2017

On Friday, the S&P 500 was up 0.4% while Toronto was down 0.2%.
Bombardier has a strong day, up 3.6% $2.56.
Alimentation Couche Tard was up 2.0%. Toll Brothers was up another 1.4%. FedEx was up 2.4%. In general investors are optimistic and are bi...

The Canadian Western Bank rate reset preferred share on our list is updated and rated (lower) Buy at $21.16.
Similar to many other rate reset preferred shares that are trading well below their $25 issue price, the hope here has been that the yield on...

Canadian Western Bank is updated and rated Strong Buy at $25.37. In the December and March updates I was fairly lukewarm on it due to risks of loan losses. But now the stock has fallen down to only 105% of book value. The decline seems to be related ...

Thursday was a strong day in the markets with the S&P 500 and Toronto each up 0.8%.
FedEx was up 2.3%.  Toll Brothers was up 2.3%. Dollarama which we consider to be a great but expensive company was up another 2.5%. Similarly CN was up another  1...

Canadian Western Bank's earnings report is out and is quite positive. There are never any guarantees but it seems silly that this bank's shares have been pushed down quite close to book value. I grabbed a few more shares this morning at 3.5% higher t...

On Wednesday, the S&P 500 was down 0.1% and Toronto was down 0.2%.
Alimentation Couche-Tard was a bright spot rising 2.3% to $63.58. This is an exceptionally well managed company and is likely to continue to do well over the years.
Costco reporte...

Toll Brothers is updated and rated (higher) Buy at $36.91. Earnings have been increasing relatively rapidly based expected based on home sale contracts signed last year. This should continue based on the higher pace of home sales in the past year whi...

Tuesday's action saw the S&P 500 down 0.1% and Toronto down 0.3%.
Bombardier was up 4.7% to $2.44 as it delivered the first CS 300 jet. This is good but the problem is that all of the early production run has apparently been priced below cost. It...

On Monday, with the U. S. markets closed, Toronto was about unchanged.
Ceapro recovered 4.6% while CRH Medical was down 3.7%.
AutoCanada recovered 4.6%.
The decision of the Green Party in B.C. to support the NDP and attempt to topple the Liberals see...

On Friday, the S&P 500 and the Toronto index were both relatively unchanged.
The stocks on our list were also relatively unchanged with no particularly noteworthy moves.
Monday is a holiday for the U.S. stock exchanges.
The Kinder Morgan IPO that...

On Thursday, the S&P 500 was up 0.4% to a new record high, closing at 2415. Meanwhile Toronto was down 0.1% as oil declined to $49.50 after OPEC's agreed output limits were apparently not as low as hoped by the oil industry. (Oil consumers would ...

On Wednesday, the S&P 500 rose 0.2% while Toronto fell 0.4%.
Canadian Bank stocks were lower which included Canadian Western Bank down 1.8%. AutoCanada was down 2.8%. With Oil at $51.77 I suspect the Alberta economy will continue to improve and I...

On Tuesday, the S&P 500 was up 0.2% and Toronto was up 0.1%.
U.S. markets have apparently become complacent about Terrorist attacks in other parts of the world.
AutoCanada was down 2.0% and appears to offer good value.
I bought some TFI Internati...

TFI International is updated and rated (higher) Buy at $27.50. Since our last rating (which was weak buy/ hold) at $33.15 the stock has declined and the earnings and revenue have increased.
This is a very well managed growth-by-acquisition company. W...

On Friday, the S&P 500 rose 0.7% and Toronto was up 1.2%.
Most of the stocks on our list rose with the market. Ceapro bounced up 9.5%.
Canadian stock markets are closed on Monday but the U.S. markets are open.
...

On Thursday, the S&P 500 was up 0.4% and Toronto was about unchanged.
AutoCanada was up 4.1%, and Constellation Software was up 3.5%.
It's hard to say if the issues Trump is facing will have much impact on stocks. There always seems to be some th...

On Wednesday, the S&P 500 was down 1.8% and Toronto was down 1.7%
Apparently, a (rather belated) realization that Trump is not going to be able to deliver on corporate income tax cuts anytime soon was the reason. Or maybe it was the fact that his...

