Well, just when you thought 2021 couldn’t get any crazier than 2020, we begin year two of the pandemic with a historic storming of the US Capitol building by supporters of President Donald Trump. Wild.
Meanwhile, the stock market seems to just chug along, hitting record-highs almost daily.
At least it appears people are managing to save some money during tough times, likely due to stimulus cheques and the fact there is nothing to do or to go out and spend discretionary income on. Well, not much anyway.
With such a steep recovery from the March lows, it has to make you wonder if we are approaching the top of another bubble. Valuations seem sky-high in some sectors and yet the money keeps rolling in on fear of missing out. Read more on that in the first article below – and for the rest of the weekly reading, I’m pulling my focus away from the craziness happening down south and towards more uplighting pieces.
Legends Carl Icahn and Jeremy Grantham see a Stock Market Bubble | Fortune
Nobody knows for sure, if or when there’s a bubble in the market, but putting your faith in experienced minds is probably a pretty reasonable bet. Traders and the Robinhood crowd seem to enjoy pumping names like Telsa, and why wouldn’t they when the stock chart resembles its cousin, the Falcon Heavy’s launch angle. Nevertheless, I’m leaning towards being in the defensive camp at the moment as it’s difficult to argue with 120 years of experience navigating the markets. Low-interest rates and stimulus cheques seem to continue to be the support system but are unlikely to persist.
Year-End Recap – 20 Goals for 2020 | HandfulofThoughts
One positive thing about the new year is getting to see all the fun personal finance blogger recaps from 2020. If you don’t follow Maria from HandfulofThoughts, she has some amazing content on her website and is an expert at paying off mortgages in record time. It’s fun to see what sort of goals others are looking to accomplish throughout the year as well as how they fared in accomplishing them. What I liked about this post is that it also provides some lessons learned along the way. Remember, even if you don’t meet all your goals you can still take something away from the process.
Two Years of Blogging: All the Stats | EatSleepBreatheFI
I thoroughly enjoyed this post, an annual recap of all things blogging by Chrissy over at EatSleepBreatheFI. This post is so transparent and honest, it gives you a real sense of how difficult running a website or blogging can be. The amount of effort that goes into it and what sort of returns you can expect. It’s great to see her audience is growing and the insights are fascinating for anyone looking to start their own Personal Finance blog in Canada or anywhere for that matter.
That’s all for this weekend, be sure to check out my latest Monthly Update if you haven’t already, along with the latest articles on the homepage.
Have a wonderful weekend!
😍 I’m honoured to be mentioned and touched by the kind words. Thank you, my friend!
My blogiversary posts take FOREVER to create, but it’s so worth it when I hear they’re helpful to other bloggers.
You’re doing amazing things here and you’ve taught me so much on my blogging journey. I look forward to swapping more blogging strategies in 2021 as we grow together!
Thank you too, you’ve been extremely supportive not only to me but to all in the PF Canada community. I also wanted to mention I love your pie charts, you’ll have to let me know what you’re using to generate those. 🙂
Wow thanks for the mention.
I really enjoy your weekend roundups because you feature many articles I haven’t seen before.
The Fortune article is interesting and I think a lot of people are trying to make market predictions right now. Personally we keep investing and if things drop then it’s just like they are on sale.
Here’s to a prosperous 2021.
Thanks Maria. I try to keep track of anything I find that’s interesting during the week and pass it along in case anyone else is interested. We’re still investing as well, but being more cautious in regards to sector choice and how capital is deployed at this point, then if things really drop there’s dry powder available.
Thanks for the weekly reads, Family Money Saver! I’m a big fan of Handful of Thoughts and Eat Sleep Breathe FI. And I especially enjoy goal-setting posts and blog stats, so thanks for sharing! Wishing you an excellent 2021! 🙂
Same to you, I’ve enjoyed reading your recent updates as well and love the goal-setting posts. Hopefully all of us can keep the momentum going in 2021 and help Canadians with their Personal Finance journeys!