2026

Markets edged higher on Wednesday on faith that the Trump / Iran war would soon end. (I'm skeptical of that). The S&P 500 was up 0.7% and Toronto was up 0.6%. Most of the stocks I track were higher on the day. Notably, Linamar was up 3.0%. Oil wa...

Tuesday was a banner day in the markets after Trump suggested that the war with Iran would soon end. That's probably wishful thinking but it lit a fire under the markets. The S&P 500 was up 2.9% and Toronto was up 2.6%. Almost all the stocks on o...

On Monday, markets started out somewhat higher but moved lower during the day. The S&P 500 was down 0.4% on the day while Toronto was down 0.1%. Restaurant Brands was up 3.6%....

The province of Ontario in the last few minutes is out with a ten year bond that will pay a yield to maturity of 4.0%. The coupon is 3.9% but it is priced at $98.805 which adds the extra 0.1% annually over the life as it will mature at $100. Dependin...

My last update for West Fraser Timber was back on December 24, 2024 and I rated it Sell at Canadian $125 and U.S. $87. That worked out well given that the price now is $89 Canadian and $64 U.S. West Fraser is a very cyclic company. It's currently pro...

On Friday, the S&P 500 was down  1.7% while Toronto was up 0.2%. Starbucks was down 4.8% to $86.81 and may be worth considering. It seems to "catch a bid" when it gets below about $85 lululemon was down another 3.7% to $146 and has certainly had ...

Markets have drifted lower this Friday morning. That can't be a surprise to anyone given the ongoing war in the middle east. The question is how long will this last and will the market settle lower due to higher interest rates and more focus on risk....

On Thursday the S&P 500 ended the day down 1.7% and Toronto was down 1.5%. Nobody knows how bad the war in Iran is going to get and how much disruption and inflation it is going to cause. The market is bouncing around trying to remain somewhat op...

S&P 500 was up 0.5% and Toronto up 1.4%. A good day in the markets! Oil keeps bouncing and is currently at $91. The five year government of Canada Bond yield is at 3.13%. That's a sharp increase from 2.7% a month or so ago. The various perpetual ...

Tuesday was another interesting day in the markets. The S&P 500 was down 0.4% while Toronto was up 0.2%. Dollarama got pushed down 9.6% after posting lower same-store-sales in its Q4 and indicating that its new Australia operations will be a drag...

Dollarama is down 7.6% to $172 after reporting weaker same-store sales growth in Q4. I really like this company but my last rating on it was only Weak Buy Hold at $187 dated August 30. I noted it was expensive on a P/E basis (over 30) but it generall...

On Monday, markets were soothed by Trump's backing down on his threats to take out Iran's pwer plants. The S&P 500 was up 1.15% and Toronto was up 1.8%. Most stocks on out list moved higher. Trucker TFI International was notable with a 5.7% gains...

The report on Melcor is updated and rated (lower) Strong Buy at $17.71. Reviewing its Q4 closely it was better than I initially thought. In my note on March 11 I indicated that there was a special dividend of 35 cents but I wrongly said that the regu...

Markets were weak on Friday with the S&P 500 down 1.5% and Toronto down 1.7%. The S&P 500 is now down 7.1% since peaking just above 7000. I don't consider that to be a surprising drop at all considering it started from a lofty valuation in re...

Thursday's session ended with the S&P 500 down 0.3% and Toronto down 1.4%. Oil is at $94.60 and, let's see, the U.S. ten year bond is at 4.28% and has increased modestly since the new Iran war started. AutoCanada got spanked down 15% to $17.00 to...

Wednesday ended with the S&P 500 down 1.4% and Toronto down 1.9%. It's not surprizing to see markets down with this hot war in Iran and far higher gasoline prices that will logically slow the economy somewhat. The surprise has been how well the m...

Markets are modestly lower today. The Bank of Canada held its interest rate unchanged today. The 5 year Canada bond yield initially fell on the news but is now slightly higher at 2.99%. This suggest that 5 year mortgage rates will  not be coming down...

Tuesday was apparently a relatively uneventful day in the markets. The S&P 500 was up a modest 0.25% and Toronto was up an even more modest 0.2%. Aecon Group was up 3.25%. I've said it a few times - I gave up on that company too early. CN Rail wa...

