Podcast appearances and mentions of graham hicks

Making Money Minute with Ron Hiebert - Strait of Hormuz Solutions Free markets have a way of sorting things out. Take for example the Strait of Hormuz. 20% of the world's oil passes through this 40 km wide channel every day. Iran has used threats to shut it down as a political club going back almost 50 years. That will soon end. Saudi Arabia is building a pipeline which will deliver 5 to 7 million barrels a day to domestic ports on the Red Sea. Iraq is connecting pipelines, that will send its oil overland to refineries in Europe. The United Arab Emirate are building a pipeline around the strait, redirecting their oil to ports on the Persian Gulf. By late 2027, closing the Strait of Hormuz, will no longer hold the world hostage. Users, have built infrastructure to get around it. For more information listen to our Making Money podcast with Ron Hiebert and Graham Hicks at letsmakemoney.ca or CFCW.com.

Making Money Minute with Ron Hiebert - A Needle In The Haystack Some sectors of the economy are fairly easy to determine, which individual companies in it, will be winners or losers. Other sectors like technology, bioscience and junior mining are very hard. The number of companies in these areas that become successful are small in number…but for the ones that make it…the payoffs can be huge. For most investors, the way to get exposure to difficult sectors, is to buy an exchange traded fund that owns a basket of companies, rather than trying to pick individual stocks. As Jack Bogle often said, instead of looking for a needle in a haystack - just buy the haystack. For more information listen to our Making Money podcast with Ron Hiebert and Graham Hicks at letsmakemoney.ca or CFCW.com.

Making Money Minute with Ron Hiebert - Investing & Ego Investing in stocks is no place for those who have never been wrong or can't be bear to be wrong. Some people are wired psychologically with a need to be consistently correct. For people like that, investing will simply chew them up mentally. Investing is a messy business. You make lots of mistakes, and all those mistakes are very visible. Even the best stock pickers are wrong 20% of the time. Those who can't compartmentalize their mistakes and move on, should seek someone more suited to manage their portfolios, or else they should stick with investments that aren't as stressful. Life has enough challenges. Investing shouldn't be one of them. For more information listen to our Making Money podcast with Ron Hiebert and Graham Hicks at letsmakemoney.ca or CFCW.com.

Making Money Minute with Ron Hiebert - Why Markets Remain High The stock markets keep hitting all time highs in spite of tariffs, regional wars, trade embargoes and $100 oil prices. This is leaving investors wondering why stocks continue to levitate on what seems like thin air. The answer involves money flows into artificial intelligence and defence. The estimated cost to build out AI infrastructure is 7 trillion dollars over the next five years. Defence spending is increasing dramatically because of wars in Ukraine and Iran. Also, America is pushing to get its allies to double and triple the amount they budget for military purposes. When huge flows of capital are injected into the global economy, it is massively stimulative for both corporate profits and stock prices. For more information listen to our Making Money podcast with Ron Hiebert and Graham Hicks at letsmakemoney.ca or CFCW.com.

Making Money Minute with Ron Hiebert - High Auto Prices In 2025, China built nearly as many vehicles, as the next six largest, auto-producing, countries combined. This dominance is driven not by just low prices. Advances in factory automation, car design software, battery efficiency and faster development cycles are giving the Chinese gains in productivity, variety and quality that are leaving their competitors in the dust. North American auto manufacturers survive by selling high priced SUV's and trucks, with big gas guzzling engines to the domestic market. Can they survive in a world of $2 a litre gas, and customers, who out of economic necessity, can't afford gas guzzlers that cost $40-$50 grand? For more information listen to our Making Money podcast with Ron Hiebert and Graham Hicks at letsmakemoney.ca or CFCW.com.

Making Money Minute with Ron Hiebert - A Very Narrow Rally If your portfolio has recently been suffering the performance blues , it is because most market sectors are sucking gas. The S&P 500, which represents a broad swath of America's biggest and highest quality names, has seen 1/2 its recent gains come from 28 out of all 503 stocks. Most of these 28 companies are tech and Artificial Intelligence related. If you are concentrated in these sectors, your portfolio has outperformed. If it isn't, your investments have been treading water. A rally is healthiest when all boats rise together. When only a few stocks support the entire market, the uptrend is often skating on thin ice. For more information listen to our Making Money podcast with Ron Hiebert and Graham Hicks at letsmakemoney.ca or CFCW.com.