On Tuesday, the S&P 500 was down 0.1% and Toronto was down 0.6%.
AutoCanada was down 2.3% and I grabbed a few more shares today. I always like to show the courage of my convictions when Buy-rated stocks decline. And, just as importantly, I like b...

On Monday, the S&P 500 was up 0.5% and Toronto was up 0.6%.
Canadian Western Bank was up 2.1%.
All in all, it was another day to be glad to be an owner of companies.
Oil was up 2% to about $49 U.S. dollars. While lower than peak prices, $49 is no...

Melcor Developments is updated and rated (higher) Buy at $16.50. (last trade as I post this was $16.25. As detailed in the report (see Recent Developments) the company had a surprisingly large increase in residential building lot sales in Q1. And the...

On Friday, the S&P 500 and Toronto were each down about 0.1%.
AutoCanada was down 3.5% to $20.06 I last rated the company a Buy at $21.80. It exhibits some volatility. As long as it is destined to grow in value eventually (and I believe it is) th...

On Thursday, the S&P 500 was down 0.2% and Toronto was down 0.5%.
Linamar was up 8.0% to $63.83 after releasing earnings.
Stantec was down 5.0% after releasing earnings.
AutoCanada was down 2.9%.
With stocks apparently sliding my strategy is to a...

With Stantec down 4.9% due to below expectation earnings, I added to my Stantec position just now. I believe its growth model is fully intact. Earnings are impacted in the short term by acquisition-related costs.
...

Wednesday's market saw the S&P 500 up 0.1% and Toronto up 0.4%.
I added to my position in Canadian Western Bank taking advantage of the recent slide. I have done quite well over the years by adding to positions in companies that I had confidence ...

On Tuesday the S&P 500 was down 0.1% while Toronto was down 0.5%.
About the only notable move in the stocks on our list was Toll Brothers up 2.0% to $37.36.
Home Capital (which is not on our list) bounced up 30% on news of selling some assets. As...

Possibly out of bordom, I just added about half to my small Ceapro position at $1.22. I mentioned some concerns about their reporting and I am afraid they might be too promotional with their stock price and there is a risk that their products especia...

Monday saw the S&P about unchanged and Toronto up 0.4%.
CRH Medical was down 4.9% on Toronto.
Warren Buffett held Berkshire's annual meeting on Saturday. There is a livestream archive of the meeting available and it is well worth listening to.  h...

I am traveling this week and was unable to post for a couple of days. Apologies. I am also behind on updates and plan to be active with updates soon. Meanwhile I am looking to slowly add to some positions such as Stantec and Canadian Western Bank and...

On Wednesday, the S&P 500 was down O.1% and Toronto was down 0.5%.
AutoCanada was down 3.5%.
As stocks decline I will look to add to positions. But I don't want to get in a hurry doing that.
Regarding mortgage arrears the latest figures are for F...

On Tuesday, the S&P 500 rose 0.1% and Toronto rose 0.3%.
TransForce was down 2.3% to $28.70 and is worth considering at that price.
Constellation Software was up 2.5% to about $666. It's a wonderful company. It always seems expensive however. I h...

On Monday the S&P 500 was up 0.2% while Toronto was down 0.1%.
Constellation Software was up 4.0%. The CEO of Constellation writes a fairly lengthy annual letter. He is, by far, the most candid CEO I have ever come across. He is also one of the m...

Regarding CRH Medical. I have now taken a close look at the earnings release from last week and listened to most of the conference call. The stock, after rising rapidly to about $11 in Toronto (our analysis is based on the U.S. price since it reports...

On Thursday the S&P 500 rose 0.1% while Toronto fell 0.9%.
CRH Medical was down 6.9% in Toronto to $8.37. I'm tempted to add to my small position as I think the company has a good business including growth by acquisition.
Bombardier was down 2.7%...

Lots happening today...
Trump released a tax cut proposal that most say is entirely unaffordable and will add hugely to the deficit. Coincidentally? it included a couple of measures that would benefit Trump and his family hugely: The end of the alter...

I don't know if Home Capital is going to survive its current problems or if its shares are worth more than the $6.95 that they are trading at this minute. In theory I would think the shares should be worth more than that even is a distressed sale to ...