Monday's session saw the S&P 500 and the Toronto stock index each up 1.0%. Most of the stocks on our list were up. Toll Brothers was up 4.0%. CMHC released the housing starts date for February. For details, see the download link and see Table 1 f...

On Friday the S&P 500 was down 0.6% and Toronto was down 0.9%. Trump's war on Iran is not going nearly as smoothly or as fast as he expected (what they did not immediately surrender unconditionally?? he may be asking). Obviously market can slide ...

Canadian building permit data for January has been released. See the details here. Note that the headline figures are always month over month seasonally adjusted. I focus on the year over year change. Residential permits in Alberta are down 6% year o...

On Thursday with oil tankers getting bombed by Iran, the market got a bit more worried and the S&P 500 was down 1.5% and Toronto was down 0.8%. West Texas Oil is back up to $97 and it's anyone's guess where it will be in the next week and month. ...

On Wednesday the S&P 500 was down 0.1% and Toronto was down 0.45%. Oil is at &90.43 and the U.S ten year bond yield is up to 4.21%. A higher bond yield indicates fear of inflation. At times the U.S. yield goes down when it is considered by Am...

On Tuesday the S&P 500 was down 0.2% while Toronto was up 2.25%. AutoCanada was down 5.1% to $20.78. I wonder if bad news about its upcoming Q4 report has (illegally) leaked out. Leaks are illegal but basically nothing is ever done about it. Oil ...

So at the end of the day Monday markets recovered with the S&P 500 up 0.8% and Toronto up o.3%. And oil is down to $87. It's definitely hard to keep up and predict where things are headed....

Markets have settled down somewhat. The S&P 500 is down a relatively modest 0.65% and Toronto is down 0.85%. West Texas Oil is at $95 and The U.S. ten year bond is at 4.13%. I don't see any movements in the stocks on our list that are all that no...

Just yesterday I commented that West Texas Oil was up to $91. Now it's at $108! as of about 3 pm eastern Sunday. This is obviously a big deal. There will be many impacts of higher oil prices, some more obvious that others. People spending more money ...

Markets drifted lower on Friday with the S&P 500 down 1.3% and Toronto down 1.6%. WTI oil is at $91 and the higher cost will soon affect other parts of the economy. The cost of transporting goods is higher and consumers are spending more on gasol...

Greetings from Porto Portugal. This is a lovely European City. Mostly older historic mid-rise buildings downtown and very walkable with plenty of shops and restaurants for tourists. Markets have been holding up reasonably well despite the war with Ir...

Today the market has decided or observed that the situation in the Middle East is worst than hoped. West Texas oil is up another $6.28 to $77.50 The S&P 500 is down 2.2% and Toronto is down 3.9% as gold and mining stocks are hard hit. Cameco is d...

Despite all the news about Iran the S&P 500 finished that day roughly unchanged versus Friday's close. Toronto was up o.6% as oil and gold rose. Cameco was up 6.5%. Aecon Group was up  3.4%. It reports earnings on Friday. lululemon ended the day ...

Overall, the market reaction to the Iran situation has been very minor. Oil is up to $70.74 U.S. for West Texas Intermediate and airline stocks are down somewhat. The U.S. 10 year bond yield moved slightly higher and perhaps for that reason Toll Brot...

As of Sunday evening it now looks like the markets may have a relatively quiet opening. (Of course that can change by morning). Oil had jumped 8% but is now up only 4% and the S&P 500 futures at down only about 0.5%. Today I listened to a portion...

Given the the bombings in Iran, anything that happened yesterday may now be old news. In any case, on Friday, the S&P 500 was down 0.4% and Toronto was down 0.5%. Netflix was up 13.7% as it bowed out of the bidding for Warner Brothers. American E...

The report on Royal Bank of Canada is updated and rated Weak Buy / Hold. Royal bank is highly profitable and at 15.3 times trailing earnings could be considered a Buy certainly. My thinking is that its earnings have had a bit of spike upwards and at ...

Markets are a little softer this morning but Netflix is up 9.5% after bowing out of the bidding war for Warner Brothers. Shopify is down 5.4%. Thinking about all the recent gains I am inclined to reduce positions and raise cash. But I always find it ...

