The common trait of the best strategists, RBC's small-cap picks, and what the legends are buying + MORE Aug 16th

COQUITLAM, B.C. – A Vancouver-area family says they feel like pawns in a political game after the province introduced a foreign buyers’ tax that put the sale of their home in jeopardy.
Heather Nyberg of Coquitlam, B.C., says she’s disappointed in the provincial government’s surprise announcement last month of a 15-per-cent homebuyers’ tax for non-residents purchasing property in Metro Vancouver.
Nyberg, who was born and raised in Coquitlam, says Premier Christy Clark should stop and consider the impact her government’s policy is having on families across the Lower Mainland.
The province has said the controversial tax is aimed at addressing skyrocketing real estate prices in the province’s most densely populated region, and the levy came into effect on Aug. 2, days after it was announced.
Nyberg says she and her husband signed a deal to buy a smaller, more affordable home in order to reduce their financial stress and to have more time to spend with their two young children…

HAVANA – Cuba’s ruling Communist Party has released a new set of economic guidelines that emphasize the slow-moving and limited nature of the country’s reforms amid a sharp national economic downturn.
The guidelines “recognize the objective existence of market relationships.” But they also restate Cuba’s commitment to a centrally planned economy.
The document says that concentration of property and wealth will not be permitted.
It also promises to advance internet service “gradually, according to our economic possibilities” in one of the world’s least-connected nations.
The 274 guidelines update a document that laid out President Raul Castro’s vision of economic reform at the Cuban Communist Party’s twice-a-decade congress in 2011. Those reforms have allowed growth of tens of thousands of private businesses ranging from self-employed cobblers to high-end restaurants.
The post Cuba releases new economic guidelines without major changes appeared first on Canadian Business – Your Source For Business News.

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Q: I’m 57 and hoping to retire this fall. I will receive an OMERS defined benefit pension of $44,000 plus a $10,000 bridge until I turn 65. I have a $75,000 RRSP and $300,000 in cash. I have no debts and am a lifelong renter.
I would love some tax-efficient and potentially income producing advice.
Also am I financially ready to retire?
Any thoughts on buying retirement property so late in life?
—Cathy
A: 68% of Canadians are homeowners according to Statistics Canada. Home ownership rates generally rise with age and peak at around age 65 at 75%, where rates plateau until around age 75 and decline thereafter.
As a lifelong renter, you have bucked the trend, Cathy, but it sounds like you’ve done well for yourself. Statistically, stocks have performed better than real estate over the long-term in Canada, so on a dollar-for-dollar basis, stocks may be a better investment than real estate anyway.
That said, most renters wouldn’t invest 100% in stocks and homebuyers benefit from the leverage that a mortgage allows (a 20% down payment means a 20% increase in your home’s overall value, which is a 100% return on your down payment)…

A roundup of investment ideas for active investors

LOS ANGELES, Calif. – The deal is done, and the Playboy Mansion has a new owner.
Daren Metropoulos, who lives next door, said Tuesday that escrow has closed on his $100 million purchase of Hugh Hefner’s man cave.
But the 33-year-old principal in investment firm Metropoulos & Co. won’t necessarily be moving in any time soon.
Under terms of the deal, Playboy’s 90-year-old founder may stay there for the rest of his life.
After Hefner leaves, Metropoulos plans to connect the 5-acre Playboy estate to his 2-acre digs next door.
The homes, built in the 1920s, were originally one estate.
Hefner bought the Playboy Mansion for $1.05 million in 1971, quickly turning it into a sexual playground.
In its heyday, it was the scene of countless celebrity-filled parties and innumerable tales of sexual shenanigans.
The post Sold! New Playboy Mansion owner closes deal for $100 million appeared first on Canadian Business – Your Source For Business News.