Making Money Minute with Ron HiebeRents Are Declining Long suffering Canadian renters are finally getting some relief. Average rents in Canada declined 4.7% year-over-year in April, falling by $100 to $2,027. This marks the 19th consecutive month of declines. The biggest drop in apartment rents has been in some of the secondary markets next to Canada's biggest cities. Richmond has declined -13.1%, Markham 12.0%, Oakville and Coquitlam -11.1% and Burnaby -10.2%. Slowing down the flood of immigrants into Canada and increasing construction of rental facilities has done wonders to make things more affordable. For more information listen to our Making Money podcast with Ron Hiebert and Graham Hicks at letsmakemoney.ca or CFCW.com.

Making Money Minute with Ron Hiebert - Oil Shortage Impact Investors have pushed markets to new highs thinking that the oil shortage, caused by the US and Iran blocking the Strait of Hormuz, is something we will have no problem dealing with. Yet the big impact of losing 13 million barrels of oil production a day is still ahead of us. Most countries have made up the shortfall by drawing down their strategic oil reserves. This is only a short term solution. Unless some kind of settlement can be reached between the US and Iran by the end of June, reserves will dry up and the world's economy will have to face the full brunt of these shortages. Spiralling fuel prices, rising inflation and a global recession are the likely result. For more information listen to our Making Money podcast with Ron Hiebert and Graham Hicks at letsmakemoney.ca or CFCW.com.

Making Money Minute with Ron HiebeTrade Agreements Take A Long Time I am not sure investors have thought through, how long it could take Canada, to renegotiate the free trade agreement with the US and Mexico. The last round of USMCA negotiations officially began on August 16, 2017, and wasn't concluded until September 30, 2018. It took 13 grinding months, regularly filled with intense political drama, before they were able to wrap up the deal. Meetings between the US and Canada haven't even started yet, and are expected to be far tougher than the those conducted 8 years ago. Long periods of uncertainty are seldom good for the stock market or the economy. For more information listen to our Making Money podcast with Ron Hiebert and Graham Hicks at letsmakemoney.ca or CFCW.com.

Making Money Minute with Ron HiebTechnology Pushback People invest in technology, like robotics, self driving cars, artificial intelligence and datacentres with a view that they are an unstoppable tsunami. But we are starting to see pushback from groups legitimately worried about the impact this technology will have on their careers and lifestyles. Groups, are trying to block the use of self driving cars in their cities. Municipalities, are refusing zoning changes to build data centres. Others like the movie industry, are organizing to restrict the use of AI in their profession. People are beginning to understand the enormous changes technology will have and are starting to pushback. For more information listen to our Making Money podcast with Ron Hiebert and Graham Hicks at letsmakemoney.ca or CFCW.com.

Making Money Minute with Ron Hiebert - Carney's Aggressive Strategy Negotiations on our trade free trade agreement with Mexico and the US will start in just over a month. The stakes are enormous for Canada and Mexico, but much less so for America, so Trump feels he can play hardball with us. Mexico's president, has chosen to turn the volume down and not react to Trump's insults. Mark Carney's strategy is to be much more aggressive in his response, and in hockey terms - go into the corner with his elbows up. I hope Carney knows what he is doing, by escalating the rhetoric. If he gets it wrong, we have a lot more to lose than the US does. For more information listen to our Making Money podcast with Ron Hiebert and Graham Hicks at letsmakemoney.ca or CFCW.com.

Making Money Minute with Ron Hiebert - A Clever Scam The most sophisticated internet scam I have recently seen, involves a fake email or text supposedly from your financial institution notifying you that money has been illegally taken out of your account. Of course, they need to contact you, to work on getting it back. You, obviously being too smart to be taken by this, call your bank directly. Typically, the bank never answers the phone, so you leave a message. The scammer knows that banks seldom return calls promptly, so they phone you shortly after you opened the email. Thinking it is a legit call, you give them all your information. You only figure out the scam, when your real financial institution calls back later. For more information listen to our Making Money podcast with Ron Hiebert and Graham Hicks at letsmakemoney.ca or CFCW.com.

