2021

CWB RATE RESET PREFERRED SHARES UPDATED
The Canadian Western Bank rate reset shares CWB.PR.B is updated and rated Sell at $24.72. And the higher yielding CWB.PR.D is rated Weak Sell / Hold at $26.74.
Rate reset preferred shares are meant to be better...

Markets were modestly weak on this second last trading day of the year. The S&P 500 was down 0.3% and Toronto was down 0.2%.
There were no particularly notable individual moves among the stocks I follow.  
 
...

The S&P 500 edged up 0.1% on Wednesday. Toronto played catch-up and was up 0.5%.
West Fraser Timber was up 5.15%.
 
...

On Tuesday, the S&P 500 was about unchanged with just a 0.1% decline. And Toronto was totally unchanged since it was still closed.
Hopefully, Toronto will be higher on Wednesday as it catches up to the two days off and to Monday's big gain on the...

On Monday, the United States was back to work and the S&P 500 rose 1.4% to a new high just a hair short of reaching 4,800. Compare that to the 666 it touched at the low point in 2009! The S&P 500 is up 28% this year.
It's crazy really. So far...

On Friday, U.S. markets were closed in lieu of Christmas. Toronto was open for a shorted day and rose a modest 0.05%.
New York markets will be open tomorrow Monday while Canada slumbers for two more days. I will likely buy some Toll Brothers shares t...

Toll Brothers is updated and rated Strong Buy at 70.48. I was going to be conservative and rate is a bit lower at (higher) Buy given its volatile history. But it's trading a t 10 times earnings and the company forecasts a 50% gain in earnings in the ...

American Express is updated and rated (lower) Buy at $165. It's a solid company. Far smaller than VISA or Mastercard and it operates differently. It will likely continue to grow. A good long-term investment.
...

Thursday was another positive day on the markets. The S&P 500 was up 0.6% and set a new high. Toronto was up 0.7%.
Shopify surged 3.6%. 
Couch Tard and Linamar were each up 2.1%.
2021 is set to go into the record books as a banner year for invest...

Markets were positive once again on Wednesday. The S&P 500 was up 1.0% and Toronto was up 0.7%.
There still seems to be more optimism than fear in the markets despite Omicron and possible higher interest rates.
AutoCanada and Toll Brothers were e...

Tuesday was the shortest and therefore on average the darkest day of the year but on the markets it was a bright day as the S&P 500 roared up 1.8% and Toronto outdid itself with a 1.9% gain.
One reason may have been that some life was apparently ...

Markets ended the day Monday with the S&P 500 down 1.1% and Toronto down 1.0%.
Accordingly, most stocks on our list were down.  CN Rail was down 5.9% due to the general market decline as well as specifically due to an announcement that once candi...

Markets are down this morning (S&P 500 down 1.7% and Toronto down 1.3%)
This is not exactly a shock given Omicron and probable higher interest rates and also given the fact that President Biden's planned fiscal stimulus bill has apparently died w...

On Friday, the S&P 500 was down 1.0% while Toronto was unchanged.
Starbucks was down 4.4%.
AutoCanada was up 8.8% after announcing an aggressive looking share buyback program.
FedEx was up 5.0% on a good earnings report.
Over the weekend the Omic...

Shopify is updated and rated Speculative Sell at U.S $1323 or Canadian $1705. I hesitated to rate this a Sell given the extremely high quality of the company and its growth and the fact that buying it at what appeared to be elevated valuations in the...

Yet another interesting day in the markets. Markets started the day with a noticeable gain but in the end the S&P 500 was down 0.9% and Toronto was down 0.1%.
It's interesting to note that will all the projections of central bank interest rate in...

Markets started out hot with another gain this morning but have now cooled with the S&P 500 down 0.4%.
I will post the update for grocer Metro Inc today. It's a (lower) Buy or Buy. Not an overly exciting company but should continue to be a steady...

Markets surged higher on Wednesday and the FED Chair indicated that while the Fed would stop purchasing bonds by mid March, they would not raise interest rates until some time after that. He also indicated that there would be no sudden moves. Things ...

On Tuesday the S&P 500 was down 0.75% and Toronto was down 0.5%. Markets had been down more than that earlier in the day but rallied somewhat.
Shopify was down 2.9%.
Toll Brothers was down 2.7%.
The Producer Price Index in the United Sates was up...

Markets were down on Monday with the S&P 500 falling 0.9% and Toronto down 0.5%.
Accordingly, most stocks were down.
Interest rates were also down despite all the predictions of higher interest rates and all the news of high inflation. 
In the U....

Costco is updated and rated Sell at $559. It's a fantastic company and will will continue to grow its earnings at a strong rate for the foreseeable future. But the P/E ratio at 47 is, I believe, its highest ever. And this comes at a time when its ear...

Ceapro Inc. Report is updated and rated Speculative Buy at $0.54. This is a risky penny stock.  In retrospect it is regrettable that I ever happened to look at it and add it to the site back in 2017. But it is profitable and I will continue to update...

On Friday, the S&P 500 was up 0.95% setting a new record closing high while Toronto was down 0.2%.
Costco was up a hefty 6.6% to a new closing high of $559. This came after its Q1 fiscal 2022 earnings beat expectations although apparently revenue...

On Thursday the S&P 500 and Toronto were each down 0.7%. There were not particularly notable moves in the individual stocks on my list.
This Friday morning the S&P 500 is currently up 0.6% and Toronto is about unchanged.
Costco reported stron...

Markets were mixed on Wednesday as the S&P 500 rose 0.3% while Toronto fell 0.4%.
WSP Global was down 3.0%.
Couche-Tard was up 3.7% to $51.50 and the old ATD.A and ATD.B shares have been consolidated and now trade as ATD. Today was the first day ...

Markets moved higher on Tuesday as the S&P 500 rose a hefty 2.1% and Toronto rose 1.45%.
Shopify was up 5.5%.
TFI International was up 4.2%.
AutoCanada was up 3.5%.
After the close, Toll Brothers reported its fiscal Q4 results and which appeared ...

