Argentina Congress passes law aimed at luring foreign investment for oil, gas development + MORE Oct 31st

Welcome to your Weekend Reading list that includes some frightening ways one NBA athlete wasted over millions over his career and some shocking statistics on income spent on housing.  You can read here how NBA player Antoine Walker wasted $110 million dollars and over here, on average, Canadians spend over 40% on mortgage and rent, as well as paying for utilities.
This week I reviewed The Empowered Investor and provided a link to download this ebook for FREE and thanks to a fan of this site, I got some great responses to some Wealthsimple questions.
Have a spooktacular Halloween and enjoy the rest of these articles!
Boomer & Echo shared some excellent expert opinions about leveraged investing.  Personally, I’m not a fan of borrowing money for investment purposes.  I prefer to save first then invest (not very exciting or risky I know).  Borrowing money for investing implies you don’t have the money to invest in the first place, somewhat like taking out a massive mortgage to buy a fancy house hoping it will appreciate in value…

TOKYO – Japan’s central bank decided Friday to expand its asset purchases in a surprise move to shore up sagging growth in the world’s No. 3 economy.
The Bank of Japan said it would increase its asset purchases by between 10 trillion yen and 20 trillion yen ($90.7 billion to $181.3 billion) to about 80 trillion yen ($725 billion) annually, citing an easing in inflation.
The Nikkei 225 stock index jumped more than 4 per cent and the dollar rose 1.2 per cent against the yen after the unexpected decision.
Japan’s economic recovery remained in the doldrums in September, as household spending fell, inflation edged lower and unemployment ticked up, according to data released Friday, as the BOJ held its policy meeting.
As the U.S. winds down its own “quantitative easing,” Japan’s central bank was under pressure to increase stimulus to support growth as Prime Minister Shinzo Abe weighs approval of another sales tax hike next year.
In addition to stepping up asset purchases, the central bank said it would triple its purchases of exchange-traded funds and real estate investment trusts…

VANCOUVER – MacDonald, Dettwiler and Associates Ltd. (TSX:MDA) is reporting a big decrease in third-quarter net profit even as revenues improved sharply to $506.6 million.
MDA, which provides space-based communications and information technology for both the government and the private sectors, says net earnings in the three month ended Sept. 30 were $21.5 million or 60 cents per share, down from $46.5 million or $1.29 per share in the same year-earlier period.
Among items adversely affecting net earnings were amortization expense on acquisition-related intangible assets of $8 million, enterprise improvement costs of $15.6 million and litigation costs of $2.5 million among others, the company said in its management discussion and analysis.
Ex-items, adjusted net earnings were $50.7 million or $1.41 per share for the third quarter, compared with $46.6 million or $1.29 per share for the same period of 2013.
The company says the improvement in revenue from $463.3 million in the 2013 period reflected higher activity levels and the favourable impact of foreign currency translation arising from a stronger U…

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Investor education. These two simple words can cause eyes to glaze over, minds to wonder and brows to furrow. But it doesn’t have to be this way.
In a new report, released today by the Investor Education Fund, reveals that Canadian investors feel under-informed and overwhelmed when it comes to investing and saving for their retirement, and, despite a change in needs over a person’s lifetime, Canadians of all ages were grappling with understanding their finances.
Different generations however face different challenges.
Under 30: Lack of Knowledge
Respondents under 30 are more likely to say they don’t understand most of the terms used by financial advisers and experts (64% versus 49% across all ages).
30s and 40s: Lack of time
Respondents in their core working years are more likely to say they don’t have enough time to focus on their investments (57% versus 45% overall).
50 and older: Lack of trust.
Respondents age 50 and older say their top barriers are conflicting information from too many sources and not knowing what to believe (40%) and being unsure about where to find unbiased information about investing (36%)…

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina – Argentina’s Congress has passed an energy law aimed at luring foreign investment into its promising shale oil and gas.
The measure approved by the lower house Thursday cuts the minimum investment needed for energy companies to be exempt from import controls. It also sets new terms for concessions to 25 years for conventional energy and 35 years for shale.
Argentina has one of the world’s largest deposits of shale oil and gas, but only a few companies have made commitments to develop the fields because many fear the government’s interventionist energy policies.
Current concessions will not be affected. They include a deal by state-controlled YPF energy company with oil giant Chevron, which has committed to investing more than $1 billion in the Vaca Muerta deposit in Neuquen province.
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