Making Money Minute with Ron Hiebert - Employee Financial Literacy As every manager knows, an employees personal issues often get dragged into the work place. Studies show that one in three full-time employees have money worries that negatively impact their productivity at work. If you are an employer, a cost effective way to improve employee performance, is by offering a financial literacy program to staff covering basic topics like debt, budgeting, saving and retirement planning. Increased financial knowledge, can make employees better at managing their own affairs, and also help them become more savvy with corporate funds as well. For more information listen to our Making Money podcast with Ron Hiebert and Graham Hicks at letsmakemoney.ca or CFCW.com.

Making Money Minute with Ron Hiebert - Consistently Profitable Companies One of the best investment strategies, is to avoid owning shares in companies or industries that aren't consistently profitable. A good example is the global airline industry. As a whole, between World War II and 2021, this sector lost more money than they made over the entire 76 year period. If it wasn't for all kinds of government support, the airline industry would be so dead you could stick a fork in it. If a company can't generate consistent profits, it eats money instead of earning it. No matter how exciting the story, investors need to avoid these financial black holes, or their capital will spiral down the drain, right along with them. For more information listen to our Making Money podcast with Ron Hiebert and Graham Hicks at letsmakemoney.ca or CFCW.com.

Making Money Minute with Ron Hiebert - Safe Havens People wonder why there are so few safe havens anymore. Places you can hide when markets are in turmoil. Recently, when markets drop, even the quality stuff falls with it. The reason for this, has to do with the tremendous levels of debt people are taking on to invest. When markets go south, investors are forced to liquidate securities to bring their loans onside. The securities that are easiest to sell are the largest, highest quality ones, that trade the most volume. The upside, is these are usually the first securities to bounce back up. But that doesn't feel like much consolation, when your losing money. For more information listen to our Making Money podcast with Ron Hiebert and Graham Hicks at letsmakemoney.ca or CFCW.com.

Making Money Minute with Ron Hiebert - Surprising Iran War Shortages When the 40 km wide Strait of Hormuz, just off Iran's south west coast, is closed to shipping, we get a lesson on just how interconnected global supply chains really are. Most people know that 20% of the world's oil passes through this strategic waterway. But there is so much more. Roughly 1/3 of all internationally traded fertilizer and 20% of its Liquified Natural Gas starts here. Helium is used in the manufacture of computer chips and other advanced electronics. 30% is produced in this area. Sulphur makes sulphuric acid, which, in turn, is essential to processing critical minerals like copper and nickel. 50% of sulphurs seaborne trade, transits through the Persian Gulf. For more information listen to our Making Money podcast with Ron Hiebert and Graham Hicks at letsmakemoney.ca or CFCW.com.

Making Money Minute with Ron Hiebert - Private Equity Lack of Liquidity Private-equity funds set limits on how much cash investors are allowed to withdraw at any given time. Because they hold illiquid assets, such as private company shares or debt, these funds typically let investors cash out only once a quarter. A problem occurs when requests to sell reach more than 5% to 7% of total assets. The fund will restrict withdrawals and only fill a portion of each request. A problem for Canadian investors comes when they fill plans like Registered Retirement Income Funds with private equity. RRIF's require withdrawing a certain amount from the plan each year and if those investments are illiquid, the RRIF might not be able to generate enough funds to meet those withdrawals in cash. For more information listen to our Making Money podcast with Ron Hiebert and Graham Hicks at letsmakemoney.ca or CFCW.com.

Making Money Minute with Ron Hiebert -Deficits Are Solvable If you found out your spending was 5% higher than your income, it wouldn't take a lot of economic fine tuning to get things back in balance because the difference between what's coming in and what's going out isn't that large. On a bigger scale, 5% is also the ballpark deficit gap most western governments face when they prepare their annual budgets. Yet, somehow, our elected officials find the task of budgeting and living within their means, impossible to do. A twenty or thirty percent spread between income and expenses would be a tough gap to close. But 5%. That should be very doable. For more information listen to our Making Money podcast with Ron Hiebert and Graham Hicks at letsmakemoney.ca or CFCW.com.