Markets bounced higher on Monday as concern about the Omicron variant ebbed somewhat.  The S&P 500 was up 1.2% and Toronto was up 1.1%.
Toll Brothers was notable with a 3.8% gain.
I noticed that ChemTrade logistics Income Fund  is out with a 6.25...

On Friday, the markets were moderately down as the S&P 500 fell 0.8% and Toronto was down 0.6%.
Canadian Western Bank was down 4.4% after releasing Q4 earnings that were positive but fell short of expectations. This bank trades at not much over b...

The report for AutoCanada Inc. is updated and rated *higher) Buy at $33.92.
...

Markets bounced up today as they continue to oscillate on changing views of how serious the Omicron variant is as a threat to markets. And as the market digests comments from the FED chair.
The S&P 500 was up 1.4% and Toronto was up 1.45%.
Toll B...

Markets were initially higher on Wednesday but then turned around to close lower on virus fears as Omicron was found in the U.S.A.
The S&P 500 was down 1.2% and Toronto was down 0.95%. As of this evening futures markets suggest that the markets w...

On Tuesday, markets focused on remarks by the FED chair that he now appears to view inflation as not being so transient and therefore indicates he wants to taper and end bond buying somewhat sooner. The Omicron virus also weighed on markets.
The S&am...

On Monday, the markets basically voted that the Omicron virus is not a big threat to North American stock prices.
The S&P 500 was up 1.3%  while Toronto was only up 0.1%.
Enbridge was only down 2.1% after getting an unfavorable regulatory ruling ...

As most everyone will have heard, markets were down noticeable on Friday in reaction to fears about the new virus variant, now named Omicron.
Almost all stocks were down. American Express was hard hit with an 8.6%drop. Amex is more travel oriented th...

The report on Canadian Tire is updated and rated Strong Buy at $170. The stock had soared after stellar sales and earnings growth in Q2 but has now fallen because Q3 sales growth was somewhat disappointing and earning per share were down versus the p...

On Thursday, the U.S. markets were closed for Thanksgiving. Toronto was up 0.3%.
Futures markets indicate a lower opening for stocks on Friday morning.
I expect to have an update for Canadian Tire by Sunday. 
I spoke today to the Investor Relations p...

The recent issue with this web site not loading due to a security certificate issue has been fixed. More about that below.
On Wednesday the S&P 500 was up 0.2% and Toronto was up 0.4%.
Couche-Tard was down 4.6% after releasing earnings.
Costco wa...

November 23, 2021
The investorsfriend.com web site is down. This is due to the expiration of a security certificate. The new certificate may take a few days to get installed. Meanwhile, I will send a daily comment by email. The install of the new cer...

The investorsfriend.com web site is down. This is due to the expiration of a security certificate. The new certificate may take a few days to get installed. Meanwhile, I will send a daily comment by email. I've renewed the certificate for 5 years and...

U.S markets are higher this morning on news that President Biden has chosen Jerome Powell to remain as FED chair for another term. This brings stability. This decision still has to go through congress however. (A colossal waste of time as it seems su...

Markets were weaker on Friday as the S&P 500 was down 0.1 and Toronto was down 0.4%. The DOW which is often more volatile was down 0.75%.
Penny stock RIWI was down another 6% to $1.36 and continues it volatile ways. Hopefully now near the bottom ...

Markets are a bit weak this morning reportedly on concerns of the virus situation in Europe.
Meanwhile Cost is up again now to $535. It seems to have no top. As always expensive but a powerhouse.
Shopify is also up again.
Oil is down about 3%.
...

Posting this week from Palm Springs, California...
On Wednesday, the S&P 500 and Toronto were each down 0.3%.
Visa ended the day down 4.7% for the reason I mentioned this morning.
TD had yet another convertible debenture offering today this time ...

The report on VISA Inc. is updated and rated Weak Buy / Hold at $203. This is a cautious rating and I would have rated it somewhat higher except for the news that Amazon is battling it over fees and will stop accepting U.K Visa cards as of January 22...

I wanted to mention an internet scam to watch out for. I got a fake notice that my MicroSoft365 password needed to be updated. It sounded plausible and they said I could update or use the same password and asked me to enter my password. I almost did ...

On Monday the S&P 500 was unchanged and Toronto was down 0.4%. 
Restaurant Brands was up 1.9% after announcing a planned acquisition.
The Boston Pizza Royalty units were up 3.3%. 
Melcor Developments bounced up 4.4%. Given the low volume of this ...

TD Direct has just now (3:50 pm eastern) sent out an alert that NFI Group has a new issue of a 5 year convertible debenture at 5.0% as well as a stock issue. I have not yet seen if the reason is for an acquisition.This is the bus manufacturer, former...

On Friday, the markets returned to winning ways with the S&P 500 up 0.7% and Toronto up 0.9%.
Shopify was up a huge 11.8%.
Alcanna was up 15.6% after releasing Q3 earnings. That was surprising to me given that it has agreed to be sold to Sundial ...

On Thursday, we rightfully paused to remember. But the stock markets carried on. The S&P 500 was up 0.1% and Toronto was up 0.6%.
WSP Global was up 5.0% after reporting earnings. It never seems to put a foot wrong.
BHP was up 5.2%
Penny stock Cea...

Markets had a down day on Wednesday with the S&P 500 down 0.8% and Toronto down 0.6%
U.S inflation was reported this morning at 6.2% year-over-year. That was the highest level since 1990. This would be very serious if it continues. The market fin...

On Monday, U.S markets took a breather with the S&P 500 down 0.35% while Toronto was up 0.2%.
Toll Brothers was up 2.8%. Amazon was up 2.5%.
After the close, AutoCanada reported strong results.
RioCan also reported strong results.
Melcor Developm...

I notice that the province of Ontario is out with a new offer of a 10 year bond that pays 2.25%. That's not exactly exciting or attractive. $1000 compounded at 2.25% grows to $1280 in ten years.  But with inflation that might well purchase less (poss...

