2016

On this second-last day of trading for 2016, the S&P 500 was about unchanged while the Toronto index was up 0.4%.

There were no particularly noteworthy moves in the stocks on our list. (Melcor was up 3.4% but the volume is too low for that mov...

CN Rail is updated and rated (lower) Sell (meaning somewhere between a Hold and an outright Sell rating) at $92.01. CN is a great company with excellent economics and strong management. But it is selling at 20.3 times trailing earnings per share and ...

Today, I completed a currency transfer of $25,000 U.S. dollars from the U.S. side of my RRSP to the Canadian side.

The process was to buy DLR.u (an exchange traded fund that simply holds only U.S. dollars) on the U.S. side of the RRSP and have it ...

On Wednesday, the S&P 500 was down 0.8% and Toronto was up 0.2%.

Rate reset preferred shares were up today. I thought that was perhaps due to a rise in the 5 year Bank of Canada rate but that rate was actually down today.

I notice that more...

Amazon is updated and remains rated Sell, now at $771.

This company is not well suited to fundamental analysis because its earnings are still low in relation to its stock price. Nevertheless, I wanted to provide some knowledge of the fundamentals ...

I edited one cell of the Costco report to comment on its switch from accepting only American Express credit cards to only MasterCard (Canada) and only Visa (U.S.A).

Most retailers are virtually forced to accept both Visa and MasterCard, and often ...

On Tuesday, the S&P 500 rose 0.2% while Toronto took the day off.

Toll Brothers was up 1.8% to $31.91.

The Case-Shiller home price index was updated for October today and showed another small increase (See the seasonably adjusted numbers). ...

Walmart is updated but is rated Weak Sell. This is a neutral rating with a slight leaning to Sell. In some ways it may be a waste of time to follow such a huge company especially since it is mature and is in low growth period and there is little reas...

Costco is updated and rated Weak Sell at $162.08. It is clearly a fantastic company. It's the best in class for warehouse style stores. No retailer relishes competing with Costco. But it is trading at 30 times trailing earnings and the growth is good...

I was one of three "stock-pickers" featured in the Edmonton Journal on Saturday as my three stocks picks for 2016, provided to the Edmonton Journal last year, returned an average of 37.5% each (including dividends) from December 14, 2015 to December ...

On Friday, the S&P 500 was up 0.1% and Toronto was down 0.1%.

Boston Pizza Royalties Income Fund rose 1.4% to $22.94 and is up 28% this year. And it is up 36% since I rated it a (higher) Strong Buy on February 10. This was a very good "call" b...

FedEx is updated and rated (lower) Buy at $192.60 This stock is up 29% in 2016 and we had it rated Buy to start the year. And it's up 19% since we updated it as a Buy on August 1, 2016. It's a great company and a valuable contributor to the economy. ...

On Thursday, the S&P 500 was down 0.2% while Toronto was up 0.2%.

Bombardier was up 3.4%

Statistics Canada reported that that the Consumer Price Index was up just 1.2% year over year in November. Core inflation was apparently somewhere betw...

On Wednesday, the S&P 500 was down 0.3% and Toronto was up 0.1%.

Fedex was down 3.3% after releasing earnings. I plan to update that report next.

Statistics Canada reported that rail car loadings for October were down 0.6% versus last year....

On Tuesday, the S&P 500 was up 0.4% and Toronto was up 0.1%. And the Dow Jones Industrial Average came withing a whisker of cresting the 20,000 level.

It's interesting that the markets have risen this week despite the assassination of the Russ...

On Monday, the S&P 500 was up 0.2% and Toronto was up 0.1%.

Bombardier had a strong day, up 6.8% and the Bombardier pref share that I follow (and own) was up 2.9%.

After rising relatively sharply last week, the 5 year Canada bond yield was ...

On Friday, the S&P 500 was down 0.2% and Toronto was up 0.2%.

Bombardier had a good day, up 5.1% after holding an "investor day" in New York last week and also providing some updated forecasts.

I am not a fan of such Investor Days since, ev...

On Thursday, the S&P 500 was up 0.4% and Toronto was up 0.1%.

AutoCanada was up 2.6%. TransForce was up 2.5%. Bank of America was up 2.2%.

Most of the rate reset preferred shares that are trading well below $25 rose about 2% as the Bank of ...

Constellation Software is updated and rated Buy at CAN $591. Note that the analysis is in U.S. dollars because it reports in U.S. dollars which is appropriate because it earns most of its revenues in U.S. dollars. This is definitely one of the very b...

On Wednesday, the FED raised its target overnight inter-bank lending rate by 0.25%. This was fully expected. They also indicated they expected three more rate hikes next year instead of the two they previously "saw". Apparently they see increased ris...

On Tuesday, the S&P 500 was up (another) 0.6% and Toronto was up the same percentage.

Agrium was one of the few decliners, down 3.5%.

I did end up selling the rest of my Wells Fargo today. And, after the close there was news that Wells Farg...

Boston Pizza Royalties Income Fund is updated and rated (lower) Buy at $22.64

Here is some history on this one. In 2013 when it got up around $23 I indicated I was not a buyer at that price. The stock then slipped back to $20 to $21. It got back t...

On Monday, the S&P 500 was down 0,1% and tronto was down 0.2% (despite a rise in oil prices)

CRH Medical was down 6.8% on Toronto. I am not aware of the reasons for the volatility.

CN Rail was down 2.3% apparently after some allegations aga...

The next update will be for Royal Bank. I just read closely through about 100 pages of its massive annual report. The saying "Too Big to Analyse" comes to mind. Last March 6th I added Royal Bank to the site as a Strong Buy at $71.38. I also noted tha...

On Friday, the S&P 500 was up 0.6% and Toronto was up 0.1%.