Tuesday... Another day and another 200 points plus up for the DOW...
S&P 500 up 0.6% Toronto up 0.2%.
At this rate, it starts to feel like investing is easy.
CN Rail was down 3.0% after releasing earnings. But that comes after big increases in th...

On Monday the S&P 500 rose 1.1% and Toronto rose 0.6%.
Bank of America rose 4.0%.
Reports tonight say that the U.S. will impose a 20% tariff on Canadian softwood imports. As on result, the Canadian dollar fell to 73.8 U.S. cents.
In terms of the ...

BNN reports that the reason CRH medical has dropped on Friday and again today is due to a short-seller issuing a negative report.
I hold a very small position in the company. While it would be more prudent to wait for the earnings report on Wednesday...

On Friday, the S&P 500 was down 0.3% and Toronto was down 0.1%.
CRH Medical was down almost 19%. I am not aware of any reason for it. It could be some bad news has leaked. Or perhaps some analyst report has come out suggesting that the stock has ...

On Thursday, the S&P 500 was up 0.8% and Toronto was up 0.5%.
American Express was up 5.9% after reporting Q1 earnings.
Stantec was down 2.4% and remains a company that I would Buy at this price. After the close SNC Lavelin announced a huge acqui...

Wednesday was an uneventful day for the stocks on our list. The S&P 500 was down 0.2% and Toronto was down 0.5%.
Oil is back down to $50.77.
Statistics Canada reported on sales of new motor vehicles for February. Sales across Canada were up 3% in...

My reference article that details the percentage contribution of each industry to the GDP of Canada has been updated for the latest data. This article also shows the percentage of Canadian exports going to each major country. It shows graphically tha...

On Tuesday, the S&P 500 fell 0.3% and Toronto was down 0.4%.
Toll Brothers crept up another 0.7% and is now up almost 20% year to date. This company has  required patience since it was first added to the site on June 5, 2011 at $21.03 as a way to...

On Monday, the S&P 500 shook off fears of world tensions and rose 0.9% while Toronto rose 1.0%.
My recent approach of holding about 30% cash has cost me gains. However, I feel that it's a good compromise. I benefit from a 70% exposure to equities...

My detailed analysis on the valuation of the Dow Jones Industrial Average is updated. On a point estimate basis it appears to me that it is about 6% overvalued or not far from fair value. But the article shows that it can be considered 14% under-valu...

(Apologies as this post was meant to be published Thursday evening and I seem to have run into a technical issue)
On Wednesday, the S&P 500 was down 0.4% and on Thursday it declined 0.7%.
Toronto was down 0.5% on Wednesday and a further 0.7% on T...

On Tuesday, the S&P ended the day down 0.1% after recovering from somewhat deeper losses earlier in the day. Toronto was about unchanged.
Toll Brothers was up 3.5% to $36.58 after RBC Capital markets raised its outlook for the share price. Toll B...

On Monday, the S&P gave back back earlier higher gains and ended the day up 0.1% while Toronto was up 0.4%.
CRH Medical was up 5.0% on Toronto. AutoCanada was up 2.7%.
Boston Pizza Royalties was up 0.9% to $23.04 and yields 6.0%. Despite some dip...

Ceapro is updated and rated Speculative Buy. As an early stage bio tech company, it is not very well suited to analysis by means of looking at earnings and the balance sheet. A good portion of its value lies in products that it has in development and...

I am currently working on an update for Ceapro which is a small company that I introduced as a speculative pick on February 17. I am quite bothered by what I view as weak disclosure of a 29% revenue decrease in Q4. In addition I now realize that the ...

CRH Medical is updated and remains rated Speculative Buy at U.S. 8.55 and Canadian $11.49. This small medical services company was added to the site on October 9, 2016. Since then it's price is up 98%. Its earnings are still rising sharply and it sti...

On Thursday, the S&P 500 rose 0.2% and Toronto was up 0.3%.
Costco was up 1.8% after reporting relatively strong same-store sales growth in March.
Futures markets for the S&P 500 and DOW are down only modestly on the news of the U.S. attack o...