Markets rose once again on Monday with the S&P 500 edging up 0.1% and Toronto rising 0.5%.
FedEx was up 2.4%.
BHP Group was up 2.4% after announcing it has a deal to divest a metallurgical cola operation.
I'm starting some work on the valuation o...

Friday was yet another positive day for stocks with the S&P 500 index rising 0.4% and Toronto up 0.5%.
Enbridge was strong with a 3.0% gain. Starbucks was even better with a 4.2% gain.
VISA was up 3.8%, Toll Brothers gained 2.7%.
It's been very g...

Yes, stocks rose once again on this Thursday November 4th. The S&P 500 and Toronto were each up 0.4%.
Shopify was up 3.7%
TFI International was up 3.5%.
Costco was up another 2.65% to $516  after its strong same-store sales gain reported for Octo...

Wednesday was another strong day in the markets after the FED chair announced that the FED would be tapering its bond buying starting this month but left interest rates unchanged and after the market found his words to be soothing.
The S&P 500 wa...

On Tuesday, the S&P 500 was up 0.4% while Toronto was down 0.4%.
Cost took a peek at $500 today reaching $499.49 and closed at $497. I had an order in to sell some of what I held at $499 and so that got sold. Within a few days it will report Octo...

The Enbridge rate reset preferred share on our list ENB.PF.A is updated rated Weak Buy / Hold. At 4.8% the yield is reasonably attractive and it may benefit from rising interest rates. However , this particular rate reset share has a rather poor hist...

The report on Aecon Group Ltd is updated but rated only Weak Buy / Hold at $17.98. (The stock is a bit lower at $17.62 as I post this comment)
Aecon is an admirable company in that it constructs many of the most significant projects in Canada includi...

On Monday, stocks edged yet higher. The S&P 500 was up 0.2% while Toronto rose a full 1.0%.
Shopify rose 4.6%.
Starbucks was up 3.5%.
Couche-Tard was up 3.4%
Canadian Tire was up 2.1%. My impression is that Canadian Tire is doing very well with i...

This is a comment on Friday's markets plus some thoughts on convertible debentures.
Friday saw the S&P 500 up 0.2% but Toronto down 0.8%.
lulu lemon was up 5.1% after reporting earnings. This has been a wonderful Canadian success story. 
The big ...

(This post was drafted October 14 but failed to upload at that time)
On Thursday, the S&P 500 was up a hefty 1.7% and Toronto was up 1.0%.
(It seems I neglected to make my daily comment yesterday, my apologies.)
CN Rail was up 1.8% today.  Toll B...

Markets returned to winning ways on Thursday as the S&P 500 was up 1.0% and Tronto was up 1.2%.
But after the close, Amazon and Apple reported disappointing results which pushed their shares down in "after-hours" (= oxymoron) trading. The Canadia...

BHP the giant Australia-based mining company is updated and rates Speculative Strong Buy. The best way to buy it is to buy the BBL shares(technically American Depository Receipts)  in New York that (weirdly) give you two shares for each BBL at $54.52...

Wednesday was a rare down day for stocks. (That's not to say that down days will always be rare but they have been rare for the past 18 months.) The S&P 500 was down 0.5% and Toronto was down a full 1.0%.
This was an eventful day in the Canadian ...

Markets were "mixed" on Tuesday with the S&P 500 up 0.2% but Toronto down 0.5%.
Shopify was down 4.4%.
AutoCanada was down 3.85% and was down yesterday as well. It continues to be surprisingly volatile from day to day. 
Couche-Tard was down 2.6%....

So, let's see what markets did on Monday... They went up again. 2021 has seen the market rise seemingly about 9 days out of 10.
The S&P 500 was up another 0.5% and Toronto was up another 0.3%.
Costco was up $8.11. That's "only" a 1.8% gain but th...

Friday was a flat day on the markets as the S&P 500 was down just 0.1% and Toronto was about unchanged.
Costco was up another 1% to $482. Earlier today I saw it was at $484 and decided to sell what amounted to 1/6th of my shares. I still have a r...

Stocks managed another positive day on Thursday as the S&P 500 closed 0.3% higher and Toronto edged up 0.1%.
Stantec was up 9.4% after announcing a moderately large acquisition. It's a $500 million acquisition which is not huge compared to Stante...

Wednesday was yet anther strong day in the markets. The S&P 500 was up 0.4% and Toronto was up 0.5%.
It's easy to get complacent but I'd like to be prepared for any pull back with some cash on hand as well as an allocation to dixed income includi...

Tuesday saw the S&P 500 rise another 0.7%. Toronto was up 0.5% to 21,087 as it pushed over the 21,000 level for the first time. 
West Fraser Timber was down 3.4%. Possibly this was linked to lower home starts in the U.S. 
After the close, CN Rail...

It's very tough to get a good rate on U.S. dollars for a vacation. 
For example most Canadian dollar credit cards will tack on around 1.5 cents as the bank's exchange fee and then add another 2.5% to that. For a total around 4.0%. And they will hide ...

TD Direct is out with an offering of a 6.0% non-convertible five year debenture from ECN Capital. 
I'd prefer a convertible debenture both for the potential upside and because it would trade. Strangely, in this case TD has it under the category "conv...

Stocks rose on Monday with the S&P 500 and Toronto each up 0.3%.
Costco was up 2.1% to $462. It's a fantastic company. It always seems expensive on a P?E basis and is even more expensive than usual at this time. I'm somewhat tempted to reduce my ...

Friday was a positive day in the markets with the S&P 500 up 0.75% and Toronto up 0.50%.
Amazon was notable with a 3.3% gain.
West Texas Oil is at U.S. $82.66
The Canadian dollar is at 80.9 cents or $1236 to buy a U.S. dollar at the wholesale rat...

On Tuesday the S&P 500 was down 0.2% while Toronto was up 0.1%.
West Fraser Timber was up 3.3%. This was prior to an announcement after the close that it will acquire a mill in the U.S. for $300 million.
The Boston Pizza Royalty units were up 9.9...

