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st tribune april 30 1997 p 9 i cemetery vandalism trial delayed to may 30 the trial for two of three youths arrested for vandalizing the stouf- fville cemetery has been delayed until the end of may last week a newmarket judge told the pair to report to his court on may 30 to answer vandalism charges two months ago a third youth was placed on probation and ordered him to pay restitution on one charge the stouffville youths all males were 16 years old at the time of their arrest at the end of september 1995 the trio was charged three weeks after police responded to a call to the local ceme tery there they found 42 headstones had been toppled and broken also flowers were trampled and beer bottles strewn about under the young offenders act the youths cannot be identified a i call us with your news tips 6402100 tsori scftooc ns proud to extend an invitation to our opening ceremony where 1 67 main sm when saturday il time 1030 dink ages 212 grade i telephonef8526377 a volatile market what are the risks many of the worlds markets have been enjoying extended periods of dynamic growth including canada the us and hong kong the longer they continue to charge forward the more investors worry about when it will end although this fear is usually most prominent in the wake of recordsetting gains risk in one form or other is an inherent part of all investments all the time heres a quick primer on what the major risks are and what you can do to protect your investments market risk this type of risk also known as volatility refers to the odds that an investments value will change as a result of swings in the market this is the risk factor that investors fear the most although it is probably not the most significant threat to their longterm financial wellbeing markets move up and down all the time and in most cases it doesnt create negative longterm implications why not consider this the price of the average stock on the new york stock exchange fluctuates 50 each year and when these stocks are grouped together on an index or in a mutual fund investors start to fret for example most of us remember the socalled crash of 1987 in canada the value of the toronto stock exchange 300 fell 31 between august and october but what you may not remember is that the index still posted a gain of almost 6 over the year in 1994 the markets experienced what some analysts have called a stealth correction because no one noticed in january of that year the dow fell by 10 on three separate occasions but each time it managed to bounce back up again before the end of the trading day the moral of the story is dont panic during volatile markets what you can do set lip a regular investment plan over time this can reduce the effect of market fluctuations and help lower the overall cost of building your portfolio maintain a well- diversified portfolio across asset classes and international markets remember that lower prices usually indicate a buying opportunity not a signal to sell because when the markets do correct youve only suffered a loss if you sold in the downturn interest rate risk although it may seem illogical at first when interest rates go up the value of bond and mortgage funds tends to go down when rates fall these investments tend to increase in value interest rate risk also affects investments like guaranteed investment certificates gics during a lengthy period of lower rates like were seeing now these investments do not provide the returns that investors may be counting on what you can do stagger the maturity dates of your gics so that they dont all renew at the same time invest in your fixedincome funds on a regular basis to smooth out the bumps caused by changing interest rates maintain a portion of your portfolio in equities currency risk with your international investments currency risk is the chance that the value of the canadian dollar will change against the foreign currencies in your portfolio when buying international securities a fund manager converts canadian dollars into that countrys currency the cash is converted back into canadian dollars when the investment is sold if the value of our dollar has gone down against the foreign currency the foreign cash will purchase more canadian dollars and the funds returns go up if our dollar has gone up the foreign cash buys fewer canadian dollars and the funds returns go down what you can do diversify your international holdings over several countries to reduce your exposure to any one currency again invest regularly to even out currency changes if you are a very conservative and cautious investor keep your international holdings to a minimum inflation risk this is probably the most serious threat to your longterm financial security it is particularly onerous for those approaching or in retirement inflation which is measured by the consumer price index reduces your purchasing power it can quiet literally take money out of your pocket if inflation averages 4 over the next 20 years an item costing 10 today will cost almost 22 in 20 years the irony of inflation risk is that the investments most vulnerable to inflation risk are those that appear to be the most secure including gics money market funds and other fixedinterest securities if you buy a gic paying 6 and inflation averages 3 your real rate of return is a miserly 3 what you can do maintain a diversified portfolio that includes at least some growthoriented investments even if you are retired if you are very cautious consider dividendpaying stocks and mutual funds to offset inflation if you are moderatly aggressive increase your equity holdings and consider equities from more than one sector and spread those investments out over a number of different countries if you are comfortable with more volatility you could add gold or real estate to your equity mix through mutual funds that specialize in this sector downtoearth financial management urtermsy money concepts signy lawson mba 6132 main st stouftville 6424540 carol clements