Goodness, another strong day for Canadian investors with the Toronto index up 1.1% even as the S&P 500 fell 0.5%. Among the gainers: WSP Global up 5.0% and Stantec up 5.5%. Constellation Software up 6.0%. It has not yet reported Q4 results. TFI I...

The S&P 500 is down 0.8% this morning but Toronto is up 0.5%. Oil had been lower but is now higher. Three of Canada's big banks have reported with strong earnings. So far loan losses have not been a problem despite lower home prices and increased...

Wednesday's session saw the S&P 500 up 0.8% and Toronto up 0.5%. Constellation Software bounced up 3.85%. Netflix was up 6.0%. This could be because it might get outbid in purchasing Warner Brothers. The market might prefer that. National Bank (u...

Yesterday the market recovered some of Monday's decline as the S&P 500 was up 0.8% and Toronto was up 0.6%. The majority of stocks were up including Cameco up 2.0%. President Trump is always an entertainer and the Speech from the Throne, whoops I...

Markets were lower on Monday as the world wonders if Trump's next move will be to attack Iran. The S&P 500 was down 1.0% but Toronto was down only 0.1% as Gold rose and oil is at $66.24. The ten year U.S. treasury yield is down to 4.0% indicating...

The report on Canadian Tire is updated and rated Buy at $187. Its recent results have been strong....

On Friday, (which now seems like a long time ago), The S&P 500 and Toronto were both up 0.7%. Canadian Tire was up 3.3%. Constellation Software bounced up 3.0%. West Fraser Timber was down 6.2%. It's a tough company to predict given the volatilit...

The report on Restaurant Brands is updated and rated (higher) Buy at U.S. $68.82 or Canadian $94.20. The last update here was almost 18 months ago rated Weak Buy at about this same price. Since then the company has grown and earnings are higher and t...

At the close on Thursday, the S&P 500 was down 0.3% and Toronto was up 0.6%. WTI oil is up to $66.62 which is certainly positive for Alberta. Danielle Smith did a television address this evening touting how Alberta's economy is booming. She wants...

Markets are mixed today with The S&P 500 modestly lower and Toronto modestly higher (with higher oil prices). Canadian Tire caught my attention this morning as it was initially up about $11.00 or about 6% after a strong Q4 report. But it seems th...

ANOTHER good day in the markets with the S&P 500 up 0.6% and Toronto up 1.5% with oil and shopify higher. I mentioned some of the gainers earlier today. In addition to gainers I mentioned earlier today, Constellation Software bounced up 5.3%. I s...

Markets are higher today with the S&P 500 up 0.8% and Toronto up 1.4% (as oil is higher by about $2.00). Markets going higher even when they are expensive seems to support the idea that the MOST important thing in investing is to be in the market...

Let's see, Tuesday's close saw the S&P 500 up0.1% and Toronto down 0.5%. About an hour ago I got an alert from TD Direct about a share offering from Rockpoint natural gas storage. They did an IPO in October at $22 and I probably mentioned it. It'...

Markets are modestly lower this morning. Enbridge is down 3.1% for whatever reason. This is a good company to accumulate on dips. Canada's latest inflation report is out. Still definitely too high year-over-year. 3.0% excluding gasoline which was DOW...

Markets are closed today in Toronto (Family Day) and the U.S. (Presidents Day). I just noticed that one of the perpetual preferred shares on our list was actually redeemed in December. This was a Royal Bank preferred share RY.PR.N. I had last rated i...

Markets were mixed today with the S&P 500 up just 0.05% but with Toronto up 1.9%. Linamar was up 5.5% to just under $95. Seeing that, I figured it had reported earnings but no -- it reports on March 4. This is the highest closing price ever for L...

Markets were lower on Thursday with the S&P 500 down 1.6% and Toronto down 2.4%. Given all the recent gains, I consider this to be a minor move down. Oil was down modestly to about $63 and Gold was down to $157 to $4943 (a 3.1% decline). Restaura...

My thoughts are of course with the people of Tumbler Ridge and especially the families most affected. This hits close to home for everyone in that town and also to some degree for students and teachers and parents and many others across Canada. Some ...

At the close on Tuesday the S&P 500 was down 0.3% while Toronto was up 0.7%. Toll Brothers was up a strong 5.9%. That was likely related to a drop in longer term interest rates as the U.S. ten year treasury has declined modestly to 4.15%. After t...

