2022

For the first few comments of 2023 see the top of the subscriber Home page as the comment page for 2023 is not yet set up.
Markets rose on this second-last trading day of 2022.
The S&P 500 was up 1.75% and Toronto was up 1.05%.
 
...

A rate reset preferred share issued by Brookfield Office Properties Inc. (BPO.PR.G) is added to the site and rated (higher) Buy at $18.86 as it yields 8.68% and will not reset for another 4.5 years. Brookfield Office Properties Ltd. is a subsidiary o...

Wednesday was another negative day in the markets. The S&P 500 was down 1.2% and Toronto as down 1.1%.
Almost all the stocks I monitor were down today.
Tomorrow I am adding a rate reset preferred share to the list. BPO.PR.G issued by Brookfield O...

Our report on American Express is updated and rated (lower) Strong Buy at $147. (It's at $145 as I write this).
American Express is a high quality company that is growing its earnings at a strong rate. The current price is a reasonable opportunity to...

On Tuesday, the Toronto stock exchange was closed while the S&P 500 was down 0.4%. On Friday, there was a press release from the Melcor REIT and one from Melcor Developments.
The markets are obviously ending the year on a weak note. The good news...

Markets were weak again on Thursday. It seems the market is giving back gains from this Fall that were mostly based on the wishful thinking that interest rate hikes were very soon to end.
The S&P 500 was down 1.45% and Toronto was down 1.1%.
Almo...

Canada's population growth in 2022 is absolutely epic. A lot of it due to non-permanent residents from Ukraine. But many of them will stay and in any case they are here right now. The population increase in the first 9 months of 2022 was over 3/4 of ...

Markets rebounded on Wednesday. Apparently, this was partly due to good earnings from Nike. And probably bargain hunting after several weak days.
The S&P 500 was up 1.5% and Toronto was up 1.4%. 
lululemon was up 3.1%. RioCan was up 3.4%. 
I was ...

AutoCanada is updated and rated Strong Buy at $22.22. While the stock is down a lot this year, the company has been doing very well. There are always risks but this stock appears to be very cheap on a price to earnings basis. Back around 2017 this co...

Markets were modestly positive on Tuesday as the S&P 500 rose 0.10% and Toronto rose 0.45%.
AutoCanada was down 3.9% to $22.35. This will be my next update and I will likely rate it Strong Buy based on its very low price / earnings ratio of 4.9 a...

Monday was another negative day in the markets with the S&P 500 down 0.9% and Toronto down 1.25%.
AutoCanada was down 7.8%. Coincidentally, it will be my next update and I expect to rate it a Strong Buy. They have doing very well in terms of earn...

Markets were weak again on Friday with the S&P 500 down 1.1% and Toronto down 0.8%.
I had been mentioning that the gains in recent months seemed to be based on wishful thinking that the FED interest rate hikes would soon end. Now the market is fa...

RioCan Real Estate Investment Trust is updated and rated Buy at $21.07.
This is a relatively lower risk investment but it is also not a very high ROE investment. It has a great portfolio of properties with 53% located in metro Toronto and almost all ...

Yesterday I suggested that markets were more likely to decline by the end of December rather than rally.
Today the market agreed, as the S&P 500 was down  a hefty 2.5% and Toronto was down 1.5%.
Costco was down 4.1% to $464. Still not cheap but I...

On Wednesday the markets were a bit unsure how to react to the FED rate increase of 50 basis points (as expected) and the indication that the the FED rate will likely rise somewhat higher than previously expected. The S&P 500 ended the day down 0...

On Tuesday, the S&P 500 was initially up sharply as U.S. inflation came in slightly lower than expected. The rally then fizzled but then rallied back somewhat and at the end of the day the S&P 500 was up 0.7% and Toronto was about unchanged.
...

On Monday the S&P 500 was up 1.4% while Toronto was up 0.4%.
I'm surprised that the price of Western Canadian Select is not even lower given the Keystone line shutdown. I had understood it carried 600,000 barrels a day which would now be backing ...

Friday's action saw the S&P 500 down 0.7% and Toronto down just 0.1%.
Costco was initially down 2.3% due to its earnings report not quite meeting expectations. But at the end of the day the stock was about unchanged. It's hard to keep such a stro...

On Thursday, the S&P 500 was up 0.75% while Toronto was about unchanged.
After the close several companies reported or had news:
Costco reported and the reaction after hours was moderately negative.
lululemon reported with strong earnings but low...

Wednesday was another modestly negative day for stocks with the S&P 500 down 0.2% and Toronto down 0.1%.
Toll Brothers was a winner with a strong 7.75% gain after its earnings release. Given the negative sentiment in housing it may be difficult f...

The report on Andrew Peller is updated but rated Weak Sell / hold at $5.06
This report was not due for an update yet but I wanted to update it because I am going to be talking by phone to their CEO, John Peller.
This seems to be a sad case of a compa...

Markets continued to slide modestly on Tuesday with the S&P 500 down 1.4% and Toronto down 1.25%.
After the close, Toll Brothers reported its Q4 and fiscal year results. They had a VERY profitable Q4 and fiscal 2022. But the market has now soften...

Markets were lower on Monday. That's not surprising given that markets had risen so much in the  past seven weeks based mostly on hopes for an end to the increases in interest rates.
The S&P 500 was down 1.8% and Toronto as down 1.2%.
Checking in...

On Friday, the S&P 500 was down 0.1% and Toronto was down 0.2%.
Canadian Western Bank was disappointing with a 4.5% decline despite Q4 earnings that apparently met expectations.
It appears that the bank is pointing to better days ahead but that m...

Markets were relatively quiet on Thursday with the S&P 500 down 0.1% and Toronto up 0.35%.
Shopify was up another 5.5%
Costco got spanked down 6.6% after its weak October report on same-store sales growth.
I had thought that Canadian Western Bank...

