Making Money Minute with Ron Hiebert

Making Money Minute with Ron Hiebert - Good Times Never Last Most current investors have only known markets with rising stock prices. Equities bottomed after the Great Financial Crisis in 2009 and have been on a tear ever since. The concept that markets can go sideways or down for extended periods is beyond most investors comprehension. Yet history is full of examples. Stock markets went nowhere between 1929 and 1954, again from 1964 to 1982 and recently between 2000 and 2013. Those periods lasted 26 years, 18 years and 13 years respectively. This doesn’t mean investors should curl up in a fetal position and suck their thumb. But, they should realize that good times don’t last forever and invest accordingly. 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 Best Time To Invest Great investors seem to intuitively know when to invest aggressively and when to back off. Risks are elevated when markets keep hitting new highs, so this group typically moves to the sidelines and patiently waits. The rewards for investing when assets are overvalued and priced to perfection, just aren’t high enough to make it worthwhile. After securities drop down to levels that reflect reality, this is when great investors shift gears from passive to aggressive. They start putting money to work buying securities that are fairly priced or if lucky, undervalued. When all the bad news is reflected in current stock prices, risks are the lowest and the probability for big gains the highest. 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 - A Retirement Side Business For a lot of people, retirement brings up two big questions. How can I constructively fill my time and how can I afford it. Both can be answered by launching a home based business or side hustle. It can be fun to do and provide extra cashflow. To make this work, you want to start this business before you retire - the earlier the better. That will give you enough of a runway to get the project off the ground and make it profitable. Working out the details in advance, will ensure that when it is time to transition away from the 9-5 routine - it will be a smooth one. 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 - A Retirement Side Business For a lot of people, retirement brings up two big questions. How can I constructively fill my time and how can I afford it. Both can be answered by launching a home based business or side hustle. It can be fun to do and provide extra cashflow. To make this work, you want to start this business before you retire - the earlier the better. That will give you enough of a runway to get the project off the ground and make it profitable. Working out the details in advance, will ensure that when it is time to transition away from the 9-5 routine - it will be a smooth one. 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 - Kid’s Are Expensive In 2025, the estimated cost of raising a child in Canada from birth to age 17 reached $293,000. That translates into about $17,235 per year. This estimate is based on a middle income, two parent family. If the kid decides to live down the basement, while getting you to subsidize their post secondary education, those costs can go much, much higher. This huge price tag partly explains why birth rates are at record lows, and the age of parents who decide to have kids is at record highs. Having a family, along with paying taxes and owning a home are life’s three big expenses. Delaying a family until you can afford it, shows this generation has more financial savvy, than they are often given credit for. 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 - Canada Needs More Electricity Canada is facing an electricity shortage. Production peaked in 2017, and since that time we have added over 4 million people to our ranks - who also consume the stuff. Canada, in its bid to get the economy humming, wants to fast track the build out of factories, mines, refineries, liquified natural gas plants and data centres among others. The bottleneck to these plans, is they all need electricity - and lots of it. In fact more than we have available to supply everyone’s current needs. This shortfall will require massive investment in electrical generation and infrastructure - an area that has been neglected for decades. Utilities, offer a back door, to profit from that shortage. 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 - Lessons From Africa Forty years ago, the country of Zimbabwe, previously known as Rhodesia, was the breadbasket of Africa, with one of its richest and most industrialized economies. Then came decades of corruption, overspending and blatant money printing. Inflation caught fire, averaging 43 percent per year between 2009 and 2026. In 2008, things got so bad the country flooded the markets with paper currency. Each bill had a face value of 100 trillion and a street value of less than 50 US cents. I keep a number of these notes in my study. It’s a reminder of what happens when you try to solve overspending by printing money. 