The Canadian markets is  stronger once again today. Toronto is up about 0.75% although the S&P 500 is about flat. CN Rail is up 3.45% to $145. That's  a nice bounce from it's recent dip down to close to $130. It had dipped with its January 30 ear...

Monday was a positive day in the markets with the S&P 500 up 0.5% and Toronto up a hefty 1.7%. Cameco was up 5.4% and has had a good bounce after a recent dip. Shopify was up 5.0% recovering some of its recent big losses. CN Rail is back over $14...

Markets are higher today with the S&P 500 up 0.6% and Toronto double that with a 1.2% gain as West Texas Oil is up to $64.79 and with Gold also up. I've been surprised at the strength of the Boston Pizza Royalties Income units now at $24.35. The ...

At the close on Friday the S&P 500 was up a stout 2.0% and Toronto was up 1.5%. A good day in the markets by any standard. TransAlta was up 6.9%. Aecon Group was up 7.25%. Starbucks was up 3.5% I added a little more to my Constellation Software p...

Markets have bounced back this morning with the S&P 500 and Toronto both up about 1.3%. Aecon Group is up 3.45%. There is a new offering this morning. AGT  Foods and Ingredients Ltd. is returning to the market (It went private in 2019) with a mod...

Markets lost ground on Thursday with the S&P 500 down 1.2% and Toronto down 1.8%. Cameco was down 4.6%. Shopify was down 2.75$ to $152.41. It's not cheap but I'm tempted to add a little to my position. It reports earnings next week. Bitcoin is do...

Markets are down about 1% this morning. WSP Global is down about 5%. On the subscriber Home page the link the Canadian ETF reference article is updated. This worth a look - but it is a longer article. There is a wealth of information there.  The last...

Wednesday was yet another interesting day in the markets. Most of the stocks on our list did well but the S&P 500 was down 0.5%. Toronto was up 0.6%. Oil was up to $65 due to concerns about tensions between Iran and Trump. Cameco was down 8.8% to...

Some interesting moves in the market today. The S&P 500 was down 0.8% while Toronto was up 0.6%. Constellation Software was down 6.7%. TFI International was up 4.8% to $161.05 (FedEx, which is not on our list was up 5.4%). West Fraser Timber was ...

More interesting stock moves this morning. Constellation Software tumbled almost 8% to $2,275. I did not yet see the news that drove that but I just added to my position based on the lower price. TFI International is up another 4.5% to $160. It's had...

Markets rose on Monday with the S&P 500 up 0.5% and Toronto up 0.8%. TFI International was up 5.0% to $153.61. Its recent strong  gains surprise me. On the Q3 earnings call the company seemed to indicated that Q4 would be weak followed by better ...

Our report on Starbucks is updated but rated Weak Sell / Hold at U.S. $91.95. Based on the numbers it could easily be rated an outright Sell. But I am giving it some benefit of the doubt based on its apparently strong new management team and its stro...

To my surprise markets are higher as of mid-day today. The S&P 500 is up 0.6%. And Toronto is also u 0.6% despite oil being down several dollars to $61.87. Couche-Tard is up 3.0%. Costco is up 2.6%. Visa is up 3.2%. TFI International is up 3.3%. ...

Today I'm taking a very close and detailed look at Starbucks. I'll have an updated report by tomorrow but I will not be rating it a Buy at the current price of $92. It's a hold at best and perhaps should be rated Sell. I like the IDEA of owning Starb...

Friday was another eventful day in the markets. Silver prices fell hard but that came after months of gains adn Gold was also down noticeable given back a little of its recent huge gains. The S&P 500 was down a modest 0.4%. But Toronto slumped 3....

Markets are down modestly (S&P 500 down 0.2%) as Trump has announced that the next Fed Chair will be Kevin Warsh. The market will be trying to understand if Kevin Warsh will act somewhat independently as opposed to doing Trump's bidding (to the e...

As of the end of the day Thursday, markets recovered some of the losses of the morning. The S&P 500 ended down just0.1% and Toronto was down 0.5%. lululemon ended the day down 4.3%. It's not been a stock for the faint of heart. Visa reported afte...