Canadian National Railway is updated as Weak Buy / Hold at $144.24. It is moderately expensive but is a high quality and stable company that has done very well over the years.  I added a little to my position this morning even though it does look som...

The report on CWB is updated and rated (higher) buy at $38.78. I was quite bullish on this one when it was last updated at $32.39 on March 31 and it has done well. Earnings have increased and so it is just as attractive now as it was then. I am tempt...

The analysis of Costco is updated and rated Weak Buy / hold. I would put emphasis on the Hold. It is a fantastic company but it is expensive at 40 times trailing earnings.  And after a long string of same-store earnings growth it could always experie...

Friday's action saw the S&P 500 finish down 0.2% and Toronto unchanged.
AutoCanada bounced down 3.0%
Linamar was up 2.6%. It is holding up very well in the face of the continuing chip shortages that are lowering auto production and that will like...

Yesterday I added Enbridge Inc. to the list with a rating of Buy at $50.70. That was my analysis price from Wednesday and in fairness I will note that it closed Friday at $51.59. 
I've been aware of Enbridge since about 1990 when it was a far smaller...

On Thursday markets were higher as fears of a sort of debt-ceiling crisis in the U.S. abated. (There was not a great deal of fear but some...)
The S&P 500 was up 0.8% and Toronto was up 1.1%.
Most stocks were higher. Shopify was notable with a 3....

Markets were volatile on Wednesday. There were down much of the day but rallied in the afternoon with the S&P 500 closing up 0.4% and Toronto closing just slightly up (less than 0.1% up) 
Oil exports to the U.S. from Canada are at record levels a...

A perpetual preferred share offering at 4.5%
At this moment TD Direct has on offer a new issue of Power Financial preferred shares paying 4.5% annually.  It's unfortunate that they do not label these as perpetual which is certainly what they appear t...

On Tuesday markets partially rebounded as the S&P 500 rose 1.05% and Toronto rose 0.65%.
FedEx was strong with a 2.9% gain.
There has been a number of new IPOs coming out on TD Direct which is probably indicative of continued strength in the mark...

Markets were somewhat weak on Monday as the S&P 500 was down 1.3% and Toronto down 0.5%.
West Texas Oil is at U.S. $78 and the Canadian dollar is at 79 cents U.S. I'm not sure if anyone (such as BNN Bloomberg) noticed that West Texas in Canadian ...

On Thursday, the S&P 500 was down 1.2% and Toronto was down 0.4%
It's possible that a somewhat persistent negative sentiment has come over the market as fears of interest rate increases grow.
Those with cash can consider nibbling on bargains but ...

On Wednesday markets were relatively flat as the S&P 500 rose 0.2% and Toronto was down 0.1%.
West Fraser Timber was up 3.6%.
Melcor is hanging on to its recent gains and was up another 0.5%.
The Enbridge rate reset preferred share on our list wa...

Tuesday's markets featured a 2.0% drop in the S&P 500 and a 1.4% drop in Toronto.
After all the gains this year, such a drop is not necessarily any big concern. It's possible a bigger decline will ensue but for the past 18 months it seems that ev...

On Monday, the S&P 500 was down 0.3% while Toronto as up 0.3%.
Oil is strong at U.S. $75.36. This bodes well for Alberta.
Perhaps not coincidentally, Canadian Western Bank was up 2.6%.
The oil and gas ETF XEG was up 3.0%. 
Melcor Developments was...

On Friday, the S&P 500 was uo 0.15% and Toronto was down 0.3%.
AutoCanada bounced down 4.1%.
Melcor was up 2.4% and has shown some recent strength.
Costco was up 3.3%.
...

U.S. markets were strong on Thursday as the S&P 500 was up 1.2%
Toronto was only up 0.3% despite oil gaining ground today.
American Express was up 3.5% although it apparently did not yet release earnings but will do so tomorrow morning. Visa was ...

On Wednesday, the S&P 500 was up 0.95% and Toronto was up 0.8%.
AutoCanada was up 6.3%. For the last six months it has had a number of dips and then recoveries. 
Melcor Developments was up 3.1%. But as is virtually always the case that was on a t...

On Tuesday the S&P 500 was down0.1% while Toronto was up 0.45%.
Alcanna was up 5.0%.
Couche-Tard bounced back up 2.3%.
TD Direct alerted me today to a new bond issue. A 10 year City of Montreal bond paying 2.0%. There is no way I would even think...

Markets were down noticeably on Monday. By most accounts it is just a healthy breather of sorts for the markets. It will not necessarily signal the start of a bigger decline. The S&P 500 was down 1.7% nd Toronto was down 1.6%.
Accordingly, almost...

On Friday the S&P 500 was down 0.9% and Toronto was down 0.5%.
CN Rail was up 2.4% after announcing some new plans to boost profits. They also indicated that they will actually come out ahead by about 600 million dollars in deal0break fees when t...

On Thursday, the S&P 500 was down 0.2% and Toronto was down 0.4%.
Alcanna was up 3.8%
Linamar was down 3.2%. It may continue to suffer due to the microchip shortage that is lowering vehicle production. But ultimately it remains a very good compan...

Wednesday's session saw the S&P 500 up 0.85% and Toronto up 0.7%.
Starbucks was down 3.55%.
Oil was higher and is at U.S $72.45 this evening.
Alberta is introducing a Vaccine Passport and a partial lockdown. Not good news for the restaurant and b...

On Tuesday the S&P 500 and Toronto were both down about 0.6%.
Melcor Developments was up 4.9%. But this was on thin volume and so is pretty meaningless. I look forward to seeing the housing start report for August which will be released tomorrow ...

On Monday, the S&P 500 and Toronto were each up 0.2%.
Readers may notice a couple of ads now appearing on this site.  I am not endorsing the products sold in the ads. I will see how this goes and if the ads are not causing harm I will leave them....