Well, wow! It was quite a strong day in the markets indeed with the S&P 500 up a hefty 3.1% and Toronto up 0.9%.
As I listed to FED Chair Jerome Powell earlier today, I heard him say that once rates do get to some terminal rate, they would be sta...

On Tuesday the S&P 500 was down 0.4% while Toronto was up 0.4%. So, not a lot of movement.
In Canada, the big news was that Royal Bank (RBC) was buying HSBC Canada (subject to regulatory approval) for $13.5 billion. This was considered a very hig...

It was not surprising to see that markets were down on Monday. The markets have been quite optimistic lately and that makes them vulnerable to any bad news. Today, the concern seemed to be mostly about COVID lockdowns in China (slowing that economy) ...

Friday was a quiet day in the markets with the S&P 500 about unchanged and Toronto up 0.2%.
Monday appears set to open with a market decline due to concerns about unrest in China.
On Tuesday we will get the first of the Q4 earnings reports from C...

With the U.S. markets closed for the holiday, Toronto gained 0.3% on Thursday.
Canadian Tire was up 2.0%. 
According to CBC radio, Alberta at noon, Albertan's are facing long waits when wanting to buy the most popular vehicles such at the Toyota Rav ...

Wednesday was another positive day in the markets as the S&P 500 rose 0.6% and Toronto rose 0.3%.
Toll Brothers was up 2.6% as New Home Sales in the U.S. unexpectedly rose modestly in October versus September.
Shopify was strong with a 4.1% gain....

Markets were strong on Tuesday with the S&P 500 up 1.4% and Toronto up 1.2%.
The market seems to be more confident that the end is nigh for the interest rate hikes. If that turns out to be wishful thinking then we could certainly see a market dec...

Markets were down modestly on Monday with the S&P 500 down 0.4% but Toronto was about unchanged.
West Fraser Group was up 3.4% and has held up very well in the face of lower home construction. 
Home Capital was in the news today with a take-over ...

Grocer / Pharmacy chain Metro inc. is updated and rated (lower) Buy at $76.67. (It closed slightly higher than that today)
It's a high quality company that could be bought and held for the very long term. 
...

Melcor Developments has a share buyback program and has been buying back shares regularly. However, due to its very thin trading liquidity it is limited to buying just 1281 shares per day on the open market. This is a very tiny amount. It's welcome b...

On Friday, markets did well as the S&P 500 and Toronto were each up 0.5%.
This will likely be a fairly slow week for stock market news since the Q3 earnings reporting season is largely over. The next FED interest rate change is not until mid Dece...

Markets were down on Thursday with the S&P 500 down 0.3% and Toronto down 0.4%.
I'm not surprised to see markets down since the recent gains were based on some pretty thin evidence that inflation is starting to cool and therefore the hope that th...

My last update of Dollarama was January 27, 2021 where it was rated (lower) Buy at $50.77 and I indicated it was a quality company and that I was buying some. Dollarama is a great company but is not cheap. Currently I am rating it Weak Buy / Hold at ...

Not surprisingly, markets gave back some ground on Wednesday. The S&P 500 was down 0.8% and Toronto was down 0.2%.
But Restaurant Brands was up 7.0% after posting higher than expected earnings and announcing that it has hired the ex-CEO of Domino...

Markets were higher Tuesday morning due to the news of slight drip in the producer price index (a measure of inflation) in the U.S. Then news broke that the Russians had apparently (and hopefully accidentally) fires two missiles into Poland near the ...

On Monday, markets were positive for most of the day but turned negative later in the day.
The S&P 500 and Toronto were both down 0.9%.
Canadian Tire was down 6.3% after a similar sized gain on Friday. There may have been more focus on what the l...

On Friday, stocks surprisingly added to Thursday's big gains with the S&P 500 up 0.9% and Toronto up 0.9%
Shopify was up 7.6%.
Canadian Tire was up 7.3% as analysts decided its Q3 report was not too bad despite lower earnings than Q3 2021. Earnin...

The report on Melcor developments is updated and rated (higher) Buy at $10.90. 
This has been a disappointing company and investment for many years now. But it is yielding 5.5% and trades at a seemingly ridiculously low price to book value of just 0....

The report on the Melcor REIT is updated and rated Buy at $5.59. The cash yield is very attractive at 8.6%. And they have had good success in leasing space such that the occupancy level improved in Q3 and is set to improve again by Q1. On the other h...

Stocks soared on Thursday and the U.S. inflation report came in slightly lower than expected. The hope is that inflation is now trending down and that the FED can begin to ease off on its interest rate hikes. Possibly the FED will raise 50 basis poin...

Markets were down on Wednesday. Possibly this was due to the market being disappointed that he Republicans did not do a bit better. 
Also there was really no good reason for the markets to have risen in the past week in the face of coming higher inte...

Tuesday was another positive day as the S&P 500 and Toronto both gained 0.6%.
After the close, FedEx revealed that package volumes are running below projections and blamed this on e-commerce sales reverting to physical retail as the pandemic ebbs...

The market seems to want to sort of forget about last week's bad news that interest rates will go even higher than recently expected by next Spring. On Monday, the S&P 500 was up 1.0% and Toronto was up 0.5%.
Companies are still taking over other...

Fortis Inc. is updated and rated Buy at Canadian $53.35 or U.S. $39.63.
It's been almost two years since I last updated this in January 2021. But not much has changed. The price is almost the same as it was then although in the mean time it had risen...

On Friday the markets seemed to have trouble reacting to the strong jobs report in the U.S. (and Canada although markets primarily key off the U.S). A strong jobs report is good except it would signal the FED to keep raising interest rates even highe...

On Thursday, the S&P 500 was down 1.1%. That was not surprising as the market is glum about the FD chair's statement yesterday that interest rates have to climb somewhat higher than he had previously thought.
Toronto was down 0.2%.
Restaurant Bra...

Markets fell hard on Wednesday with the S&P 500 down 2.5% and Toronto down 1.2%.
This came after the Federal Reserve Bank in the U.S. raised interest rated buy 0.75% and, mor importantly, indicated that rates were going to ultimately have to go s...