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 - We Created Our Problems Trump can be an obnoxious bully, but we can’t blame him for the problems we created ourselves. We were the ones, who for decades, never contributed our fair share to NATO’s defence budget. Also, it was much easier to sell goods south of the border, so we neglected developing global trading partners or getting our act together with the other provinces. The auto industry is suffering from massive overcapacity. America doesn’t need to buy from us a product they are overproducing themselves. Trump is the messenger, and a nasty one at that, but many of our problems are self induced, and needed to be addressed sooner or later. Unfortunately, Trump making it sooner, is what we don’t like. 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 - Backdoor US Investing We all know people who are boycotting the US. They won’t invest in American stocks to send a message they are upset by America’s treatment of Canada. But in doing so, investors leave money on the table. America is a more dynamic and faster growing economy than Canada. One way to get around this roadblock, is to buy Canadian companies that generate a significant portion of their revenue and profits from the US. This provides exposure to higher growth opportunities, but does so in a way that funnels profits back into Canada and to you the shareholder. In a perverse way, you are taking American profits and putting them in your Canadian pocket. 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 - Costs of Home Ownership When comparing the cost of home ownership in the 6 biggest cities in Canada, Edmonton and Calgary come out as the most affordable. In Edmonton, the share of household income needed to cover ownership costs is 33.2 percent. Calgary comes in at 41.6%. In Edmonton’s case, home ownership costs are 1/2 those of Toronto and 2.7 times less expensive than Vancouver. Not only are home ownership costs cheaper, but Alberta’s strong employment numbers, give buyers the incomes needed to qualify for a mortgage. For families wanting an affordable place to live, with all the amenities a big city has to offer, Alberta can’t be beat. 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 Walmart Recession Indicator When economic times get tough, people change their shopping habits and start looking for bargains. This results in a pickup among discounters like Walmart and Costco and a decrease in traffic to luxury retailers. The bigger this downward shift in consumer spending, the more likely the economy is to experience a significant slowdown or recession. One gauge that tracks these changes in consumer behaviour is called the Walmart Recession Indicator. Currently, it is flashing its highest downturn reading since the Great Financial crisis of 2008-2009. Now economic indicators aren’t always right. But in volatile times, they warn of extra risk. 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 - AI & Crime The advancement of Artificial intelligence will provide science, business, government and individuals with productivity tools no one thought possible even a decade ago. It will also give criminals the ability to crack the the technology firewalls used to protect our financial system. The US government is so concerned about AI’s ability to exploit these vulnerabilities, they called an emergency meeting focussing on the threat, and requested the CEO’s of America ‘s major financial institutions attend. They also delayed the launch of an AI platform that has proved to be especially good at finding chinks in our financial armour. If the banks can’t stop being hacked by artificial intelligence - what chance do the rest of us. 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 - Newbirds Crazy In 2021 a company called Allbirds went public. They made shoes out of marino wool and other natural materials that were all the rage of the tech bros at the time. Move the clock forward 5 years, and you find a company that is on the ropes, and whose shares have lost 99.6% of their original value. But then, a couple of weeks ago, a miracle happened. The stock popped 582% in one day on news the company was pivoting from the shoe business, on which it never made money, to building out AI infrastructure and changing its name to Newbirds. When you can’t even make up stories this crazy, you know markets have gone insane. 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 - Going Back Is The Problem A lot of excitement was generated when America said it would use its navy to force open the Strait of Hormuz and give the hundreds of ships still trapped there access to international waters. That effort will certainly help to temporarily ease the shortfalls in fertilizer and crude that have been bottled up, but it doesn’t address the long term issues. Once a ship gets out of the Persian Gulf and empties its cargo at a foreign destination, is it likely to want do a U turn and head back? Iran has consistently said, it has the right to control passage through this strategic waterway. If this standoff continues, crude and fertilizer shortages are a long way from over. 