Early Birds, January 27, 2022 (Great Turnout!)

Ross went on to say that a lot on a steep slope immediately behind Barbecues Galore had been sold, and nearby property owners were notified of a variety of easements sought by the new owners, things like height, and a few others.

Then, nearby property owners were notified that all property easements sought had been approved - for the new Aboriginal Friendship Centre that will be going up. Why two different sets of rules? The question went unanswered, but might be addressed with "True North strong and Cree".

Jim Bladon- has been away or a couple of reasons: COVID swept through the house over the holidays. Kim was recovering post-surgery, so especially vulnerable, but she's on the mend and things are good on that front.

The other reason he's been away is that he was "voluntold" to assist with the implementation of the Salesforce C.R.M. software (Customer Relationship Management) at Connect First Credit Union. He duly donned his tin foil hat and things are coming along on that front as well.

Financial services industry is HOPPING. There's a bump in merger and acquisition activity but also quite a bit in the real estate sector as people attempt to renegotiate mortgages ahead of predicted interest rate hikes in March and perhaps more than once throughout 2022. 

On the agricultural side of things, feed is an issue and beef prices are going up. It's a combination of factors including poor crops and drought. Farmers are bringing in record imports of corn to finish off cattle. Without exaggeration 8-9 trainloads are arriving every day. The government is promising 10-12 trains a day. However that’s still only 5 days’ supply for the number of cattle in Alberta.

Matt Dart - It sounds like everyone in the house except his wife got a COVID case. Matt suffered through what felt like a miserable cold for a few days, but his boys were practically symptomless. 

Matt's still hearing rumblings about the new arena. Engineers have been told to lay down the tools and stop work, but the project is apparently still not dead, dead. 

Then he told us about a new model of chiller equipment, made in Texas. They were a great value and much lower price than competitors. HOWEVER, his company, Johnson Controls has net payable terms of 90 days. The vendor has terms of 30 days. So, the two companies came to an arrangement that made everyone happy. They used a third party called Prime Revenue to create a win-win. 

In a nutshell, Prime Revenue created a platform that acts as "bridge financing" specifically for supply chain finance. It eases the risk for both the vendor and the supplier. They have an excellent 1-1/2-minute video on the product on this page

: https://primerevenue.com/resources/videos-graphics/the-primerevenue-promise. 

Brett Bain - was as neutral as can be but wanted to sound out the Birds on their feelings on the truck convoy headed to Ottawa. The room buzzed for a few minutes with notes like Trudeau calling out the truckers for not being real Canadians, the group being portrayed as a vocal, fringe, extremist "minority", etc., etc. 

Don Davis - It's a BIG birthday week for Don. Brother 85, daughter 52, wife 81 (and one more I didn't quite catch). Don and Pat are headed out to Victoria on the 7th of Feb. No promises but it sounded like he might check on Dan's shipping containers.... 

Dwayne Vinck - welcomed us all to the largest superspreader event in Alberta (😳) Thursday morning poking the bear on a good turnout.

Tips - Dwayne's wife just resigned which prompted his accountant brain to fire in all directions. There are a lot of options to consider from an RRSP perspective among others. Things like spousal contributions, maximizing tax savings, reattributing income, etc. Dwayne also mentioned that carry forwards and that can be cause to chat with a financial manager or accountant.

Dwayne is also venturing bravely out into the crypto currency world! It's due to a new client request, so Dwayne will learn from the nearly vertical learning curve, and pass any relevant knowledge on to Birds.

Andy Lockhart - declared a LOGISTICS TRIUMPH! He ordered a specialized cutter tool from Lee Valley and it only took 6-7 months to get it.

Then on Tuesday night - another triumph, a Zoom Robbie Burns celebration. At which a seldom quoted Burns poem from 1791 was recited:

Johnie Lad, Cock Up Your Beaver 

When first my brave Johnie lad came to this town,
He had a blue bonnet that wanted the crown; 
But now he has gotten a hat and a feather,
Hey, brave Johnie lad, cock up your beaver! 

Cock up your beaver, and cock it fu' sprush,
We'll over the border, and gie them a brush;
There's somebody there we'll teach better behaviour,
Hey, brave Johnie lad, cock up your beaver!

After accusing us all of being unconscionable perverts, Andy enlightened us and told us that it's basically a poem exhorting you to tip up your cap at a jaunty angle. Cheers!

Reid Colbran (Brokerlink) - sat in on a webinar recently, with multiple insurance industry CEOs discussing expectations for 2022.

First up: personal insurance. Rates are creeping up and it's mostly being attributed to climate change and its effects. Several pointed to the many individual catastrophic events of 2021, and they’re betting on that continuing.

Commercial insurance - stabilizing. Positive.