Making Money Minute with Ron Hiebert - Dot-Com Comparisons Caution is a word investors should include in their current tech strategies. The Philadelphia Semiconductor Index is a good proxy for the global computer chip industry. It recently experienced its largest 25-day rally since the 2000 dot-com bubble. In 25 trading sessions, the benchmark advanced 54%. This was its best 25-day performance since March 2000, when it rose 56% at the peak of the dot-com bubble. What investors forget - is the aftermath. Between March 2000, and September 2002, the index sank 80%. We are at a point in the cycle, where risk has to be included in any investment calculation, and not just reward. For more information listen to our Making Money podcast with Ron Hiebert and Graham Hicks at letsmakemoney.ca or CFCW.com.

Making Money Minute with Ron Hiebert - The Best Time To Invest Great investors seem to intuitively know when to invest aggressively and when to back off. Risks are elevated when markets keep hitting new highs, so this group typically moves to the sidelines and patiently waits. The rewards for investing when assets are overvalued and priced to perfection, just aren't high enough to make it worthwhile. After securities drop down to levels that reflect reality, this is when great investors shift gears from passive to aggressive. They start putting money to work buying securities that are fairly priced or if lucky, undervalued. When all the bad news is reflected in current stock prices, risks are the lowest and the probability for big gains the highest. For more information listen to our Making Money podcast with Ron Hiebert and Graham Hicks at letsmakemoney.ca or CFCW.com.

Making Money Minute with Ron Hiebert - Canada Needs More Electricity Canada is facing an electricity shortage. Production peaked in 2017, and since that time we have added over 4 million people to our ranks - who also consume the stuff. Canada, in its bid to get the economy humming, wants to fast track the build out of factories, mines, refineries, liquified natural gas plants and data centres among others. The bottleneck to these plans, is they all need electricity - and lots of it. In fact more than we have available to supply everyone's current needs. This shortfall will require massive investment in electrical generation and infrastructure - an area that has been neglected for decades. Utilities, offer a back door, to profit from that shortage. For more information listen to our Making Money podcast with Ron Hiebert and Graham Hicks at letsmakemoney.ca or CFCW.com.

Making Money Minute with Ron Hiebert - Kid's Are Expensive In 2025, the estimated cost of raising a child in Canada from birth to age 17 reached $293,000. That translates into about $17,235 per year. This estimate is based on a middle income, two parent family. If the kid decides to live down the basement, while getting you to subsidize their post secondary education, those costs can go much, much higher. This huge price tag partly explains why birth rates are at record lows, and the age of parents who decide to have kids is at record highs. Having a family, along with paying taxes and owning a home are life's three big expenses. Delaying a family until you can afford it, shows this generation has more financial savvy, than they are often given credit for. For more information listen to our Making Money podcast with Ron Hiebert and Graham Hicks at letsmakemoney.ca or CFCW.com.

Making Money Minute with Ron Hiebert - A Retirement Side Business For a lot of people, retirement brings up two big questions. How can I constructively fill my time and how can I afford it. Both can be answered by launching a home based business or side hustle. It can be fun to do and provide extra cashflow. To make this work, you want to start this business before you retire - the earlier the better. That will give you enough of a runway to get the project off the ground and make it profitable. Working out the details in advance, will ensure that when it is time to transition away from the 9-5 routine - it will be a smooth one. For more information listen to our Making Money podcast with Ron Hiebert and Graham Hicks at letsmakemoney.ca or CFCW.com.

Making Money Minute with Ron Hiebert - A Retirement Side Business For a lot of people, retirement brings up two big questions. How can I constructively fill my time and how can I afford it. Both can be answered by launching a home based business or side hustle. It can be fun to do and provide extra cashflow. To make this work, you want to start this business before you retire - the earlier the better. That will give you enough of a runway to get the project off the ground and make it profitable. Working out the details in advance, will ensure that when it is time to transition away from the 9-5 routine - it will be a smooth one. For more information listen to our Making Money podcast with Ron Hiebert and Graham Hicks at letsmakemoney.ca or CFCW.com.