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 - Pipelines Are Less Risk Oil keeps moving above $100 US every time there is negative news on the Iran war and then it sinks on any glimmer of hope that there could be peace. These price swings are so hard to predict, that even professional oil traders find it hard to make money. A safer way to get exposure to the energy sector, is to look beyond oil and gas producers to the pipelines. They are not as exposed to volatile fossil fuel prices because most of their revenue comes from charging transportation fees to ship it. Pipelines also offer consistent dividends which pay you a nice income while you wait. When political tensions are high, opting for less risky ways to invest just makes sense. 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 - Wars & Elections What will determine the fate of the global economy and the direction of its stock markets, is how long the stalemate between the US and Iran continues. Trump is facing an increasingly hostile electorate. The majority of whom don’t want to be involved in a war with Persia, and don’t like the pain energy prices are having on their wallets. Unless Trump can extract himself soon, you can stick a fork in any Republican success, come the November midterms. In war, one’s ability to withstand pain is even more important than one’s ability to inflict it. I worry that Iran can endure more pain than the US. If that happens, it will be bad news for stocks and the economy. 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 Job Vacancy Rate Another way to look at Canada’s labor market is by counting the number of job postings that haven’t found anyone to fill them. This is called the job vacancy rate and as of January, there were 492,400 jobs that were open. Nationwide, this averages out to 3 unemployed persons for every job vacancy. These numbers go from highs of 5.4 unemployed persons for every job vacancy in Newfoundland and 3.8 in Ontario, to lows of 2.1 in Saskatchewan, and 2.3 in Quebec For your best chance of finding a job, go where the unfilled job vacancies are high and there are not a lot of people available to fill them. 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 - Scammers Are Pros When people think about internet scams, they envision a solo person pulling it off from a slum in Nigeria. No one realizes how big a business this is and how much money it generates. The big players in this area are highly sophisticated. They have their own IT departments, marketing groups, legal and investment teams, offshore banking arrangements and creative professionals to continually come up with new and innovative ways to part you from your money. They can afford this, because their profits run in the tens to hundreds of millions. These are very sophisticated people. Be careful. 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 Plot Against Savers In a normal economy the rate you can earn on savings should be higher than the rate of inflation so people are incentivized to invest. Over the last 2 decades for example, the interest rate on savings accounts for the most part has been consistently lower than the rate of inflation. Even without taking taxes into consideration, this means a persons nest egg is losing ground year after year. Don’t expect any help from the government to normalize things. They want to keep rates depressed because it lowers the huge payments they need to make on their ever increasing debt. It also rescues the average consumer, who is similarly drowning in red ink. If you are a saver, the system isn’t designed to work for you. 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 - Hype vs Reality When a sector goes straight up in price, the dominant headlines are predictions of a new era, suggesting investors throw caution to the wind because conditions are different this time. We recently witnessed this with precious metals, crypto currencies and artificial intelligence. They all had a huge run that was supposed to never end. The problem with assets on steroids, is they convince more and more people as they rise that the hype is valid. New converts climb on board the freight train to riches, pushing shares higher in a self reinforcing loop. Investors never seem to learn that parabolic moves, are dangerous to their wealth, and usually end in tears. 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 - Wars Changing Technology The conflict in Iran has really highlighted how the weapons needed to do the job have changed. Iran is using swarms of $20,000 drones offensively. America is shooting them down with missiles that cost 2 million to 4 million dollars a piece. To learn how to fight on this new type of battlefield, the US has called in experts from Ukraine to help them. That country has been locked in a bitter high tech conflict with Russia that has focussed on unmanned weapons in the air, on land and in the sea. For investors looking at the defence sector, its next wave of growth, is going to come from companies that can develop and supply this new technology. 