I neglected to make my usual daily comment yesterday. My apologies to anyone who looked for it.
On Tuesday, the S&P 500 was down 0.4% while Toronto was up 0.5%.
AutoCanada was up 4.9%. 
In the U.S. the jobs market remains tight and a report today...

Cameco, the big uranium miner is added to our list but rated only Highly Speculative Weak Buy at $32.99.
I wanted to take a look at Cameco because the nuclear power generation business appears to be on the upswing as a solution to getting to net zero...

Friday's market nicely capped off a strong week for equities.
On Friday, the S&P 500 was up 2.5% and Toronto was up 0.6%.
Apple Inc. was a stand-out today with a 7.6% gain. By far, most stocks were up today.
But TFI International was down 6.0% af...

Thursday's  action saw the S&P 500 down 0.6% but Toronto was up 0.4%.
Shopify was up a hefty 17.1% after releasing Q3 earnings.
Amazon was out with earnings after the close and is down a further 12% in after-hours trading
Meta (formerly facebook)...

U.S. markets were down on Wednesday due to weakness in the big "tech" stocks. The S&P 500 was down 0.7%.
In Canada, the Toronto stock index was up 1.0% after the Bank of Canada raised interest rated by 0.50% rather than the expected 0.75%. This s...

Tuesday was a positive day in the markets as the S&P 500 rose 1.6% and Toronto was up 0.9%.
lululemon was up a hefty 7.7%.
Toll Brothers was up 4.3%.
After the close, CN Rail released very strong Q3 results and raised their outlook for the full y...

On Monday the S&P 500 was up 1.2% and Toronto was up 0.3%.
Costco was up 3.9%.
TFI International was up 4.2%. 
Starbucks was down a hefty 5.5% due to its heavy presence in China after the Chinese leader consolidated his power over the weekend and...

Markets were surprisingly strong on Friday with the S&P 500 up 2.4% and Toronto up 1.5%.
Markets  may continue to drift down with higher interest rates as well as lower growth in earnings. We know that short-term interest rates are still rising. ...

On Thursday, markets started out higher but ended the day with the S&P 500 down 0.8% and Toronto down 0.5%.
TFI International has held up well this year but today was down 4.9%.
Despite the housing slowdown caused by higher interest rates, Toll B...

On Wednesday, markets gave back some of the gains of Monday and Tuesday. The S&P 500 and Toronto were each down 0.7%.
Toll Brothers was down 5.1%.
AutoCanada was down 6.8%. It's been a very volatile stock. But it is well managed and I suspect it ...

On Tuesday, stock markets managed t a second day of gains with the S&P 500 up 1.1% and Toronto up 0.95%.
After the close, Netflix released results that exceeded expectations and this could provide support for stocks on Wednesday.
I notice that th...

Our report on Aecon Group is updated and rated Weak Sell / Hold at $9.96. Possibly it should be rated Sell but I am reluctant to rate it Sell at the low share price. The company enjoys growing revenue but faces a number of headwinds. Most notably cos...

Monday featured a welcome rally in stock prices after Bank of America posted strong earnings growth.
The S&P 500 was up 2.65% and Toronto was up 1.6%.
Almost all the stocks that I monitor were up on the day.
After the close, I saw that TD Direct ...

It was not too surprising that markets on Friday gave back most of Thursday's big gaisn. That's because the gains on Thursday really seemed to have come for "no particular reason".
In any case the S&P 500 was down 2.4% ad Toronto was down 1.5%.
O...

Our report on CN Rail is updated and rated (lower) Buy at $148.60 or US $107.
CN is truly a great company and has been extremely well run. Despite having been very profitable for many years they are always striving to increase profits. They constantl...

The report on lululemon is updated adn rated Speculative Buy at U.S. $296 (it has slipped to about $289 as I post this). It remains an expensive stock and is pricing in strong growth. But it has a history of strong growth and it has set out ambitious...

On Thursday, markets were initially lower due to the higher-than-expected U.S. CPI report. But then for apparently "no particular reason" markets staged a surprising rally and the S&P 500 ended the day up 2.6% and Toronto was up 2.2%.
Given that ...

On Wednesday, the S&P 500 slipped another 0.3% and Toronto was down 0.1%.
Linamar was down 2.2% after it announced weaker market conditions.
Thursday's focus will be on the U.S. CPI data. 
I have not heard much news about Q3 earnings. Many compan...

The Toronto market was down 2.0% on Tuesday. In part, this was becasue it was catching up on Monday's U.S. market losses since Toronto had been closed for the holiday on Monday.
The S&P 500 slipped another 0.65%.
At the moment it appears that thi...

The report on Costco is updated and rated Weak Sell / Hold at U.S. $468. Costco is a fantastic company and is growing strongly. But even after the recent decline its P/E ratio of 36 may not have come down enough to reflect the higher interest rate en...

Investors got spanked again on Friday as the S&P 500 fell a hefty 2.8% and Toronto fell 2.1%. 
Most stocks were down about 2%. Shopify was notable with a 9.6% drop.
The S&P 500 remained up 1.5% for the week.
The reason for the drop on Friday ...

Markets gave back some more ground on Thursday as the focus returned to how much higher interest rates are going. Central banks in the U.S and Canada signaled hat they are far from done with raising rates.
The S&P 500 was down 1.0% and Toronto wa...

It was not surprising to see that the markets on Wednesday gave back a little of the big gains of Monday and Tuesday.
The S&P 500 was down 0.2% and Toronto was down 0.7%.
OPEC pledged to reduce oils production quotas by 2 million barrels a day. B...

Markets staged a big bounce upwards on Tuesday, adding to Monday's gains. The S&P 500 was up 3.1% and Toronto was up 2.6%.
Shopify bounced up 12.7%.
Almost all the stocks I monitor were up. 
It remains to be seen if this is just a bounce or more ...

