Author name: Shawn

Markets rebounded a little on Thursday with the S&P 500 up 0.5% and Toronto up 3.8% as West Texas Oil recovered somewhat (a 24% increase but from a low base). I really don't think the worse is over for the markets.

The economic shut down is more...

Wednesday saw the S&P 500 down 5.2% and Toronto down 7.6% as oil prices dove. Most stocks were down, many double digit percentage losses. A few stocks were up. Amazon has held up really well. Walmart and Costco too. FedEx has not done well but wa...

Markets down again this morning.  Canadian Border with U.S. closed to non-essential visits. Trade to continue. Oil prices in Alberta collapsing. Government offering increased child tax benefits. I did sell a few more stocks this morning. I am just no...

So Tuesday saw an increase in the markets driven by fairly massive U.S. FED stimulus / liquidity announcements and promises to help out both businesses and individuals. S&P 500 was up 6.0% and Toronto (hampered by lower oil prices) was up 2.6%. M...

Markets are currently up 4 to 5% and rising at the moment due to breaking news on massive stimulus in the U.S. including the FED supporting the commercial paper market, support to airlines and even apparently $1000 cheques going out. For those still ...

As everyone is no doubt aware, and to no great surprise, markets were down sharply again on Monday. Ugh, S&P 500 down 12.0%, Toronto down 9.9%. Oil down as well. Individual declines are too painful to list. Looking at futures, I am greatly surpri...

North America is starting to understand the seriousness of the virus situation. With all the closures, the fear levels are way up since Friday. Sadly, I doubt that the FED rate cut and the Fed bond buying is going to do much for the markets. I am ple...

The latest World Health Organization situation report is out. China has 18 new cases and 14 new deaths. That's higher than the low numbers of the past few days but still indicates very good containment given they had 81,000 total cases. Singapore con...

Markets on Friday were somewhat higher over the day and then really jumped when trump announced a national emergency along with big steps to get testing ramped way up in the U.SA. And there was news of a faster test coming available. Also there was a...

There has been something of a relief rally in stocks this morning due in part to positive about progress on getting far more people tested for the virus. There is also more news about central banks supporting bank liquidity. But the relief rally soon...

Thursday, as everyone must know by now, saw another huge loss in the markets. The S&P 500 was down 9.5% and Toronto was down 12.3% for apparently its biggest ever one day percentage loss. Almost all of the stocks on our list were down sharply and...

Markets down another 7% at the moment. With fear really rising and the prospect of large-scale closures of universities and work places and cancellation of gatherings, the fear is getting worse. Could get far worse. In that scenario it is hard to see...

Wednesday saw another big decline in the markets with the S&P 500 down 4.9% and Toronto down 4.6%. Virtually every stock on our list was down. The biggest decliners were the  Boston Pizza units down 11.7% and Toll Brothers down 10.9% and AutoCana...

Tuesday saw a partial rebound from the big losses on Monday.  This was due to investors buying the dip but also very much due to indications that President Trump is about to provide some kind of stimulus. I am not going to list any of the individual ...

With the market decline today, almost every stock on our list would look like a buy based on past earnings. But of course fear could push stocks lower as the market anticipates that fear will also hamper the economy. Investors with cash may want to s...

On Friday markets were down again. The S&P 500 was down 1.7% and Toronto was down 2.3%. Stantec at $40.57 has weathered the storm much better than most stocks. The same can be said for Couche-Tard. Many stocks are down to what would appear to be ...

It was not surprising to see the markets down on Thursday. The good news of the Joe Biden strength in the primaries was yesterday's news and now the focus is back on the coronavirus and its impact on the economy. The S&P 500 was down 3.4% and Tor...

Markets were up sharply on Wednesday due to probabaly a delayed reaction to central bank rte cuts and due to Joe Biden's success in the primaries. (The markets would not like Bernie Sanders to be the Democratic nominee and potential President.) Almos...

Markets are up today so far.  How bad could this all get? Well (temporarily) very bad of course. If countries really start to restrict travel and if consumers are scared to shop and people become scared to go to work or are prevented from working the...

Tuesday was yet another non-boring day in the markets as the S&P 500 fell 2.8% and Toronto fell 0.8%. This despite the FED cutting interest rates by 0.5% and other central banks also expected to cut. I can see that cuts are good for stocks but I ...

Monday saw a strong and I think surprising recovery in stocks. But I would not bet on the declines being over. The S&P 500 was up a hefty 4.6% and Toronto was up 1.8%. Apple was up 9.4%, Costco was up an amazing 10.0%. Visa was up 5.8%. Canadian ...