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 - Defence Stocks Defence stocks have the political and economic winds at their back. Countries in Europe and Asia, have ramped up defence spending out of fear that the US could walk away from commitments to protect them. They have little trust, in the intentions of China, Russia, North Korea or Persia. Current wars, like Iran and Ukraine, are draining equipment and munitions faster, than countries can manufacture them. The use of drones and robots, is reshaping how wars are fought, and starting a whole new spend cycle to develop and build them. It may be a depressing view of our human frailties, but in uncertain times, conflicts heat up and defence spending rises right along with 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 - America Still The Cleanest Dirty Shirt Investors, have been diversifying their portfolios outside of the US for two reasons. They dislike President Trump’s bullying, and they worry that America is declining as an economic power. Yet, even though its numbers are weakening, the US is still the cleanest dirty shirt in the laundry. Five years ago, America’s total economic output was $23 trillion dollars. Today, that figure has climbed to $30 trillion, and now accounts for more than the total economic output of the next 6 G7 nations combined. America’s growth, even though weaker, is leaving other western nations in the dust. Uncle Sam, for all its problems, still provides some of the world’s best and most consistent growth opportunities. It is not all doom and gloom. 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 Chinese Real Estate Bubble Chinese love to own real estate. This countries investors have 70% of their assets in property, 20% in bank deposits and insurance policies and only 10% in the stock market. Yet even as the bubble grew, few people in 2016, took Chinese President Xi Jinping seriously, when he warned that houses were for living in, not speculation. Chinese policies, designed to take the air out of real estate, really started to bite in 2021. Property values over the next four years fell by 40%. Remember Humpty Dumpty. After he fell off the wall, all the kings horses and all the kings men couldn’t put him back together again. The Chinese, are finding that bubbles are easy to pop, but are much harder, and take much longer to fix. 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 - Trump’s Military Mistakes I think hindsight will show, that what caused the Republicans to lose their majorities in the House and/or the Senate this November, were the mistakes Trump made in his unexpected war with Iran. The first, was thinking that he could win the fight with Air Power alone. That has never happened. The second was believing that Iran’s leadership would bow to his threats. The shaky two week truce, just agreed to, caves in to most of Iran’s demands. And finally, he expected the west would come running to his aid with their navies - they didn’t. This will be an expensive lesson for him, and even more so for investors and the economy. 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 Fog of War 200 years ago, a Prussian military strategist nailed it, when he coined the phrase fog of war. He noted that three-quarters of the factors on which wars are based, are wrapped in a fog of greater or lesser uncertainty. This is eerily similar to the current conflict in Iran. The newsfeed continuously comes out with statements that are often contradicted in minutes by the other side or even themselves. The truth is, no one has a clue about the ultimate consequences of this war. Not Trump. Not the Iranian’s. Investors trying to build an investment strategy based on this wars lies, inuendo and false flags - face a wall of unknowns. Wait till the fog clears, then pull the trigger. 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 - Busts & Booms In the dot-com boom of the late 1990’s, telecoms laid 130 million kilometres of fiber optic cable. In the following bust, 85% of this capacity went unused and bandwidth prices fell by 90%. While this drove telecoms like Global Crossing into bankruptcy, cheap access to fibre optic cable, fuelled the rise of early Internet adopters like Netflix and Facebook. Could we see a similar dynamic playing out today? Tech firms are investing an expected 7 trillion dollars building out AI infrastructure, yet no one has a clue how this will be profitable. If the boom goes bust, it will be interesting to see which companies will be able to profit from access to cheap AI, without having to risk the large capital outlays needed to develop 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 - Markets & Tides One of the most important things investors need to understand, is how markets behave, both on the way up and on the way down. Probably the best way to visualize this, is to look at how the tide affects ships in a harbour. When the tide comes in, it raises all the ships, no matter how big or small they are. The same thing happens when the tide goes out. All boats sink. When the economy suffers through a recession and stocks enter a bear market, there are very few things that go up or even maintain their value. Even conservative investments like utilities and insurance companies can get hurt. The trick when markets get expensive, is to be more cautious and limit the downside. Cash is King. 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 - Wars Neverendum According to Trump, the war with Iran should be wrapped up within a month or so. But this could be naive. A financial commentator from the UK wisecracked that the hardest part of a 4 week war is the first 6 to 7 years. The grim reality is, they usually become a neverendum. America was in Vietnam - 20+ years. Russia in Afghanistan - 10 years. America in Iraq - 20+ years. America in Afghanistan - 19 years, 10 months. Russia in Ukraine - 12 years and counting. We continually underestimate the economic damage and inflation these long term wars cause. And pathetically, when we spend a fortune to remove a bad guy, they often get replaced by someone even worse. 