Making Money Minute with Ron Hiebert - AI Reality Check

For years the tech sector outperformed virtually everything else. Lately not so much. The change has come about, because investors have adopted much more realistic expectations about the future. They want proof that the trillions being spent on artificial intelligence, will produce consistent profits down the road. They also want a better understanding of how software companies will survive without having their lunch eaten by these new technologies. Having a dose of reality injected into these overly exuberant markets is always a good thing. It keeps bubbles from forming, and all the bad outcomes they bring. For more information listen to our Making Money podcast with Ron Hiebert and Graham Hicks at letsmakemoney.ca or CFCW.com.

Making Money Minute with Ron Hiebert - Wars & Deficits

Wars are expensive. America’s recent misadventures in Iran are expected to cost at least $100 billion and could go much higher if the battle drags on. These numbers don’t include the extra costs that business and consumers have to pay when the price of oil doubles and inflation rises. Nor, does it factor in the increases to America’s $37 trillion dollar federal debt, which amounts to more than $250,000 per household. The deceptive thing about wars is - they go much longer, cost much more, and end much worse, than the optimistic projections touted at their beginning. If this conflict tips the globe into recession, the financial costs will go much, much higher. For more information listen to our Making Money podcast with Ron Hiebert and Graham Hicks at letsmakemoney.ca or CFCW.com.

Making Money Minute with Ron Hiebert - Alligator Investing

I remember a tour we took down a croc infested river in East Africa. Our tour guide pointed out an enormous crocodile sunning itself on the bank, and said that if this predator ambushed a big animal like a wildebeest, it could go for 6 months without having to eat again. In the financial world, we call this type of investor an alligator. They sit and patiently wait, sometimes for years, for an opportunity that has crashed and burned. Only then, do they swoop in and purchase a huge position at a giveaway price. Currently, we mostly see day traders, scurrying in and out making small profits on lots of trades. People forget, that the alligators are the ones who usually score the big money. For more information listen to our Making Money podcast with Ron Hiebert and Graham Hicks at letsmakemoney.ca or CFCW.com.

Making Money Minute with Ron Hiebert - China’s Export Hustle

While Canadians worry about protecting the home market, China is reaching out and conquering the world. A good example is electric vehicles. A decade ago they were barely a blip on the radar screen, but by building a quality product at a bargain price, and then globally doing the hard work of knocking on lots of foreign doors, they have achieved global dominance. Last year, China exported 2.6 million EV’s to 150 different countries and territories. The value of these exports was $70 billion - up 43% from the previous year. If Canada wants to improve global exports, there is lots we can learn from China’s example. For more information listen to our Making Money podcast with Ron Hiebert and Graham Hicks at letsmakemoney.ca or CFCW.com.

Making Money Minute with Ron Hiebert - China’s Nuclear Growth

The 800 Ib gorilla in the nuclear space is China. Of the 74 reactors under construction in 15 countries, China represents over 50% of new builds. China currently has 38 reactors under construction, 43 planned, and 145 proposed. They can achieve their growth targets because of speedy development. It takes only 5-7 years to build a reactor in China versus 10-15 in the west. China, also has the ability to construct them 35% cheaper than the US and 50% cheaper than Europe. At this rate, China will overtake the US to have the largest nuclear reactor fleet by 2030. The lesson here is, unless the west can learn to build things on budget and on time, China will leave us in the proverbial dust. For more information listen to our Making Money podcast with Ron Hiebert and Graham Hicks at letsmakemoney.ca or CFCW.com.

Making Money Minute with Ron Hiebert - The Super Bowl Indicator

The Super Bowl Indicator was developed by a sports journalist at the New York Times. It says that if a team from the National Football Conference wins the big game, stock markets will go up, whereas a win by an American Football Conference (AFC) team, signals a bear market. During the thirty year period between 1967 and 1997 it had a stellar success rate of 90%. Over the next 29 years, its predictive accuracy has been terrible, slumping to around 40%. Considering that the markets go up 2/3’s of the time and down a 1/3, your odds of winning are higher if you just buy and hold stocks rather than using the Super Bowl Indicator to predict when to get in or out of the market. For more information listen to our Making Money podcast with Ron Hiebert and Graham Hicks at letsmakemoney.ca or CFCW.com.

Making Money Minute with Ron Hiebert - Iran’s Big Economic Risk

President Trump has repeatedly said, that the military campaign in Iran is almost complete. Unfortunately, the Persian’s don’t seem to agree with that assessment. They mined the 40 km wide Strait of Hormuz, through which passes over 20% of the world’s daily oil supply and effectively brought tanker traffic to a standstill. If it remains closed for any length of time, their prediction that oil could hit $200 a barrel and send the global economy into a recession becomes a likely possibility. Trump doesn’t seem to understand, that when backed into a corner, countries will do desperate things that hurt themselves economically, but damage others even more. For more information listen to our Making Money podcast with Ron Hiebert and Graham Hicks at letsmakemoney.ca or CFCW.com.

Making Money Minute with Ron Hiebert - AI vs Software

Software is a code or set of instructions, that tells a computer what to do and how to do it. For decades software companies have had the wind at their backs. As more and more sophisticated technology got developed, better software was needed for it to communicate with everything else out there. The threat to all this … is AI. Investors worry that artificial intelligence will make software companies redundant by doing their job much cheaper and faster. As a result, many software stocks have seen huge drops in price. Is this the time to jump in and go bargain hunting? That is a tough question, because opinions are all over the map. For more information listen to our Making Money podcast with Ron Hiebert and Graham Hicks at letsmakemoney.ca or CFCW.com.

Making Money Minute with Ron Hiebert - Gold Backed Reserve Crypto

One of the reasons gold has had such an incredible run, is the growing belief among financial types, that cryptocurrency backed by the yellow metal, could eventually replace the US dollar, as the world’s reserve currency. Its creation would be outside government control, allow borderless monetary transactions and importantly, would not be backed by any debt choked fiat currency. This is certainly not something that will happen tomorrow. But as the world becomes more and more sceptical about US foreign policy, and its rapidly deteriorating financial situation, the need to develop a financial infrastructure to eventually replace it, becomes more urgent. For more information listen to our Making Money podcast with Ron Hiebert and Graham Hicks at letsmakemoney.ca or CFCW.com.

Making Money Minute with Ron Hiebert - When Risk Gets Riskier

Bull markets follow a predictable pattern. In their early stages, money flows into high quality investments. As they become overvalued, investors look at the next rung down for things that haven’t yet participated in the rise. These are usually lower quality and higher risk. This self reinforcing loop continues until even the most volatile, risky assets have been discovered and become fully valued. When the good times end, these risky, volatile assets, are the first to drop and also experience the biggest slide. As this bull market gets long in the tooth, it is important for investors to do an inventory of their holdings. Nobody wants to get caught being overexposed to risk … when markets tumble. For more information listen to our Making Money podcast with Ron Hiebert and Graham Hicks at letsmakemoney.ca or CFCW.com.