Friday saw another big headline-grabbing drop in the market on coronvirus fears. The DOW was down over 1000 points during the day but recovered for a decline of 357 points or 1.4% at the close. The S&P 500 was down 0.8% and Toronto was down 2.7%....

Thursday was another down day in the markets due to the coronavirus. The S&P 500 was down 4.4%. Toronto was down 1.9% but likely would have been down more except that it has to close early due to some technical problem. Notable declines included:...

Markets at first rose on Wednesday but finished the day with the S&P 500 down 0.4% and Toronto down 0.8%. Most stocks declined including American Express - down 2.0%, TFI International - down 2.15%, Linamar - down 2.9%, and Royal Bank - down 2.1%...

Toll Brothers is updated and rated (higher) Buy at $37.90. It just reported weak figures for Q4 but also reported sharply higher contracts for new houses which will show up in earnings when the houses are completed and "delivered" nine to twelve mont...

Tuesday was the second day in a row of headline-grabbing losses in the markets. The DOW was down 879 points or 3.25%. The S&P 500 was down 3.0% and Toronto was down 2.0%. Some of the bigger losses included: Aecon Group Inc. - down 3.6%, Apple Inc...

Markets were down sharply on Monday on fears about the Coronavirus. The S&P 500 was down 3.35%. The DOW was down a 3.6% or just over 1000 points. Toronto fared better but was still down 1.6%. The bigger declines included Visa down 4.8%, American ...

Canadian Tire is updated and rated (lower) Strong Buy at $145.44. They had a very strong Q4. There are always risks, but based on the numbers and its history this stock is quite attractive....

On Friday, the S&P 500 was down 1.05% and Toronto was down 0.6%. The market has started to take notice of the Coronavirus situation and S&P 500 futures are down a further 1.2% as of Sunday evening. It looks like Monday will be yet another non...

TFI International is updated and rated (higher) Buy at CAN $47.03 and U.S. $35.51. This is an excellent company. I sold a good portion of my holdings last week on concerns about the what the Coronavirus (and the resulting sharp slow-down in China) is...

Thursday was a somewhat mixed day in the markets as Toronto rose 0.1% while the S&P 500 was down 0.4%. AutoCanada was down 3.1% to $12.86. It had recently clawed its way back to highs over $15. But that came after  years of steep declines. I stil...

On Wednesday, the S&P 500 was up 0.5% and Toronto was up 0.4%. Aurora Cannabis was up 3.7%. I suspect there is lots more bad news to come from this company. Time will tell. CRH Medical was up 4.4%. Statistics Canada released the latest inflation ...

I am selling over half of my TFI International shares this morning. Checking the latest rail car loading figures, out this morning: Canada is of course reporting lower car loadings due to the blockade of CN in eastern Canada. The U.S. is also reporti...

Stock markets were closed for a holiday on Monday. Tuesday was yet another interesting day in the markets. The S&P 500 was down 0.3% while Toronto was up 0.1% Aurora Cannabis bounced up 5.8%. lululemon was up 1.9%. Apple Inc. was down 1.8% after ...

On Friday, the S&P 500 was up 0.2% and Toronto was up 0.15%. AutoCanada was down 3.4%. Canadian Tire was up 1.8%. No word on whether Big Short guy, Steve Eisman will give up on his short position. Aurora Cannabis bounced up 5.1%.  Penny stock Cea...

There was lots of news in the markets on Thursday including after the close. Overall, the S&P was down 0.2% and Toronto was down 0.1%. Boston Pizza held up surprisingly well after its reduction to the distribution per unit. It was down 2.8%. TFI ...

Boston Pizza Royalties units have announced Q4 results along with the feared and not surprising cut to the distribution. They are cutting by 11.3% from 11.5 cents per month to 10.2 cents. This would bring the payout ratio down to about 95% from the t...

On Wednesday, the S&P 500 was up 0.65% while Toronto was up 0.3%. Shopify was up 7.7% after releasing its Q4 report. Heineken was up a hefty 5.2%. Apple was up 2.4%. TFI International was up 4.4%. What can be said except, "let the good times roll...

On Tuesday, markets were relatively little changed with the S&P 500 and Toronto each up 0.2%. Aecon Group was up 2.2%.  Bombardier continues to circle the drain down as it fell 5.3% and its preferred shares were down 9.6%. Sad. Mostly self-inflic...