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 - Fertilizer Squeeze People worry that high oil prices caused by the war in Iran will lead to rising inflation and interest rates. Very few pay attention to this conflicts impact on global fertilizer prices. Roughly 1/3 of all internationally traded fertilizer passes through the 40 km wide Strait of Hormuz just off Iran’s south west coast. This narrow bottleneck has been blocked with mines and drone attacks - grinding shipping to a halt. This couldn’t come at a worse time, as farmers in the Northern hemisphere gear up for the spring planting season. With lower fertilizer inputs, yields will drop and food prices go up. This might not show up at your grocery today. The big impact will hit in late summer and fall, when this years crops start appearing on store shelves. 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 - AI Makes Stuff Up When Artificial intelligence makes stuff up that isn’t true, and presents it with a such a high degree of confidence it seems believable - they call this AI Hallucinations. There are plenty of documented stories where AI has cited legal cases that never happened, quoted non-existent scientific studies, generated fake biographies, or misidentified objects in images, seemingly on purpose. The weird thing, is that often, experts are mystified as to why, and how this happens. If you are using AI to do financial research, it is important to fact check the data. AI has made enormous strides in the last 12 months, but its accuracy still needs work. 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 Integrated Oils Energy companies that focus strictly on finding and producing oil, have earnings that are pretty much held hostage by whatever the price of crude is at any given time. Those wanting a more defensive and less volatile way to invest in fossil fuels should look at the integrateds. These companies produce oil, refine it and also sell finished products. When crude prices are high, upstream assets that produce the stuff, generate big profits. When prices dip, downstream refining and fuel stations benefit from lower feedstock costs and steady consumer demand. This “natural hedge,” helps firms maintain their dividend and stock buyback programs, even during periods of market volatility. 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 - Diversify Beyond the US After decades of dominance, the influence of the American dollar has begun to fade. Countries have increasingly looked at paying for imports and exports with other currencies like the Yuan, Euro or Yen. Central banks have steadily reduced their holding of greenbacks and replaced them with gold and other currencies. Investors have diversified exposure from US stocks, and added precious metals and foreign securities to their portfolios. Foreign attraction to the US dollar has slowly lessened and this looks to be a long term trend. If there was ever a time for Canadian investors to diversify their foreign holdings beyond the US - it is now. 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 - AI Reality Check For years the tech sector outperformed virtually everything else. Lately not so much. The change has come about, because investors have adopted much more realistic expectations about the future. They want proof that the trillions being spent on artificial intelligence, will produce consistent profits down the road. They also want a better understanding of how software companies will survive without having their lunch eaten by these new technologies. Having a dose of reality injected into these overly exuberant markets is always a good thing. It keeps bubbles from forming, and all the bad outcomes they bring. 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 - Wars & Deficits Wars are expensive. America’s recent misadventures in Iran are expected to cost at least $100 billion and could go much higher if the battle drags on. These numbers don’t include the extra costs that business and consumers have to pay when the price of oil doubles and inflation rises. Nor, does it factor in the increases to America’s $37 trillion dollar federal debt, which amounts to more than $250,000 per household. The deceptive thing about wars is - they go much longer, cost much more, and end much worse, than the optimistic projections touted at their beginning. If this conflict tips the globe into recession, the financial costs will go much, much higher. 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 - Alligator Investing I remember a tour we took down a croc infested river in East Africa. Our tour guide pointed out an enormous crocodile sunning itself on the bank, and said that if this predator ambushed a big animal like a wildebeest, it could go for 6 months without having to eat again. In the financial world, we call this type of investor an alligator. They sit and patiently wait, sometimes for years, for an opportunity that has crashed and burned. Only then, do they swoop in and purchase a huge position at a giveaway price. Currently, we mostly see day traders, scurrying in and out making small profits on lots of trades. People forget, that the alligators are the ones who usually score the big money. 