LinkStuff – Market Volatility Edition

Pretty exciting week in the markets this week. Maybe a little bit too exciting for some.

I’ve been below my 75% equity allocation for several months due to an RRSP transfer and general portfolio neglect. I find it hard to buy a big chunk of equities all at once after the market has risen so much, so I’ve been waiting for a drop to buy.

I still haven’t reached 75%, but I’m a lot closer than I was.

Have I mentioned I’m doing a 2nd edition of the RESP book?  😉  I’m hoping to announce something on this in the next couple of weeks.

On with the links

A fantastic post about market volatility and how to deal with it. At the Bogle Heads forum.

Barrie McKenna had a great article about taxation levels in the US and how they have plenty of capacity to raise taxes.

Economics of Contempt wrote a scathing article on the compentency of S&P raters, or the lack thereof. Entertaining read.

Rob Carrick says that the recent interest rate “hold” in the US means that if you have a secure job and lots of debt, you’ve got it made.

The Boston Globe reports on a very poorly designed lottery that is easy to game. Very interesting story.

The Oblivious Investor addresses recent market activity with risk tolerance in action. I like how he says that “rebalancing isn’t supposed to be easy”. And neither is investing in equities.

MoneyVille had an article about a good hard drive with an easy backup system. I think I’m going to buy one.

Preet Banerjee says that the debt markets disagreed with the S&P downgrade.

My Own Advisor reveals a love affair with his bond ETFs.

Million Dollar Journey lists the top 5 pension myths.

Michael James says that rebalancing can be hard to do, because there is no instant gratification.

Canadian Capitalist thinks that he is above average – and so are you. 😉

Boomer & Echo had some good thoughts about should you make RRSP contributions if you have a DB pension?