On Monday markets were up. The S&P 500 was up 0.7% and Toronto was up 0.5%. Amazon was up another 2.6%, and Shopify was up another 2.7%. Restaurant brands was up 3.1% after releasing earnings and same store sales. Tim Hortons however had a declin...

On Friday, the markets gave back a little of the big gains of last week. The S&P 500 was down 0.5% and Toronto was down 0.6%. Linamar was down 4.2% probably due to its exposure (so to speak) to the situation in China. Auroa Cannabis was down 15.2...

Our report on Toll Brothers (the U.S. luxury home builder) is updated and rated (lower) Buy at $47.27. Its home sales have been increasing since early last Summer but contracts to build a home do not show up in revenue and earnings until the home is ...

Aurora Cannabis is down 16% to $2.25. It was about $2.60 yesterday. Last night I said I would not be surprised if it went under $1.00 on this news. When i said that I was somehow thinking it was at about $1.60. So I should have said more like under $...

On Thursday, U.S. the markets cooled down just a bit. But the S&P 500 was still up 0.3%. Toronto was up 0.6%. Couche-Tard was up 2.7%. TFI International was up 1.8% Aurora Cannabis was halted for news for much of the trading day. Then, after the ...

I'm somewhat concerned that a good part of the reason for the surging U.S. stock market is that interest rates are expected to drop due to concerns about the impact of the coronavirus on trade and economic activity. Sure, lower interest rates are goo...

Markets continued to be "on fire" on Wednesday. The S&P 500 was up another 1.1% and Toronto was up 0.8%. Some of the notable gainers included: Toll Brothers up 6.2%. AutoCanada up 6.6%. CRH Medical up 4.2%. Linamar, up 2.7%. With the markets roar...

FedEx is updated and rated Sell at $149.20. The company is projecting lower earnings for the next two quarter and then a recovery. I have basically lost faith as management has failed to meet its own projections for a long time. Perhaps they will tur...

Markets were basically "on fire" on Tuesday as the S&P 500 rose 1.5%. Toronto was up 0.8%. Accordingly, most stocks were up. Some of the notable gainers were: Starbucks - up 2.8% - and that's despite the fact that half its stores in China are clo...

On Monday, markets recovered some of the losses from Friday as the S&P 500 rose 0.7% and Toronto rose 0.35%. AutoCananda ws up 5.8% CRH Medical was up 5.0%. Aurora Cannabis was up 6.4%. lulu lemon was up 2.9%. Market movers this week will include...

On Friday, the markets finally took notice of the coronavirus. The S&P 500 was down 1.8% and Toronto was down 1.0%. It may be be that the coronavirus will never become a truly serious health threat. But it could nevertheless pead to an economic s...

On Thursday, the market decided by the end of the day that the Coronavirus was no reason to sell stocks. The S&P 500 was up 0.3% while Toronto was down 0.1%. CRH Medical was down 4.7% giving back some its recent gains. Amazon was out with a stron...

On Wednesday, markets were higher most of the day but weakened near the close. The S&P 500 ended the day down 0.1% while Toronto was up 0.1%. Autocanada added 5.1% as analysts must have liked its recent news. Stantec was up 2.6% to $40.06. That's...

On Tuesday the markets shrugged off much of yesterday's fears and the S&P 500 was up 1.0% while Toronto was up 0.3%. This pushed most stocks up. AutoCanda was up 14.9% after announcing that its lenders have extended its lines of credit by three y...

Om Monday, markets declined due the Corona virus threat. (And possibly due to John Bolton saying that the President did in fact withhold aid in an effort to get Ukraine to investigate the Bidens.) The S&P 500 was down 1.6% and Toronto was down 0....

On Friday, markets had (a rare) down day as the S&P 500 ws down 0,9% and Toronto ws down 0.3%.  This was related to the new Coronavirus. It's probably anyone's guess how badly that will continue to impact the markets or whether it will turn out t...

Stantec is updated and rated Buy at $39.10 in Toronto or $29.71 in U.S. trading Stantec had been a fantastic investment for many years but then was hit hard by the recession in the Canadian energy sector starting in 2014 and then by its own mistakes ...

Despite some fears about the new virus in China and despite the impeachment hearing, the markets were little changed today. The S&P 500 and Toronto were each up 0.1%. Toll Brothers was up 2.4%. Rate reset preferred shares were down somewhat due t...

On Wednesday, markets were initially up noticeably but at the end of the day the S&P 500 was about unchanged and Toronto was up 0.1%. Stantec was up 1.1% and has been rising steadily after it had jumped with its Q3 earnings report around November...