Alimentation Couche-Tard is updated and rated Buy at $49.85
It has a fantastic history and trades at an attractive price. There are some concerns regarding the eventual impact of electric vehicles and there is also a concern that profits could dip te...

Friday's session saw the S&P 500 down 0.8% and Toronto down 0.35%.
Apple was notable with a 3.3% decline.
Today (Sunday) Kansas City Southern announced that it now accepts and prefers Canadian Pacific's bid rather than CN's. Since CN shareholders...

Markets were modestly weaker on Thursday with the S&P 500 down 0.5% and Toronto down 0.2%.
lululemon was up 10.5% after reporting strong earnings.
Dollarama was down 3.1% after reporting a rare drop in same-store sales. This was blamed on lockdow...

As of mid-day Friday markets are about unchanged. Thursday they were down modestly.
Penny stock RIWI was up yesterday and is up another 12% today although on low volume of trading.
lululemon is up 11% today after releasing a strong earnings report.
Y...

On Tuesday the S&P 500 was down 0.3% and Toronto was down 0.1%.
There were no particularly big moves in the stocks on our list.
The CN Rail saga is rather perplexing. Last week they got the ostensibly BAD news that the regulator was not going to ...

On Monday markets were closed for the holiday.
On Friday, the S&P 500 was about unchanged and Toronto edged up 0.1%.
West Fraser Timber was up 3.6% to go back over $100.
As of Monday evening, markets appear set to open slightly higher on Tuesday ...

Thursday was yet another positive and record day in the markets. The S&P 500 was up 0.3% and Toronto was up 0.5%.
The Energy ETF, XEG was up 3.5% as oil touched $70.  This likely has room to keep going up. The opening of Enbridge's line 3 capacit...

I took a look at Andrew Peller's latest earnings release. The stock is down and so I thought it might look more attractive.
Also they just announced that they just sold a piece of land in B.C. for $9.0 million that had a book value of $1.3 million. T...

On Wednesday the S&P 500 was about unchanged adn Toronto was up 0.5%.
Dental Corporation (not on our list but which I have mentioned a few times) was up 5.0%. 
CN Rail was up another 3.8%.
TFI International was up 2.0%.
After the close, Costco re...

Our report on Ceapro Inc. is updated and continues to be rated Speculative Buy. Earnings are down in the first half of 2021 but this is due to increased spending on its Phase 1 (safety) trial of its Beta Glucan pills. The company is generating ample ...

On Tuesday, the S&P 500 and Toronto were each down about 0.1%.
CN Rail was a big story with a 7.4% gain. That's a lot when we are talking about a $100 billion in market value.
Initially the stock was up on news that a large investor had a 5% posi...

I was quite surprised to see that CN Rail gained today when the Surface Transportation Board rejected its proposal for a voting trust for Kansas City Southern. Given that gain and an earlier gain today I decided to sell my CN shares. Perhaps I am bei...

The report on RIWI is updated and rated Weak Sell / Hold.  The results of the past three quarters have been disappointing. Revenue growth has slowed but is still positive. Earnings have declined to near zero although the company explains that this is...

On Monday the S&P 500 was up 0.4% while Toronto as down 0.2%.
Canadian Western Bank was up 2.9%. 
Apple was up 3.0%.
Penny stock RIWI was down 5.1%. I will post an update for it tomorrow. The insider selling that I noted in the last update has co...

On Friday, the S&P 500 was up 0.9% and Toronto was up 0.7%.
West Fraser Timber was up 2.5%. Toll Brothers was up 2.1%.
As of Sunday evening, futures markets indicate that markets should open little changed on Monday morning.
Oil is holding onto t...

On Thursday, the S&P 500 was down 0.6% and Toronto was down 0.4%. The terrorist attack on the airport in Kabul as well as the potential outcome of a FED meeting at "Jackson Hole" were factors Weighing on the market.
Penny stock RIWI managed an 18...

On Wednesday, the S&P 500 and Toronto were each up 0.2%.
West Fraser Timber was up 3.3%.
Toll Brothers gained 4.3% on its strong earnings release.
The big banks have once again exceeded earnings expectations. I also expect Canadian Western Bank t...

On Tuesday, the S&P 500 was up 0.15% and Toronto was up 0.3%.
Toll Brothers was up 2.8%. Then, after the close, they released stellar earnings. Their gross margins in particular were the highest in quite some time. Much of this may have been expe...

WSP Global is updated and rated (lower) Sell at $162.67. A reasonable strategy might be to sell half.
WSP has grown by acquisitions from a relatively small Canadian engineering consulting company into a global giant still head quartered in Canada. It...

On Monday the S&P 500 was up 0.85% and Toronto was up 0.7%.
Oil was up about 5%.
Penny stock Ceapro was up almost 8% after announcing that a research institute in Boston would do some pre-clinical evaluations of Ceapro's products. No detail was p...

The report on Linamar is updated and rated (higher) Buy at $69.13. Over the last three quarters reported Linamar has staged a very strong profit recovery. Yet the stock price showed little reaction and even the gains it made earlier this year have no...

On Friday markets partly recovered losses of earlier in the week. The S&P 500 was up 0.8% and Toronto was up 0.6%.
Melcor Developments bounced up 7.8%. But this was on its usual tiny volume and comes after recent declines. Therefore I read nothin...

On Thursday the S&P 500 recovered from earlier losses to end the day up 0.1%. Toronto was down 0.4%.
Penny stock RIWI was up 11% after announcing a new CEO.
See my comment below about Melcor. It will interesting to see if the market reacts tomorr...

Our report on the Melcor Real Estate Investment Trust is updated and rated Buy at $6.71. The key factor is the 7.2% yield which seems sustainable the fact that the units are trading at under book value. This is not expected to be a high return invest...

Markets were moderately lower again on Wednesday as the S&P 500 fell 1.1% and Toronto was down 0.3%.
Stocks are set to decline again to day. This year has seen huge gains in the markets and so it is not surprising to see some of that being given ...

