5 personal finance myths you probably still believe + MORE Jul 24th

The Canadian dollar broke above 80 cents US in morning trading today amid a weakening U.S. currency.
The loonie, which hasn’t closed above 80 cents US since June 30, 2015, later dipped slightly, trading at 79.97 cents US, up from Friday’s average price of 79.69 cents US.
The dollar has been climbing since the middle of June, when speculation grew that the Bank of Canada was going to raise its key benchmark interest rate.
The central bank hiked its key interest rate on July 12, its first rate increase since 2010.
On Bay Street, Canada’s main stock index pulled back moderately as gold and materials stocks lost ground.
The Toronto Stock Exchange’s S&P/TSX composite index was down 64.91 points to 15,118.22, after 90 minutes of trading.
In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average declined 64.94 points to 21,515.13, the S&P 500 index lost 4.61 points to 2,467.93 and the Nasdaq composite index was up 1.56 points to 6,389.31.
The September crude contract added 51 cents to US$46…

Mark Mobius, Ph.D., executive chairman of Templeton Emerging Markets Group, is one of the most successful emerging markets investors over the past two decades. Over his 40-year career he has become an influential voice in the financial industry. While Mobius has stepped back from the day-to-day management of Franklin Templeton’s funds, he still has input over the direction of billions of investor dollars. 
MoneySense caught up with Mobius during a recent stop in Toronto to get his thoughts about China, emerging markets opportunities and where he thinks might trigger the next financial crisis.
MoneySense: Over your career there have been a number of financial and market crises. What is the biggest problem you see right now?
Mark Mobius: I think one of the problems we’re facing now is ETFs. They’re beginning to dominate the markets. I mean if you look at the total market capitalization of all funds, one-third is ETFs and growing fast.
That is something that we have to watch because what’s happening is the greater concentration in big cap stocks…

S K I P   A H E A D

Climbing CATS

The Safer Canadian Dogs provide a nice pack of large high-yield stocks for conservative investors. But some people are more adventurous and want to buy smaller stocks that have room to grow. That’s why I went to the pound this week to look for some pups.
I started with companies listed on the TSX with revenues (over the last 12 months) of less than $1 billion. But, to avoid newborns, I stuck to stocks with market capitalizations (share price times shares outstanding) of between $100 million and $1 billion. Both are measures of size with one focused on operations and the other on the market’s view of a firm’s worth.
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Next I ignored firms that didn’t earn enough over the last 12 months to cover the dividends they expect to pay over the next 12 months. Doing so removes a few turnaround candidates, which may—or may not—actually turnaround. I also stuck to stocks trading for less than 20 times earnings…

I get a kick out of the television series Mythbusters. For those of you unfamiliar with the program, each week the show’s stars, Jamie and Adam, try to prove or disprove (busted!) popular myths, adages and urban legends. I mean, how can you not like a show that answers such important questions as “Can octopus eggs hatch inside a human’s stomach?” Or “Could a port-a-potty gather enough methane to explode?” There’s simply something strangely appealing about a program that’s equal measures explosives, bleeped profanity and questionable science.
There are also a number of persistent myths in the world of personal finance. Unfortunately, these fallacies can be potential barriers to people who are just starting to take control of their financial situations. However, the Discovery Channel has yet to see the potential in creating a spin-off from Mythbusters, which could be called Walletbusters. I’m sure they’ll be returning my call shortly, but in the interim let’s take a look at five of those money myths right now…

How the interplay between inventories and futures markets – with data available daily – that is driving spot price