On Tuesday, markets gave back a little bit of ground as the S&P 500 0.3% and Toronto was down 0.1%. But Costco was up 2.8% (probably due to positive analyst reports as there was no news from the company itself). Constellation Software was up 3.3%...

Monday was a quiet day in the markets as U.S. markets were closed for the Martin Luther King holiday. The Toronto index was up 0.2%. Boston Pizza units were up 2.6% to $14.83. BP has been running television ads promoting free delivery (if you use pro...

Couche-Tard (as it is usually referred to as) is updated and rated Buy at $44.43. It recently had a two for one share split. The company has been a fantastic buy-and-hold investment. It does exhibit volatility when fuel price margins decline and of c...

On Friday, the markets continued their seemingly relentless climb as the S&P 500 and Toronto were each up another 0.4%. For the moment it seems that the market knows no fear. But we can be sure that something will spook the market at lest mildly ...

The U.S. stock markets are basically "on fire". The S&P 500 surged another 0.8% today! Toronto managed 0.4%. Many stocks on our list were up between 1 and 2%. A big loser in Canada today was Bombardier, down 32% to $1.22. It reports in U.S. dolla...

Wednesday was yet another strong and record day for the stock markets. The S&P 500 was up 0.2% and Toronto was up 0.4%.  Aurora Cannabis was up 15.5% as there has been some good earnings reports from other Cannabis companies. Aurora remains risky...

On Tuesday, the S&P 500 took a tiny breather from its gains and was down 0.15%. Toronto was up 0.3%. Couche-Tard was up 1.7%. This will be the next company updated on the site. Toll Brothers was up 1.9%. AutoCanada was down 3.1% to $10.87.  The U...

Monday was yet another strong day in the markets as the S&P 500 was up another 0.7% and Toronto was up 0.3%. The S&P 500 has risen steeply and steadily for over 12 months now. It can't keep that up indefinitely of course.  lululemon was up 4....

With some trepidation (given its history), I have updated the report on Shopify and rated it Sell at U.S. $429 (or Canadian $560). This Canadian-headquartered company reports in U.S. dollars and does most of its business in U.S. dollars and therefore...

On Friday, the S&P 500 was down 0.3% while Toronto was basically unchanged. Aurora Cannabis was down 11.2% on analysts comments about its debt and lack of profitability. AutoCanada was down 3.0% CRH Medical was up 2.5%. The December jobs report f...

Our report on Apple Inc. is updated with a rating of Weak Buy / Hold at $309.63. This company was added to the site last January 23 rated Speculative Buy at $153.92. The report high lighted the attractive P/E of 12.9 but also noted that it was then e...

Thursday was a strong day in the markets as the S&P 500 rose 0.7% and Toronto rose 0.4%. The great majority of stocks were up including: Aecon Group, up 2.5% Apple, up 2.1% (I plan to post an updated report on Apple tomorrow) Shopify up another 3...

On Wednesday the markets seem to have concluded that the risks of the Iran U.S.A. spate have largely dissipated. (That, of course, may or may not turn out to be correct.) The S&P 500 surged 0.5% while Toronto was about unchanged. Linamar was down...

On Tuesday, the S&P 500 was down 0.3% while Toronto was up 0.4%. Canadian Tire was up 1.7% and Couche-Tard was up 1.6%. Toll Brothers was up 1.7%. Constellation Software was up 3.0%. CRH Medical was down 3.3% giving back some of its recent gains....

On Monday, markets were initially lower due to the recent events involving Trump and Iran and Iraq but they rebounded with the S&P 500 up 0.35% and Toronto up 0.2%. CRH Medical rose a further 4.0% and it announced that it had hired an experienced...

Aurora Cannabis is added to the site. The company is not yet profitable and it is difficult to say if it will ever generate sufficient profits to justify its $2.7 billion market value (at $2.60 per share). Furthermore, it could run potentially out of...

After dropping about 80% from its highs, Aurora Cannabis is now trading at only about 61% of its book value.  The question then becomes: What kind of assets does Aura have? Are its assets worth book value? Will the company survive to realize the valu...

On Friday, the S&P 500 was down 0.7% and Toronto was down 0.2%. Toll Brothers was up 1.75%. CRH Medical was up 3.8%, adding to recent gains.  I am taking a look at Aurora Cannabis now. It would be a speculative pick. They have stopped constructio...

Boston Pizza announced that it opened 5 new restaurants in 2019 but closed 6 (5 full -service plus one express locations). They also noted that most of 2019 had been challenging for the restaurant industry including BP. This is the lowest number of n...