On Wednesday, the S&P 500 ended the day down 0.3% and Toronto was down 0.2%. Earlier in the day the Dow had been up 200 points.
As of this evening futures are indicating a moderately negative start to trading on Thursday.
I am maintaining a somew...

Tuesday's markets saw the S&P 500 gain 0.1% and Toronto gain 0.5% as oil was higher.
One of the smaller companies on our list, Ceapro, was up 6.4%. There was no news from the company. At this point I would wait for the 2016 earnings report before...

On Monday, the S&P 500 was down 0.2% while Toronto was up 0.2%. This evening, futures are suggesting that market will open slightly to the downside on Tuesday.
Linamar was down 2.1% This may have been due to weaker auto sales in the U.S. where re...

On Friday the S&P 500 and Toronto were each down 0.2%.
On Friday, Statistics Canada released positive news on the growth of the economy.
I think Bombardier executive chairman and (not coincidentally) controlling family member Pierre Beaudoin did ...

Canadian Tire is update and rated Weak Buy / Hold at $157.98. Keep in mind that the ratings are always based on judgement after looking at the various financial and non-financial items in our report. A simple rating cannot convey all of the material ...

On Thursday the S&P 500 was up 0.3% while Toronto was down 0.5%
Dollarama was up 11.2% as this impressive company continues to do well.
AutoCanada was up 2.7%
Bombardier was criticized after raising executive pay by some 50%. It's a shame that th...

On Wednesday, the S&P 500 was up 0.1% and Toronto was up 0.4%.
Melcor has once again renewed its share buyback plan. If the past two years are any indication, virtually no shares will actually be repurchased.
Rail car loadings in Canada are runni...

On Tuesday, the S&P 500 was up 0.7% and Toronto was up 0.6%. Most of the stocks on our list rose today.
Home Capital was the big topic of conversations in business news for Canada today. The stock fell 9.6%. If I owned it, I know it would be diff...

On Monday the S&P 500 was down 0.1% after recovering from deeper losses earlier in the day. Toronto was up 0.4%.
The U.S. markets continue to largely shrug off concerns about investigations into the Trump campaign and concerns that he will not be...

On Friday, the S&P 500 was down 0.1% while Toronto was up 0.1%.
About the only large mover on our list was Ceapro up 6.4% But this is a penny stock and so big moves are to be expected. Small companies are allowed more time to release earnings and...

Thursday's markets saw the S&P 500 down 0.1% while Toronto rose 0.5%.
Fedex was down 3.4% after releasing earnings.
It seems to be becoming more clear that Trump will not have an easy time getting legislation passed. Also, the investigations into...

On Wednesday, the S&P 500 and Toronto each rose 0.2%.
AutoCanada was down 2.4%. I find it interesting to see how negatively the market has reacted to the declines in its revenues in 2016. The company reports that the prices being asked when if of...

On Tuesday, the S&P 500 was down 1.2% and Toronto was down 0.8%.
While I don't ever claim any ability to predict short-term moves, this was not a surprise given that the S&P 500 seems over-valued and given the fact that the Trump Campaign is ...

On Monday, the S&P 500 was down 0.2% and Toronto was down 0.3%
AutoCanada was down a further 2.0%.
Statistics Canada reported a strong increase in wholesale trade driven mostly by the motor vehicle category.
In another positive sign for the econo...

On Friday, the S&P 500 was down 0.1% and Toronto was down 0.5%.
AutoCanada was down 9.7% after reporting earnings and an executive departure.
Our report on AutoCanada is updated and remains rated Buy now at $21.80. I am a bit concerned about what...

AutoCanada is down 7.4% to $22 after announcing weak earnings and an executive departure.
(In trying to react to this news I had to change this post a few minutes after first publishing it as I had at first not seen the earnings release.)
Yesterday o...

On Thursday, the S&P 500 was down 0.2% and Toronto was up 0.3%.
AutoCanada was up 4.6%. But then after the close it announced two things. One was a two year extension to its big line of credit. The second was the immediate resignation of its Pres...

So, on rate-hike Wednesday, the FED did raise as expected. But apparently it spoke of two more increases this year rather than the feared three. Interest rate increases are like gravity to stock prices but the market viewed today's announcement as a ...

