Overview of Canadian Government Spending by Function: Infographic

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One of the arguments often made by Americans about its allies is their defense spending. It is not secret that most of Europe depends on the US to provide security while they focus their spending on social and other items. The same scenario is true with its neighbor Canada as well. Canadian defense spending is just 1.22% as a ratio of GDP in 2022 according to The Economist. Though the Canadian economy is about a tenth of the US economy, it is still huge at over $2.0 Trillion in 2023. So if Canada spends low on defense, what does the government spend on? The following infographic from Statcan provides some answers:

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Source: Statcan

On a per capita basis, the spending on defense is very low as hi-lighted above. The highest spending goes to social protection and health based on 2022-23 data. One could argue that Canada can increase its defense expenditure. On the other hand, Canadians could argue their security is covered by the US and hence there is no need to increase it.

Fixed-Income Annual Returns 2014 to 2023: Chart

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One of the simplest and easiest strategies for reducing risk with investing is diversification across asset classes. In addition to equities, it is important to hold fixed-income assets in a portfolio. Bonds can provide a cushion during adverse market conditions and one can also reinvest coupon payments in equities for instance or reinvest in other bonds. Cash also generates a decent return in this high interest time. I came across the below showing the annual return for fixed-income assets from 2014 to 2023. In the past 10 years, high-yields have earned positive returns in most of the years. Historically cash been the worst performer and earned poor returns in the period noted above as well.

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Source: Thrivent

Related ETFs:

  • iShares iBoxx $ Investment Grade Corporate Bond ETF (LQD)
  • Vanguard Total Bond Market ETF (BND)
  • SPDR® Barclays High Yield Bond ETF (JNK)
  • iShares Core Total U.S. Bond Market ETF (HYG)
  • iShares TIPS Bond ETF (TIP)

Disclosure: No positions

Bull and Bear Markets in Canadian Stocks: Chart

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Stocks are the best asset class to own to build wealth over the long-term. I have posted many charts on how stocks recover after bear markets and that number of year of bull markets tend to outnumber the number of bear market years. Recently I came a chart showing the bull and bear markets in the Canadian equity market. As with other major developed markets, Canadian stocks have also generated double digit total returns during bull markets. Moreover they have recovered after bear markets as well. The chart shows the bull and bear markets in Canadian stocks from the 1930s to 2022:

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Source: Get Smarter About Your Money, Ontario Securities Commission

Indian Companies on London Stock Exchange: How to buy and other details

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A handful of Indian companies trade on the London Stock Exchange (LSE) as Global Depository Receipts. Investors interested in these GDRs can buy them on the LSE just like another stock. In this post, let’s discuss a few of the common questions that investors might have and address them.

1.How many Indian firms trade on the London Stock Exchange ?

The GDRs of about 10 firms trade on the LSE. The list can be found here.

2.How to buy these GDRs?

An investor in the UK or an investor resident in any country but with a UK brokerage account can buy these stocks just like other stocks trading on the LSE.

3.What is the currency of the Indian GDRs on the LSE?

Indian GDRs trade in US Dollars. For example, the State Bank of India trades under the ticker SBID and closed at $73.20 yesterday.

4.What about the volume? How liquid are these GDRs?

Volume for most of the GDRs is light. A few of them never seems to change hands. Yesterday the total volume for SBID was 11,016 according to LSE data.

5.In what platform do the Indian GDRs trade?

The Indian GDRs trade on the International Order Book of the LSE. According to their site:

WHAT IS THE INTERNATIONAL ORDER BOOK?

London Stock Exchange International Order Book (IOB) enables investors to unlock the potential of some of the world’s fastest growing markets through a single central electronic order book. It offers easy, cost-efficient and direct access to securities via global depositary receipts (GDRs) from over 30 countries, including markets in Central and Eastern Europe, Asia and the Middle East. 

6.Where can an investor buy these GDRs?

These GDRs can be bought any broker that allows stocks trading on the LSE. For instance, most UK-based brokerage firms can be used to place orders.

7.Will the orders execute in USD?

Yes. Foreign exchange conversion from British Pounds to USD will be taken care of the broker as with buying any foreign currency security.

Disclosure: No positions