Minuk's Musings and a Squirrel

At 1:30pm this past Wednesday, there was a major attack on Toronto’s electrical grid which shut down power across the downtown core, including my entire building, until 5:30pm.

 

Have you ever had to walk down 40 flights of stairs because the elevators were broken? My legs still feel sore from the journey down.

 

Are the Russians to blame? The Chinese? The North Koreans perhaps?

 

No – it was just a cute little squirrel running along a transformer causing a breaker to fail

 

Who could have expected that a single, small creature could disrupt a massive system?

 

In investing too, it is easy to obsess over known risks but often the real threats aren’t the ones making the headlines.

 

Black swan events that come out of left field (or a tree in the case of this squirrel) can cause the biggest disruptions - events that are impossible to see coming but always seem predictable in hindsight.

 

That’s why our team focuses on building resilient portfolios. Diversification, quality investments, and a long-term perspective help ensure that even when a “squirrel” comes along, our financial plans stay intact.

 

Today, we’ll look at year-to-date performance of 5 stocks involved in the business of producing and/or delivering power to our communities.

 

Factset: Thursday Feb 7^th, 2025

 

Have a nice weekend.

 

Rich

Investment Advisor