Markets had a noticeable bounce upwards on Monday with the S&P 500 up 2.6% adn Toronto up 2.4%.
Virtually all of the stocks that I monitor were up on the day.
In part it was likely due to the U.K. government backing down on a promise to cut taxes...

Friday marked the end of the third quarter and saw the S&P 500 down another 1.5% while Toronto finished unchanged on the day.
So, what's next? That's hard to say of course but the following are some thoughts.
September inflation for the U.S. will...

Thursday turned out to be another negative day in the market as the S&P 500 fell 2.1% and Toronto was down 1.1%.
Linamar was down a hefty 11.6%. Shopify was down 8.0%. 
Fortis Inc. announced a 6% dividend increase but the stock nevertheless fell ...

Markets bounced up somewhat on Wednesday with the S&P 500 up 2.0% and Toronto up 1.9%.
Toll Brothers was one of the higher gainers with a 5.4% increase.
Statscan released figures today that showed that Canada gained a huge number of people in the...

Markets were initially higher on Tuesday but then faded for a loss on the day. The S&P 500 was down 0.2% and Toronto was down 0.1%.
This may be an opportunity to add to a quality stock like Visa Inc. It's not exactly cheap but it is certainly che...

The report on Melcor Developments is updated and rated (higher) Buy at $10.00. This has been a very disappointing investment for years. But the recent price seems almost absurdly low in relation to its book value of over $34 and in relation to its ea...

Monday was another down day in the markets with the S&P 500 down 1.0% and Toronto down 0.8%.
While this can be depressing it can also provide buying opportunities.
This is one reason why it is never a bad thing to have some allocation to cash.
...

Friday was another negative day in the markets with the S&P 500 down 1.7% and Toronto down 2.75%.
Almost all the stocks I monitor were down on the day. Thinly traded ones like Melcor get hit hard as it only takes a few owners bailing out to push ...

The report on the Melcor Real Estate Investment Trust is updated and rated Buy at $5.89. The higher interest rates are a definite head wind in three ways: Firstly, the price that investors are willing to pay for any dollar of earnings or dividends de...

Markets declined again on Tuesday with the S&P 500 down 0.8%and Toronto down 0.95%.
Shopify was down 6.25% and is at a 52 week low.
Higher interest rates and fears of recession continue to add to the negative sentiment and trends.
Putin's threats...

Markets ended lower on Wednesday. The decline was not due to the 75 basis point increase by the FED which was as expected. The decline was due FED remarks and forecasts for further interest rate increases taking rates ultimately somewhat higher than ...

Markets were down again on Tuesday as the S&P 500 fell 1.1% and Toronto fell 1.0%.
Almost all the stocks that I monitor were down.
Apple was one exception with a gain of 1.6%.
Stocks may continue to go down and may continue to offer some bargains...

On Friday, markets rallied somewhat in the afternoon and the S&P 500 was up 0.7% and Toronto was up 0.9%.
West Fraser Timber was up 3.2%. But there is news this morning that CanFor is cutting production due to weak markets so West Fraser could de...

Markets fell on Friday which may have been largely due to FedEx announcing that its express air business and its ground deliver business were both much weaker than expected in the three months ending August 31 and that it was getting even worse in th...

On Thursday markets moved lower again as the focus returns to the higher interest rates. The S&P 500 was down 1.1% and Toronto was down 0.8%.
Most stocks were down on the day. West Fraser Timer was down 3.7%.
After the close, FedEx announced some...

Markets rebounded somewhat on Wednesday as the S&P 500 rose 0.3% and Toronto 0.4%.
Starbucks was the strongest performer on our list with a 5.5% gain after they held an investor day and provided guidance indicating higher growth ahead.
I like Sta...

Markets took a tumble on Tuesday as the U.S. inflation rate came in just slightly higher than expected. This dashed hopes that the FED might soon stop raising interest rates.
The S&P 500 was down a very hefty 4.3% while Toronto as down 1.7%.
Almo...

Markets were higher on Monday as the S&P 500 and Toro to each rose 1.1%.
Apple was up 3.85%. 
RioCan was up 2.1%. 
The gains were widespread, as most stocks were higher.
...

Friday was another positive day in the markets as the S&P 500 rose 1.5% while Toronto as up 1.9%.
With the bank of Canada rate up 0.75% last week I notice that TD bank raised the interest on its TDB8150 product by only 0.60% to 2.85%. I don't kno...

Markets moved moderately higher on Thursday with the S&P 500 up 0.7% and Toronto up 0.9%.
lululemon was up another 2.65%. 
 
...

After the recent losses on the S&P 500 it was rather surprising to see the S&P 500 gain 1.8% on Wednesday. And Toronto was up 0.8% despite the lower oil price.
Starbucks was strong with a 4.5% gain.
And lululemon added another 2.8%.
The Bank ...

I've had some feedback from the very top management at Melcor.
The CEO and Board have not expressed any interest in an analysis I sent them regarding calculating the return on equity by division or on calculating what level of gross margin has led wh...

Stocks moved lower once again on Tuesday with the S&P 500 down 0.4% and Toronto down 0.95%.
lululemon bucked the trend and was up 4.3%. And Starbucks was up 1.9%.
The outlook for stock prices may continue to be negative due to higher interest rat...

West Fraser Timber is updated and rated Weak Speculative Buy at CAN $109 or US $83. Based on trailing earnings it could be rates a Strong Buy. But lumber prices have declined and there is probably no reason to expect the shares to rise in the near te...

On Friday, the S&P 500 was initially higher but ultimately closed down 1.1%. Toronto as up 0.7%.
lululemon gained 6.7% after posting better than expected sales and earnings. While many people struggle with bills due to inflation there are  also m...

Restaurant Brands, the franchiser of Tim Hortons, Burger King, Popeyes and Firehouse Subs returns to our list rated Buy at U.S. $59.25 or CAN $77.83. Its income comes mostly from franchise fees to its almost 30,000 locations and from selling the coff...

