CDIC | General financial discussion | Discussion forum

Kidd, lots of previous discussions on this vein on here re CDIC.

One thing people can consider is to diversify their wealth, to make sure to include non-financial assets (real estate, inside or outside the country, probably being the most prominent example, though obviously there are risks there too), especially in times when domestic gov't debt levels appear uncontrollable and in countries where popular sentiment is to move towards more state-involvement in their economies - history is very clear re what happens to financial assets denominated in those currencies.

But it's human nature to think we'll be ahead of the curve, we'll see danger and get our money out before all the other people get caught in the traffic jam.

Such doomsday stories are entertaining. But, that's all they are: entertainment. They bear very little resemblance to history or reality.

My earliest memory of such "entertainment" was Ravi Batra's book "The Great Depression of 1990" that hit the bookshelves after the 1987 stock crash. Maybe Batra was just 2008 - 1990 = 18 years ahead of his time?

No, I wouldn't be pulling my money out of Simplii/CIBC in such cases. Obviously, one has forgotten a bit of significant 2008 history about CIBC.

In late 2007, loan losses were eating into CIBC's capital. Instead of waiting for regulatory capital to fall below minimum requirements and for that call from OSFI or CDIC, CIBC was proactive and did a common share issue in January 2008.

Institutions recognized the deal they were getting and took up about $1.5 billion of the issue. Retail investors were allocated about $1.5 billion of shares as well.

Looks like there were lots of retail investors, beside me, who recognized what was being offered. I saw the press release earlier in the day. By the time I signed into my brokerage account in the evening to express my interest in some shares, the $1.5 billion for retail investors had sold out.

No problem finding takers for $3 billion of shares that have no deposit insurance coverage at all.

Not sure what the exact issue was with Northern Rock in the UK. But, that certainly was not the case with the banks here.

Kidd - from me, no problem, you said "We are using hypotheticals". Though I'm feeling you dropped the "hypothetical" a bit in your pointed reference to a multi-millionaire CEO of Tangerine getting a nice buyout!

And for the record, in my life I and family members have had a few occasions to make insurance claims and in all cases obligations were honoured in full without problem and with appropriate timeliness. Just our experience.

Evidently the squid monsters would come to QC first since we have the best maple syrup. I have toadmit that I have had fantasies of burying cash under the old crab apple. But a scene in Narcos shows Pablo digging up some long hidden cash that has rotted to dust. Hmm, maybe there is another good reason behind this plastic money...

The documentary is on Netflix in better quality. Jokes aside, it raises the question of whether syrup producers must remain unionized to maintain viability or whether it limits their freedom and profits.

As to the topic at hand, if it gets to the point of needing to rely on CDIC, the markets will have crashed, inflation soared and we will have many more problems than collecting on CDIC. Can’t live life always fearing doomsday is nigh...

Now, go have some pancakes and syrup. The real stuff.

I said Netflix, not the internet

If you have Netflix search for Dirty Money, choose episode 5