My portfolio 2011-2021

 You want to see something magic?

That's my portfolio from the end of 2011 to the end of july 2021. Here's about 10 years of investment on a chart. Almost 10 fold over 10 years (it could be 10 fold by the end of the 2021, actually). 

All around me, I know a few people who could have achieved something similar. But they're too lazy to learn about the stock market or they're interested by the stock market only for speculation. So they buy and sell stuff they know nothing about. I even know a guy who has bought a stock related to magic mushrooms.  That's the exact definition of speculation in my opinion. 

Many people like Bernard Mooney (a great financial journalist who retired some years ago) and François Rochon have said it a few times: the best moment to invest on the stock market is now and if you chose great stocks and keep them for many years, you will have more and more money in your portfolio, year after year.  

You can't really understand that after only 2 or 3 years on the stock market. But after 10 years or more, you have hindsight and you can see what went wrong and what went right. 

What went right will most of the time be related to stocks that were great when you bought them (meaning that they had a great track record before you buy them). Sometimes, you're lucky and you find something out of nowhere, but most of the times, you better go with something that already has a great track record. 

I have a very good revenue. It helped me to get that chart. But if I hadn't make some stupid mistakes, that chart would be even more impressive. Most investors accept it: you'll do some shitty things but as time goes by, you should do less and less of these shitty things. So a big drop on a chart related to some personal mistakes should be less and less probable as time goes by. 

If everybody could get such a chart for their personal finances, there would be less fighting among couples, less stress, less anxiety, less people disliking their job (because they would leave it), more comfort, more time for families... So, I hope that everybody aim at something like that. Because your wealth doesn't bring me sadness. At the opposite, your wealth would be a motivation for me to reach something similar. 

And our governement would need less money to put in social programs if people didn't need these social programs. 

Cute Ontario

 Who cares about Ontario? Ontarians probably care about it, but who dreams about Ontario? Who dreams about Thunder Bay? Apart from Toronto, Ottawa and Niagara Falls, there's lakes and forest on 95% of the territory, just like in Quebec, but without the Chateau Frontenac and the Rocher Percé. 

That's what I thought because I'm a guy full of opinions about things that I don't know. But I was wrong because there are some truly beautiful places in Ontario.  

In my recent trip, I went first to Owen Sound which is a nice little town that I used as a central place to sleep. The City park is beautiful: there's a little river where you can rent a canoe, there's also a mini golf and lots of attractions for kids. I've loved that park which was one of the most beautiful that I've visited. 

I've also been to Bruce Peninsula. It's a beautiful place. It looks like some carribean scenery. But the water is too cold to swim. And there's lots of people. If you pay to go to the grotto (which you should), you'll be able to admire one of the most beautiful spots of the region (maybe the most beautiful spot?). However, you'll only be allowed to stay there for half a day so you have to be lucky to get a sunny day (I had the change to get a sunny day). It's an amazing place, but if you drive from Quebec for 8-10 hours, that makes a lot of road just to see that place for 3-4 hours. 

That's why you have to find other places, like Sauble Beach, for instance, which is a cute beach close to Owen Sound where you'll be able to relax with you family. The water is quiet and there are lots of people, so there's some action there. However, contrary to Bruce Peninsula and the grotto, a lot of people in Sauble Beach isn't too bothering. 

And the trip ended in Toronto, my favorite city. I stayed at a great hotel, just besides the ferry to the Toronto Islands. At my hotel, there was a tennis court on the roof. I had to walk only 10 minutes to get to the CN Tower. And I met Be Smart Rich who brought some korean pastries for my family and eventually bought me an ice cream at La Diperie, downtown Toronto.  

So, it was a great trip and I've discovered a part of Ontario that was a mystery to me.

We don't have that many beautiful cities in Canada. The beautiful cities are mostly in Europe. However, we have great nature everywhere, even in ugly New Brunswick. I love our Canada for the calm and beauty of many places, from BC to Newfoundlad. 

And I like the fact that we can drive for 3 hours on a road without seeing anybody. It makes more oxygen for ourselves. 

Cute Saskatchewan

I just come back from a trip to Saskatchewan. 

I thought that it would be more boring than what it was. 

First, the fields are endless, like everybody imagines. But they're beautiful: yellow, green and sometimes even blue (I don't know which culture causes that color). It's very relaxing to drive among these fields. And they're more beautiful that the fields we see along the highway in Quebec. 

Saskatoon was a nice city. The industrial and commercial areas are not really nice, but the downtown sector is lovely. There's a river crossing the city, with a beach along the river. There's many bridges. Some people even call Saskatoon "The Paris of the prairies" (which is a fucking joke if you ask me, because if that's Paris, then Edmonton is Shanghai).

It's probably more beautiful than what people imagine. Of course, your expectations have to be low, in my opinion. Because if you expect to be breathless before a majestic scenery, you may be dissapointed. But if you want to discover a nice and quiet place, it may be a good pick for you. 

I'd go back there, which indicates that I liked it. 

Please, go there, once in your life. 

You have to see and feel the prairies because otherwise,

there's a big part of Canada that you're missing. 

Random list about special places in Canada

 1- Most overrated place: Vancouver

I like Jason Del Vicario and I know that he will probably be angry by this, but let's face it: Vancouver is a fucking dump. There's homeless people everywhere, the streets are not that clean, the downtown buildings are not that beautiful. It’s a correct city at best. The only interesting thing about Vancouver is the weather. You won't freeze there, like everywhere else in Canada. But I think that I prefer cold to syringes. 