On Thursday, the S&P 500 was down most of the day but then rebounded to close up 0.3%. Toronto was down 1.0%.
Couche-Tard did well with a 4.1% gain.
TFI International was also strong with a 3.7% gain.
After the close, lululemon reported a very st...

Wednesday was another down day in the markets with the S&P 500 down 0.8% and Toronto down 0.9%.
Almost all the stocks on my list were down.
I notice Canadian Tire is down to $154.47. Its trailing P/E ratio is 8.9 and the forward P/E ratio is 8.4....

Linamar is updated and rated Buy at $63.06. It's trading at 90% of book value which in my experience indicates a good buying opportunity for this company. And its earnings are emerging from recent weakness related to supply chain issues. And it is ve...

On Tuesday markets continued to move down in further reaction to the FEDs announced determination to raise interest rates until inflation is tamed. The S&P 500 was down 1.1% and Toronto was down 1.6% as oil prices slid.
Linamar was one of relativ...

On Monday, markets continued to react negatively to the news from the FED that interest rates will probably be going somewhat higher than the market previously expected.
The S&P 500 was down 0.3% and Toronto was down 0.2%.
TFI International was d...

I updated Ceapro again for its Q2 results. I had updated it in early July at 56 cents. The Q2 results were good and the stock remains rated Speculative Buy now at 78 cents. Its "base business" supports the share price and if they can announce any kin...

Markets were sharply negative on Friday with the S&P 500 down  hefty 3.4% and Toronto was down 1.5%.
This came after the Fed chair made a speech and dashed hopes that the interest rate hikes would end relatively soon. The market may have been hop...

Markets rose on Thursday with the S&P 500 up 1.4% and Toronto up 0.75%.
West Fraser Timber was up 6.4%.
Toll Brothers was up 4.0%.
TFI International was up 3.0%.
Tomorrow the market will focus on the Fed Chair's speech at the Jackson Hole meeting...

Markets were modestly higher on Wednesday with the S&P 500 up 0.3% and Toronto up 0.2%.
AutoCanada was up 5.9%.
Penny stock Ceapro was up 8.4% after announcing strong Q2 results. It has a lot of research irons in the fire. If some of its research...

On Tuesday, the S&P 500 was down 0.2% while Toronto was almost unchanged with a 0.05% gain.
Auto Canada was notable with a 5.2% gain.
After the close Toll Brothers reported its Q3. While profits were good they noted the slowdown in demand but als...

On Tuesday the markets continued the recent pull back. The S&P 500 was down 2.1% and Toronto was down 0.7%.
Melcor wad down 4.3% on higher than normal volume. Perhaps a couple people throwing in the Towel. 
The Melcor REIT was also down 4.3% tp $...

Friday saw the S&P 500 down 1.3% and Toronto down 0.8%.
Almost all of the stocks on our list were down with the market.
This morning the futures market suggests that the S&P 500 will open down modestly. After a big rally since June we have no...

The Boston Pizza Royalties Income units return to our list and are rated Buy at $16.70. They are a bit more attractive at $16.44 as I post this.
My last update on these units was early 2021 when the distribution was 6.5 cents having been suspended wi...

Markets eked out small gains today with the S&P 500 up 0.2% and Toronto up 0.4%. 
There were no individual moves of any note on the stocks I monitor.
I mentioned the Boston pizza units on August 9 when they were $15.25 to $15.50. I indicated they...

Wednesday was a down day in the markets as the S&P 500 fell 0.7% and Toronto fell 0.4%.
Most stocks were down.  Nothing on my list was up by any noteworthy amount.
What about interest rates?
The five year Canada bond yield is sitting at 3.0% down...

Obviously, Melcor Developments has been a big disappointment as an investor. Yet it has potential. Its assets are solid and yet it trades at 38% of book value for the equity shares. I've been increasingly pressuring their investor relations, their CE...

Markets are starting out lower this morning. Not surprising to get a dip given recent strong days. 
I notice that the Convertible debenture that I mentioned yesterday has closed sales on the TD site. That means the market agreed with me that it was a...

On Tuesday the S&P 500 was up 0.2% and Toronto was up 0.4%.
Canadian Tire was up 3.5%.
AutoCanada was up a hefty 7.4% to $29.86. It released the results of its "substantial issuer bid" reporting that it bought back 1.16 million shares at $28 for ...

Markets on Monday ended the day moderately higher with the S&P 500 up 0.4% and Toronto unchanged.
Dollarama and Visa were each up 2.4%.  lululemon was up 2.7%.
Oil is down to U.S. $87.85 - still a very profitable level.
...

On Friday, markets were strong again as with the S&P 500 up 1.7 percent and Toronto up 0.9 percent. Stantec was particulary strong with a 4.3 percent gain.
Markets are set to open lower today on reports that the Chinese economy is weaker than exp...

Thursday was another positive day in the markets with the S&P 500 up 0.6% and Toronto up 0.9%.
Linamar was a standout with a 9.2% gain after releasing earnings. It has been a very well managed and ambitious company and continues to have a  bright...

Wednesday was another strong day in the markets with the S&P 500 up a hefty 2.1% and Toronto up 1.6%.
Some will argue this shows the benefit of staying invested while others will claim it's a dead cat bounce. For most people a balanced approach i...

On Tuesday, markets were modestly lower as the S&P 500 fell 0.4% and Toronto fell 0.5%.
lululemon was down 3.1%. 
Canadian Tire was down 2.3% and will release earnings on Thursday morning. I suspect it had quite a strong Q2 but the focus may be o...

Upon further checking I am even more certain that the Boston Pizza Royalties units are a Buy at the current price ($15.46 at the moment). Note that the distributions do not qualify for the dividend tax credit in Canada and so are best suited to the R...

As restaurant sales have roared back I have been surprised that the Boston Pizza Royalty units have not risen more than they have.
I have to admit I sold those units in the pandemic panic of Spring 2020 when it looked like many BP restaurants might h...