Agrium was up 2.5% to $144.13. I have not looked at its numbers since early this year. I will likely remove it from the site rather than try to update it. It's proposed merger with Po...

Bank of America is updated and rated (lower) Buy at $23.09. This stock is up 37% this year and started the year at $16.83 rated (higher) Buy. On January 20, it was updated to Speculative Strong Buy at $13.69. Since then it is up 69%. And it is up 187...

Our report for Dollarama is updated and rated Weak Buy at $101.27. I continue to view this as one of Canada's very best managed companies. It is a tremendous success story. But it always seems too richly priced for me. I believe it will now grow earn...

Thursday was yet another positive day on the markets.

The S&P 500 was up 0.2% and Toronto was up 0.4%.

AutoCanada surged 11.3%. I do not see any news to explain that. Possible some analyst "upgraded" it.

Canadian Western Bank was up an a...

On Wednesday, the S&P 500 was up 1.3% and Toronto was up 0.7%.

Linamar was up 4.0% for a 20% gain since it was added to this site on November 25.

Wells Fargo was up 3.1% and has staged a HUGE recovery from its lows of October.

As of now,...

The report on the Canadian Western Bank Series 5 rate reset preferred shares is updated. At $19.00 these are rated Buy for a dividend yield of 5.8% which however would reset to 4.9% in about 28 months if interest rates remain as they are now and high...

Toll Brothers (a luxury home builder) is updated and rated (higher) Buy at $32.40. The recovery in the U.S. home building and home prices continues. Due to contracts already signed Toll Brothers has an earnings increase of about 14 to 18% more or les...

On Tuesday, the S&P 500 was up 0.3% and Toronto was up 0.2%.

Notable gainers included:

Linamar, up 4.5%

Canadian Western Bank, up 4.7%. Possibly it rose based on two large propane refining projects that the government of Albert...

Monday was another positive day on the markets with the S&P 500 up 0.6% and Toronto up 0.3%.

Notable gainers included Linamar, up 2.6%, Melcor up 4.6% (but on its usual tiny volume) Bank of America up 2.9% and Toll Brothers up 3.9%.

Toll Br...

On Friday, the S&P 500 was about unchanged, while Toronto was up 0.2%.

Canadian Western Bank (see the update) fell 2.6%. Presumably the Q4 report was considered less positive after analysts had more time to review it.

AutoCanada was down 3....

The report on Canadian Western Bank is updated and rated Weak Buy /Hold at $29.51. I had last rated it Buy on September 4 at $26.46. The price is only 11.5% higher now, but the earnings were down in Q4 and the valuation ratios are less attractive for...

Thursday was a mixed day in the markets as the S&P 500 was down 0.4% (even as the DOW was up 0.4%) and Toronto was down 0.4%.

Some of the notable gainers included: Linamar up 5.4%.  Canadian Western Bank up 3.9% after releasing its Q4 earnings...

Wednesday was a positive day for the Canadian stock market as the members of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries agreed to curtail production somewhat. This boosted oil prices by about 8% to $49.44. The Toronto Stock index rose 0.5% whi...

On Tuesday, the S&P 500 was up 0.1% while Toronto was down 0.1%.

Oil was down about 4%.

CRH Medical was up 6.8%, partially recovering the big decline of Monday.

Toll Brothers was up by 1.5%.

Bank of Nova Scotia's earnings were higher ...

On Monday, the S&P 500 was down 0.5% and Toronto was down 0.4%.

CRH Medical corporation was down 16.2%. It had had a good run. I did not see any news behind the decline but it is a small company and volatility probably comes with the territory...

Linamar is added to our list as a Strong Buy at $51.09.

With very strong recent earnings growth and a P/E of 6.7 the numbers suggest this is a strong Buy. This 6.7 seems particularly low given the U.S. stock markets are at a record high with avera...

On Friday, the S&P 500 was up 0.4% to another record high. Meanwhile, Toronto was unchanged for the day.

TransAlta was up 17.1% and is up 32% since I mentioned on Monday evening last week that it might be a good speculative pick despite being ...

On Thursday, the U.S. equity markets were closed for the holiday while Toronto ended the day about unchanged.

TransAlta, which I mentioned on Monday evening as a possible speculative pick was up 7.7%. The increase was related to news that TransAlt...

As of now, the post-election party in the markets continues for most stocks. (Update 12:15 eastern  with U.S. markets closed we don't know if stocks in the U.S. would have matched the small gain seen in Canada today.)

This morning Statistics Canad...

U.S. stock indexes set new record highs again today.

The S&P 500 was up 0.2% and Toronto (which is not at a record high) was up 0.4%% (on thin volume, as always

Notable gainers included Canadian Western Bank up 2.8%, Stantec up 2.9%, Melcor...

Returns are bustin' out all over... The U.S. stock market indexes are at record highs.

The S&P 500 was up 0.7% (to a new high) and Toronto was up 1.2%.

Most of the stocks on our list were up today.

I added once again to my Melcor Develop...

Toll Brothers stock price has declined in the past three month and remains well below where it was in 2014 and 2015. And, it did not benefit very much from the Trump bump.

I suspect that there are fears that higher interest rates will lead to a sl...

On Friday, the S&P 500 was down 0.2% and Toronto was up 0.3%

Canadian Western Bank was up 2.7% to $27.69. While I think it offers good value at this price, it is interesting to see this stock rising while Melcor Developments continues to decli...

TransForce is updated and rated Weak Buy / Hold at $33.15. It's a great company. But it is facing a weak economy. It has done well with cost cutting but that may not be sufficient to justify the recent sharp price increase. I reduced my position toda...

Thursday was a positive day as the S&P 500 rose 0.5% and Toronto was up 0.6%.

CRH Medical was up 4.5% on Toronto to $7.72 and in the U.S. was up 3.6% to $5.70.