The report on Metro Inc. is updated and rated Buy at $90.68. It's not a compelling bargain but should be a lower risk holding for the long term. Those who shop at Metro's may be particularly interesting in owning a small piece of the action. There wa...

This morning markets are giving back some of the resent gains. The S&P 500 and Toronto are each down about 1%. Constellation Software is down another 3.9%. Meta is up 7.5% while Microsoft is down 12%. West Texas oil is suddenly above $65. Not coi...

There was lots of news for the market to digest today with both the Bank of Canada and the FED leaving interest rates unchanged and indicating that the direction of their respective economies was uncertain. Starbucks reported earnings this morning an...

On Tuesday the S&P 500 was up 0.5% while Toronto was essentially unchanged. United Healthcare was down 20%. It's company I have mentioned very occasionally and I own a modest amount but it's not on our list. Canadian Grocer / pharmacy Metro Inc. ...

Markets are mixed this morning with the S&P 500 up 0.5% and very close to breaching the 7000 level. Toronto is down 0.2% The Canadian dollar is at 73.5 U.S. cents. Defying many predictions. Oil is stronger at $61.92. United Health is down 19% aft...

Not much excitement in the markets today. The S&P 500 was up 0.5% and Toronto was down 0.2%. West Texas oil is at $60.82. I added Netflix to our list as a Speculative Buy and initiated a modest position in the company. After the close United Heal...

Futures suggest that the S&P 500 will open only moderately down on Monday morning. The market, it seems, is unconcerned by the latest death in Minneapolis involving ICE agents. Also unconcerned about another potential government shutdown in the U...

On Friday the S&P 500 was about unchanged as Toronto rose 0.4% assisted by higher oil prices. Overnight Trump has now threatened a 100% tariff on Canada if it goes ahead with a trade deal with China. If Trump does impose material tariffs on Canad...

Despite all the turmoil that Trump is causing, markets were higher again today with the S&P 500 and Toronto each up about 0.5%. Couche-Tard was up 2.5%.  Stantec was up 2.4%.  Canadian Tire was up 2.2%. Trump is suing both J.P Morgan and its CEO ...

Stocks recovered on Wednesday after Trump announced that he had some kind of negotiated deal in principle for Greenland. But there was no indication that Denmark has agreed to anything. Trump called off his threat to impose tariffs on countries tat r...

Trump has spoken in Davos. He indicated he won't take Greenland by force. The market decided to trust that and the S&P 500 edged up 0.30% recovering some of yesterday's 2.1% decline. TransAlta is down 5.8%. This company has a very long history of...

Markets were lower on Tuesday with the S&P 500 down 2.1% and Toronto down 1.0%. That's not a big move down after all the recent gains. Most stocks were down today. Tomorrow's excitement may be the reaction to Trump's speech in Davos. Clearly it w...

The report on Fortis Inc. is updated and rate Weak Buy / Hold at $72.47. It has strong reliable earnings. But its valuation is a the higher end of its range. Fortis has strong growth potential due to increasing electricity demands. I was tempted to r...

On Monday, the U.S. markets were closed while Toronto was little-changed. This morning markets are down modestly (S&P 500 down 1.2%) as the market reacts to Trump's latest threats against Greenland. The U.S. 10-year bond has edged up to 4.27% as ...

Housing starts in any given month are often volatile due to large project multi-family starts that are volatile by nature. For Canada, total housing starts in December were up 25% year-over-year driven by multi-family starts (probably mostly rental a...

Markets were little changed at the end of the day on Friday with the S&P 500 down marginally and Toronto up marginally. Constellation Software was down another 2.6%.  The forward price to earnings ratio is 23 which is far lower than its historica...

Cameco is up 4% this morning to $163. I first added it to this site in the Fall of 2022 at $33 as it appeared that nuclear power was set for a resurgence. It looks very expensive now in relation to its earnings but the market certainly has confidence...

On Thursday the S&P 500 and Toronto were each up 0.5%. Aecon Group was up 3.6%. AutoCanada was up 2.8%. And so it goes, another day adn another few dollars made. But Constellation Software was down 3.3% and I added a little to my position....

Oil stocks were strong today with Canadian natural Resources up 4.4%. And the energy ETF, XEG was up 2.5%. But after the close Trump seemed conciliatory towards Iran and oil prices dipped but then partially recovered. The S&P 500 took a little br...