On Monday, markets were little changed as the S&P 500 was down 0.1% and Toronto was up 0.25%. 
There were no big moves in the stocks on my list except the Boston Pizza Royalty units were down 2.7% and had been down about 4% earlier in the day. (S...

On Thursday Restaurant Brands was up about 7% as people flocked to Tim Hortons, Burger King and Popeyes.
On Friday the S&P 500 was down 0.2% while Toronto was up 0.2%.
West Texas Oil is down to U.S. $88.50 but that's still a highly profitable lev...

Markets were strong on Wednesday.
One headline attributed this to Nancy Pelosi leaving Taiwan without incident. Obviously if China does act to take Taiwan at some point that would be ugly for markets. Starbucks has a huge operation in China and it co...

Tuesday saw the S&P 500 down 0.7% and Toronto down 0.95%.
AutoCanada was up 3.9% and then after the close announced the acquisition of a dealership in Manitoba. This shows that management has confidence in the business. Recall that top management...

Friday's market capped a strong week and a strong July.
The debate now is weather July was just a bear market rally bounce or the start of a market recovery or at least plateau.
I don't know which. Markets are always subject to a possible big decline...

Markets rose on Thursday with the S&P 500 up 1.2% and Toronto up 1.05%.
TFI International was strong with a 4.2% gain. It then released earnings after the close. Adjusted net earnings per share were up a massive 81%. I'm not sure what the expecta...

Markets were fairly sharply higher Wednesday after the FED raised interest rates 0.75% rather than the feared 1.0%. Long term bond yields declined somewhat. Longer term bond investors do not appear to think that interest rates will go up much more if...

Tuesday featured some market declines with the S&P 500 down 1.15% and Toronto down 0.7%.
Some retailer including Canadian Tire (down 5.7%) got pulled down by Walmart announcing a lower profit outlook. But Canadian Tire is a far different thing th...

Monday was a moderately positive day in the markets with the S&P 500 ending the day up 0.1% and Toronto up 0.6%.
Most stocks I follow were up but Toll Brothers was down 3.3%.
After the close, Walmart revised its profit outlook down for it next re...

I've been looking further at these two rate reset pref shares that i have mentioned recently and which look like good potential for a capital gain. BPO.PR.A at $16.50 paying $1.177 to yield 7.1% and will rest in about 2.5 years at Canada bond plus 3....

Markets are quiet this morning...
We are just getting into the Q2 earnings reports for Canadian companies. This could move markets this week. I expect most have done well. Main stream grocers like Sobeys and Metro may have lost ground to Costco and h...

Friday's session saw the S&P 500 down 0.9% and Toronto down 0.4%.
Shopify bounced down 7.3%.
Penny stock Ceapro was up 8.5% but has yet to make progress on monetizing most of the R&D it has been doing for years. On the other hand as noted in ...

West Fraser Timber is updated and rated Speculative Buy at U.S. $102 or Canadian $132. The analysis is in U.S. dollars becasue it now reports in U.S. dollars. The price is already down a bit since my analysis price as the recent bump from a (probably...

Markets continued higher on Thursday with the S&P 500 up 0.7% and Toronto up 0.1%.
Toll Brothers was up 4.1%.
Shopify was up 4.6%.
I looked closely at West Fraser Timbers results and it would be a definite buy based on past results. Although lumb...

Markets were modestly higher on Wednesday with the S&P 500 up 0.6% and Toronto up 0.4%.
Shopify bounced up 12.3%.  Amazon was up 3.9% and Constellation Software was up 3.4%.
West Fraser Timber was up 5.5% to about $131 despite the fact that the c...

Markets staged a big bounce on Tuesday. The S&P 500 was up 2.8% and Toronto was up 1.8%.
West Fraser Timber (discussed in last post) ended the day up 15% even after saying it was not in any active talks to be taken over. 
TFI International was up...

West Fraser Timber is up about 20% this morning on rumors it has received a take over offer or is about to. I decided to sell  75% of the  shares I own. That gave me a 55% gain in an RRSP account and allows me to build back some cash. I suppose if th...

U.S markets today were earlier up but then ended the day with the S&P 500 down 0.8%. But Toronto was up 1.1% as oil prices were higher.
Oil flows to the U.S. were interrupted today by a power outage on the existing Keystone pipeline (not to be co...

Posting today and for the next month from Nova Scotia and the Atlantic provinces and time zone.
Markets are set to open higher this morning.
CMHC released the June  housing starts data this morning and they remain strong. Single family starts in Albe...

Markets staged a little rally on Friday with the S&P 500 up 1.9% and Toronto up 0.4%.
Starbucks was up 1.8% and has been doing fairly well for the past two months. Recall founder Howard Schultz is back as temporary CEO. It's possible people will ...

Markets finished lower on Thursday although not as low as they had been earlier in the day.
The S&P 500 was down just 0.3% but Toronto was down 1.5%.
Bank stocks were down. Royal Bank was down 5.6% and Canadian Western Bank was down 4.9%.
I've al...

On Wednesday the S&P 500 was down 0.45% as U.S. inflation came in higher-than-expected at 9.1% year-over-year in June.
In Canada the Bank of Canada increased is target overnight lending rate by 1.0% which was 0.35% higher than the expected 0.75% ...

On Tuesday, the S&P 500 was down 0.9% and Toronto was down 0.7%.
West Texas Oil is down to $94.28. That pushed the Canadian energy ETF XEG down 3.3% to $13.42. 
Tomorrow, the Bank of Canada is expected increase interest rates by 0.75%. Neverthele...

Monday's action saw the S&P 500 end the day down 1.15% and Toronto was very similar down 1.1%.
Almost all the stocks I follow closely were down on the day.
Shopify was notable with an 8.9% decline.
Aecon Group ( a construction company) was down 5...

