Market Update – August 27, 2008

The S&P/TSX composite traded higher today, up 231.58 points at 13,530.65, as oil prices continued to rise on worries that Tropical Storm Gustav may disrupt oil and gas operations in the Gulf of Mexico while CIBC reported a huge drop in profit from a year ago.
 
CIBC reported that net income fell to $71 million for [...]

Market Wrap Up – August 25, 2008

The S&P/TSX composite traded lower today, down 158.33 points at 13,288.96, pulled down by mining and financial stocks while Maple Leaf Foods continued to tumble amid a recall of meat products linked to a food poisoning outbreak. Maple Leaf Foods Inc. said on Sunday it expects a direct cost of about $20 million from a [...]

Market Wrap-Up August 21, 2008

The S&P/TSX composite traded higher this afternoon, up 189.08 points to 13,539.22, as crude oil prices continued to gain while investors also took in news of higher inflation in July. In corporate news, Nortel Networks Corp. shares rose 9 cents to $6.42 after it said it has acquired DiamondWare, whose technology has been deployed in [...]

Are You a Sub-Prime Lender?

We have been seeing the turmoil in the US housing market takes its toll on stock markets around the world as banks around the world keep writing down more and more of their mortgage backed securities that dont seem to have buyers regardless of the offering price.
I decided to look at the Canadian market and [...]

Christmas Comes Early For Business Income Trusts

Private equity firms came out of the woodwork today with two takeover offers bringing the number of buyouts to three this month as the income trust sector shrinks until its ultimate demise in 2011. Most business trusts closed with positive numbers today on these announcements.
Sleep Country (Z.UN) closed up $5.83 or 36.3% to $21.88 after [...]

Lifecycle Funds…Why You Should Consider Them

Saving for retirement is something most people think about very regularly. You are doing it on your own or using a financial advisor or planner. Every time you sell something, you sit in cash analyzing what to buy next. When a stock goes up, you agonize about when to sell. When a stock goes down, [...]

Oil….Buy The Stocks, Skip The Crude

As the markets close, oil stocks are rebounding nicely from yesterdays close. Encana is up 3.5%, Canadian Natural Resources is up almost 6%, Petro-Canada up 1.75%, Talisman up 3.25% and Suncor up 3.5%. The TSX came close to wiping out yesterdays losses up 1.6% on the day.
Interesting that these stocks are up on a day [...]

The Case For Global Diversification

Up until the beginning of July, the Canadian market was the best performing market in the world and the only one with positive returns. Many clients wondered why we had recommended International holdings which were down 20+ percent year over year.
After all, experts predicted oil was going to $200/barrel and gold and other base metals [...]