Markets are about flat this morning.
There is interesting news from West Fraser Timber which is up 4.4% to $92.24. They announced that the result of their Dutch Auction to repurchase one billion dollars worth of stock will price at $97. That's at the...

Markets were negative on Tuesday and that was even after some recovery later in the day. The S&P 500 ended the day down 0.6% and Toronto was down 0.6%.
The pattern for the last 16 months or so has been that dips are short-lived. Still, I like the...

July housing starts show that single family starts in Alberta remain strong. The increase in Alberta was 85% versus 2020. That's hard to interpret given the impacts of the pandemic last year. But the national average increase was far lower at 29% and...

On Monday the S&P 500 gained another 0.3% while Toronto was down 0.2%.
After the close, Alcanna reported Q2 results. While Liquor operations were down modestly the company made a loss due to its Cannabis operations.  I had rated Alcanna a (lower)...

On Friday, the S&P 500 was up 0.2% while Toronto was about unchanged.
AutoCanada surged 10.7%. It's been a stunning turn-around for this company after years of woes caused by the former poor management and then exacerbated in the early stages of ...

On Thursday the S&P 500 was up 0.3% while Toronto was down 0.2%.
AutoCanada had bounced down about 4% but has bounced back up this morning.
Markets are moving modestly higher this morning.
Boston Pizza Royalties came out with results. A 104% payo...

On Wednesday, stocks continued to mostly move higher. The S&P 500 was up 0.25% and Toronto was up 0.3%
WSP Global was up 6.0%. 
AutoCanada was up 3.6% on strong earnings.
Toll Brothers was up 3.9%
The Dental office corporation DNTL that I mention...

On Tuesday, markets were up modestly as investors once again mostly gained ground on the day. The S&P 500 was up 0.1% and Toronto was up 0.3%.
West Fraser Timber was one of our bigger movers, up 2.3%.
Yesterday I send out an edition of the free n...

On Monday, the S&P 500 was down a modest 0.1% and Toronto was down 0.2%.
On May 10 I mentioned I was buying some shares at the IPO of DentalCorp. (DNTL on Toronto) It has been fairly flat but rose 5.7% today after announcing an arrangement with L...

On Friday, the S&P 500 was up 0.2% and Toronto was up 0.5%. Markets hit new highs.
Andrew Peller fell 3.0% despite what looked like a decent earnings report. These shares at $8.37 are cheaper than all but the very cheapest bottles of wine. Unfort...

On Thursday the S&P 500 was up 0.6% and Toronto was up 0.2%.
After the close, Melcor Developments reported Q2 results. Results were good in my opinion but that was expected.
The dividend was increased to 12 cents from 10 partly restoring to pre-c...

On Wednesday, the S&P 500 was down 0.5% and Toronto was down 0.2%.
Oil fell over $2.00 to about $68.
Border Service Agency workers are preparing to strike. Are these the same people who were likely all kept working despite almost no one allowed t...

On Tuesday, the S&P 500 was up 0.8% and Toronto was up 0.4%.
Couche-Tard was up 2.7%.
There was news today the the Mutual Fund Dealers Association will merge with Investment Dealers regulatory Association. The merger of the regulators will likely...

On Monday, the S&P 500 was down 0.2% while Toronto was closed for the holiday.
VISA was down 2.7%.
Markets appear set to open moderately higher on Tuesday.
The Melcor REIT announced good results for Q2 on July 27 and will increase the distributio...

I see Bausch Health is in the news about lawsuits dating back to 2015 or so. This was about aggressive /misleading accounting under its former name Valeant Pharmaceuticals. That's one I got right as I called it a sell at about $330 in 2015 and it ver...

On Friday, the S&P 500 was down 0.5% and Toronto was down 0.1%.
Melcor was down 1% to $12.62 which is disappointing to see it under $13. Hopefully the Q2 report around August 12 will improve the price.
Restaurant Brands was up 5.2% after reportin...

On Thursday, the S&P 500 and Toronto were each up 0.4%.
West Fraser Timber rose only 2.4% on its strong earnings. It may be trading mostly on the Dutch auction offer price. Also, lumber prices while still strong are way down from the peak.
RIWI w...

bOn Wednesday, the S&P 500 was about unchanged and Toronto was up 0.3%.
AutoCanada was up 7.8%. 
After the close West Fraser Timber released (as expected) very strong Q2 earnings. The focus now will be on the outlook with lower timber prices. Rec...

On Tuesday, the S&P 500 was down 0.5% and Toronto was down 0.2%.
TFI International was up another 7.1% to $140.86. This was after releasing earnings. The performance here has been stunning. I've always sung the praises of its management. But this...

Monday's action had the S&P 500 and Toronto each up 0.2%.
Shopify was down 3.9% but that's from recent record highs.
Oil remains strong at $71.90
The Canada five year bond yield is 0.78%. Down from levels around 1.0% earlier this year but now hol...

Markets are set to close the week on a high note.
Aecon Group is up 9% today after releasing earnings.
TFI is up to $129.56 and has been a stellar performer. 
Oil is at $71.84 which is good for Alberta. 
...

Markets are set to open higher this Wednesday morning..
With the 5 year Canada bond yield down to 0.775% rate reset shares may continue to slide back somewhat.  The Enbridge one on our list PFA.A might be a good choice especially under $18. The CWB o...

Not too surprisingly, markets on Tuesday recovered a lot of the losses of yesterday.
S&P 500 up 1.5%, Toronto up 1.1%.
After the close, CN Rail posted strong results.
...

The latest Teranet index of home prices is out and is worth exploring.
In general, home prices are at record highs across Canada.
But Edmonton remains about 3% below the peak reached back in 2007. And Calgary about 3% below the 2014 peak. With low in...

On Monday markets were down quite noticeably - the S&P 500 was down 1.6% and Toronto was down 1.3%. 
RioCan might be worth considering now at $22.06. I would not be in a hurry to deploy cash but would look to nibble if prices on certain stocks ke...