On Friday, the S&P 500 was down 0.1% and Toronto was down 0.2%.
In Canada, the big event this week will be the Bank of Canada rate hike on Wednesday. It's expected to be a hike of 0.75% or possibly 1.0%.  
It's hard to know if all of the expected...

The report on Ceapro is updated and rated Speculative Buy at $0.56. This has been a volatile and disappointing stock over the years. But now its earnings have improved. It's worth the $0.56 just based on its existing products and if its research and ...

Thursday was an up day in the markets. The S&P 500 was up 1,4% and Toronto was up 1.8%.
Shopify was notable bouncing up 6.2%.
Linamar was up 5.7%. I believe that was prior to them releasing a comment on their markets after the close. It was not r...

The report on Visa Inc. is updated and rated Buy at $202. It's not a screaming buy but I don't think we would go too far wrong owning this company. After all it's "everywhere you want to be". It's also likely "in your wallet". It fits the advice of P...

On Wednesday, the S&P 500 was up 0.4% while Toronto declined 0.55% as oil prices weakened somewhat.
West Fraser Group was up 4.4%. Perhaps the market believes home building and construction will carry on relatively well. 
I notice Heineken was up...

On Tuesday, the S&P 500 was down as much as 2.1% earlier in the day but recovered to end the day up 0.2%.
Toronto ended the day down 1.0% as oil was down about 9%.
Shopify bounced up 9.9%. Toll Brothers was relatively strong with a 2.3% gain.
Cen...

U.S. markets were closed for the holiday today.
Toronto, left to its own devises rose 0.9% as oil prices rose.
DesRosiers reported today that June light vehicle sales in Canada were weak. 144,000 units sold versus 163,000 last year and 200,000 in 201...

WSP Global returns to our list rated (lower) Buy at $144. It is a high quality company with strong recent earnings growth has been strong.  And the company projects and aspires to continued growth. Since last Summer the price has come down and earnin...

My next update will be for WSP Global. It will be rated somewhere in the Buy range. What a difference nearly a year makes. My last update on WSP called it a a (lower) Buy at $162.67 last August.  I concluded that it was a strong company that was more...

Canadian markets were closed for the holiday on Friday.
Meanwhile the S&P 500 was up 1.1%.
Toll Brothers was strong with a 5.5% gain. Starbucks was also strong rising 3.7%.
U.S. markets will be closed tomorrow July 4th and Toronto will have to fi...

The report on Stantec is updated and rated (lower) Buy. It's been a long term winner and continues to grow. The company is forecasting earnings per share growth of about 22% this year. The value looks reasonable. Given the probable recession and the ...

Thursday was the last day of the second quarter of the year and the markets lost a bit more ground.
The S&P 500 was down 0.9% and Toronto was down a similar 1.1%.
Shopify slipped another 5.6%.
Couche-Tard was down 4.6%.
Air Canada was in the news...

I was not able to make my usual little comment about Tuesday's market due to a technical issue.
On Tuesday, U.S. markets had started out okay but fell through the day with the S&P 500 ending the day down 2.0% while Toronto edged down 0.2% Shopify...

Markets were relatively calm on Monday. The S&P 500 was down 0.3% while Toronto was up 1.0%. 
Shopify bounced down 3.3%.
Maybe this will be a dull week in the markets. If so, it will be the first dull one in a very long time.
Russia technically "...

Markets were strong on Friday as the S&P 500 rebounded 3.1% and Toronto was up 1.85%.
FedEx was up 7.2% after it announced higher earnings expectations.
Almost every stock that I follow was up on the day.
As of Sunday evening, futures markets sug...

The report for wine maker and seller Andrew Peller is updated and rated Sell at $6.o3.
I probably should have thrown in the towel at my last update where they had posted poor results in the first half of its fiscal year ended March 31. The back half ...

On Thursday, the S&P 500 was up 0.95% but Toronto was down 1.5%.
Shopify was strong, rising 7.6%.
Toll Brothers was up 4.8% and Costco was up 3.3%.
Melcor Developments got hammered down 9.9% (ouch). There were 47,000 shares traded which is over f...

On Wednesday, the S&P 500 was down 0.1% and Toronto was down 1.3% as oil prices have declined somewhat.
Andrew Peller was down another 3.1%.
Canadian Western Bank was down 2.55% to $26.41. I continue to certainly see that as over-valued. They don...

On Tuesday, the S&P 500 was up 2.45% and Toronto was up 0.4%.
Apple Inc. was up 3.3%. Costco was up 3.7%.
Given my comment about AutoCanada this morning, I bough a few more shares in that company today. 
Wine maker Andrew Peller was down 4.3% to ...

As the futures suggested, U.S. markets are rebounding somewhat this morning. 
Canadian retail sales for April were reported this morning. I had expected a volume decline versus March and particularly versus April of the prior year. Instead the volume...

U.S markets were closed on Monday for the  "Juneteenth" holiday which celebrates the date that slavery officially ended in Texas in 1865 and is a general celebration of the end of slavery. 
Toronto was up 1.3%.
Futures markets suggest that U.S. marke...

Friday ended a very negative week in the markets as the the markets belatedly sit up and take notice of the fact of higher interest rates. But markets did stabilise on Friday and most stocks were up on the day.
On Friday, the S%P 500 managed again of...

The report on Constellation Software is updated and returned to our list. It always looks expensive but its past record suggests it will likely be a good investment. The recent market declines are an opportunity to buy. A reasonable approach would be...

Thursday was another down day in the markets.
Higher interest rates are a strong gravitational force on stock prices and the market is taking more and more notice of that after mostly ignoring it earlier int he year.
The S&P 500 was down 3.25% an...

On Wednesday the FED  raised interest rates by 0.75%. Since this had been expected after last Friday's fat inflation number, the markets reacted calmly, even positively.
The S&P 500 ended the day up 1.5% and Toronto rose 0.3% as oil was down mode...