Making Money Minute with Ron Hiebert - Good Times Never Last Most current investors have only known markets with rising stock prices. Equities bottomed after the Great Financial Crisis in 2009 and have been on a tear ever since. The concept that markets can go sideways or down for extended periods is beyond most investors comprehension. Yet history is full of examples. Stock markets went nowhere between 1929 and 1954, again from 1964 to 1982 and recently between 2000 and 2013. Those periods lasted 26 years, 18 years and 13 years respectively. This doesn't mean investors should curl up in a fetal position and suck their thumb. But, they should realize that good times don't last forever and invest accordingly. For more information listen to our Making Money podcast with Ron Hiebert and Graham Hicks at letsmakemoney.ca or CFCW.com.

Making Money Minute with Ron Hiebert - Lessons From Africa Forty years ago, the country of Zimbabwe, previously known as Rhodesia, was the breadbasket of Africa, with one of its richest and most industrialized economies. Then came decades of corruption, overspending and blatant money printing. Inflation caught fire, averaging 43 percent per year between 2009 and 2026. In 2008, things got so bad the country flooded the markets with paper currency. Each bill had a face value of 100 trillion and a street value of less than 50 US cents. I keep a number of these notes in my study. It's a reminder of what happens when you try to solve overspending by printing money. For more information listen to our Making Money podcast with Ron Hiebert and Graham Hicks at letsmakemoney.ca or CFCW.com.

Making Money Minute with Ron Hiebert - We Created Our Problems Trump can be an obnoxious bully, but we can't blame him for the problems we created ourselves. We were the ones, who for decades, never contributed our fair share to NATO's defence budget. Also, it was much easier to sell goods south of the border, so we neglected developing global trading partners or getting our act together with the other provinces. The auto industry is suffering from massive overcapacity. America doesn't need to buy from us a product they are overproducing themselves. Trump is the messenger, and a nasty one at that, but many of our problems are self induced, and needed to be addressed sooner or later. Unfortunately, Trump making it sooner, is what we don't like. For more information listen to our Making Money podcast with Ron Hiebert and Graham Hicks at letsmakemoney.ca or CFCW.com.

Making Money Minute with Ron Hiebert - Backdoor US Investing We all know people who are boycotting the US. They won't invest in American stocks to send a message they are upset by America's treatment of Canada. But in doing so, investors leave money on the table. America is a more dynamic and faster growing economy than Canada. One way to get around this roadblock, is to buy Canadian companies that generate a significant portion of their revenue and profits from the US. This provides exposure to higher growth opportunities, but does so in a way that funnels profits back into Canada and to you the shareholder. In a perverse way, you are taking American profits and putting them in your Canadian pocket. For more information listen to our Making Money podcast with Ron Hiebert and Graham Hicks at letsmakemoney.ca or CFCW.com.

Making Money Minute with Ron Hiebert - Costs of Home Ownership When comparing the cost of home ownership in the 6 biggest cities in Canada, Edmonton and Calgary come out as the most affordable. In Edmonton, the share of household income needed to cover ownership costs is 33.2 percent. Calgary comes in at 41.6%. In Edmonton's case, home ownership costs are 1/2 those of Toronto and 2.7 times less expensive than Vancouver. Not only are home ownership costs cheaper, but Alberta's strong employment numbers, give buyers the incomes needed to qualify for a mortgage. For families wanting an affordable place to live, with all the amenities a big city has to offer, Alberta can't be beat. For more information listen to our Making Money podcast with Ron Hiebert and Graham Hicks at letsmakemoney.ca or CFCW.com.

Making Money Minute with Ron Hiebert - The Walmart Recession Indicator When economic times get tough, people change their shopping habits and start looking for bargains. This results in a pickup among discounters like Walmart and Costco and a decrease in traffic to luxury retailers. The bigger this downward shift in consumer spending, the more likely the economy is to experience a significant slowdown or recession. One gauge that tracks these changes in consumer behaviour is called the Walmart Recession Indicator. Currently, it is flashing its highest downturn reading since the Great Financial crisis of 2008-2009. Now economic indicators aren't always right. But in volatile times, they warn of extra risk. For more information listen to our Making Money podcast with Ron Hiebert and Graham Hicks at letsmakemoney.ca or CFCW.com.

