Hello Reader,
This is the second part of my Investing Resources letter. The first was oriented around crypto markets, this one will focus on traditional markets.
I’m going to list below some traditional investing resources that I have been using for the past couple years.
Brokerage - Questrade
Questrade is the only brokerage platform I have used since turning 18. When choosing a Canadian platform, Questrade stood out amongst the other bank-backed trading platforms.
Their fees are $4.95/trade and you can buy ETF’s for free. They also incorporate Bonds, Currency Markets(FX), Precious Metals, GICs, Mutual Funds and International Equities.
They also let you trade with CAD and USD separately which is perfect for a Canadian like me who holds USD (or should I say “held” lol).
On-top of my margin account, I also have a TFSA with Questrade.
Pro Tip: Be wise when trying to transact with USD and CAD on Questrade. If you’re exchanging a large sum, it may be smart to use Norberts Gambit (LINK) . This method allows you to convert large amounts from CAD to USD without paying a 2% exchange fee.
Note: Before writing this letter I did a quick google search to see what other brokerages are offering. A platform called Qtrade has fees of $8.75 (or $6.95 if you have $500K in assets). WealthSimple seems like another popular platform but they charge a 0.5% MER (management expense ratio ~ basically a fee). CIBC’s in house platform has fees of $6.95/trade. The other bank-backed platforms have similar fees to CIBC.
Bonus: I hold MSTR in my TFSA. Consider this a sneak peak of my 13F, it’s not financial advice. I simply want as much exposure to BTC as possible.
Investing Resource #1 - Dataroma
This website lets you see the 13F filings for all of the big whales in the world. You can see what Warren Buffet, Bill Ackman, Ray Dalio and co hold in their funds. The site also analyzes the holdings to create a list of the most popular stocks being held.
You can click on an investors name and see a breakdown of their holdings as-well as recent activity in their fund (updated to the last quarter 13F filing). The following is what appears on Warren Buffet’s Berkshire Hathaway Holdings.
This is Berkshire’s recent activity updated to Q2 2021.
You don’t need to be a genius to make good returns in the market. You can literally copy, paste and fine tune positions of successful funds. As always, do your own research.
Investing Resource #2 - TIKR Terminal
This platform is very similar to Dataroma, however, it has some added information.
It allows you to view international holdings of big funds and does a detailed breakdown of the stocks/companies they hold. This includes Income Statement, Balance Sheet, Cash Flow, Ratios, Charts and other detailed information that is compiled over decades.
This is a snapshot of our great friend Micheal Burry's fund, Scion Asset Management. As you can see from the right column, some of these companies are in Japan, the UK and elsewhere.
Clicking on one of the international holdings, like Sansei Technologies Inc, we see the following detailed information.
As you can see, this is a powerful tool in portfolio allocation. With the uncertainty behind the US Dollar (cough*money printing*cough*inflation*) , it would be wise to look at opportunities abroad, some of which are usually available at great discounts and away from the market eye.
Investing Resource #3 - OpenInsider
This resource is quite simple. It tracks insider trading. If you have uncertainty over a position, it’s great to know how the insiders feel about their stock. If the CEO, CFO or any high level employee is selling their position, it may be wise to look deeper.
Here’s an example of a search for TSLA.
It shows that Kimbal Musk, Elon’s brother, sold over $100,000,000 of TSLA stock on Friday November 5th 2021. That was 24 hrs ago from the time of writing this letter, hence you can see that the website is very up-to-date.
Insider Trading can be indicative of many factors. Lack of belief within a company, future news (good or bad), monetary needs, public announcements, pre-earnings report or anything else.
What does the insider know that you don’t?
Investing Resource #4 - Twitter, Reddit & Discord
Now you might say “Wait, how are these resources?”.
To that I reply, “They are if you know where to look”.
You also need a bit more guts and conviction to follow some of the recommendations you’ll see on these platforms. I’ll give some examples below but if you want more information, feel free to connect with me on Twitter (LINK) to get a better understanding.
Unusual Whales is one of the best accounts on Twitter. They also have a discord and website. If you’re clever, you can pick up some insane returns from their stock models/alerts and information. I haven’t used their paid subscription yet as I find their tweets to be good enough for my current traditional investing goals. I highly recommend giving them a look.
Reddit forums are also very unique and helpful. Some of most famous trades of the past 12 months of have come from Reddit (GameStop, AMC etc).
The forum WallStreetBets also has some interesting threads and predictions. One thing to keep in mind, Reddit does have some sketchy people but it also has some very sophisticated traders. If you’re thinking of buying a stock, definitely search it on Reddit to see what others are saying and if any news exists that you may have missed.
This method of research is highly recommended if you’re aping into a risky penny stock or a meme stock. You’ll be able to see what retail investors are planning to do.
Bonus: I’ll share a personal Reddit example:
A friend told me about a potential short-squeeze with GTII. This is an OTC stock which means pink sheet (aka penny stock).
While doing some research, I came across a Reddit forum that highlighted the fundamentals behind illegal naked short selling regarding GTII. This was some fascinating stuff. From one excellent thread I learned about Synthetic Shares, Fake IOU’s, Death Spiral Financing, Naked Shorts and Cashless Dividends. I had no idea that dividends could be issued in forms other than cash( for example: limited edition key-chains).
After doing the research, I entered into a GTII position. In a few weeks I was up over 70% but I did not sell. I’m still holding as it’s something that either goes to 0 or will explode once the naked short selling is squeezed.
This is the Reddit thread (LINK) that I read. I highly recommend you read it, even if you have no interest in GTII. You will learn the fundamentals behind naked short selling and how it can manipulate markets as-well as the fascinating concept of cashless dividends.
Ending Remark
I know we live in a meme culture so most people are ignoring the traditional methods of investing. As we have seen in the last two years, markets can be manipulated. Some companies are skyrocketing in value without even making a net profit. Others are being suppressed/propped up by the not-so-free traditional market. The old school idea of P/E ratios, Earnings, Yields etc have been replaced by eccentric personalities, tweets and emotion.
Be smart with your allocations, do your research and understand all possibilities of risk.
Thank You
If you found this letter valuable, feel free to share it with someone.
If you have any questions, connect with me on Twitter!
I would like to mention that this letter would not have been possible without the help of my good friend Parbir Dosanjh. A value investor and real estate developer, Parbir has found many of the resources listed above and is on the same mission as I am in spreading financial knowledge. We’re all going to make it.
You can connect with Parbir here - LINK.
Disclaimer: The views expressed by the author are not intended to serve as any form of financial advice. This letter is for entertainment purposes only. Please do your own due diligence and research.