Recording a conversation..Only in Canada...eh

Sorry to depart from Markets Bull to Marketing BS.

But we all had to deal with call centres. Call centres for equipment we purchased, services we acquired or problems we faced with cable or internet providers. You name it they have a call centre for it and many of them are half a world away from North America.

We all listened to the message before a human answered the phone telling us " your call is important to us and may be recorded for quality control reasons".

Often we are promised resolution to problems in ways that never materialize. Of course, you misunderstood what they told you on the phone. If you ask for the recording to prove that promises were made. Yes, you guessed it, no recording of that conversation was ever made because the message said the call MAY BE recorded and your conversation wasn't recorded.

Well, in Canada it is legal to record your own telephone conversation as long as the recording is used for the purpose it was recorded for namely; document a telephone conversation for the purpose of protecting yourself against unscrupulous marketers.

It is illegal though to use such recording for extortion, intimidation or in any illegal manner.

If the recording is used to protect yourself against empty promises, it is legal.

Only in Canada ..eh, may be not. Check your local legislation. You may be surprised and next time someone promises you the moon, they'd better deliver because you have the proof.

40 Year Mortgage, no Down Payment?

This issue bothered me for a while now.

Since 2006 Canadian Banks have been dishing out 40 year mortgages with little or no down payments. Mortgages upward of $300,000 to new home buyers.

The Bank of Canada Governor is concerned because this extra liquidity is driving housing prices up. The policy makers are also concerned because they've witnessed what happened to our brothers and sisters south of the border.

In Canada, this kind of lending is not called sub-prime mortgages but has all the element of cause and effect as was the case with the sub-prime mortgage fiasco namely; lending money to people who could barely afford the financial load.

Why is the Bank of Canada and the policy makers so concerned?

Because, Canada always caught a cold six months after the USA sneezed.

This time the US housing market came down with a bad cold. However, Canada has been somewhat protected by a gel of black oil and a skin of glittering gold.

Make no mistake, not if but when this glitter fades and the protective gel wears out, Canada may end up with a bloody pneumonia.

In Canada as was and still is the case in the USA people will get hurt. Again those people who are the most unlikely to recover from a financial hit will have their lives turned upside down.

I do not blame those people for having a dream and striving to fulfill it. I blame those who create the illusion that this dream is attainable when in reality the only way to attain the dream is to mortgage ones life. Hell, a life sentence in Canada is 25 Years.

There might be hope that this Bull S-- will stop.

The Bank of Canada and the Policy Makers are waking-up and smelling the stench. This is good news for all those lucky ones who haven't mortgaged their lives yet.

Oil at $200 and Gold at $2000

I think this will become the mother of all self fulfilling prophecies.

Not because of fundamentals, not because of demand and supply equations but because of all the hype and bull that is being created by analysts that think they are reading magical crystal balls.

With every additional analyst hopping on this roaring locomotive thousands become believers and drive the price of oil and gold higher. Why? because we are human beings.

I remember the months leading to new years eve, the year 2000.

Does anybody out there remember that hoax. They actually got me convinced that I should replace my computer, as did millions of people and companies around the world. I even remember President Bush mentioning Y2K a few times.

The only thing sane minds could do is be opportunistic and profit from the hype and the BS surrounding it all. Ride the momentum of the wave but, keep an eye on its formation before it breaks.

The ride downward will be horrendous and this is the good news side of the story.

At $2000 gold, who gives a damn, we could all stop buying jewelery because that's all this stuff is good for.

At $200 oil and if the wave does not brake and continues to build momentum the whole world will come to its knees and that would still be a good news story.

The bad news is that when human beings' own existence is at stake, then people go to WAR.

I surely hope this will not be the case and that I am just being an alarmist. If war erupts, the one awaits us will be worst than the tsunami that hit my parents in the 1940's. Yes, I mean worst than WW2.

The Nintendo game being played is a very dangerous game. It is time to reboot the system now before it is too late.

SP Index at 1400

"The S&P 500, on several occasions attempted to close above the 1400 point level and failed. Now that the relatively good earning season is almost over, going forward, the S&P will be at the mercy of economic news. Since the economy is facing further contractions, then the S&P has no where to go but down."

This statement could have been written by any one of the guru analysts and the market would have reacted instantaneously to the down side.

Technical analysis would indicate that there is truth to this statement. I think this is a possibility however, these days with the hyper reactive speeds of the market, anything could go.

So be careful out there. Protect your down side.