S&P 500 down 0.4%, Toronto was down 0.6%.
We had Toll Brothers down 6.2% to $32.31. This is a more speculative stock given its high P/E ratio. The market seems undecided about this one as contradictory news comes in about the housing market. I grabbed a small addition to my position at around the $32 mark and placed an order to grab a bit more at $30.10 if it goes there. Other than Toll Brothers it seems our stock picks were mixed today, some up, some down, nothing of much interest.
I notice Empire, owner of Sobeys has announced the sale of 68 Safeway stores to Crombie REIT. I am a bit confused about when this would happen because I would not have thought that the Safeway deal had closed yet. I don’t follow Empire. But I think this is impressive that Empire / Sobeys moved this fast. In contrast it is a bit bothersome that Canadian Tire planed something like none months to get its REIT off the ground. Also i prefer the Empire approach of selling off the real estate to an unrelated party. Canadian Tire in contrast is “selling” its properties to a REIT that it will own 80% or so of. In effect Canadian Tire is in substance not doing much at all but is just doing some financial engineering to “release value”. If REITs are willing to pay silly prices for real estate why not just sell to an unrelated REIT and grab a very long term lease?