Toll Brothers was up 2.8%. Constellation Software was up 2.9%.

Walmart was do...

On Wednesday, the S&P 500 and Toronto were each down 0.2%.

The biggest decliner on our list was Bombardier down 4.5%.

Bombardier has issued new bonds paying 8.75%. According to news reports "The company said it intends to use the net procee...

On Tuesday, the S&P 500 was up 0.7% and Toronto was up 1.1%.

Some of the U.S. bank shares continued to rise but Wells Fargo was down 1.2% probably due to its unique challenges at this time. U.S.bond yields stopped rising today. It may be that ...

Enbridge is out with a 5.15% rate reset preferred share that features a minimum 5.15% upon reset. That minimum provides protection in the event the 5 year Canada bond falls back. These could prove unattractive if rates really soar but there is  not m...

Monday was a bit of a mixed day in the markets as some stocks had notable increases while others had notable decreases. The S&P 500 was flat on the day while Toronto was up 0.3%.

Canadian Western Bank was up 4.0%. I did not see any news to exp...

TransCanda is out with a 4.9% minimum rate reset preferred share. That seems attractive for a portion of most portfolios. At the moment it was not sold out but likely will sell out very quickly.

U.S. bank shares are up sharply again today. Those h...

On Friday, the S&P 500 was down 0.1% and Toronto was down 1.3%.

Dollarama was down 3.4%. It never seems to be cheap but I'd rather buy it on a dip than after a surge.

Toll Brothers was down 1.6%. I may add to my position.

The breakdown o...

Stantec is updated and rated (lower) Buy at Canadian $34.17. This is a great company and will continue to grow. But it does not appear to be a compelling buy at this time....

Our report on American Express is updated for the Q3 results and rated Speculative (lower) Buy at $70.50. It has become a bit more speculative due the possibility of new disruption in the electronic payments industry and due to the ongoing impacts of...

Our report on Melcor Developments is updated as a Strong Buy at $12.89. This stock is down 11.5% in 2016 and was down 26% in 2015. And its main business of selling residential building lots is down about 60% in 2016 to date. And any recovery in the b...

Markets are up strongly again today. With Wells Fargo up 6.6% and given its recent troubles and given there may be better stocks to own, I sold more than half my Wells Fargo today. First I sold the small amount in registered accounts. Then, with trig...

Few people would have predicted that stock markets would rise on a trump victory. The S&P 500 was up 1.1% on Wednesday and Toronto was up 0.7%. And that was on top of strong gains in the U.S. on Monday and Tuesday which were thought to be attribu...

My strategy would be to buy the likes of Berkshire and Costco on the dip.

This result is more proof that predictions are very hard. A more realistic strategic is just to react to events rather than try to predict things like this.

The economy a...

I am not surprised by the continuing steep decline in the price of Valeant. In the case of Valeant, the potential bottom is zero. This is because its debt may be larger than the market value of its assets.

In late July 2015, several weeks before i...

Markets were very strong on Monday as most investors decided that the end of the FBI's email investigation, announced Sunday, means that Clinton is more likely to win. The S&P 500 was up 2.2% and Toronto was up 1.0%.

Most stocks were up today....

On Friday, the S&P 500 was down 0.2% and Toronto was down 0.5%.

Stantec was down 3.7% to $29.09 ahead of its Q3 earnings. It may face some unusual costs in relation to recent large acquisitions. But I believe it will be a good investment at th...

Berkshire Hathaway is updated and rated (lower) Strong Buy at $142.95. I believe it is a good time to buy this stock. It should have little downside risk given that Berkshire will repurchase shares if it falls below $131. The price to book value is m...

AutoCanada is updated for its Q2 earnings release and rated Buy.

The earnings results were disappointing and the stock was down 3.0% on Friday and had been down about 7% Friday morning before recovering somewhat during and after the conference cal...

On Thursday, the S&P 500 was down 0.4% and Toronto was down 0.1%.

Canadian tire was up 2.4%.

AutoCanada was down 1.7% and then reported earnings after the close. Adjusted earnings were down 25% and there was a loss after a substantial write...

On Wednesday markets were down as oil prices were down and as fears of the election outcome put downward pressure on stock prices.

The S&P 500 was down 0.7% and Toronto was down 1.2%.

AutoCanada was down another 3.0% to $21.42. I added mode...

On Tuesday, the S&P 500 was down 0.7% while Toronto was down 0.1%.

There were no particularly noteworthy moves in the stocks on our list.

Statistics Canada reported August GDP up 0.2%. That is not an annualised number. Overall the report wa...

I am a day late to talk about tricks, but watch out for the following one:

I am getting emails purportedly from Canada Revenue with an interact transfer of a refund owing to me.

It might be easy to fall for it in a weak moment if you are expect...

On Monday, the S&P 500 and Toronto were each about unchanged.

Constellation Software was up 3.9%.

TransForce was up 2.8%.

Both TransForce and Constellation have been excellent investors over the long term following a growth-by-acquisitio...

TransForce is up 7.4% to $29.17 on its news that it is making another large acquisition. It's been a great investment this year given that it got under $20 early this year. They were smart to have bought back substantial shares around $21 earlier thi...

At mid-day Toll Brothers was down another 2.0% to about $27.50. I have almost no U.S. cash available but used what I have to add to my Toll Brothers position. Perhaps I am just being stubborn but I do like to show the courage of my convictions.

I ...

On Wednesday, the S&P 500 was down 0.2% and Toronto was down 0.4%.

CN Rail was down 3.8% after its earnings release.

Heineken was down 3.6% as it announced 3rd quarter sales volumes and earnings and that it would be hurt by currency fluctua...

On Tuesday, the S&P 500 and Toronto were each down 0.4%.