Markets are down due to the virus (especially Delta variant) now spreading fast including in the U.S. Obviously the pullback could deepen but overall there is little indication that a big sell-off is underway. In any case it would be an opportunity f...

On Friday, the S&P 500 was down 0.75% and Toronto was down 1.0%
Most stocks were down on the day.
This coming week we will see more Q2 earnings reports come in particularly for U.S. stocks and that may be a driver for some individual companies. S...

An early comment today because I will be flying to Nova Scotia later today. It's a long-delayed trip for me and it's great to see Air Travel start to ramp back up.
This morning Couche-Tard is up 5%. I don't see any news so this is probably based on a...

On Monday, the S&P 500 was up 0.1% while Toronto was down 0.6%.
TFI International rose 8.75% after pre-announcing certain good results for Q2. 
Apple was up 2.4%.
All in all, the outlook for stocks remains positive.
 
...

On Tuesday, the S&P 500 was down 0.35% while Toronto was up 0.2%.
Apple announced it is looking for its suppliers to increase iPhone production by 20%. This stock appears set to keep on rising. 
OPEC has made progress in dealing with the demands ...

The reopening is happening fast now.
I was at West Edmonton Mall Monday around 2:30. Quite busy but I would not say packed. (It's not Christmas after all and it was Monday afternoon). lululemon was packed. The big Sport Chek store was busy (Canadian ...

On Monday, the S&P 500 was up another 0.35% while Toronto was down 0.1% as oil prices were marginally lower.
Berkshire Hathaway and Questar Energy jointly canceled Berkshire's previously agreed purchase for $1.3 billion of the Dominion pipeline. ...

On Friday, markets were sharply higher erasing most or all of the loss from Thursday. The S&P 500 rose 1.1% and Toronto was up 1.0%.
Most stocks were up on the day.
Oil is continuing to be strong with a price of U.S. $73.63 indicated as of Sunday...

 
RioCan is updated and rate (lower) Buy at $23. It, like so many other investments, has had a huge recovery from the lows last year. It's outlook continues to improve. It may have a couple dollars higher to run based on the improving outlook and esp...

Markets had a relatively rare negative day on Thursday as the S&P 500 fell 0.9% and Toronto fell 1.1%.
Toll Brothers was down 3.85%.
West Texas oil is holding up very well at $73.20.
Costco was up 0.6% after reporting that same-store sales growth...

On Wednesday, the S&P 500 was up 0.3% while Toronto was basically unchanged with a modest decline of 0.05%.
West Fraser Timber was up 7.1% to $93.00 after announcing that it will buy back up $1 billion in shares in a "modified Dutch auction" proc...

On Tuesday, the S&P 500 was was down 0.2% while Toronto managed a gain of 0.1%. 
Shopify surged another 5.6%. Wow! and Amazon was up 4.7%. Also wow!
Linamar was down 3.0%. AutoCanada bounced down 4.75%.
Yesterday, I saw commentary that if OPEC co...

On Monday, Toronto was up 0.75%. U.S. markets were closed for the holiday.
Boston Pizza Royalty units were up 5.1% to $14.87. That's a better recovery than I would have expected. But if only a few restaurants end up permanently closing then it could ...

The report on Alimentation Couche-Tard (owner of the Circle-K chain) is updated and rated (higher) Buy at $46.82. It's been a great investment over the years and has excellent management. There is always uncertainty but this should continue to be a g...

On Friday, the S&P 500 was up 0.75% while Toronto was up 0.3%.
AutoCanada was up 3.1%.
Alimentation Couche-Tard was up 2.8% after releasing earnings.  This is a wonderfully successful company. I will be updating the report on Couche-Tard tomorrow...

Canadian Tire is updated and rated (higher) Buy at $196. (It closed today at $194.67, but my analysis was based on a price from June 30.)  Its sales and earnings grew strongly in the past three quarters. Some of that growth was pandemic-related and i...

Happy Canada Day! Wow, half way through 2021... Toronto markets are of course closed today.
On Wednesday, the Toronto was about unchanged. Couche- Tard was up 3.5% after its earnings release. West Fraser Timber was up 3.2% and AutoCanada was up 3.2% ...

On Tuesday the S&P 500 was about flat and Toronto edged up 0.1%.
Was in Costco today. Busy of course. Good to own shares. Similar story at Canadian Tire to a lesser degree.
Couche-Tard reported after the close. Looked like fairly good results at ...

Markets were "mixed" and little-changed on Monday with the S&P 500 up 0.2% and Toronto down 0.4%.
Bigger movers included Linamar down 3.5% and Alcanna down 3.2%.
The next updates planned are for Canadian Tire, Couche-Tard and RioCan.
I see that S...

TD Direct / TD Waterhouse sends me alerts for initial public offerings. This mornings they are trying to sell 5.5% fixed income debentures in Storage Vault Canada.
The fact that these are a "bought deal" rather than a "marketed deal" suggests that TD...

Wine maker / wine seller Andrew Peller is updated at rated (lower) Buy at $9.60. It is in a highly competitive and slow-growing business and so will never be a reliable high return investment. But at the current price it could do well over the next c...

On Friday the S&P 500 was up 0.3% and Toronto was up 01%. 
FedEx was down 3.6%.
 
...

Markets moved higher once again on Thursday with the S&P 500 up 0.6% and Toronto up 0.25%.
WSP Global was up 2.6%.
With reopening and with Biden's infrastructure plan, there is nothing currently on the horizon to derail stock markets. But then ag...

On Wednesday, markets ended the day modestly lower wit the S&P 500 down 0.1% and Toronto down 0.2%.
I notice that the North America Construction Group Debentures that I have mentioned a few times lately have jumped to $110.55 versus their recent ...

On Tuesday, markets were higher with the S&P 500 up 0.5% and Toronto up 0.2%.
Penny stock RIWI was down 7.7%. The market has lost a lot of faith in this little company.
AutoCanada was up 4.5% and despite volatility has had an amazing recovery. 
A...

