Oh Canada! Why You Shouldn't Have Been Hosed in the Income Trust Fiasco

Roger Nusbaum submits: In case you missed it, Canada is going to change the tax laws for its income trusts. I don't have any exposure to these, but this is going to leave a mark. Telus (TU) and BCE (BCE) are both phone companies that were in process of converting to trusts and each one is down double digits today.

One energy trust I know of, Pengrowth (PGH), is down 10% on the news.

Although it has been a while, I had some comments from readers who had loaded the boat on these types of trusts. As you might expect I urged moderation. Since I don't own any of these, I am not an expert -- I am not sure if they will bounce back or not but a moderate 5% exposure simply would have made for a bad day, and really not even that bad. A 25% exposure, which some folks have, could mean being set back for several months.

There are certain themes and vehicles that I am so bullish on it is humorous, but regardless of that bullishness I never go hog wild. This story today is simply an anecdote in support of the point.

Related: Tax-Free Ride Ends for Canadian Trusts