The industry continues to sharpen its focus on cyber security. There's been a 500% climb in incidents. The industry consensus is that cyber crime will soon surpass the global drug trade as a revenue maker.

The insurance industry's outlook for construction is positive. The industry hopes to see a return to more manufacturing in Canada, and supply chain issues would certainly encourage growing some of that capacity, but there's a definite hesitancy that it will happen.

As an interesting note, despite what the news would have us believe, the industry actually reported less property crime overall, BUT auto claims are up and high. Part of it is being attributed to people driving after a prolonged break and indulging in mindless, or careless driving. Auto body shops have also been forced to hold vehicles for 3-4 months due to supply chain issues with parts, so higher rental costs have factored into the price of the average claim. 

Access to care is an issue so disability costs are higher.

Overall, for the insurance business, these CEO's pointed to "the usual": save a bunch in one area, but spend more (in some cases, much more) in others.

Brad Pachal - was witness to said mindless driving. There was a head on collision heading out of a gas station between a  truck and SUV.

Brad also continues to suffer mild PTSD related to lumber sticker price shock. $8 for a 2x4 vs $2 pre-pandemic.

He looked to Sean Baylis checking to confirm if West Fraser Timber would be a good investment for the moment. 

Brad, like a lot of people during the pandemic has discovered and continues to enjoy his virtual bike trainer. He's fitter than he was at this time last year and enjoying his rides.

Michael McLennan - who would know this fresh from his exit from the photocopier and business machines industry: toner is hard to get for printers and copiers. If you find it in stock, whether you need it or not, stock up. For small businesses and small quantities, Paul Boucher mentioned some success ordering from CDW Canada for his colour laser printer. https://www.cdw.ca.

Michael also made a point of mentioning Roma catering (https://www.romacatering.ca). It has been a TOUGH  two years in the catering business. Roma managed to keep things afloat with a small restaurant called La Cantina on the lower level of the Calgary Italian Cultural Centre: https://www.romacatering.ca/la-cantina.

Roma makes great frozen Italian food. Homemade pasta and and sauces.Matt Dart chimed in and mentioned a wedding expertly catered by Roma.

Sean Baylis - reported lots of volatility in the markets because of a lot of uncertainty. RBC has priced up to 5 interest rate hikes this year into their various businesses. The first of the hikes is likely coming in March.

In the US, no one is sure of the SIZE of the rate hike. Could be 50 basis points instead of 25 at a time, but RBC doesn’t think so beyond the first.

As always, opportunities abound, particularly in the tech sector, earnings. Many companies in the sector remain undervalued. RBC holds a position in the Edge ETF, the Evolve Innovation Index Fund (more information here: https://evolveetfs.com/product/edge. As the title implies, it's an ETF that gives you exposure to various disruptive tech sectors like cloud computing, 5G technology, cyber security, and automation as examples.

Bob Wiggins - reported a bobcat family in his 'hood near fish creek park. Definitely fewer rabbits.

Bob also recently had a high-efficiency furnace installed. It took them 11 hours. Good thing it wasn't during the cold snap! It's all good now. Interesting side note: it's now up to the homeowner to get a gas permit reviewed. 

Home inspection is virtual and complete with crazy requirements like a guided flashlight tour for the remote inspector. Funny how our new mayor and her councilors can get $8K each for security, but this service to a taxpaying resident is largely on the homeowner’s shoulders.

Bob also mentioned a relatively novel approach to catalytic converter theft. Bob's son and daughter-in-law (hope I voted that down correctly) recently had theirs stolen from under their Honda Pilot which was parked out front in their neighbourhood. A good neighbourhood, Bob hastened to point out before relating the story. 

The "kids" noticed on the doorbell cam that a vehicle initially drove by. Then, the vehicle did a U-turn and set themselves up right on the street side beside the Pilot. The camera sees the driver of the vehicle get out, grab something from the rear seat and hook something up to the Pilot's exhaust system. Then, there's a whirring sound (which they didn't hear since this all happened in the wee hours). Next thing, the other vehicle pulls away and with a loud crack, the entire exhaust system of the Pilot, complete with catalytic converter came away and was stolen.

Gary Friedrichsen - listening to the various conversations delivered a short monologue on the depth of the marketing function within businesses large and small. Although at its core, marketing is identifying the market opportunity, there's a LOT to that deceptively simple sentence.. 

How to prioritize, how to identify competitors, market share. Analytical and Creative. Sales planning helped set the agenda for marketing. Paul suggested recording an interview where Gary could expound on specific issues in a relative deep dive. More to come on that.

Dan Kennelly - sounded our final note this week when he was mentioning they were watching the Australian Tennis open and who should pop on the TV screen? Their goddaughter, rooting on our Canadian players, who impressed again during this competition.