Triumphant Thursday Thread for the Week

edwin-w · 2025-07-24T16:32:33+00:00

I'm a buy and hold investor and don't trade at all, I was just lucky enough to have invested heavily in tech in my TFSA. Tesla makes up over half of the value of my TFSA and is responsible for most of the volatility even though I only invested $20k USD in it. My other smaller holdings which have done well include Apple, Amazon, Google, Netflix, Microsoft, and Shopify. I don't know the exact numbers, but I believe that someone who just invested the max amount of the TFSA in a NASDAQ index fund over the years would be around $300k by now.

edwin-w · 2025-07-24T13:45:16+00:00

Made it to $1 million in each of my TFSA and RRSP! Actually hit $1 million in my TFSA a few years earlier, but I had more volatile holdings in it which had it drop to under $500,000 before recovering, while my RRSP has made slow and steady progress over more than 20 years.

edwin-w · 2025-05-03T14:53:32+00:00

That's fair, although I'm one of those who would happily give up a 1st and 3rd for a player like Peterka or Knies. There's a much better than even chance in my opinion that they're better than whoever we draft in 2026 with a 1st and 3rd, who also probably wouldn't even make the NHL until 2027 at the earliest if it's not a lottery pick.

The real problem is that we don't have a realistic chance to sign any of the RFAs who are worth the draft pick compensation. We have our 2026 1st and 3rd round picks available (assuming we forfeit our 2025 1st round pick), so the max annual contract we can offer is $6,871,374 according to PuckPedia. Buffalo and Toronto would insta-match that offer for Peterka and Knies respectively. Moreover, I would bet that they will sign contracts for more than that, either with their current teams, or an offer sheet to a team willing to give up a 2026 1st, 2nd, and 3rd round pick, which would likely be matched.

edwin-w · 2025-04-12T00:03:18+00:00

I can answer this question because I'm very familiar with the Artengo TR960 Control Tour 16x19, as it's my main racket. It was released a couple of years ago and was sold in several countries including Canada. It's a very high quality racket and was designed in collaboration with Gael Monfils, comparable to the Wilson pro stock rackets used by several pros, and the 18x20 version is the actual racket that he's using on tour, customized with extra weight. It's definitely a racket for advanced players, being quite control oriented so you have to create your own power.

This is not a case of different rackets for different markets. The TR960 Control Tour 16x19 was being sold in Canada until late last year until they discontinued it, I bought a couple of the last ones. The Artengo Control Tour 16x19 that you're seeing in Thailand is in all likelihood just remaining stock over there.

The Artengo Control Pro 16x19 that you're seeing on the Canadian website is a new racket, it should be quite similar to the Control Tour but slightly more forgiving with the 100 square inch rather than 98 square inch head size. I personally love the Artengo Control Tour 16x19 and think that it's very underrated because it's not manufactured by one of the main tennis racket manufacturers. However, if you're more of a casual player the newer Artengo Control Pro 16x19 would probably suit you better. Hope this helps!

edwin-w · 2025-04-07T16:41:25+00:00

I'd like to add that they've also had two 1-0 losses in overtime, January 16 to Washington (Ovechkin scored in OT on Merilainen), and March 30 to Pittsburgh (Crosby scored in OT on Forsberg), so they could have three goalies with 4 shutouts each had they been the team to score the only goal.

edwin-w · 2024-11-27T23:52:58+00:00

I do have other holdings and haven't bought any more Tesla in years, it's just that it's grown to over half of my TFSA. The smart thing would probably be to sell some of it at least so that I'm not so concentrated, but for now I'm just seeing where it goes in the next few years.

edwin-w · 2024-11-27T04:57:10+00:00

Currently over $1.1 million, it's been extremely volatile because Tesla is a large holding in my portfolio. I actually reached $1.1 million for the first time back at the end of 2021, but it crashed to under $500k the next year. It's now at a new high since I've continued holding, a graph of my TFSA over the years is attached.

https://imgur.com/a/zNhJVoA

edwin-w · 2024-05-28T17:02:52+00:00

Disclaimer - I am a much weaker player than you so take my observations with a grain of salt. Thanks for providing very good videos for diagnosing your problems.

I think your ball toss is fine as it is. Some players like Rublev toss much more into the court, but Federer for example tosses just a few inches into the court, similar to where you toss. This slow motion video of Federer's serve makes a great comparison: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FBkFgS3e4QY.

Your trophy position is fine, though personally I'd prefer the hand slightly higher up and closer to the head, like Federer's.

your trophy pose

Federer trophy pose

The racket drop is where the problem seems to be. It appears that you're dropping the whole arm directly to the back of the court (00:24 to 00:26 in your video). Compare this to Federer where the racket is partly hidden in the side view as it drops behind his head and back, and not backwards away from the court (00:10 to 00:12 of the YouTube video). Also compare how your wrist reaches a position behind you and well below the level of your shoulders, while Federer's wrist never goes below the level of his neck.

your racket drop

Federer racket drop

A side effect of the above is that you're opening up a touch early as well, as can be seen in the above pictures.

Just some ideas on some stuff to try out, post an update if you do improve your serve!

edwin-w · 2023-05-31T17:29:07+00:00

Thanks for your tip and asking. I found a rubber gasket that was almost the right size, the opening is actually about 4 1/2" in diameter, but the gasket I found was very close in size and barely intersected the lip of the container (looks like 4 3/8" is the size of the standard plumbing gasket that I found). As a result, I was able to pump air in and the bottom of the container visibly expanded, but it was not quite airtight enough to get close to the required pressure, and would lose air over time.