Making Money Minute with Ron Hiebert - AI & Crime The advancement of Artificial intelligence will provide science, business, government and individuals with productivity tools no one thought possible even a decade ago. It will also give criminals the ability to crack the the technology firewalls used to protect our financial system. The US government is so concerned about AI's ability to exploit these vulnerabilities, they called an emergency meeting focussing on the threat, and requested the CEO's of America ‘s major financial institutions attend. They also delayed the launch of an AI platform that has proved to be especially good at finding chinks in our financial armour. If the banks can't stop being hacked by artificial intelligence - what chance do the rest of us. For more information listen to our Making Money podcast with Ron Hiebert and Graham Hicks at letsmakemoney.ca or CFCW.com.

Making Money Minute with Ron Hiebert - Pipelines Are Less Risk Oil keeps moving above $100 US every time there is negative news on the Iran war and then it sinks on any glimmer of hope that there could be peace. These price swings are so hard to predict, that even professional oil traders find it hard to make money. A safer way to get exposure to the energy sector, is to look beyond oil and gas producers to the pipelines. They are not as exposed to volatile fossil fuel prices because most of their revenue comes from charging transportation fees to ship it. Pipelines also offer consistent dividends which pay you a nice income while you wait. When political tensions are high, opting for less risky ways to invest just makes sense. For more information listen to our Making Money podcast with Ron Hiebert and Graham Hicks at letsmakemoney.ca or CFCW.com.

Making Money Minute with Ron Hiebert - Newbirds Crazy In 2021 a company called Allbirds went public. They made shoes out of marino wool and other natural materials that were all the rage of the tech bros at the time. Move the clock forward 5 years, and you find a company that is on the ropes, and whose shares have lost 99.6% of their original value. But then, a couple of weeks ago, a miracle happened. The stock popped 582% in one day on news the company was pivoting from the shoe business, on which it never made money, to building out AI infrastructure and changing its name to Newbirds. When you can't even make up stories this crazy, you know markets have gone insane. For more information listen to our Making Money podcast with Ron Hiebert and Graham Hicks at letsmakemoney.ca or CFCW.com.

Making Money Minute with Ron Hiebert - Going Back Is The Problem A lot of excitement was generated when America said it would use its navy to force open the Strait of Hormuz and give the hundreds of ships still trapped there access to international waters. That effort will certainly help to temporarily ease the shortfalls in fertilizer and crude that have been bottled up, but it doesn't address the long term issues. Once a ship gets out of the Persian Gulf and empties its cargo at a foreign destination, is it likely to want do a U turn and head back? Iran has consistently said, it has the right to control passage through this strategic waterway. If this standoff continues, crude and fertilizer shortages are a long way from over. For more information listen to our Making Money podcast with Ron Hiebert and Graham Hicks at letsmakemoney.ca or CFCW.com.

Making Money Minute with Ron Hiebert - Wars & Elections What will determine the fate of the global economy and the direction of its stock markets, is how long the stalemate between the US and Iran continues. Trump is facing an increasingly hostile electorate. The majority of whom don't want to be involved in a war with Persia, and don't like the pain energy prices are having on their wallets. Unless Trump can extract himself soon, you can stick a fork in any Republican success, come the November midterms. In war, one's ability to withstand pain is even more important than one's ability to inflict it. I worry that Iran can endure more pain than the US. If that happens, it will be bad news for stocks and the economy. For more information listen to our Making Money podcast with Ron Hiebert and Graham Hicks at letsmakemoney.ca or CFCW.com.

Making Money Minute with Ron Hiebert - The Job Vacancy Rate Another way to look at Canada's labor market is by counting the number of job postings that haven't found anyone to fill them. This is called the job vacancy rate and as of January, there were 492,400 jobs that were open. Nationwide, this averages out to 3 unemployed persons for every job vacancy. These numbers go from highs of 5.4 unemployed persons for every job vacancy in Newfoundland and 3.8 in Ontario, to lows of 2.1 in Saskatchewan, and 2.3 in Quebec For your best chance of finding a job, go where the unfilled job vacancies are high and there are not a lot of people available to fill them. For more information listen to our Making Money podcast with Ron Hiebert and Graham Hicks at letsmakemoney.ca or CFCW.com.