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 - China’s Export Hustle While Canadians worry about protecting the home market, China is reaching out and conquering the world. A good example is electric vehicles. A decade ago they were barely a blip on the radar screen, but by building a quality product at a bargain price, and then globally doing the hard work of knocking on lots of foreign doors, they have achieved global dominance. Last year, China exported 2.6 million EV’s to 150 different countries and territories. The value of these exports was $70 billion - up 43% from the previous year. If Canada wants to improve global exports, there is lots we can learn from China’s example. 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 - China’s Nuclear Growth The 800 Ib gorilla in the nuclear space is China. Of the 74 reactors under construction in 15 countries, China represents over 50% of new builds. China currently has 38 reactors under construction, 43 planned, and 145 proposed. They can achieve their growth targets because of speedy development. It takes only 5-7 years to build a reactor in China versus 10-15 in the west. China, also has the ability to construct them 35% cheaper than the US and 50% cheaper than Europe. At this rate, China will overtake the US to have the largest nuclear reactor fleet by 2030. The lesson here is, unless the west can learn to build things on budget and on time, China will leave us in the proverbial dust. 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 Super Bowl Indicator The Super Bowl Indicator was developed by a sports journalist at the New York Times. It says that if a team from the National Football Conference wins the big game, stock markets will go up, whereas a win by an American Football Conference (AFC) team, signals a bear market. During the thirty year period between 1967 and 1997 it had a stellar success rate of 90%. Over the next 29 years, its predictive accuracy has been terrible, slumping to around 40%. Considering that the markets go up 2/3’s of the time and down a 1/3, your odds of winning are higher if you just buy and hold stocks rather than using the Super Bowl Indicator to predict when to get in or out of the market. 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 - Iran’s Big Economic Risk President Trump has repeatedly said, that the military campaign in Iran is almost complete. Unfortunately, the Persian’s don’t seem to agree with that assessment. They mined the 40 km wide Strait of Hormuz, through which passes over 20% of the world’s daily oil supply and effectively brought tanker traffic to a standstill. If it remains closed for any length of time, their prediction that oil could hit $200 a barrel and send the global economy into a recession becomes a likely possibility. Trump doesn’t seem to understand, that when backed into a corner, countries will do desperate things that hurt themselves economically, but damage others even more. 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 - AI vs Software Software is a code or set of instructions, that tells a computer what to do and how to do it. For decades software companies have had the wind at their backs. As more and more sophisticated technology got developed, better software was needed for it to communicate with everything else out there. The threat to all this … is AI. Investors worry that artificial intelligence will make software companies redundant by doing their job much cheaper and faster. As a result, many software stocks have seen huge drops in price. Is this the time to jump in and go bargain hunting? That is a tough question, because opinions are all over the map. 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 - Gold Backed Reserve Crypto One of the reasons gold has had such an incredible run, is the growing belief among financial types, that cryptocurrency backed by the yellow metal, could eventually replace the US dollar, as the world’s reserve currency. Its creation would be outside government control, allow borderless monetary transactions and importantly, would not be backed by any debt choked fiat currency. This is certainly not something that will happen tomorrow. But as the world becomes more and more sceptical about US foreign policy, and its rapidly deteriorating financial situation, the need to develop a financial infrastructure to eventually replace it, becomes more urgent. 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 - When Risk Gets Riskier Bull markets follow a predictable pattern. In their early stages, money flows into high quality investments. As they become overvalued, investors look at the next rung down for things that haven’t yet participated in the rise. These are usually lower quality and higher risk. This self reinforcing loop continues until even the most volatile, risky assets have been discovered and become fully valued. When the good times end, these risky, volatile assets, are the first to drop and also experience the biggest slide. As this bull market gets long in the tooth, it is important for investors to do an inventory of their holdings. Nobody wants to get caught being overexposed to risk … when markets tumble. 