CRH Medical was up 2.1% to $6.22 in Toronto and $4.75 in the U.S. (The report on this one is in U.S. dollars.)

Toll Brothers was down 1.9% to $28.22. I continue to think this company ...

On Monday, the S&P 500 was up 0.5% while Toronto was down 0.1%.

The best gainers on our list were Costco up 2.1%, Agrium up 2.5%, Amazon up 2.3%.

Statistics Canada reported that wholesale trade increased....

On Friday, the S&P 500 was unchanged and Toronto was up 0.6%.

The Canadian dollar fell to 0.7% to 75.0 U.S. cents which is the lowest in six months. This increases the value of U.S. investments if measured in Canadian dollars.

Canadian infl...

Posting tonight from Cape Breton, Nova Scotia.

On Thursday, the S&P 500 was down 0.1% while Toronto was about flat.

American Express was up 9.0% to $66.78. That is a huge gain for such a large cap company. The stock is still well down from ...

Wednesday's market saw the S&P 500 rise 0.2% and Toronto rise 0.6%.

Oil was up over 1% and is now at $51.44.

Canadian Western Bank was up 1.5% and Auto Canada was up 1.6%. This may have been related to the increase in oil.

Visa was up 1....

Tuesday was an up day in the stock markets with the S&P 500 up 0.6% and Toronto up 1.1%.

Most of the stocks on our list were higher.

The news at Wells Fargo is not getting any better. There is evidence that the CEO was told about fraudulent...

On Monday, the S%P 500 was down 0.3% while Toronto was up 0.1%.

Oil has slipped below $50 but is currently at $50.20.

Costco was down 1.0% to $148.70. I would consider nibbling at it at that price.

Bank of America was out with a strong earni...

On Friday, the S&P 500 ended the day about unchanged while Toronto was down 0.4%.

The Canadian Western Bank rate reset preferred share (series 5) rose 3.2% to $18.60. These shares have about 30 months to go before they reset. If interest rates...

Wells Fargo is updated and rated Speculative Buy at U.S. $44.71.

This bank has been very much in the news due to the fact that an audit has found that its branch staff opened some 2 million deposit and credit card accounts without customer authori...

On Thursday, the S&P 500 fell 0.3% while Toronto was up 0.2%.

One of the larger gains was Couche-Tard up 1.7% to $66.35.

Most of our American stocks were down modestly.

Wells Fargo and a couple of other big U.S. banks will report earning...

On Wednesday, the S&P 500 rose 0.1% while Toronto was up 0.5% and oil hung in just over $50.00.

TransForce was up 1.7% to $27.92. That's a nice recovery from lows under $19 early this year. It's a great company but I would not add to my positi...

On Tuesday, the S&P 500 was down 1.2% while Toronto was down only 0.1%.

There were no particularly large moves in the stocks on our list.

CMHC reported that housing starts were up strongly in September. In Alberta, single family starts were...

On Monday, the S&P 500 rose 0.5% while Toronto was closed for the holiday. Markets were positive on the perception that Trump's chances are diminishing.

CRH Medical (added to the site yesterday) was up 1.8% in U.S. trading and I bought a few s...

CRH Medical Corporation is added to our list as a Speculative Buy at U.S. $4.32 or Canadian $5.72. Technically, it is a Canadian company. In substance, it should be thought of by investors as a U.S. company since it earnings all of its revenues in th...

On Friday, the S&P 500 fell 0.3% and Toronto was down 0.2%.

There were few larger moves in the stocks on our list. The biggest decline was Canadian Western Bank down 1.8%.

In my own investing I bought 100 shares of HEINY an America Deposit ...

Thursday's action saw the S&P 500 about unchanged while Toronto was down 0.1%.

Canadian Western Bank was up 2.6%.

Walmart fell 3.2% as it plans to build fewer new stores and to spend more on e-commerce.

AutoCanada was up 4.5% to $24.61.
...

Wednesday the S&P 500 rose 0.4% and Toronto was up 0.6%.

West Texas Oil came very close to U.S. $50.00 and is currently at $49.74.

Canadian Western Bank recovered some of yesterday's loss as it gained 3.7%.

CN Rail rose 1.5% to $88.32. C...

On Tuesday, the S&P 500 was down 0.5% and Toronto was down 1.1%.

Some stocks declined in reaction to the measures announced yesterday to cool the housing market.

Canadian Western Bank was down 4.1% which may have been related to its Optimum...

On Monday, the S%P 500 and Toronto each declined 0.3%.

Heineken was up 2.6%. I have not bought any of this company yet but I would like to grab at least a few shares at some point. (Apparently though, I will NOT then be allowed to write off beer p...

On Friday the S&P 500 rose 0.8% while Toronto fell 0.2%.

Part of the reason for Friday's S&P 500 gain was an unofficial report that Deutsche Bank was about top settle a major U.S. fine for $5.4 billion instead of the $16 billion amount of ...

Bank of America is updated and rated (higher) Buy at $15.38. That was yesterday's price, the price as I post this is $15.65. Bank of America is a large U.S. bank with a huge branch network serving consumers and small businesses. It also has very larg...

Thursday's markets saw the S&P 500 fall 0.9% while Toronto was up 0.2%.

U.S. financials stocks fell due to fears of that Deutsche Bank was facing something of a run on certain of its deposits. Banks are always highly leveraged and fears about ...

On Wednesday, markets got a boost from reports that OPEC would plan to reduce production starting in November. Some Canadian stocks such as Stantec were also boosted by news of the conditional approval of a large LNG project.

The S&P 500 ended...

Tuesday's action had the S&P 500 up 0.6% while Toronto was down 0.4%.

Liquor Stores N.A. was up 3.0% to $10.51. I had rated this a Sell last year at $8.55. Since then it cut its dividend and has had higher sales and relatively flat profits but...