On Tuesday, the S&P 500 was down 0.3% and Toronto was down 1.1%.
Oil is down to $48.51.
Couche-Tard was down 4.8% to $58.85 after reporting weaker-than-expected earnings.  I have only a small position in this company. For about the past 10 weeks,...

Stantec is updated and rated Buy at $34.25 or U.S. $26.45. The company does not appear to be undervalued based on trailing earnings. However, it appears that earnings per share are set to increase sharply in the range of 25% in 2017 as the economic r...

On Monday, the S&P 500 was about unchanged and Toronto was up 0.2%. CRH Medical was up 3.3% and Linamar was up 2.1%.
The next update will be for Stantec. It looks expensive on a trailing earnings basis. But it appears to be forecasting earnings g...

Our report on an Enbridge rate reset preferred share EB.PF.A is updated and rated Buy at $20.87. These shares are considered to be somewhat less secure than the Canadian Western Bank versions and also the reset yield is 0.1% lower. Still with the low...

Our report on the Canadian western Bank rate reset preferred shares CB.PR.B is updated with a rating of (lower) Buy at $22.95. These shares have done quite a bit better than I had expected when rating them a Buy on December 7 at $19.00. They rose par...

Our report on Canadian Western Bank is updated with a rating of (lower) Buy at $30.58. On its face, the chance to buy a well managed bank for only a 30% premium to book value is attractive. This bank is extremely simple compared to the large Canadian...

On Friday, the S&P 500 was up 0.3% and Toronto was up 0.1%.
Most of the stocks on our list were up modestly.
I notice a couple stocks that we no longer follow have declined. Liquor Stores N.A. which I turned quite negative on some time ago was do...

I was not happy to hear earlier this week about accusations that TD Bank has been overly aggressive regarding selling goals for tellers. I was also surprised.
I have been a TD customer for almost 30 years and I have not experienced Tellers or other b...

Our Canadian Exchange Traded Funds list is updated to show the latest P/E ratios, yield and P/B ratios.
ETFs can be a quick way to get into or out of the market or a particular segment of the market. And many people use them as permanent parts of the...

On Thursday, the S&P 500 was up 0.1% and Toronto was about unchanged.
Linamar was down 3.8% despite posting good earnings and raising its dividend. The stock certainly looks cheap on a trailing earnings basis but the market seems to fear that its...

On Wednesday, the S&P 500 was down 0.2% and Toronto was down 0.7%.
Oil declined about 5% and was down to $50.28.
Bombardier was down 5.8% to $2.10 Canadian (our report is in U.S. dollars because it reports in U.S. dollars) even though it announce...

On Tuesday, the S&P 500 was down 0.3% and Toronto was down 0.1%
Melcor has been strong lately and is now at $15.99, which is significantly higher than its 2016 lows of under $12.50. Melcor will report next week. It is likely to report quite weak ...

On Monday, the S&P 500 was down 0.3% while Toronto was up 0.1%.
It was in the news tonight that an Alberta man had taken his own life after losing money in a "binary options trading scam". Most subscribers here are not likely to fall for that kin...

On Saturday I sent out the latest edition of my free newsletter. This particular issue would be of interest mostly to non-paid subscribers. If you did not get it by email then add your email address to the list (The system will indicate if your email...

On Friday, the S&P 500 was about unchanged while Toronto rose 0.5%.
Costco fell 4.3% to $170.26 after announcing it would increase its annual membership fees. Costco is a wonderful comp[any but the stock has seemed too expensive. I don't think th...

On Thursday, the S&P 500 fell 0.6% and Toronto fell 0.4%.
I have just updated my comprehensive analysis of the valuation of the S&P 500 index. I may be in danger of being labeled some kind of doomer since my point estimate for what I believe ...

On Wednesday, the S&P 500 rose 1.4% and Toronto was up 1.3%.
Apparently, the market quite liked Mr. Trump's speech.
Some of the more notable gains on our list included:
CRH Medical up 8.3% on Toronto.
Linamar up 3.1%
Canadian Western Bank up 4.9%...

On Tuesday, the S&P 500 was down 0.3% and Toronto was down 0.4%.
Tomorrow we will see how markets react to Trump's speech.
There were certainly some positives for the market to consider (subject to getting them passed in the house and Senate):
A ...