Making Money Minute with Ron Hiebert - Scammers Are Pros When people think about internet scams, they envision a solo person pulling it off from a slum in Nigeria. No one realizes how big a business this is and how much money it generates. The big players in this area are highly sophisticated. They have their own IT departments, marketing groups, legal and investment teams, offshore banking arrangements and creative professionals to continually come up with new and innovative ways to part you from your money. They can afford this, because their profits run in the tens to hundreds of millions. These are very sophisticated people. Be careful. For more information listen to our Making Money podcast with Ron Hiebert and Graham Hicks at letsmakemoney.ca or CFCW.com.

Making Money Minute with Ron Hiebert - The Plot Against Savers In a normal economy the rate you can earn on savings should be higher than the rate of inflation so people are incentivized to invest. Over the last 2 decades for example, the interest rate on savings accounts for the most part has been consistently lower than the rate of inflation. Even without taking taxes into consideration, this means a persons nest egg is losing ground year after year. Don't expect any help from the government to normalize things. They want to keep rates depressed because it lowers the huge payments they need to make on their ever increasing debt. It also rescues the average consumer, who is similarly drowning in red ink. If you are a saver, the system isn't designed to work for you. For more information listen to our Making Money podcast with Ron Hiebert and Graham Hicks at letsmakemoney.ca or CFCW.com.

Making Money Minute with Ron Hiebert - Hype vs Reality When a sector goes straight up in price, the dominant headlines are predictions of a new era, suggesting investors throw caution to the wind because conditions are different this time. We recently witnessed this with precious metals, crypto currencies and artificial intelligence. They all had a huge run that was supposed to never end. The problem with assets on steroids, is they convince more and more people as they rise that the hype is valid. New converts climb on board the freight train to riches, pushing shares higher in a self reinforcing loop. Investors never seem to learn that parabolic moves, are dangerous to their wealth, and usually end in tears. For more information listen to our Making Money podcast with Ron Hiebert and Graham Hicks at letsmakemoney.ca or CFCW.com.

Making Money Minute with Ron Hiebert - Wars Changing Technology The conflict in Iran has really highlighted how the weapons needed to do the job have changed. Iran is using swarms of $20,000 drones offensively. America is shooting them down with missiles that cost 2 million to 4 million dollars a piece. To learn how to fight on this new type of battlefield, the US has called in experts from Ukraine to help them. That country has been locked in a bitter high tech conflict with Russia that has focussed on unmanned weapons in the air, on land and in the sea. For investors looking at the defence sector, its next wave of growth, is going to come from companies that can develop and supply this new technology. For more information listen to our Making Money podcast with Ron Hiebert and Graham Hicks at letsmakemoney.ca or CFCW.com.

Making Money with Ron Hiebert & Graham Hicks

Making Money with Ron Hiebert & Graham Hicks

Making Money Minute with Ron Hiebert - The Fog of War 200 years ago, a Prussian military strategist nailed it, when he coined the phrase fog of war. He noted that three-quarters of the factors on which wars are based, are wrapped in a fog of greater or lesser uncertainty. This is eerily similar to the current conflict in Iran. The newsfeed continuously comes out with statements that are often contradicted in minutes by the other side or even themselves. The truth is, no one has a clue about the ultimate consequences of this war. Not Trump. Not the Iranian's. Investors trying to build an investment strategy based on this wars lies, inuendo and false flags - face a wall of unknowns. Wait till the fog clears, then pull the trigger. For more information listen to our Making Money podcast with Ron Hiebert and Graham Hicks at letsmakemoney.ca or CFCW.com.

Making Money Minute with Ron Hiebert - The Chinese Real Estate Bubble Chinese love to own real estate. This countries investors have 70% of their assets in property, 20% in bank deposits and insurance policies and only 10% in the stock market. Yet even as the bubble grew, few people in 2016, took Chinese President Xi Jinping seriously, when he warned that houses were for living in, not speculation. Chinese policies, designed to take the air out of real estate, really started to bite in 2021. Property values over the next four years fell by 40%. Remember Humpty Dumpty. After he fell off the wall, all the kings horses and all the kings men couldn't put him back together again. The Chinese, are finding that bubbles are easy to pop, but are much harder, and take much longer to fix. For more information listen to our Making Money podcast with Ron Hiebert and Graham Hicks at letsmakemoney.ca or CFCW.com.

