This and That

Home sales rise for fourth month - "In particular, Great Vancouver posted gains of 11.3%, while Montreal was up 8.2%, Edmonton rose 6.9% and Toronto increased 6%. Ottawa saw gains of 4.2% and Calgary advanced by 2.6%."

Edmonton market is currently a strong buyer's market. The prices are soft due to the amount of product on the market and seasonal effects. Even if it wasn't a buyer's market December and January are great times to buy.

Industry touts benefits of Canadian oil sands - "Canadian oil sands development is some of the best energy and economic news America has heard in years," Cindy Schild, the institute's refining issues manager, to reporters on a conference call Wednesday. "Americans will continue to consume a lot of oil, and oil sands have the potential to supply much of what we will need while also creating many new U.S. jobs."

The Canadian oil sands produce the safest, friendliest oil in the world. Alberta and oil sands producers are constantly looking for innovative and environmentally friendly ways to extract this incredibly huge source of oil.

Moving oil across B.C to thirsty foreign markets - "...the proposed Enbridge pipeline project. It would stretch more than 1,000-kilometres from the oil sands near Edmonton to the northwestern B.C. coastal town of Kitimat, before crude would be loaded onto tankers for export across the ocean.

Proponents of the pipeline make a persuasive case. Without tankers being allowed on the North Coast there is no pipeline. No pipeline, no way to take Alberta’s oil to thirsty Asian markets. And with that, tens of billions of lost investment and lost jobs for Canada."

This article is about a fascinating idea to build a train line to move oil rather than the heatedly debated pipeline. The idea and spin off uses such as tourism are very compelling.

Canadians get the pink goo out of your eyes!

While other countries and continents are on the brink of financial ruin Canada, yes Canada, is becoming an economic superpower fueled by natural resources. Read this:


"Canada is at the beginning of an economic transformation that could see it replace the Middle East as the primary source of oil and gas, first (as it already has) to its largest consumer, the U.S., and then, more importantly, to the rest of the world.

Jeff Rubin, former Chief Economist at CIBC World Markets, wonders if Canada really wants to be an energy superpower, and Neil Reynolds, columnist and former Editor-in-Chief of the Vancouver Sun discusses Alastair Sweeny’s new book, Black Bonanza, and concludes that “Even Canadians don’t comprehend what they’re sitting on."

"The numbers Sweeny quotes are staggering, and while they are more commonly known today, its the revisitation of the realization, that we now live in the best country in the world, that got my attention again. Alberta oil sands contain one trillion barrels of recoverable oil, plus a whopping two trillion more in reserves, thanks to Roger Butler’s innovation of Steam Assisted Gravity Drainage.""

Read more at the Advisor Analyst

This is seriously exciting. It's like The Matrix when Keanu realizes he's naked in a pod of pink goo. Once Canadians realize what we're sitting on and the implications to our future, our finances and advances in environmental technology. They're in for a "waking up naked in pink goo" type eye-opener.

The only problem is how do you take advantage of this knowledge? This might help.

Are you missing the point? - Alberta Oilsands Investment Real Estate

Recently Danielle has been listening to a lot of Hay House Radio, which is pretty cool. You get to hear many fantastic authors speak, and sometimes callers can dial up to ask questions. But, there are some hosts on there whose topics I just can't wrap my head around.

I was making a joke about one of them when Danielle mentioned another teacher that we both really like now. We'd bought her audiobook a year prior but have only started to grasp the concepts she spoke about now. In fact when I first heard it it sounded like some kind of wacky mumbo jumbo. But, when I heard it again recently I totally got the message. What changed? It was exactly the same audiobook, same author and the same message.

How have I changed in 1 year that has enabled me to 'get' the message this time? Perhaps you've experienced re-watching a movie and the second time round you pick up so much more from the film. You're able to get the subtle nuances, catch an underlying theme or get the deeper meaning that you missed the first time. Maybe you've read a great book and have taken away one two key ideas to apply. Then you go back to that same book and find another 3 concepts that you didn't even catch before!

I guess the old adage is true - 'When the student is ready, the teacher will appear' even if that teacher is a book, a situation or something unpleasant. When we continually tune in with an open mind our learning is infinite. This is a lesson I think we can use whenever we feel a particular concept is difficult to understand. Step back, look at it and ask what is it that I'm not seeing?

Sometimes it may take a while for that answer to be processed, but it'll come when we train ourselves to be receptive to it.

"In the spider-web of facts, many a truth is strangled." -Paul Eldridge

Kind Regards,

Todd and Danielle Millar.

It's a Scam! Or is it?

Stocks bonds, mutual funds and GICs aren't so appealing anymore. So how can you invest your money and feel safe?

I read an article today on different types of investments offered to the public in the oil sands region. Specifically those that fall into the exempt market:

"The exempt market covers a wide range of investment opportunities, including hedge funds, but it generally applies to any security sold without a prospectus. When a company wants to raise capital by issuing bonds, stock or mutual funds, it must file with the provincial securities commission a prospectus: often a lengthy, legal document outlining detailed business activities of the business and the security it's selling. These publicly traded securities can only be sold by a dealer licensed to sell them." The Winnipeg Free Press

It was a pretty good one, pointing out the due diligence an investor should take before investing.

Our investments do not fall under the exempt market because they are not divided into shares and are a partnership investing into a property. We also share the profits AND the losses, very unusual in any investment.

Things to ask:
What is your expected return?
How's the deal going to be financed?
What's the track record of the management team?
How liquid is your investment?

Don't forget to definitely get independent legal advice, not your brother the divorce lawyer but a lawyer who specializes in investing.