2- Most underrated place: Newfoundland

I haven't seen everything in Newfoundland but I've loved that province. To me, it's the most special province in Canada because of the fact that it's remote, it's an island (which always has some impact on a culture), people are cool and the view is amazing in many places. I can't wait to go back there and visit St-John's. 

3- Favorite big city: Toronto

Among the large cities (more than 1 million people), I've visited Vancouver, Calgary, Toronto, Ottawa and Montreal. My favorite is, by far, Toronto. What a nice city. The architecture is nice, there's action on the streets, most people look nice, there's a kind of Time Squares downtown. However, I think that my favorite thing to do was to visit Toronto islands. That's the best view you can get of Toronto. 

4- Least favorite big city: Ottawa

Yes, Vancouver is a dump and that's probably the best place to get AIDS in Canada. But, at least, there's some action there. On the other hand, Ottawa is probably the most boring big city I've seen in my life. Nothing ever happens there. You go for a walk on the streets at 8 PM on friday night and you meet nobody. It looks like a fucking ghost town. How come? It's such a beautiful city (surely one of the most beautiful cities in Canada) but it's so boring that it makes it a place where you wonder what the fuck you're doing there.  

5- Surprising city: Saskatoon

I suppose that 90% of canadians will live their entire life without ever thinking about going to Saskatchewan and they’ll probably live a fine existence. However, in my opinion, Saskatoon downtown is a nice place to visit. There’s a nice river, with nice bridges crossing it. It looks a bit like Ottawa but with a much less impressive architecture. However, it’s far from being as dull and charmless as many people would expect.

6- Worst province: New-Brunswick

I haven't visited Manitoba and everybody says it's dreadful. But, so far, the most boring province I've visited is New-Brunswick. What a boring place. There's only forests and ugly houses that look like shacks. People are nice, but they neither speak french nor english. They speak like settlers from the 18th century. The acadiens have names that quebecers had 50 years ago. For instance, you can meet 40 years old girls named Louise or Denise, which are names of 70 years women in Quebec. I wonder if I will meet someone from New-Brunswick that will surprise me in a positive way, one day. 

7- Most beautiful scenery: Rockies (Banff)

Of course, I haven't seen everything in Canada. I believe that Nunavut and Yukon could really surprise me (mostly for their national parks that look amazing), but, among what I've seen so far, the most spectacular views are in the Banff area (Lake Louise, Lake Moraine and the road between Banff and Jasper). That's really beautiful. Every canadian (and foreigner, why not?) should visit that place at least once. 

Tourism: Les Iles-de-la-Madeleine (Magdalen Islands)

Everybody in Quebec knows les Iles-de-la-Madeleine but I think that nobody outside Quebec knows about these tiny islands lost somehwere in the Gulf of St-Lawrence.  

To reach these islands, you either take a plane (from Montreal, for instance) or a ferry from Prince Edward Island. 

These islands are pretty small. Very narrow but relatively long. Only 12 000 people live there and a lot of artists from Montreal go there in the summer. Which makes this place a summer lair for people who think they're cool. 

I went there 3 weeks ago, something like 30 years after my last visit which was around 1990 (with my parents). It's a nice place. A remote place with a lot of wind, where you can see the sea almost everywhere you are on the islands. Plus, there are very lovely coloured houses and people are nicer than in most places I've been. 

I rented a scooter and went from north to south. It was cool. I even took a small ferry to Entry Island (which is the only island of the archipelago that you can't visit without taking another ferry). That island was my favorite place. Only 50 people live there, but there's a big hill on the island (the highest of the islands) that you climb and up there, you can sea the gulf all around you. And you can have a very nice little tour of the coasts of the island. For instance, you'll see that:

The scenery is varied on the islands. You can see red cliffs as much as gray cliffs, as much as red sand, white sand and grey sand. You'll see little hills here and there and usually, when you're on a road, the see is at your right or your left, and many times the sea is each side of you. 

It's a nice place to visit. However, you have to like contemplation. Because it's mostly what these islands have to offer. 

But all in all, it's surely one of the most beautiful places in the province of Quebec. 

A change of vocation for the summer

I decided that I wanted to write about something else than investment. After all, investment should only be a tool to get what we want or what we need. 

In my case, investment is a hobby that I like. But it's not what excites me the most and something that I really need to be happy.

What I need is to meet people and have fun with them. Sometimes, I like to make fun of people too, but not in a mean way. Let's say that I like unease much more than the average person. So, in a way, I seek unease. 

But I think that what I like the most is to play music with people and traveling. Both activities completely vanished for me during the pandemic. But possibilities of travel are coming back. So far, I've travelled two times this summer and I will travel once more in a few days. If everything is fine, I'll probably do one last travel in september which will make 4 travels during 4 months. Not bad.

So, for the next months, I will write some stuff about travels. It's what money - and holidays - allow me to do frequently.  

I'll write a lot about Canada, because in a few days, I'll be able to say that I've visited 8 provinces out of 10 (and 0 territory). I'll write about what I like the best and the less in Canada. 

And I'll write some other stuff too. Once I start writing, I never really know what kind of crap will emerge.