O•S•C•A•R© - Old Ottawa South

Page 42 The OSCAR - OUR 37 July 2010
th YEAR
By Anna Redman
Every summer, comedy, action,
adventure, and romance come
together in an endless array of
films fighting to be the top summer
blockbuster. With million dollar budgets
our favourite names and faces take
centre stage once again. Every summer
we pay our $11 entrance fee and
purchase our popcorn, soda and candy
before spending two hours watching
these so-called blockbusters. Often, you
leave a movie feeling like you’ve seen it
all before, but this summer, the feeling
could be stronger than ever before,
appearing to be the summer of sequels.
Iron Man, Sex and the City, Shrek and
Toy Story are only a few of the movies
that have a new chapter being released
this season. It looks like originality is
a wash, but can the sequels outdo the
originals?
It is commonly thought that the
original is always the best, just as people
often think the book is better than the
movie. With the ever-changing new and
innovative technology that is available
today a better movie could ultimately be
made. However, the core of every great
By Bob Jamieson
You may never find “perfect”
conditions in which to invest,
given the normal ups and
downs of the financial markets. And yet
Summer Movie Guide
movie lies in the story. Fully developed
and loved characters can still fall flat if a
storyline fails to give them an adventure
deemed appropriate by fans.
In the month of May alone Iron
Man 2, Sex and the City 2 and Shrek
Forever After have graced our local
theatres with their presence. According
to the Internet Movie Database (IMDB)
Iron Man is on top with a rating of
7.5/10. Shrek comes in second with a
6.7/10 and Sex and the City lags behind
at 3.8/10 (following opening weekend).
The best return on the original is from
Iron Man, with only a slight dip in
quality from the original. They may
be closest to finding the secret for a
successful sequel, but still have been
unable to achieve the full success of the
original.
The other two films come
nowhere close to their initial success.
The original Shrek film garnered an
aggregate review of 8, falling to 7.5 for
the first sequel, 6.1 for the second, and
looks to have marginally bounced back
for the final chapter. However, this new
low score suggests that Shrek fans will
still be left disappointed.
Sex and the City is perhaps the
most disappointing. The show, which
you can always find opportunities in today’s
investment climate — no matter
when “today” is — to help you reach
your goals for tomorrow.
To give yourself a chance to find
good investment opportunities in any
wrapped in 1998, was ended by choice.
The four lead actresses wanted to
finish on a high note and thus closed
the curtain while they were still ahead.
Now, twelve years later the show is
still fondly remembered by its fans,
though the same cannot be said for the
films. The initial film, released in 2008
seemed to have lost the show’s zest and
was enjoyed largely due to the revival
of the successful franchise, seeing the
characters for one more adventure. In
comparison to the latest Sex and the
City, the first film was a huge success.
The newest instalment can only be
called a flop, relying too heavily on
the audiences’ undying love for the
characters, and as a result has very little
substance.
Such flops in initially successful
franchises lead fans to question sequels.
Despite the reputation associated with
the franchises, sequels are almost
always eagerly awaited. Perhaps it
is this anticipation that makes their
failure that much more disappointing.
And yet the summer of sequels has
only just begun! June will bring Toy
Story 3 and the next instalment of
the Twilight Saga. With July comes
the next Cats and Dogs movie, which
market environment, you need to look
beyond short-term price fluctuations. If
you can develop this type of discipline,
you can become a better investor. For
evidence, look at the bull market from
2002 to 2008. During this time, we had
13 dips of 5% or more and three “corrections”
of 10% or more. Yet despite
these short-term drops, the market, as
measured by the S&P/TSX Composite
Index, rose 165%. Of course, as
you’ve no doubt heard, “past performance
can’t guarantee future results,” and
this is true. Nonetheless, stocks historically
have always trended up, despite
frequent “bumps in the road.” And you
can use these “bumps” as opportunities
to add stocks and stock-based mutual
funds, when appropriate for your situation.
Ultimately, of course, it’s impossible
to predict market fluctuations —
so it’s best to prepare for them. And you
can help yourself do just that by taking
these steps:
• Own the right mix of investments.
Some investors think they can avoid the
uncertainties and volatility of the investment
world by sticking to vehicles such
as short-term Guaranteed Investment
Certificates (GICs). Yet GICs carry their
own type of risks, such as the risk of not
providing returns that keep up with inflation.
If you’re going to achieve your
goals, you can’t avoid growth-oriented
investments, such as stocks and stockbased
mutual funds that carry some
risk to your principal. But by owning
an investment mix — including bonds,
mutual funds, GICs and domestic and
international stocks — that is suitable
for your risk tolerance and time horizon,
and by holding these investments for
wasn’t even a well-regarded original
(though quite profitable, unfortunately).
Finally August brings the second Nanny
McPhee film.
The desire to continuously create
these unnecessary chapters can lie only
in the foreseeable profit. While each
of the already released sequels have
already grossed millions, would a better
film, with a more thought out plot not
have made the studios more money? It
seems that the only logical answer is yes
suggesting that this potential squashes
the only excuse for such constant
inadequacies.
Everyone loves to see their
favourite characters reunited for
another big screen appearance, so
sequels themselves are not the problem.
It’s the disjointed, unsubstantial
plotlines that need to be rectified. The
original magic needs to be reignited to
remind fans what initially made them
love the franchise. Too much reliance
on the franchise itself extinguishes a
fan’s undying love and leaves them
with bittersweet feelings regarding the
characters they had previously held so
dear.
Take Advantage of Today’s Financial Markets to Invest for Tomorrow
the long term, you can help reduce the
effects of volatility on your portfolio.
• Invest regularly. If you want to build
the financial resources you need for a
comfortable retirement or other goals,
you can’t afford to take a “time out”
from investing — no matter what’s happening
in the markets. Suppose, for example,
that you had invested $100,000
10 years ago in a portfolio composed
of 35% fixed-income vehicles and 65%
equities (35% Canadian stocks and 30%
international). Today, your investment
would be worth over $145,000, even
after a decade of low returns. But if you
had added $1,000 per month to your
original $100,000, your money would
have grown to more than $297,000, according
to calculations based on various
market indexes. In short, it pays
to contribute regularly to your Registered
Retirement Savings Plan (RRSP)
and other investment accounts, even in
down markets. In fact, during downturns,
your investment dollars go further
and purchase more shares, putting
you in a position for potentially bigger
gains when the market turns around.
The financial markets will always
fluctuate, and their day-to-day movements
are nearly impossible to predict.
Yet by looking beyond short-term
downturns, owning can help avoid
unpleasant surprises — and possibly
achieve surprisingly pleasant results.
To get more information on how to
position your portfolio please call my
office at 613-526-3030, or plan to attend
the upcoming July 15th seminar.
Bob Jamieson, CFP
Member Canadian Investor Protection
Fund
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