Markets were calmer on Tuesday but the S&P 500 still slipped 0.4% and Toronto as down 1.0%.
AutoCanada was down 4.8% to $23.59 which is likely an attractive price.
FedEx was up a hefty 14% after it agreed to put three activist investors on its bo...

Unless you have been disconnected from all news today until now, you already know that markets took a tumble on Monday due to fears of higher interest rates.
The S&P 500 fell a fat 3.9%. I suspect that's the largest drop by far since the pandemic...

Friday was a negative day on the markets as investors take more and more notice of higher interest rates. 
Higher interest rates are undeniably a gravitational force on the value of all financial assets including stocks.
Some analysts had said that t...

Markets are down again this morning due to U.S. inflation for May coming in higher than expected at 8.6% year over year.
It's a fearful time for stock investors. But it can also be an opportunity for those who have new cash to invest or who have cash...

Markets were down on Thursday as the S&P 500 fell 2.4% and Toronto was was down 1.1%.
Canadian Wester Bank was down 2.3% to $29.06. I added a little to my position. I believe I mentioned that I think it is good value but at the same time its goin...

On Wednesday, markers were down modestly as the S&P 500 fell 1.1% and Toronto fell 0.65%.
Dollarama was strong with a 5.3% gain as it announced a new $5.00 price point and released a strong earnings report. It's been a fantastically well managed ...

On Tuesday the S&P 500 was up 0.95% and Toronto was up 0.95% and Toronto was up 0.5%.
Shopify was up 5.3% and continues to bounce around.
Constellation Software was down 1.1% to $1914 and I suspect is quite worth considering at this price.
 
...

Monday's session ended with the S&P 500 up 0.3% and Toronto up 0.1%.
Today, I updated my popular reference article that explains graphically the contribution of the various sectors to Canada's GDP. It also shows the relative size of the various c...

On Friday, the S&P 500 bounced down 1.6% and Toronto similarly was down 1.15%.
Most stocks were down on the day.
The rate reset preferred shares that I follow were up modestly.
West Texas Oil is at $120 this evening which bodes well for that sect...

On Thursday, markets were strong as the S&P 500 rose 1.8% and Toronto rose 1.5%.
lululemon was up 4.35%
Shopify was up 9.6%
Starbucks was up 4.1%
Costco was up 6.7%. And that was before it reported after hours that U.S. same-store sales were up 1...

On Wednesday the Bank of Canada hiked its interest rate 0.50% to 1.50% and the big banks immediately raised their prime rates by the same amount to 3.7%.
The S&P 500 was down 0.75% while Toronto was only down 0.1%
WSP Global was up 5.0% on news i...

Tuesday was a modestly down day o the markets as the S&P 500 fell 0.6% and Toronto was down 0.9%.
Amazon was notable with a 4.4% gain.
Tomorrow, Wednesday, the Bank of Canada is expected to increases its interest rate 0.5%. From 1.0% tp 1.5%.
It ...

On Monday the U.S. markets were closed for the Memorial Day holiday.
Toronto was up 0.8% and West Texas Oil is at U.S. $117.
Melcor Developments was up 7.3% but this was on low volume and so does not mean much.
Canadian Tire was up 1.6% to $73. Just ...

Markets continued to rebound on Friday. The S&P 500 was up a very hefty 2.5% and Toronto was up 1.05%.
Most stocks were up. That includes RioCan, up 3.1% to $22.75. I mentioned it as attractive on May 9 and 10 and I bought some on May 10 at $20.9...

Thursday was a strong day in the markets as the S&P 500 was up 2.0% and Toronto was up o.7% 
West Texas Oil is at $114 U.S. dollars. That's $146 Canadian dollars. Even with Western Canadian Select (a heavy oil) at $96 U.S. dollars (yes it's disco...

Markets bounced up moderately on Wednesday as the S&P 500 rose 0.95% and Toronto rsoe 0.5%.
Toll Brothers was up 8.0% after its earnings report yesterday.
AutoCanada was up 6.3%.
West Fraser Timer was up 3.6%.
Tomorrow, after the close, Costco wi...

On Tuesday, U.S. markets retreated from Monday's gains and the S&P 500 ended the day down 0.8% - it had been down quite a bit more earlier in the day.
Toronto managed a 0.4% gain. 
Shopify was down 11%.
Canadian Tire did okay with a 1.0% gain and...

The Canadian stock market is closed for the Victoria Day holiday. The U.S. markets are open and the S&P 500 is currently up 1.75%
Canadian Tire was down 3.1% to $161.80 on Friday. This looks like an excellent buying opportunity. I am definitely p...

Canadian Tire is updated and rated (higher) Strong Buy at $162. Its earnings have been very strong and its valuation metrics are at the low end of its historic ranges. It has been exceptionally well managed. There are always risks including bad debt ...

Couche-Tard is updated and rated (lower) Buy at $55.69 (a price from yesterday). Based on its recent earnings and growth it could be rated a definite Buy. But there are some risks. It is has been enjoying exceptionally high profit margins on gasoline...

Wednesday was a rough day in the markets as Tuesday's little bounce was short lived.
The S&P 500 was down a fat 4.0% and Toronto was down 1.9%.
I was surprised to see Costco down 12.5% to $429. It has peaked just last month at $612. I have said f...

Markets had a bounce upwards on Tuesday as the S&P 500 was up 2.0% and Toronto was up 1.4%.
Notable gainers included FedEx, up 5.6%.
Toll Brothers was up 3.4%. This stock has been pushed down by fears of what higher interest rates will do to thei...

Melcor Developments is updated and rated buy at $13.68. Admittedly this has been a poor investment over the years. But it trades at about 41 cents on the dollar of book value and with high oil prices and the improving Alberta economy it should do wel...

On Monday, the S&P 500 was down 0.4% while Toronto was up 0.5%. Oil is at $115 U.S. dollars. Even with the discount on Canadian heavy oil, money is gushing into the Alberta government treasury via royalties. The Feds are benefiting from income ta...