For the tenth year in a row, following the release of his annual letter, Warren Buffett appeared for three hours on CNBC's Squawk Box:
Here are my few comments about his latest investments that he discussed this morning.
He has invested about $18 bil...

On Monday, the S&P 500 was up 0.1% while Toronto was down 0.5%.  And the DOW set its 12th straight record close as it rose 0.1%.
Stocks of note included Andrew Peller down 1.9% to $10.64.
Toll Brothers was up 2.0% to $34.40. I think this company ...

Warren Buffett released his 2016 letter on Saturday morning. He will also appear on CNBC's Squawkbox for 3 hours from 6 am to 9 am eastern on Monday morning.
I have followed Buffett very closely for quite some years and so there was nothing really ne...

On Friday, the S&P 500 was up 0.1% but Toronto fell a hefty 1.6%.
Reports were that Toronto fell because, with the closing Monday of its acquisition of Spectra Energy, Enbridge was becoming a much larger percentage of the Toronto indexes (the lar...

On Thursday, the S&P 500 was about unchanged while Toronto was down 0.3%.
CRH Medical was up 5.3% after releasing earnings.
Statistics Canada released the latest figures on operating profits by industry.
...

On Wednesday the S&P 500 was down 0.1% and Toronto was down 0.6%.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average however was up 0.2% marking the ninth day of increases in a row the longest stretch in 30 years!
Toll Brothers was up 6.1% to $33.93 after releasin...

On Tuesday the S&P 500 rose another 0.6%, for a total gain of 5.6% this new year, and Toronto rose 0.5% for a total gain of 4.1% this year.
Melcor was down 3.5% today $15.11. But it is so thinly traded that one or two trades can push its price up...

On Friday, the S&P 500 was up 0.2% while Toronto was down 0.2%.
The Canadian Western Bank preferred share (CWB.PR.B) was up a surprising 3.0% to $21.22. However, this appears to have been due to one tiny trade near the end of the day. It is basic...

The table showing the breakdown of my own portfolio has been updated. My cash position is at 22%. Given, that overall stock market indexes seem expensive I think having a substantial allocation to cash is appropriate. I may try to raise it. Note that...

On Thursday, the S&P 500 was down 0.1% while Toronto was up 0.1%.
Canadian Tire surged 6.9% to $154.51  after posting a blow-out Q4 with same-store sales increases of 8.1% in the Canadian Tire branded stores (recall they also own Mark's and vario...

Another day, another record high for North American stocks...
On Wednesday the S&P 500 climbed another 0.5% and Toronto was up 0.4%.
Heineken was up 3.7% in Euros. Melcor was up 4.0% albeit on its usual tiny volume. Bank of America was up another...

I just set up a twitter account as @InvestorsFriend   I probably won't use it that much but it may be useful for things like pointing out any posts I make on InvestorsFriend.com during the day (but I usually post only in the evenings and weekends). I...

As of Valentine's day, the markets were still showing us the love.
The S&P 500 was up 0.4% and Toronto was up 0.2%.
Linamar was up 2.5% to $60.43.
Wells Fargo was up 1.6% to $57.98. That is impressive considering it still has the "unauthorized ac...

North American markets on Monday added to the record highs of Friday.
The S&P 500 was up 0.5% for a total gain of 3.9% in the first six weeks of this year. Toronto was up 0.2% for a total gain of 3.1% in those same six weeks.
These are enjoyable ...

Ceapro Inc. a small biotechnology company that trades on the Venture exchange is added to the list as a Speculative Buy. It's not easy to get a good understanding of a company like Ceapro given that it is very research and science based. I have tried...

In the next couple of days I will add Ceapro Inc. to the list. It's a small and profitable biotech company. I consider it to be somewhat speculative due to its small size, its low share price and for various other reasons. But it looks to me like a r...

On Friday, the S&P 500 was up 0.4% and Toronto was up 0.7%.
With this latest gain, North America stock market indexes are at record highs. That does not mean that stocks are necessarily over valued, but it should be taken as a sign to be somewhat...

Markets rose to new highs on Thursday after reports that Donald Trump had indicated that his plans to lower taxes on U.S. businesses was progressing well.
The S&P 500 was up 0.6% and Toronto was up 0.4%.
Andrew Peller was up 4.4% to $10.84.
U.S. ...

