Welcome to the Globe and Mail Personal Finance Reader. I’m Rob Carrick, personal finance columnist at The Globe, and each week I compile a list of articles, blog postings, videos and websites that represent the best of what the online world has to offer on money-related subjects.

“To conserve and protect.” This slight modification of the Toronto police force motto nicely sums up the apparent mindset of the investing masses right now. Billions sit in money market funds and savings accounts, and in the mutual fund and exchange-traded fund worlds, bond funds are hot sellers. This edition of the Reader is devoted to you bond and GIC buyers out there.

Do not disparage bonds and GICs as wimp investments. To varying degrees, they belong in pretty much all accounts. One of my favourite purchases of the past year or so was a five-year, 5.15-per-cent GIC I bought for my boys’ registered education savings plan. I’ve also purchased a few different bonds, but they’re of the corporate variety and not as safe as the government bonds that stood tall last year while all else plunged.

Other topics address in the Reader this time around include some of the latest views on where the markets are headed – watch out for the guy who says 2008 was just a warm-up – and a look at how the H1N1 virus might affect the markets. And from our frugal files comes a blog posting on how busy people can save on takeout food by using a crockpot or slow cooker.

Found something on the Internet that your fellow investors might enjoy? Talk to me.

From The Globe and Mail and Globe Investor

Real Estate

Is a condo a good investment? Plus: Five tips on doing your research.

Online Trading

The 11th annual online broker survey: Independent Qtrade retains the crown for the fourth consecutive year, showing Bay Street that the little outfit from out west can be the best

Building Blocks

In this video, BMO's Sara Plant talks about why it is essential for parents to choose a guardian for their children. This article also explores why estate planning is vital for parents.

Tax Matters

Keep tax savings all in the family: Income splitting, the home renovation and child fitness tax credits are things to consider for year-end tax-planning, says Tim Cestnick

Home Cents

Chaya Cooperberg gives us tips on finding gold and gearing up for winter.

Must Reads From Around the Web

One of the most important decisions people make as investors is how much of their portfolio to allocate to bonds and stocks. Here are some thoughts on how to go about this.

Bank of Montreal recently added to its lineup of exchange-traded funds with several new products that focus on bonds. Are bond ETFs a better bet than holding actual bonds? The Michael James on Money blog suggests the answer is no.

Looking for a good, all-purpose bond fund for your portfolio? The analysts at the independent research firm Morningstar Canada have recently added an ETF called the iShares CDN Bond Index Fund (XBB-T) to their “Analyst Picks” list.

High-yield bonds – lower quality bonds that are sometimes called junk bonds – have rebounded stupendously from their bear market lows. Are things getting overheated? This Business Week article suggests the answer is yes.

Here’s a comparatively bullish view on junk bonds from a veteran U.S. money manager.

Canadians now have their very own exchange-traded fund (ETF) that focuses on junk bonds – the BMO High Yield US Corporate Bond Hedged to CAD Index ETF. Here’s a link to some info.

Finally, here’s a primer on bonds from the Investor Education Fund, a non-profit offshoot of the Ontario Securities Commission.

Can Markets Catch The Flu?

The Canadian Financial DIY blog looks at the question of what impact a serious flu pandemic would have on markets, and whether people should take any actions in their portfolio. My take: do not single out the flu as something on which to change your investment plans. The chances of making the wrong move are high.

Bubble Trouble

Jim Rogers, the bowtie-wearing billionaire commodities bull, took on Nouriel Roubini, the bearish economist who called the global financial crisis, this week. Their point of disagreement: whether rising stock markets and commodity prices represent another bubble.

For more on the Rogers view of commodities, the U.S. dollar and other topics, take a look at this Financial Times video interview.

Here’s an interview by CNBC host Maria Bartiromo of uber-bear Bob Prechter, who uses the arcane Elliot wave principle to forecasts markets. Prechter says – gulp – that the 2008 crash was just a warm-up.

Stock Picker’s Market

John De Goey is a truth-telling investment adviser who is fearless in highlighting the shortcomings of the business he works in. Here, he casts a critical eye on the financial industry’s periodic use of the phrase “it’s a stock picker’s market” to promote its products.

Got The Time?

I only read Time when trapped for lengthy periods in a doctor’s waiting room or an airport, but the magazine’s website well worth a visit now and then thanks to its lists of the best and worst stuff. Check out this list of the 25 best blogs. Included are several that might be of interest to Reader readers, including Lifehacker and Freakonomics.

What A Crock

The theme of frugality in these uncertain times persists in the personal finance corner of the blogosphere. Here, we have the Squawkfox blog on the benefits of using crockpots and slow cookers, which are billed as a convenient and cheap alternative to takeout food. It’s nowhere mentioned that pizza tastes better than anything that ever came out of a slow cooker, and all you do to clean it up is toss the box in the recycling bin.