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 - Valuing Bitcoin Bitcoin has traded between a high of $123,000 and a low of $63,000 over the last 12 months. The question is, how do you value whether it is cheap, and time to buy, or expensive, and time to sell. Bitcoin has no physical assets, no sales, no profits or patents. Nothing that gives us a set of metrics, or way to calculate its worth. Its value, is whatever the majority of buyers and sellers think it is at any given time, and that number can change dramatically over even short periods. This makes Bitcoin a very controversial investment. Because there is no conventional way to gauge its worth, your guess as to a fair price, is probably as good as anyone else’s. 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 - Gold’s Golden Era These are very exciting times for holders of gold stocks. Four years ago, the spread between a gold miners production costs, and what they could sell their product for, left them with a profit of about $600 US per ounce. Today with gold around $5000, their profits have ballooned to $$3500 per ounce - almost 6 times higher. These are the biggest profit margins in modern history and leave gold miners with extra cash to raise dividends, buy back stock, pay down debt and grow production. All of which are shareholder friendly. For miners of the yellow metal, this is truly a golden era. 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 - Estate Sale Bargains Virtually every time I go shopping on Amazon or at a retail store, I came away with sticker shock, shaking my head in disbelief at how fast prices have climbed in the last few years. This unaffordability, has caused a resurgence in discount, next to new, and second hand transactions, as people look for ways to stretch their dollars. One area that shouldn’t be overlooked are estate sales. As boomers pass on or downsize, an enormous amount of items are coming up for sale. Boomers, or the kids who inherit this pile of stuff, just want to get rid of the clutter, and are incentivized to move it - often at bargain prices. 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 Seven Trillion Dollar Question To make Artificial Intelligence a functioning global reality, requires enormous resources. The cost for all the AI programs, data centres, computers, semiconductors and electrical generating infrastructure is expected to reach 7 trillion dollars over the next decade. What no one seems to be asking, is where are the profits going to come from to pay for all of this. Even a profit margin of 10%, which is less than 1/2 of what tech companies normally expect, would mean these assets need to generate 700 billion in profits annually - an enormous sum. Can they do it? Investors are betting 7 trillion dollars the answer is yes. 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 - USMCA Will Be A Grind Canadian’s have pushed stock markets ever higher. Pricing them to perfection and assuming that nothing could happen to disrupt their rosy economic outlook. People for the moment are ignoring the very difficult round of trade negotiations with Mexico and the US, starting in less than four months. Trump has made numerous derogatory remarks about Canada and our Prime Minister has made comments about the US that have further escalated things. Markets don’t like the tough, the grinding, the brutal - but that is exactly what these talks are expected to be. Investors might want to temper their bullish enthusiasm until they get a clearer understanding of how these trade negotiations are likely to turn out. 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 - USMCA & Opportunity Under the USMCA trade agreement, the U.S., Canada and Mexico must meet on July 1, 2026, to determine whether to extend the treaty for another 16 years, negotiate changes or withdraw. If they cannot reach consensus, the agreement continues with annual reviews until its scheduled sunset in 2036. Expect there to be a lot of sharp disagreement as Trump has already declared that he is looking for major concessions before he commits to its renewal. It is in these times, investors want to have cash available on the sidelines. Critical meetings with lots of drama, often provide the best buying opportunities of the decade. 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 US Policy Uncertainty Index It might be tempting to seek safety when markets get rattled, but high levels of uncertainty can actually be positive for stocks. There is an index which tracks how investors feel about out the economic times they are in called the U.S. Economic Policy Uncertainty Composite Index. Research over a 40 year period between 1985 and 2025, has shown when levels of uncertainty are high the S&P 500 rises 19% on average. The rest of the time the S&P 500 returns 11.6% annually. Typically, when bad news is commonly known, it is already priced into the markets. This gives investors an opportunity to shop for bargains when prices are down. For more information listen to our Making Money podcast with Ron Hiebert and Graham Hicks at letsmakemoney.ca or CFCW.com.