On Wednesday, the S&P 500 was up 0.1% and Toronto was up 0.4%.
Melcor was up 2.9% but this was on a tiny volume.
Linamar was down 2.1%.
Bombardier was up 2.0%.Details emerged today that the new government loan is interest free and repayable over ...

On Tuesday, the S&P 500 was about unchanged while Toronto was up 0.3%.
Heineken was up 2.1% (this is the Euro price as we analyze this stock in Euros)
Bombardier's CEO seemed almost giddy about the Canadian government lending it some $372.5 milli...

On Monday, the S&P 500 was down 0.2% and Toronto was down 0.1%.
Melcor was up 6.0% on volume that was higher than normal but still small. Nice, but not likely the start of any kind of trend. We will see how their Q4 earnings come in and especiall...

On Friday, the S&P 500 was up 0.7% and Toronto was up 0.5%.
Wells Fargo was up 2.7% on indications that Trump would attempt to move forward with  reducing certain regulations applicable to large financial companies. For the same reason, Bank of A...

Thursday saw the S&P 500 up 0.1% and Toronto about unchanged.
Costco jumped 3.9% due to its strong same-store sales results in January.
CRH Medical was up 3.7% on Toronto as the stock continued to react to an acquisition it  announced two days ag...

On Wednesday, the S&P 500 was about unchanged while Toronto was up 0.1%.
Constellation Software was down 1.8% to $577.28. I had placed an order about a month ago to add a few shares to my (sadly) small position if it gets down to $570.
Costco rep...

On Wednesday, the S&P 500 and Toronto were each down 0.1%.
Statistics Canada reported sales at food service and drinking establishments for November and sales were generally up marginally including in Alberta.
GDP was also up marginally in Novemb...

I am just watching Warren Buffett and Bill Gates who were on Charlie Rose a few days ago.
https://charlierose.com/videos/29774
I wanted to capture a few thoughts.
First in terms of Warren's annual letter I mentioned a few days ago some possible topic...

On Monday, the S&P 500 was down 0.6% and Toronto was down 1.1%.
The rate reset preferred shares have continued to recover.
I sold my small remaining position in the Canadian Western Bank preferred share today at $20.61. I had bought this in an RR...

On Friday, the S&P 500 was down 0.1% and Toronto was down 0.3%.
Transforce was up 2.8%. Toll Brothers was down 2.5% and I believe offers good value.
My sense is that the market is going to decide that it does not like Trump quite so much after al...

Andrew Peller Limited, the wine producer and marketer is added to the list. It is rated only a (lower) Buy at $10.79. I may take a small position and then see if a better buying opportunity arises. It's a well managed company. Those who buy Andrew Pe...

On Thursday, the S&P 500 was down 0.1% and Toronto was down 0.2%.
There were not many notable moves in the stocks on our list but AutoCanada was down 4.4%.
I await with some trepidation the next moves from Trump and the inevitable reaction.
HBO i...

As anyone, not living off the grid is likely aware, Wednesday was a strong day on the markets with the DOW surmounting the 20,000 level for the first time.
The S&P 500 was up 0.8% and the Dow was up 0.2%.
AutoCanada and Stantec were each up 5.5%....

I am in Hawaii, arrived today for a week (Maui, Kihei)
Business wise one observation was Costco very busy mid afternoon Tuesday.
S&P 500 was up 0.7% and Toronto was up 0.8%.
Toll Brothers was up 4.6% and FedEx was up 3.3%.
Very few stocks on our ...

On Monday, the S&P 500 was down 0.3% and Toronto was down 0.4%.
Linamar was up 1.8% recovering some of the ground lost recently.
Wholesale trade for November was reported and was up marginally.
What will Buffett say?
In about five weeks, Warren B...

On Friday, the S&P 500 was up 0.3% and Toronto was up 0.9%.
Canadian National Railway, which looks expensive to me, was up 2.0%.
The December inflation numbers were reported and inflation remains tame.
The investment in new home construction for ...