Making Money Minute with Ron Hiebert - Trump's Military Mistakes I think hindsight will show, that what caused the Republicans to lose their majorities in the House and/or the Senate this November, were the mistakes Trump made in his unexpected war with Iran. The first, was thinking that he could win the fight with Air Power alone. That has never happened. The second was believing that Iran's leadership would bow to his threats. The shaky two week truce, just agreed to, caves in to most of Iran's demands. And finally, he expected the west would come running to his aid with their navies - they didn't. This will be an expensive lesson for him, and even more so for investors and the economy. For more information listen to our Making Money podcast with Ron Hiebert and Graham Hicks at letsmakemoney.ca or CFCW.com.

Making Money Minute with Ron Hiebert - America Still The Cleanest Dirty Shirt Investors, have been diversifying their portfolios outside of the US for two reasons. They dislike President Trump's bullying, and they worry that America is declining as an economic power. Yet, even though its numbers are weakening, the US is still the cleanest dirty shirt in the laundry. Five years ago, America's total economic output was $23 trillion dollars. Today, that figure has climbed to $30 trillion, and now accounts for more than the total economic output of the next 6 G7 nations combined. America's growth, even though weaker, is leaving other western nations in the dust. Uncle Sam, for all its problems, still provides some of the world's best and most consistent growth opportunities. It is not all doom and gloom. For more information listen to our Making Money podcast with Ron Hiebert and Graham Hicks at letsmakemoney.ca or CFCW.com.

Making Money with Ron Hiebert & Graham Hicks

Making Money Minute with Ron Hiebert - Defence Stocks Defence stocks have the political and economic winds at their back. Countries in Europe and Asia, have ramped up defence spending out of fear that the US could walk away from commitments to protect them. They have little trust, in the intentions of China, Russia, North Korea or Persia. Current wars, like Iran and Ukraine, are draining equipment and munitions faster, than countries can manufacture them. The use of drones and robots, is reshaping how wars are fought, and starting a whole new spend cycle to develop and build them. It may be a depressing view of our human frailties, but in uncertain times, conflicts heat up and defence spending rises right along with it. For more information listen to our Making Money podcast with Ron Hiebert and Graham Hicks at letsmakemoney.ca or CFCW.com.

Making Money Minute with Ron Hiebert - Busts & Booms In the dot-com boom of the late 1990's, telecoms laid 130 million kilometres of fiber optic cable. In the following bust, 85% of this capacity went unused and bandwidth prices fell by 90%. While this drove telecoms like Global Crossing into bankruptcy, cheap access to fibre optic cable, fuelled the rise of early Internet adopters like Netflix and Facebook. Could we see a similar dynamic playing out today? Tech firms are investing an expected 7 trillion dollars building out AI infrastructure, yet no one has a clue how this will be profitable. If the boom goes bust, it will be interesting to see which companies will be able to profit from access to cheap AI, without having to risk the large capital outlays needed to develop it. For more information listen to our Making Money podcast with Ron Hiebert and Graham Hicks at letsmakemoney.ca or CFCW.com.

Making Money Minute with Ron Hiebert - Fertilizer Squeeze People worry that high oil prices caused by the war in Iran will lead to rising inflation and interest rates. Very few pay attention to this conflicts impact on global fertilizer prices. Roughly 1/3 of all internationally traded fertilizer passes through the 40 km wide Strait of Hormuz just off Iran's south west coast. This narrow bottleneck has been blocked with mines and drone attacks - grinding shipping to a halt. This couldn't come at a worse time, as farmers in the Northern hemisphere gear up for the spring planting season. With lower fertilizer inputs, yields will drop and food prices go up. This might not show up at your grocery today. The big impact will hit in late summer and fall, when this years crops start appearing on store shelves. For more information listen to our Making Money podcast with Ron Hiebert and Graham Hicks at letsmakemoney.ca or CFCW.com.