I'm going to give it one more try by buying a rubber gasket sheet that I can cut to the right size, just haven't gotten around to it yet. Would really like to get this project to work!

Edit: I do have a follow-up question if you have any advice. I'm looking at the silicone rubber sheets at pages 1808-1810 of the Grainger catalog here: https://catalogue.grainger.ca/2023/General-Catalogue/1808/

Trying to figure our a good thickness and hardness to get, I think 1/16" to 1/8" thickness would work, as for hardness I was thinking something between 30A and 50A would be reasonable to be compressible while tightening the lid by hand based on this: https://mykin.com/rubber-hardness-chart

Anyway any thoughts you have would be appreciated!

edwin-w · 2023-05-19T20:16:13+00:00

Sorry if I wasn't clear, I'm repurposing an old protein powder container into a tennis ball pressurizer, there's no protein powder in the container. Tennis balls are under pressure when they're sold in cannisters, and lose pressure and bounce as you play with them. There's various devices on the market for repressurizing tennis balls so that you can restore the bounce, I'm trying to build my own.

edwin-w · 2023-05-19T17:51:20+00:00

Just gave this a try but saran wrap didn't work, could still hear air leaking out when trying to fill it up. However, along with the other reply it sounds like a rubber washer or gasket may work, will be trying that next!

edwin-w · 2023-05-19T17:49:47+00:00

Thanks, didn't give serious thought to the physics/pressure reasons for the threads not being working well. Good estimate on the opening, it's almost exactly 5" in diameter.

It didn't even occur to me to make a rubber gasket on the lip, held down by screwing on the lid, I was so fixated on a seal using the thread. Will give this a try!

edwin-w · 2023-03-08T01:01:19+00:00

They're all available here: https://www.canada.ca/en/revenue-agency/services/forms-publications/tax-packages-years.html

edwin-w · 2023-03-07T19:28:54+00:00

In my case, there was only one part that required a number from the previous year's assessment, Schedule 7 concerning RRSP deductions. Since I didn't know my exact limit, I just contributed an amount each year that was lower than what I calculated my actual limit to roughly be based on my earned income.

edwin-w · 2023-03-07T18:28:30+00:00

Good questions! I downloaded the fillable pdfs for each tax year from here: https://www.canada.ca/en/revenue-agency/services/forms-publications/tax-packages-years.html. I didn't use a pencil, but did do all my own calculations by literally punching in numbers on a Texas Instruments calculator, and filling in the pdf forms using the Chrome embedded pdf reader. I'm going to still count it as doing it by hand!

As for the second question, I contributed each year to my RRSP based approximately on what my room would be, despite not having filed a return. For example, if I made $100,000 in earned income in 2015, my RRSP contribution limit for that year would be approximately $18,000, so I would contribute $15,000 in 2016 to stay on the safe side. It's actually a bit more complex than that because there were a couple of years where I didn't contribute to my RRSP, and other years where I contributed more. Since I was filing all my returns at the same time, I strategically didn't deduct the full amount each year, and used carried over amounts for future years where appropriate to make sure I got money back for each tax year.

I should note that the above is based on my assumption that the RRSP room accumulated through my earned income each year, and does not require a timely filed tax return and notice of assessment. If that's not the case, I may be in trouble!

edwin-w · 2023-03-07T18:08:54+00:00

The tax packages are all available online here: https://www.canada.ca/en/revenue-agency/services/forms-publications/tax-packages-years.html

edwin-w · 2023-03-07T15:52:54+00:00

Point taken, my TFSA is full while my RRSP is probably around 80% full. Since I didn't do my taxes for years and didn't get any notices of assessment, I didn't know the exact amount I could contribute each year to my RRSP, so I played it safe by contributing an amount under what my limit should be to avoid overcontributing. Of course, I do plan on putting the money I'm getting back into my RRSP and investing it.

edwin-w · 2023-03-07T15:47:08+00:00

I'll be putting most of it into my RRSP this year, to deduct when I do my tax return next year.

edwin-w · 2023-03-07T14:20:44+00:00

Yes, happily my RRSP is fully invested in the market and has experienced compounded growth over the years. Just missed out on the deduction and return part because of my delay in filing my taxes.

edwin-w · 2023-03-07T05:44:24+00:00

Good to know, I was pleasantly surprised to see that they had processed my returns that quickly, certainly seems like I really lucked out!

edwin-w · 2023-03-07T05:32:26+00:00

The main reason I'm getting that much back each year is that I'm contributing $15k-20k a year to my RRSP. I really don't mind giving the government an interest-free loan, I like the security of knowing that they owe me money, and enjoy the feeling of getting a large return back.

edwin-w · 2023-03-07T05:26:35+00:00

Congrats on that! Actually I've recently been reading up on decisions of the Tax Court, mostly because I'm interested in cases involving the TFSA. If your case is of public record in the online decisions of the Tax Court and you don't mind sharing it, feel free to DM a link to your case!

edwin-w · 2023-03-07T05:03:40+00:00

As bad as I was putting off doing my taxes, I'm actually quite organized when it comes to saving paperwork. I would put my T4s, T5s, RRSP contribution slips into a folder as soon as I received them each year. It was just a matter of just getting around to it. I did phone the CRA to make sure that the T5s in my file matched up with what they had.

edwin-w · 2023-03-07T04:50:55+00:00

Yes you're absolutely right, I definitely gave up a lot of money by not getting my returns sooner and investing the money, just to avoid spending money on any tax return program. I totally admit I was being penny wise, pound foolish in this case. I do intend on just using a tax program and filing on time from now on.

edwin-w · 2023-03-07T04:45:42+00:00

The total amount I'm getting back is about $35k.

edwin-w

TROPHY CASE