The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

THE HERALD OUTLOOK Saturday iggo the HERALD OUTLOOK Is published each Saturday by the HALTON HILLS HERALD Home Newspaper of Hills A Division Canadian Newspapers Company Limited at Guelph Street Georgetown Ontario L7G 8772201 PUBLISHER K Robert Malcolmson MANAGING EDITOR Colin Gibson AD MANAGER Dan Taylor Second Class Mail Registered Number I Rutlcdge STAFF WRITERS Ben SPORTS EDITOR Rob Risk ACCOUNTING Jennie CLASSIFIED ADVERTISING Joan ADVERTISING SALES Valois Craig Teeter Roberts Kim Haryotl PRODUCTION DEPARTMENT Dave Hastings Robertson Wilson CIRCULATION Marie Time may be ripe to buy bonds TORONTO If you don already have some it may be time to buy bonds Bond prices rise when in terest rates fall Canadian bond prices also when their yields compare favorably with those of other countries This is beause foreign investors snap them up Thats what happened last week in the credit markets Investors who had been worrying about the Meech lake accord came back to the market and started buying bonds Bond prices rose and in rates fell albeit slightly Rates fell in the shortnerm monev market as well Yields on three month Government of Canada treasury bills slipped a tenth of a percentage point on Thursday allowing the Bank of Canada rate to ease again to 13 per cent The bank rate has fallen 17 basis points a basis point is a hundredth of a percentage point in the past two weeks If it keeps falling administered rates on loans and mortgages will fall in line Bond prices respond to fears In a single day the market can swing from confidence to dread This send on a roller coaster Traders win and lose money on these sharp ings but investors would do better to hold out for longer term gains With recession at hand forecasters predict interest rates will fall Some it will happen this others next When rates do fall bond prices will soar Before that tan happen though the market must believe inflation is not about to come ding back When you bu a bond vou in lending mone to the issuer So the issuer s creditworthiness is lnipor The safer the bond the lower the interest rate it pays The higher the coupon the bigger the risk At the safest end of the scale are Government of Canada bonds These come in terms ranging from five or less to or more The longer the term the greater the potential gains and Dianne Bonds do not have to be held to maturity They are traded by stockbrokers on the over the counter market Usually though shorter term bonds up to five years are held for the full term Coupons on short term Canada bonds are lower than what banks and trust companies pay for guaranteed investment tificates But they are still live because they are a safe to invest large amounts of money Like bills Canada bonds are direct obligations of the federal government GICs and other deposits are only insured up to a person at an one finan institution People seeking a in est ment are not limited to Canada bonds Mam roun corporations and government agencies issue bonds as do Hdro bonds for example are a popular alt Corporations too Issue bonds Sometimes these are secured a mortgage on the assets though he a corporate bond depends on the qua lit of the issuing High junk bonds rank lowest If think that bonds are ing are mistaken Long term bonds can be speculative in vestments our stockbroker can tell you about ways to use leverage in the bond market But even those bond who do not want to speculate may find themselves a hair raising situa Peels Corner LOOKING BACK but I come a long long way By comparison to yesterday Yesterday When was that For starters I was quite a brat But this is what I have In mind At least to thine oneself be kind We have our own ways thai for sure I hope for this there is no cure Well one on one we are unique We may appear somew hat mystique Our little ones have a thing or two They could teach us me and you We may beset in our own Going back to all those yesterdays What memories we all do have Those playful times were not bo bad They worked I suppose like so much We thought we never would feettad A little independence mav help a lot Helps us to think without being taught We live we have experience What we learn makes so much more sense So do have fancies little one When you re my age you II remember fun Georgetown TOMORROW I hear Hill and I leave behind what is today I am drunk on liou are looking far beyond You re not seduced song Tomorrow is here you belong I dream my dreams of days gone by You are impatient for time to fly Strange were so happy you and I By Patricia Hretchka Georgetown Leaders of major parties are being shelled ferociously OTTAWA SureK there never been another period since Canada was when of our three major political parties hae been shelled so at same time Perhaps we cm all remember moments when individual leaders were being to a greater barrage but d be hard pressed In name a month or when all three were under fin like this at the same time II goes further than overt at lacks There s also quiet disdain It difficult to know who is get ting the roughest treatment Brian Jean Chretien or McLaughlin It depends a great deal on which newspaper you happen to open and on what page Or if turn on your television it depends on what channel and who happens to be doing the talk ing Even the opinion polls are distressing for all three If the leaders t being propped up by their parties all might disap pear off the bottom of the polls Mr Chretien for instance just found out he was the first leader in modern economy to lose popularity immediately after winning the job Invariably up until now that is just the hoopla of a convention gives the new leader a healthy boost the polls But Mr Chretien coasted into the Liberal leadership without even being specific on policies while maintaining an un characteristic silence on the accord His long opposition to the accord obviously cost him support in Quebec He should be worried until he looks around and sees the position of his rivals These are not heady times to be leader of a federal political party ItrH UTS COUNTRY Perhaps the with he leaders goes beyond in dividual and reflects how feel about future of the country in the wake of the collapse Seldom has there been such a widespread plea for tive leadership whether on con matters native disputes economic issues or anything else and seldom has the response been so unacceptable In some cases oi course there i beep no response Stewart MacLeod Prime Minister Mulroneys long silence following the outbreak of hostilities at Oka Que And when other leaders such as Mr Chretien or Ms McLaughlin to step in they were roundly criticized for alleged opportunism It s becoming very difficult for any leader to get a positive tion on anything When Ms McLaughlin for stance delivered food to the Mohawks at Oka she was largely ignored by the media When one guest columnist former secretory Gerald Caplan wrote about her daring expedition another columnist who was on the scene was quick off the mark with a searing critique of the incident Look at her heavenly calm Look at her peaceful visage Look at her looking over her shoulder to see if thecameras are rolling He concluded by saying the media should be happy to display her picture It s the least we can do for one who teaches us so much about the fine art of hypocrisy Hardly a public relation dream And while it might be the most devastating single article written on the NDP leader she hasn t really been to many of the complimentary variety since assuming office nearly eight ths ago I On balance Mr might have got off to a better start but not by much It was just too weeks after his coronation that the headline over one national column said Don t give upon Chretien yet Now one could understand such advice a few years down the road but the word yet would just a bit premature since the guy party headquarters let alone get elected But it demonstrated some of the negative thinking that surrounded Mr Chretien s elevation to the Liberal throne There was a tain lackadaisical inevitability about his victory that smothered any sense of excitement Within days one could read about him be ing a caretaker until a more accep table leader Ontario Premier David Peterson has been frequent ly mentioned could be groomed for the job Mr Chretiens plummeting popularity in Quebec has been the subject of daily analysis since his election And his visit to the Oka Indians while treated more kindly than that of Ms McLaughlin was nonetheless widely interpreted as equally opportunistic As for the prime minister its not necessary to detail the tidal waves that have engulfed him from his rhetonc on to his disappearance on Oka His record breaking unpopularity continues unabated Its safe to say that all three par ties have divisions In caucus over leadership some more apparent than others Tory divisions are kept under control merely by en joying the fruits of power Liberal divisions are less obvious because of the letsgivehim achance syn drome and NDP divisions while deeper and more apparent are still affected to a lesser degree by a similar syndrome But the unhappiness is there as in the rest of the country When histonans write about and the summer of discontent in Canada they might well begin with a look at all three political leaders Write us a letter The Herald to from you If you have an opinion you want to express or a comment to make send us a letter or drop by the office Our address is Guelph St Georgetown All letters must be signed Please include your address and telephone number for venficalon The Herald reserves he right lb edit letters due to space limitation or libel