Late last week, the markets took a little breather from making investors richer almost daily. On Monday, stock markets got back to work making up even for the weekend with the S&P 500 rising 1.4% and Toronto up 0.8%.
The energy ETF, XEG, was up 4...

Markets gave back some ground on Friday as the S&P 500 was down 1.3% and Toronto was down 0.7%.
AutoCanada bounced up 7.9%.
There is no indication that this is the start of any downdraft. But in any case those who have kept dome funds in cash can...

On Thursday, the S&P 500 was about unchanged and Toronto was down 0.4%.
Andrew Peller was down 8.4%. I will plan to update the analyses soon. From what I see in the Alberta liquor stores a lot of Wine is incredibly cheap. Peller seems like a well...

On Wednesday markets were a bit weak with the S&P 500 down 0.5% and Toronto about unchanged.
Shopify was up once again, gaining 3.6%.
Linamar was down 3.5%.
Canadian Western bank was up 2.3%.
Markets were weaker as the Fed hinted at eventual inte...

On Tuesday. the S&P 500 was down 0.2% while Toronto was up 0.4%.
AutoCanada was down 6.8% as it continues to be volatile. From what I hear, car dealers are very busy lately and they should have a great Q2. But it's hard to say if too much optimis...

On Monday the S&P 500 was up 0.2% while Toronto edged up 0.1%.
Apple was up 2.5%. Shopify was up 4.5%.
Toll Brothers was down 2.3%.
With the Melcor REIT down at $6.90 this morning I bought a few more shares. It's certainly not a high return entit...

Friday's action saw the S&P 500 up 0.2% and Toronto up 0.4%.
On Friday, I decided to sell most of my Enbridge rate reset preferred shares. They closed Friday at $19.71 to yield 5.2% which is not bad. But if the five year Canada yield happens to s...

On Thursday, the S&P 500 was up 0.5% and Toronto was up 0.2%.
But a number of the stocks I own missed that little party.
Toll Brothers was down 5.0% to $58.78. I'm tempted to add to my position but I already have a large exposure to it.  And it i...

On Tuesday, the S&P 500 was about unchanged while Toronto was up 0.15%.
TFI International was up 3.7% regaining most of what it lost yesterday. Seems a bit odd, but then again lots of odd things happen in the markets.
The composition of my own po...

On Monday the S&P 500 was down 0.1% and Toronto was about unchanged.
TFI International was down 4.8%. Perhaps my timing in selling out of that recently was pretty good. (That's with about a week down and infinity go though...) And I sold some sha...

Markets were slightly negative on Thursday with the S&P 500 down 0.4% and Toronto down 0.15%.
Intact Financial was up 3.3%. 
After the close, Costco reported May same-store sales figures which were up 15% after adjusting for volatile gasoline pri...

On Wednesday, the S&P 500 was up a very modest 0.1% while Toronto was about unchanged and has therefore not yet managed to close above the 20,000 level that it reached (and exceeded) within the trading day yesterday. and again today.
Linamar was ...

A subscriber had a question / comment about that North American Construction Group convertibles debenture that I had mentioned yesterday. With his permission, I thought it might be useful to share the question and my response (with some edits here).
...

On May 10, I mentioned that I saw a notice of a new issue of a 5.5% debenture from North American Construction Group and that I put in for some.  It seems the maximum allowed was $25,000 which seemed low. It was apparently heavily over-subscribed and...

Definitely some interesting news today.
The S&P 500 was down a 0.05%, so basically about unchanged.
Toronto however was up 1.2%
The bigger news was that the Toronto Stock Exchange Index poked its head above 20,000 today for the first time ever. I...

The U.S. markets were closed on Monday. The Canadian market started out with a gain and pushed up over 19,900 before finishing the day down 0.6%.
I sold most of my remaining TFI International shares today.  This may not have been wise given the perfo...

Stantec is updated and rated (lower) Buy at Canadian $54.04 or U.S. $ 44.78. It has recovered strongly. Impressively, it managed to increase earnings in the past year through cost cutting and despite somewhat lower revenues due to the pandemic. The o...

Further to my comment yesterday on Friday's market results...
Given its strong earnings report and outlook on Friday morning, It was disappointing to see Canadian Western Bank down 1.6% to $36.60. But strong results were expected and the stock is alr...

On Friday, markets pushed higher once again with the S&P 500 up 0.1% and Toronto gaining 0.4%.
There were no particularly notable gains for the stocks on our list. But C.N. Rail was up 1.4% to $136. The dip to $126 last week appears to have been ...

The report on lululemon is updated and rated Speculative Weak Buy at $330. It's very expensive but it is also a great business. This is a great Canadian success story. It was founded and is still headquartered in Vancouver, B.C. But it is registered ...

On Thursday, markets did what they do most days - they rose a little higher. Toronto was up 0.15% pushing to a new record high and the S&P 500 was up 0.1%. 
C.N. Rail was up 2.7% as worries about its Kansas City Southern deal fade a little.
Linam...

Toronto had a strong day with a 0.9% gain on Wednesday while the S&P 500 edged up 0.2%.
Toll Brothers was up 3.8% on its strong earnings report. I was hoping for more and hope to see it get back to making new highs.
TFI International was up 3.1% ...

On Tuesday, the S&P 500 was down 0.2% while Toronto was up 0.2%.
AutoCanada was up 3.2%.
Toll Brothers was up 2.4%. Then, after the close, it released what seems to be a blow-out earnings report. Profits and revenues were up sharply but that was ...

TD Waterhouse alerted me to two new issues of provincial bonds this morning. Both look unattractive to me and both sold out quickly.
Ontario sold a 2.15% ten year issue. Nova Scotia sold a nine year issue at 2.0%.  If you want government bonds then b...

On Friday, the S&P 500 edged down 0.1% but Toronto was up 0.4%.
C.N. Rail was down 1.9% as investors worry about the Kansas City Southern potential acquisition which faces a lengthy approval process and which (I understand) would see C.N. pay $1 ...