready for more empty seats. And if the team comes up flat, yet again, more jerseys on the ice. Only bright spot about Tochet and his attitude is the consistent meme of "player X better have a good summer". The smart ones would just stay in Vancouver and train, not that I am confident we have many of those. But at least it gives hope for the team not coming out flat, yet again. Of course, that would just sneak them into the playoffs, and still not be a contender, so I still won't care.

Ya I own shares in TD but I am not scared of the it going to zero is all I am saying. I am cheering the short sellers lol.

It was just in the news that people are! Like they can drag down the stock lol! If for some reason there's a danger of a short squeeze, their "competitors" will all go "all in" on TD and force a short squeeze themselves instead of risking contagion that can spread to them too. The people shorting are fools! Hence my thoughts on doubling or tripling up.....

Apparently TD bank is being super shorted. I am contemplated doubling or tripling up since I am confident it's not going to go belly up. They can just bail on the acquisition that is making everyone crazy....

It's not my entire portfolio. It's the tech/growth portion. It's there for when growth is winning. I have a boring portion too which has one. And I have an oil and cash portion that has out performed. It's no surprise that tech is down lately and that I am flat. I am just happy owning great companies with a bright future.

Past performance is not a guarantee of future returns. Trying to time to market is more akin to gambling than investing. I know that adverting and microchips (eg google saying no more laptops for a bit) are cyclical, so there's always a timing risk. But I am quite happy owning the cloud, the programming on 99% of cellphones, and the software running the device your typing on. (Microsoft, Google, Amazon, Apple, Intel, Taiwan Semiconductor). My hold period is forever. And as it turns out, from when I personally bought google, to today, I am +1%. So the roller coaster isn't too crazy for me, and the long term prospects are fanstastic.