Written by Paul Siluch
February 21^st, 2025

How many people had Canada becoming the 51^st state on their dance card for 2025?

No one except, perhaps, the current U.S. president. Which assumes this was planned in advance and not simply something dreamed up in the middle of the night.

Canada is the second largest country in the world by geography. It is an unwieldy land mass, blessed with water and natural resources, but cursed with ice, mountains, and bad weather. Our dueling nationalities of French and English have pulled us apart since Confederation; meanwhile, the U.S. covets our treasures.

• Boy Scout motto

Sometimes you get snowed in by an unexpected blizzard. It never snows in Victoria, right?

And sometimes you get snowed by a friend. The US, in this case.

Stock market history tells us the first year of a new president’s term is positive for markets. But as we were reminded this week, a year is a long time. Sometimes the unexpected happens.

Written by Paul Siluch
January 16th, 2025

I took my family on a research trip to Disneyland this past weekend. We own Disney shares in portfolios, so what better way to see how the company is doing?

Thankfully, the horrific fires were well north of Anaheim but some employees from LA were staying in Disneyland hotels after being evacuated. Many Canadian firefighters were already there or on the way.

Judging by the crowds, Disney is doing just fine. Of course, the company is so much more than parks today, you have to dig deeper to get your arms around it.

We all face change, with some years more chaotic than others, and 2025 may be one of those years. Walt Disney’s journey is a story of adapting to change, for few companies of his era did it as adeptly as he did.