Markets are always doing surprising things. This morning on Yahoo Finance  I saw a headline that Bank of America and Wells Fargo profits surged (surged!) on higher trading revenues. Sounds good.  Sounds like I am missing out on a good thing. Then I c...

At the close on Tuesday, the S&P 500 was down 0.2% and Toronto was unchanged. November Building Permits were reported today. Alberta residential permits were up 5.8% year over year and up 0.5% versus October.  B.C. was strong while Ontario and Qu...

Markets are not much changed at this hour. Visa is down about 4% and I added a small amount to my position. Oil is up 3.0% to $61.29 pushing oil stocks up.  Canadian select oil was U.S. $46.77 as of yesterday. It's a different grade of oil versus WTI...

The markets overcame any jitters about Trump indicting the Fed chair and ended Monday with the S&P 500 up 0.2% an with the 7000 level in the crosshairs.  Toronto was up 0.7%, lululemon managed a 2.5% gain even though Abercombie and Fitch crumbled...

The markets continue to be unfazed by Trump's latest moves including apparent plans or thoughts to indict the FED chair for refusing to lower interest rates. (This is separate from indicting him over cost-overruns on a huge and costly FED building re...

The stock markets continue to roar ahead! On Friday the S&P 500 and Toronto were each up about 0.7% adding to gains earlier in the week. Toll Brothers (a luxury home builder) jumped 7.4% as Trump ordered U.S. the federal government mortgage insur...

Markets are up again today. Toll Brothers is up 7% probably due to Trumps efforts to lower mortgage rates. His direction for Fannie Mae and Freddy Mac (the government mortgage insurance entities) to BUY $200 billion mortgage backed securities is stra...

Costco was up 3.7% on Thursday after reporting same-store sales growth that was strong but not at all spectacular at 6.2%. With added stores adn economies of scale 6% same-store sales growth could lead to about 9% EPS which is great except that the s...

I just completed hours of reading and updating numbers and looking at value rations to come to what is probably an obvious conclusion that Couche-Tard remains a buy for long-term gains. It's not a screaming buy but I think it is a buy. It may be just...

On Wednesday, markets were down modestly with the S&P 500 down0.3% and Toronto down 0.8%. CN Rail was down 3.6% to $134. It's generally a good stock to add to on dips. CN reported 6% lower revenue ton miles in the latest week so that is something...

Markets are a little weaker this morning with the S&P 500 down 0.1% and Toronto is down 1.3% Oil is down 1.4% to $56.41. Western Canadian Select is at $44.78 U.S.  Trump indicates that a lot of Venezuelan oil will soon reach the gulf coast. I'm j...

Markets were strong on Tuesday as the S&P 500 and Toronto each gained 0.6%. FedEx was up 3.5% and is at a 52 week and it just under its all-time high from 2021. Apparently there is faith in the U.S. economy. Starbucks has been strong lately and w...

The report on Visa is updated and rated Buy at $357. Last Spring I was a bit cautious as I thought a possible recession and less travel would slow its growth. But it had continued strong growth in recent quarters. It's value ratios look a little chea...

Markets are up once again this morning. Yesterday after the close there was a offering of a 5.5% convertible debenture from Rogers Sugar. It sold out very fast. I put in for some but was allocated only 32% of what I asked for. This indicates a lot of...

Stocks did surprising  well today. Toronto was up 1.1% despite oil stocks being down. The S&P 500 was up 0.6%. TFI International was up 4.1% to $152.39. I don't get why it has soared so much. This had dipped as low as $113 about six weeks ago (No...

Markets are up about 0.7% this morning in spite of Trumps action in Venezuela. Nothing seems to faze the markets, not since the tariff tantrum of last April. If oil production in Venezulea is going to open up then that could be quite negative for Alb...

TFI International was strong today with a 3.2% increase on this first trading day of the new year. West Fraser Timber was up 2.7%. Cameco was up 7.7%. The S&P 500 was up 0.2% and Toronto rose 0.5%.    ...

Markets are off to a positive start for the year. Cameco is up 7.3%. Cameco should have a bright long-term future with the resurgence of Nuclear power but it's also a volatile stock. In the short-term I was hoping it would drift down and I would add ...