On Thursday, the S&P 500 was down 0.4% while Toronto was up 0.1%
American Express released earnings that were lower than expected. But that was due to a 35% increase in marketing spending which could benefit future earnings. And the company revis...

On Wednesday, the S&P 500 was up 0.2% while Toronto fell 0.3%.
The stocks on our list were "mixed" with no particularly noteworthy movements.
Statistics Canada reported the change in "Employment Insurance" for November.
Alberta was up 3.4% and in...

On Tuesday, the S&P 500 and Toronto were each down 0.3%.
The Canadian dollar rose to 76.5 cents on Trumps remarks that the U.S. dollar is too high.
The Canadian Western Bank Preferred shares Series 5 have risen to $20.24. In the past week or two ...

On Monday the U.S. markets were closed while Toronto was down 0.1%.
Linamar was down 3.5% to $55.65 on concerns that Trump's protectionist policies will be harmful to non-U.S. based auto parts companies. That is a risk. However, I am not changing my ...

On Friday, the S&P 500 was up 0.2% and Toronto was up 0.5%.
AutoCanada was up 4.1% to $26.62. I am not aware of any particular "reason" for this (which is not unusual as stocks move every day for reasons that may sometimes be known only to the bu...

On Thursday, the S&P 500 was down 0.2% and Toronto was down 0.5%.
Most of our stocks were down today although none by a particularly notable amount.
I am pretty much biding my time and waiting to see if any of the below market bids I had placed t...

Wednesday's markets saw the S&P 500 up 0.3% and Toronto up 0.4%.
Bombardier had another strong day, up 4.9% to $2.59. Welcome news for long-suffering share owners.
And AutoCanada was up another 2.5%.
The market reaction to Trump's news conference...

Tuesday's session had the S&P unchanged and Toronto up 0.2%.
CRH Medical was up 6.2% in Toronto.
Bombardier had another positive day, up 4.2%. I own a preferred share which has also been rising though not as much as the common.
Statistics Canada ...

On Monday, the S&P 500 was down 0.4% and Toronto was down 0.7%.
Linamar was down 4.9% (probably based on some analyst downgrade given that the company did not release any news).
Melcor was up 2.5% but that was on its typically very thin volume.
S...

On Friday, the S&P 500 was up 0.3% while Toronto was down 0.6%.
Toll Brothers was down 2.0% to $31.24. It seems that home builder stocks are out of favor at this time. But I expect Toll Brothers to continue to grow its earnings this year and to b...

Thursday's action saw the S&P 500 decline 0.1% while Toronto was up 0.4%.
Amazon was up 3.1%. Costco was up 2.0% after reporting strong December same-store sales growth.
Bombardier was down 2.9%. There was a story today about one of its component...

On Wednesday the good times in the stock market continued. The S&P 500 rose 0.6% and Toronto rose 0.7%.
Markets do not rise in straight lines and we should always be prepared for "corrections" at any time. Trimming any stocks that seem over-value...

On the first trading day of 2017, the S&P 500 rose 0.8% and Toronto was also up 0.8%.
Bombardier had a strong day, up 5.6%. I left it rated Sell for the start of this year. It is so far down that it does have potential but it remains a very poorl...

Most of the stocks on the list are now up to date. The ratings as they stand along with the final prices for 2017 will be used to track performance in 2017.
...

Our report on the Enbridge Series 9 preferred shares is updated with a rating of Buy at $18.80 to yield 5.85%.
Last year at this time they were also rated Buy at approximately the same price ($18.67). At that time I did not think there much chance th...

Heineken is updated and rated (lower) Buy at 71.26 euros on the Amsterdam exchange. It can be bought more conveniently as two shares of the America Depository Receipt HEINY at U.S. $37.41 per share. I had added Heineken to our list last July 28. The ...

On the final trading day of 2016, the S&P 500 was down 0.5% and Toronto was down 0.9%.
Amazon was down 2.0%.
For 2016, the S&P 500 was up 9.5%, and Toronto was up 17.5%.
Our four strong Buys were up an average of 26.1% and the 24 stocks that ...

Visa Inc. is updated and rated Buy at $78.02. It looks to be poised for strong growth in the next year. I intend to buy a small position and then enter a bid to perhaps double the position if the shares decline. I may set the buy for that around $67....