On Monday, investors bid down the price of stocks as the S&P 500 fell 0.9% and Toronto fell 0.5%.

Futures rose this evening as the consensus appears to be that Clinton won the debate handily.

I am tempted to add to positions in my American ...

On Friday, the S&P 500 was down 0.6% and Toronto was down 0.7%.

Most of the stocks on our list had modest moves such as plus or minus 1.5% or less. Bombardier was down 1.8% to $1.60 as S&P downgraded its credit rating to single B minus. Th...

The Melcor Real Estate Invest Trust entity is added to our list and rated Buy at $8.63. Based on the 7.8% distribution yield it looks attractive. But I also wanted to understand the properties it owns and to understand its accounting. These and other...

Thursday was a strong day in the markets as the S&P 500 and Toronto were each up 0.6%.

AutoCanada was up 1.9%.

This morning I had a notice from TD Direct that Capital Power had  a new issue out of a rate reset preferred share paying 6.0%. T...

On Wednesday, the S&P 500 rose 1.1% and Toronto rose 1.3%.

The FED kept its target interest rate unchanged.

FedEx was up an impressive 6.9% after releasing a strong earnings report.

Wells Fargo was down 1.6% as the fallout over its accou...

On Tuesday, the S&P 500 was about unchanged while Toronto was up 0.2%.

Bombardier was down another 5.1%. This was reportedly due to fears of weak sales and weak deliveries of aircraft.

Element Financial was up 2.0% on news that its split in...

On Monday, the S&P 500 was unchanged and Toronto was up 0.3%.

The biggest gainer on our list was Constellation Software, up 2.0%.

Bombardier was down 4.9% to $1.75. I did not see any news to explain the sharp drop.

Oil has slipped down t...

On Friday, the S&P 500 and Toronto were each down 0.4%.

TransForce was up 1.9% to $26.76. It is a very well managed company and likely to continue to do well.

Wells Fargo was down another 1.6% to $45.43 as the fallout from the fact that its...

North American markets rebounded on Thursday with the S&P 500 and Toronto each up 1.0%.

Element Financial was up 5.5%. It is splitting into two separate companies. The hope being that one divided by two will equal more than 0.50.

Toll Broth...

On Wednesday, the S&P 500 was down 0.1% while Toronto was up 0.1%.

Element Financial was the largest gainer, up 2.4%. I have been corresponding with Element trying to understand their income taxes which seem rather complicated. They have been ...

The report on Boston Pizza Royalty Income Trust units is updated and now rated (higher) Buy at $21.00 to yield 6.6%. Because this is a top-line entity where you are essentially just buying a piece of the franchise fee, the yield is the biggest driver...

Tuesday was a down day in the markets with the S&P 500 falling 1.5% and Toronto down 1.7%.

A drop in oil prices was identified as part of the reason for the market drop.

Some of the bigger moves down were:

Bombardier down 4.1%
Agrium do...

On Monday, the S&P 500 rose 1.5% while Toronto was up 0.4%.

Walmart was the highest gainer on our list, up 2.3%.

Agrium was down 2.5% after making official its plans to merge with Potash Corporation in an all stock deal. It's hard to imagin...

On Friday, the S&P 500 fell 2.5% and Toronto was down 1.8%.

Apparently this was due to fears of a FED interest hike in September and North Korea's Nuclear test.

In any case fluctuations like this simply come with the territory for stock inv...

Toll Brothers is updated and rated Strong Buy. As we expected, earnings are up very sharply in 2016. The price to book value ratio at 1.22 is very attractive for a company with that has a long history of profitability (albeit it did lose money during...

AutoCanada is updated and rated Buy. Although its sales in Alberta are weak the stock price already reflects that. And despite lower sales the individual dealerships continue to be profitable in virtually all cases. The long-term strategy of growing ...

On Thursday, the S&P 500 fell 0.2% while Toronto was about unchanged.

Oil rose due to a decline in inventories (albeit a decline that was apparently linked to storms preventing oil from being unloaded from tanker ships into storage tanks). Oil...

Our report on Alimentation Couche-Tard is updated with a Buy rating at $65.50.

This stock is up 1029% since it was first added to this site rated (lower) Strong Buy on March 31, 2005. Of course the stock did not increase in a straight line. But it...

On Wednesday, the S&P 500 was unchanged while Toronto was down 0.1%.

Oil rose this evening to $46.24.

Couche-Tard was down 2.2% today. I just completed but have not yet posted an update on this company and it will be rated Buy.

Yesterday...

On Tuesday, the S&P 500 was up 0.3% and Toronto was up 0.1%.

Amazon was up 2.1% today.

Constellation software was down 2.7%.

Enbridge is buying Spectra for about $36 billion in Stock. Enbridge had been a fantastic investment and a well run c...

Canadian Tire is updated and rated Buy at $136.72. Its Q2 earnings report was yet another quarter of strong growth. In a strange development, despite recent very strong results, they ousted their CEO after only 18 months in the top job (he had been p...

On Friday, the S&P 500 was up 0.4% and Toronto was up 0.8% (as oil prices recovered somewhat).

Our top gainer was our only European stock, Heineken, up 2.9%.

Friday's U.S. jobs report was lukewarm - which allowed the market to largely shake...

Canadian Western Bank is updated and rated Buy at $26.46. While there is always a chance that this bank could suffer very harmful loan losses, the bank is not expecting this to be the case and overall appears to represent a good risk/reward. These sh...

On Wednesday, the S&P 500 was down 0.2% and Toronto was down 0.6%. Oil is down to $44.90.

Bombardier was up 2.9% to $2.15. This stock can certainly gain on news. But I am not convinced it will gain much since each quarter when it reports earni...

