Making Money Minute with Ron Hiebert - Ways To Play AI Is SpaceX important to the future of AI? Of course? Whether you should buy it, is an entirely different discussion. At current prices, investors are paying $90 dollars for every dollar of sales the company generated last year. That is extraordinarily rich. If you want to participate in AI by owning companies with more reasonable valuations, look at some of the un-hyped suppliers to this industry that get paid no matter which AI platform wins. Companies that provide the fuel, produce the electricity, expand the grid or produce the metals needed to build out AI infrastructure - these are the unsung heroes of the artificial intelligence boom. 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 - IPO Performance The markets are seeing more owners taking their companies public, than we have seen in years. Names like SpaceX and Antropic, the Artificial intelligence platform, have got the markets buzzing. But the question investors should be asking, is how have new issues performed compared to the markets as a whole. Is it worth venturing into this unknown? The stats show that between 1980 and 2024, the average Initial Public Offering went up by 5.6% in the first year, and over 3 years, underperformed the markets as a whole by 20.5%. There are exceptions, but generally new issues are aggressively priced to the advantage of the seller and not the buyer. Investors need to be selective. 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 - Are Tariffs Here To Stay? Back in February, many foreign countries breathed a sigh of relief when the US Supreme Court struck down the broad based tariffs that the Trump administration imposed. This set in motion a mad scramble by US companies to apply for the 166 billion in refunds these tariffs had accumulated. Trump, unfazed, said he would be back with a new set of tariffs that would be much harder for the courts to challenge. It took months to conjure up a revised formula, but the new trade rules are just starting to roll out. Anyone hoping they would disappear is going to be disappointed. As long as Trump is president, tariffs look like they are here to stay. 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 - Defensive Portfolios Building a defensive stock portfolio isn’t rocket science. For ideas, just think about all the products and services you need to buy whether the economy is good or bad. You switch on the lights when it is dark. Turn up the thermostat when it gets cold. Take the trash to the curb once a week. You shower, shave and eat breakfast before driving to work. All these activities are non discretionary. They are continuous expenditures. With a little research, you will find that behind many of these services are public companies with shares that trade on the stock market. These are great candidates for a defensive portfolio. 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 - Taxing Unrealized Profits The next frontier in governments ever increasing reach to separate you from your money is the annual taxation of unrealized profits on assets, even though they continue to be held and aren’t sold. In their crosshairs are investments like stocks, homes, businesses, art, precious metals and cryptocurrency. Countries have been watching the Netherlands and Switzerland closely to assess the impact. Both have been early adopters of this new form of taxation. The risk with this approach, is that the people who end up moving elsewhere are the ones this tax is intended to target - the wealthy. 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 Kid Headache A lot of retirees are able to look back on a life filled with great careers, substantial charitable commitments, deep friendships and financial success. Yet their one sore point, is kids who never give them the time of day, except when they need the bank of mom and dad to bail them out financially. If you have this kind of relationship, do what actors like James Brown and Jerry Lewis did - write them out of your will or divert a substantial portion of your wealth - while living - to worthy causes or people. There are far better places to put your wealth, than in the hands of kids, who don’t appreciate or deserve 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 - Six Minutes It just makes sense, to do your homework before making an expensive purchase. Car buyers on average, do over 10 hours of online research, and visit at least four dealerships before closing a deal. Home buyers spend approximately 124 hours over several months, researching and looking for a home before making a purchase. Contrast this to the average investor. They typically take only 6 minutes studying an investment before pulling the trigger. If you don’t know what you’re doing, trading stocks is an expensive place to find out. The market is a conveyor belt that eventually transfers money from those who don’t know what they are doing, to those who do. 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 - Vehicle Purchase Scams In the past, buying a car was usually done in person. You would meet the owner or go to a dealership and see someone face to face. Then would come the vehicle inspection, test drive and discussion about price. Today more and more auto transactions are taking place on line. The buyer never meets anyone and doesn’t see the vehicle until it shows up at their doorstep. This digital sales process has led to a big increase in vehicle scams. Thieves put up fake websites, post pictures of fake showrooms, and show detailed shots of fake inventory. Vehicles are big ticket items. If you are going to buy online, do your homework to ensure the buyer is real. For more information listen to our Making Money podcast with Ron Hiebert and Graham Hicks at letsmakemoney.ca or CFCW.com.

AI’s Second Act Making Money Minute with Ron Hiebert - Investors who are disappointed because they missed out on the recent huge gains made by AI stocks shouldn’t feel the party is over. We are likely early in the game - just finishing Round 1. Where AI models and supporting infrastructure get tested and developed. Round 2 is the global rollout. This is where Artificial Intelligence finds its practical application in the daily lives of business, government and individuals. We’re just starting Round 2, and it is still unclear what the most profitable uses will be. But if history is any indication, figuring this out, will be where the next round of profits comes from. 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 - Patience & Energy Investing The biggest spikes in oil prices historically, have always occurred as a result of wars, embargoes, or other political tensions in the Middle East. The reason is obvious. This area produces 30% of the world’s total crude, so any disruption sends prices skyward. What isn’t so obvious, is the timing of those disruptions. Most have caught the experts and general public alike, completely unaware. Because the Middle East is so unpredictable, the best investment strategy, is to wait for a time when the world is stable, oil prices are down, and oil stocks are cheap. Simply buy, hold your nose, and wait. A Middle East crisis will eventually appear out of nowhere - pushing prices higher. For more information listen to our Making Money podcast with Ron Hiebert and Graham Hicks at letsmakemoney.ca or CFCW.com.