Suffering in Steinbach

“The only comfort,” Brad wrote on the blog last evening, “is knowing your biological clock is running out you bloated old traitorous gas bag. Its a shame you won’t witness the mess you and your generation of sell outs are leaving us.”

Yup. Another fan. One more kiddo with unmet expectations blaming a previous gen for his own failure and wasting time lashing out at some dude on the Internet. Ironically, he’s dissing a free blog. Fresh content every 24 hours. Financial advice and counselling. Help with real estate, tax strategies, investing, along with marital relations and dog grooming.

Alas, because Brad thinks houses cost too much and I patiently explain why, he looks forward to my passing. Will real estate get cheaper when I croak? (If you believe so, please keep it to yoourself…)

Well, I had a look at Brad’s IP. It says “Steinbach, Manitoba” which means he can’t afford to buy in a town where the average detached, single-family home sells for just over $422,000. Condos are half that. There are listings below two hundred, and prices in general are fifty to a hundred thousand less than in The Peg.

Poor Brad. Houseless on the Prairies. Alone and in crisis amid waving, uncaring fields of canola. Waiting for the buzzards and wishing me death with his final keystrokes.

Now, let’s slide over to the real world, where life is what you make of it. The advice posted here has been consistent for many years. Invest properly. Stay invested. Ignore the noise around you. Buy when things are low and step back when they’re not. Curb your emotions, especially fear. Fight FOMO. Get married and stay that way. Exploit tax shelters. Plan. Don’t be socially shamed into buying real estate. But when you really need a home and can afford it without gutting your finances, go ahead. Especially when fortune favours buyers. Like now.

Or, you can wish me dead. Simple choice.

By the way, Brad, if you’ve had a B&D portfolio, things have been going kinda great. So lighten up.

Here is what the mighty S&P 500 has done over the past year, despite Trump, tariffs, war, the energy shock, inflation and the Melania documentary.

Source: New York Times

Why would Mr. Market cast off war jitters and race ahead yesterday to a new all-time record high?

Because, unlike Brad, investors are looking past the current detritus to the future, and like what they see. The Iran War will soon be over, they figure. There’s no choice for the Americans but to wind this disaster down and turn it off. Oil prices are still high. Gas prices are a political negative. Inflation is rekindling. Global sentiment is against the conflict. China – which feeds on Iranian crude – will soon be a problem. Trump’s rhetoric has been destabilizing and raises fears about his cognition. Iran has actually been empowered by this folly. And Republicans in Congress are quietly freaking out over the looming midterm elections while then president’s approval rating sinks beneath the ripples of the Hormuz Strait.

A truce or agreement or resolution of some kind is inevitable. And as we told you when this thing started, it was not worth changing course for. Going to cash would be a bad idea. Thinking it would lead to a wider, global conflict was rash. So the market pushed up this week past its previous pinnacle hit in January. Since bottoming at the end of last month the gain has been about 10%. Seriously impressive. Over 80% of the companies making up the S&P have higher valuations than they did on March 30th.

What do investors see?

Higher earnings – another quarter ahead of double-digit profit growth. Analysts say the overall earnings gain this year for large-cap US companies will be a memorable 17%. Ditto in Canada, especially with a stock market where energy companies loom large and benefit from the oil price escalation.

And look at the bellwether financials. Big, fat, juicy profits recorded yesterday by American banking giant JPMorgan Chase. On Bay Street it looks like Canadian bank profits will advance about 10% this year, after a stunning Q1 in which the Big Six earned $19 billion.

So, Brad, think about the big stuff. Inflation’s under control. Interest rates are stable. Companies are making money. There is no recession. We live in a free, spacious, peaceful democracy where the median household net worth is $520,000 and seven in ten families own a home. Here ICE thugs don’t roam cities. Families don’t go bankrupt over health care costs. And we think the Pope’s swell.

It’s not perfect. No place is. Never will be. But you have the liberty in Canada, during this obvious times of opportunity, to make your life and future better. Focus on that. Not me.

Oh, and I forgive you.

About the picture: “Ziggy in her beach house on Island View Beach near Victoria,” writes Lloyd. “Thanks for supplying context and sanity in these strange times when so often we are inclined to think “it’s different this time” and hit the panic (or sell) button.”

To be in touch or send a picture of your beast, email to ‘[email protected]’.

Source: https://www.greaterfool.ca/2026/04/16/suffering-in-steinbach/