On Tuesday, the S&P 500 fell 0.2% while Toronto was about unchanged.

Agrium was a big gainer, up 7.3% on news it may merge with Potash Corporation. I would wonder if the competition Bureau of Canada would allow this merger. Kevin O'Leary state...

Monday's action saw the S&P 500 rise 0.5%. Toronto was up 0.3% despite a modest drop in oil prices.

Wells Fargo was up 2.2%.

I sold about two thirds of my Bombardier shares today. I kept the one third in the hopes of getting a higher price....

On Friday, the S&P 500 was down 0.2% while Toronto was up 0.1%.

Our biggest gainer was Bank of America up 1.7%.

Toll Brothers was down 1.6%. I have confidence that the continued improvement in the U.S. housing market and Toll's earnings ove...

Our report on Bombardier is updated and the stock is rated Sell at $2.05 Canadian. (Our report converts that to U.S. $1.58 because the company reports in U.S. dollars).

Our last update was on October 29,2015 when we rated Bombardier a Highly Specu...

Markets are reacting to a speech this morning from the FED chair after a meeting taking place at Jackson Hole, Wyoming.

Oil is at U.S. $47.82 or $61 Canadian dollars, a level that is not high but which is also not really low in the context of even...

Wednesday was a mostly negative day in the markets. The S&P 500 fell 0.5% and Toronto fell 0.9%.

The only stock on our list with a notable gain was Alimentation Couche-Tard, up 2.5%.

Toll Brothers was down 2.8% giving back some of the big g...

On Tuesday, the U.S. markets closed near record highs with the S&P 500 up 0.2% to 2187. And Toronto was up 0.1% to 14,765.

As hoped and expected, Toll Brothers had a very strong day and gained 8.8% to $31.91. Interestingly it started off the d...

On Monday, the S&P 500 fell 0.1% and Toronto rose 0.4%.

A big mover today was Alimentation Couche-Tard, up 7.4% to $66.78. This was due to the announcement of a very large acquisition. I have long said that this is one of Canada's very best ma...

On Friday, the S&P 500 and Toronto were each down 0.1%.

The biggest move on our list was Walmart, down 2.0%.

Statistics Canada reported July inflation numbers. There is a lot of data in the report. You can click to the source CANSIM tables ...

On Thursday, the S&P 500 rose 0.2% while Toronto was flat.

Oil is at just shy of $49 and the Canadian dollar is at 78 U.S. cents.

Walmart was up 1.9% today and is up 21% this year. But that came after a 29% decline in 2015.

It's hard to ...

Wednesday's action saw the S&P 500 rise 0.2% while Toronto was about unchanged.

Stantec was up 3.0%.

Oil is now at $46.78

There was a report that U.S. housing starts increased more than expected in July. That bodes well for Toll Brothers...

Our report for Element Financial is updated with a rating of Speculative Buy at $13.60 (It closed today at $13.55).

I have  a mixed message here. Based on the numbers, Element looks like good value. And it is about to split into two separate compa...

On Tuesday, the S&P 500 was down 0.6% and Toronto was down 0.5%.

Alimentation Couche-Tard was up 3.1% on rumors that it will announce a major acquisition.

Statistics Canada reported June auto sales. In Alberta the June sales were up slightl...

The U.S. markets closed at record highs on Monday with the S&P 500 up 0.3%. Toronto was up 0.2% but is not near a record high.

Our biggest gainer today was Toll Brothers, up 3.2%.

Oil remains above $45.

Warren Buffett and Berkshire Hatha...

On Friday, the S&P 500 was down 0.1% and Toronto was down 0.3%.

Element Financial was down 3.5%. I have been reading its annual report and its latest quarterly report. I find management to be very aggressive about adding back things in adjuste...

On Thursday, the S&P 500 rose 0.5% to a new record high close of 2186. The DOW and the NASDAQ also set new record highs.

Are these markets over-valued? Well, they would appear to be based on earnings and based on assuming  future earnings per ...

Wednesday saw the S&P 500 down 0.3% while Toronto was down 0.2%.

Boston Pizza Royalties Income Fund was out with Q2 earnings this morning. Distributable cash per unit was up 1%. I thought distributable cash per unit might fall this particular ...

On Tuesday, the S&P 500 was about unchanged while Toronto was up 0.3%.

The rate reset preferred shares seem to be rising the last few days. This despite that the five year government of Canada yield remains low at 0.6%. If interests stay very ...

On Monday, the S&P 500 fell 0.1% while Toronto rose 0.7%.

The biggest gainer on our list was AutoCanada, up 3.2%.

Stantec was down another 2.6%. Looking at the conference call transcript, analysts asked about the project execution problems ...

% to $15.05.

On Friday, the S&P 500 rose 0.9% to a new closing high. This was driven by a strong U.S. jobs report. And Toronto rose 0.8% despite a weak Canadian jobs report.

Bank of America was up 3.9% to $15.05.

Constellation Software w...

Stantec is updated and remains rated Buy now at CAN $29.95 and U.S/ $22.72. It has suffered a significant decline in adjusted earnings per share in the past nine months due to the weakness that it oil and gas and mining customers are facing. But its ...

On Thursday, the S&P 500 was about unchanged whil;e . Toronto was up 0.1%.

Canadian Tire rose 4.4% on a strong earnings report.

After the close, Liquor Stores N.A. reported what looks to me like weak results but which they describe as stron...

Stantec is down 6% to $30.65 after releasing earnings that were lower than last year. The market may be over reacting. Earnings are lower mostly due to costs associated with their recent very large acquisition although as well due to some problems on...

On Wednesday, the S&P 500 rose 0.3% and Toronto rose 0.2%.

Oil was up about 3%.

Most of the stocks on our list were up modestly. AutoCanada, which will report earnings tomorrow (Thursday) was down 1.6%.

