The phrase "global village" was borne out this week when a sneeze in Rio caused a major cold to stocks in Toronto and New York. The Brazilian crises hit hard earlier in the week but by Friday whereas Nasdaq had recovered all the earlier losses (and had gained on the week), the Dow and TSE were down by 3.1% and 1.6% respectively.

Our index of Canadian stocks was down by 5% for the week and up by 29% since Jan 1, 1999. The idea of buying stocks on dips has not yet caught on for the TSE as it has for NASDAQ. CIC continues to move up briskly and it’s expected to hit the $30 mark by January 31, if not earlier. The dips in CRY & FMI are opportunities for those who missed the chance earlier in the year to get in now.

Our index of 5 US stocks were up a whopping 54% this week and 83% year to date. SNMM and FRTI more than doubled this week. My dad would normally say at this stage of the game, "don’t get greedy, sell those that have already doubled and move on to other stocks". But I think we live in a different era now where a stock can move from 41 cents to $8.375(US) in a less than a month.