With the recent weakness in oil pr...

The report for Canadian National Railway Company is updated and rated Weak Sell / Hold. In Q2 its carloadings were down 11%. Earnings per share were down 0nly 4% as currency exchange, lower fuel prices and fewer shares along with strong cost manageme...

On Tuesday, the S&P 500 was down 0.6% and Toronto was down 0.7%.

Oil closed at $39.50.

Almost all the stocks on our list were down.

July was a very strong month for stocks and it is not surprising to see markets move in the other directi...

FedEx is updated and rated Buy at $161.66. (This was yesterday's closing price, as I post this it is at $158.78, down 1.8% on a day that most stocks are down).

FedEx has substantially increased its earnings due to cost cutting and due to share buy...

On Monday, the S&P 500 was down 0.1% whilke Toronto was closed.

Heineken fell 3.7% after reporting earnings partly due to the forecast impact of the weaker Euro.

Oil is down to about $40 and this could certainly cause Canadian and especiall...

Costco is updated and now rated Sell at $167.22

Costco is an exceptionally strong company and will certainly continue to grow its earnings per share over the years. But it's trading at almost 32 times trailing earnings and that is very expensive. ...

The report for Amazon is updated and is rated Sell at $759.

Amazon has a P/E ratio of 189 times trailing earnings.

There are several possibilities to explain such a high P/E:

i) Perhaps the GAAP earnings are understated - And I think there i...

On Friday, the S&P 500 and Toronto were each up 0.2%.

Statistics reported on GDP figures for May. The decline in real GDP was (estimated) at 0.6% annualized with the decline mostly attributed to lower oil sands production due to the Fort McMur...

On Thursday, the S&P 500 rose 0.2% and Toronto was about flat.

AutoCanada was down 2.1% perhaps indicating some lack of confidence regarding its Q2 earnings to be released next week.

Amazon came in  with another record quarter. I am going t...

Heineken had its start in Amsterdam in 1864 when Gerard Adriaan Heineken, at the age of 22, purchased an existing Brewery.

Heineken N.V. is a very strong company with excellent growth and profitability. Unfortunately, the stock price already refle...

On Wednesday, the S&P 500 was down 0.1% while Toronto was about unchanged.

AutoCanada was down 2.1% to $22.12. It will report earnings on August 4.

Oil is at $42.08. We may see Alberta-based companies decline in price if oil does not bounce...

On Tuesday, the S&P 500 was about flat while Toronto was up 0.4%.

Stantec was up 2.2% to $33.84. Toll Brothers was up 1.7% to $29.14.

I am looking at adding Heineken to our list of stocks. It trades in Europe but can be purchased in U.S. do...

On Monday, the S&P 500 fell 0.3% and Toronto was down 0.7%.

There were no particularly noteworthy movements in the prices of the stocks on our list.

Oil is down to just over $43 and the Canadian dollar is down to 75.7 U.S. cents.

CN Rail...

The report on the Wells Fargo preferred share on our list is updated and rated Sell at $26.07.

While the 4.9% yield on these preferred shares may look attractive given the strength of Wells Fargo and given record low interest rates, these shares a...

Our report on VISA Inc. is updated and remains rated Weak Buy at $78.94.

VISA is a very strong company with exceptional economics. But it is also expensive. The amount of payments flowing through its system is sure to grow. But there is also press...

Our Report for TransForce is updated and rated Buy at $24.81.

I like the approach of the founder / CEO of this company which I find to be highly rational and also very open and transparent. His strategy has ben very successful over the years and t...

On Thursday, the S&P 500 was down 0.4% while Toronto was up 0.2%.

TransForce reported, after the close, earnings that were lower than last year and with a weak outlook. However, this may have been anticipated.

VISA reported lower earnings m...

On Wednesday, the S&P 500 was up 0.4% to another record high closing. And Toronto was up 0.1%.

Notable gainers included Liquor Stores N.A. up 2.7% and Dollarama also up 2.7%, Canadian Western Bank up 2.2%.

After buying on dips over the last...

The American Express report is updated for yesterday's earnings release. It is no rated Speculative Buy as opposed to the previous Weak Buy/ Hold. Based on the Q2 report it appears to me that AMEX expects adjusted earnings to rise about 15% in 2017 d...

Wells Fargo is updated and remains rated (higher) Buy now at $48.53.

As I read the earnings report I was struck by the many positive aspects including robust growth in loans and deposits as well as the large share repurchase program. The earnings ...

On Tuesday, markets were about flat.

Melcor bounced up 5.0% but this essentially merely offset the decline of the previous day in this volatile and very thinly traded stock.

Bombardier was down 2.9% and faces more negative news today regarding ...

On Monday, markets were up as the S&P 500 rose 0.2% and Toronto rose 0.3%.

A notable gainer was Bank of America up 3.3% despite reporting an earnings decline of 20% in Q2 versus last year. Clearly the decline was expected. Bank of America plan...

On Friday, Statistics Canada reported that manufacturing activity across Canada was down 1% in May, the third decrease in five months. While there were some temporary factors, it does appear that the trend is negative.

Statistics Canada also repor...

I was unable to post for a few days due to lack of a sufficient internet connection. But the market did very well in the meantime reaching new highs in New York.

The terrible attack in Nice, France had no noticeable impact on North American stock ...

Stocks rose again on Tuesday with the S&P 500 up 0.7% and Toronto up 0.8%.

Bombardier was up 3.3% to $2.16 which is a good recovery from its lows earlier this year. But is has a long way to go if it is ever to get back to the even the $6 level...

On Monday, the S&P 500 rose 0.4% to close at a new all-time high. Since stocks do not rise in a straight line, a new high is not something that can or should happen every day or every month or even every year. But a new all-high is also not at al...

On Friday the markets added to what was already a strong week. The S&P 500 rose  1.6% and Toronto was up 0.9%.

A strong U.S. jobs report helped push markets higher.

A top gainer was Toll Brothers, up 3.7%....

On Thursday, the S&P 500 was down 0.1% and Toronto was down 0.7%.

Oil was down 4.7% to $45.21.

Costco was up 4.9% on a positive June sales. It seems expensive at 30 times earnings but people keep paying up for its high quality.

Insured l...

On Wednesday, the S&P 500 was up 0.5% and Toronto was up 0.1%.

AutoCanada was down 3.6% to $21.71. I did not see any news that "caused" that but stocks don't always need a reason to move (much less a valid reason).

Toll Brothers was up 2.4%...

After last week's rebound, it seems the U.S. market returned from yesterday's Holiday in a bad mood about BREXIT which dragged down the Canadian markets as well. West Texas Oil is at $46.54.

Canadian interest rates which were already impossibly lo...

On Monday, the Toronto Stock Exchange index was up 1.4% while the U.S. markets were closed.

It is somewhat welcome to see that Melcor rose 3.5% to $15.00. But it is thinly traded and its stock price is relatively volatile. One or two eager buyers ...

When I heard that some company had a made a bid to buy the Hershey company, I wondered it might be Berkshire Hathaway. Buffett has frequently used the Hershey chocolate bar brand as an example of a powerful and enduring brand. It turned out to be Mon...

On Thursday, the S&P 500 was up 1.4% while Toronto was up 0.2%. On Canada Day the S&P 500 rose another 0.2%.

With the year half over, the S&P 500 is up 2.9% and Toronto is up 8.1%. (Neither of these figures include dividends)

Our St...

What BREXIT Market correction?

On Wednesday, the S&P 500 rose 1.7% to 2071. Toronto rose 1.4%.

Last Thursday, before the vote, the S&P 500 closed at 2113 as it rose that day and the day before in anticipation of a "stay" win. The S&...

On Tuesday, the S&P 500 rose 1.8% and Toronto was up 1.1%.

Almost all stocks were up.

With the five year government of Canada yield once again plumbing pretty much record lows, the rate rest preferred shares once again may suffer as the out...

On Monday, the S&P 500 fell 1.8% and Toronto was down 1.5%.

Most stocks were down including Stantec down 5.1% and Canadian Western Bank down 4.6%. And Bank of America was down 6.3%.

There are signs that Tuesday will be a better day. Oil is ...

Markets are down again today with the S&P 500 down 1.7% and Toronto down 1.6%.

The U.S. bank stocks have been hit hard. If I had U.S. funds available I would add to my Bank of America and Wells Fargo positions.

On Wednesday this week the FE...

So, the surprise BREXIT result pushed the S&P 500 down 3.6% and Toronto down 1.7%. And it pushed oil down to $47.09 and the Canadian dollar down to 76.6 U.S. cents.

Notable decliners included Bank of America down 7.4%, Wells Fargo down 4.6%. M...

Markets are down on the BREXIT leave vote.

But with the S&P 500 down 2.3% it's really not that big of a decline. Toronto is down 1.3%.

If I had spare cash in my U.S. accounts I would buy some U.S. shares such as Bank of America, Wells Fargo...

Markets rose today on speculation of a remain vote win in the U.K. The S&P 500 was up 1.3% and Toronto was up 0.9%. The great majority of stocks rose today.

Friday's market direction will likely depend on the Brexit vote.

Bombardier was in ...

On Wednesday the S&P 500 was down 0.2% and Toronto was down 0.1%.

The markets are waiting now to see how the BREXIT vote goes. It will be known on Friday morning.

Boston Pizza was up 0.6% to climb back above $19.00 for the first time since ...

On Tuesday, the S&P 500 rose 0.3% while Toronto was about flat.

Toll Brothers Fell 1.2% despite the fact that Lennar, also a home building company reported an earnings gain and strong new home orders today. After the close, KB Home reported be...

Our report on Constellation Software Inc. is updated with a rating of (lower) Buy at $507. This is an exceptionally well managed company. It's not cheap but it is reasonably priced. I would be interested in adding to my small position if the price de...

On Monday, the S&P 500 was up 0.6% and Toronto was up 0.8%.

Most stocks were up.

AutoCanada was up 4.4%.

Stocks that I would buy if I did not already own them include Bank of America, Melcor, Toll Brothers and Boston Pizza.

Bank of Am...

Our report American Express is updated and rated Weak Buy / Hold at $62.30.

America Express is forecasting little to no earnings growth for this year and next. The credit card business is facing pressure to lower the fees charged to Merchants. Ame...

On Friday, the S&P 500 was down 0.3% while Toronto was up 0.1%.

The Bombardier Series 3 preferred share was up 4.4% to $15.25. This is a very weak company. Still, the preferred share dividend is likely to continue to be paid and governments se...

On Thursday, the S&P 500 ended the day up 0.3% while Toronto was down 0.3%.

After the close, Canadian Western Bank announced a common share issue at $24.50 which sold out very uickly. This will increase the share count by about 7.2%. I have wr...

On Wednesday the S&P 500 fell 0.2%. It initially rose on the FED decision to leaves rates unchanged but fell late in the day. Toronto was up 0.3%.

TransForce was up 2.3%....

Canadian Western Bank is updated and rated Buy at $25.91. This is an almost pure lending bank (The big banks derive only about half their revenues from interest on loans). While it is headquartered in Alberta, 35% of loans are in BC and in total 60% ...

Tuesday was a negative day as the S&P 500 was down 0.2% and Toronto was down 0.8%.

American Express got spanked down 4.2%.

CN rail notes that inter-modal shipping container movement across North America is down about 7% and suggests this in...