The U.S. markets roared out of the gate to start 2020 with the S&P 500 up 0.8% and the DOW up 1.2%. Toronto, however, was up only 0.2%. Apple Inc. was up 2.3% to edge over $300.  FedEx was up 2.6%. Amazon was up 2.7% to almost $1900. CRH Medical ...

Our report on WSP Global is updated and rated Weak Buy / Hold at $88.67. It has continued to grow and do very well. But the stock now looks expensive. ...

On the last day of the year, the S&P 500 was up 0.3% to finish the year up an astounding 28.9%! (Over 30% including dividends). Toronto was down 0.2% to finish the year up 19.1%.  Melcor Developments was up 5.2% today but, as always, that was on ...

On Monday, the S&P 500 was down 0.6% and Toronto was down 0.4%. Tomorrow is of course the last day of trading for the year. We will also get the last dividends of the year including from Melcor and Boston Pizza among others.      ...

The report on Restaurant Brands (Tim Hortons, Burger King & Popeyes) is updated and rated (lower) Buy at Canadian $83.56. The report is in U.S. dollars and the U.S. price is $63.89. At the last update last Summer, I thought the stock was quite ex...

Royal Bank of Canada is updated and rated Buy at $103.47. Its valuation ratios are quite attractive such that it could be rated in the Strong Buy range. But it is facing lower growth and it is possible that loan losses could cause problems in 2020. I...

There are just two trading days left in the year.  On Friday, the S&P 500 was up another 0.1% and I believe likely set yet another all time closing high. Toronto was down 0.1% CRH Medical (see update just below) was down 3.3% in Toronto. AutoCana...

CRH Medical is updated and rated Speculative (higher) Buy. This is a small company with a market cap of U.S. $250 million. It is very much in a niche industry as it mainly provides anesthesia services for colonoscopies. Demographics are certainly fav...

Our report on Starbucks is updated and rated (lower) Buy. This is an extremely high quality company. But it's not cheap and therefore is rated only (lower) Buy. Since the last update in August its price fell about 5% while the market in general rose....

Our report on Canadian Tire is updated and rated (higher) Buy at $142. This company has been the subject of a short-seller report. They forecast lower earnings growth ahead. They also believe that Canadian Tore could get a credit rating downgrade. Th...

On Friday, the U.S. markets set yet another new high. The S&P 500 was up 0.5% and Toronto was up 0.4% It appears that markets will finish 2019 at around record highs and with stellar gains in 2019. On Friday, lululemon was up 2.75%.  Canadian Wes...

This CWB rate reset preferred share is updated and rated (higher) Buy at $17.75. It yields 6.06% and will not reset until April 30, 2014. This is not an exciting investment. But for those seeking yield and particularly yield eligible for the dividend...

Canadian Western Bank is updated and rated (higher) Buy at $31.89....

Wednesday was another interesting day in the markets. The S&P 500 was little changed while Toronto was down 0.25%. SNC Lavalin (not on our list but one I have mentioned) was up 19% after avoiding a trial by pleading guilty to one charge of defrau...

On Tuesday, markets overall were little changed. The S&P 500 was approximately unchanged and Toronto as up 0.1%. The Canadian Western Bank Series 5 rate reset preferred share CWB.PR.B was up 1.5% to $17.66. It yields 6.1%. Rate reset preferred sh...

Monday was a strong day in the markets. The S&P 500 was up 0.7% to yet another new high and Toronto was up 0.3%. Accordingly, most of the stocks on our list were up. Toll Brothers was down 0.6% despite a report that the home builders sentiment in...

Linamar is updated and now rated only Speculative (lower) Buy. Perhaps that is too low a rating given a trailing P/E that is highly attractive at 6.2 and given that as of the Q3 conference call, the company was predicting operating earnings growth in...

On Friday, the S&P 500 was about unchanged. The Phase I China / USA trade agreement had already been reflected in the market by the close on Thursday and so there was no further impact on Friday. In fact, the way positive for markets goes is usua...

Thursday was a strong day in the U.S. markets as Trump signed some kind of Phase I trade deal with China. The S&P 500 was up 0.9% while Toronto was about unchanged. Linamar benefited from the news on the trade file adn was up 4.8% to $48.24. That...

Wednesday saw the S&P 500 rise 0.3% while Toronto as down 0.1%. Melcor was up 2.8% adding to recent gains. But it tends to be volatile due to its thin trading volume. Toll Brothers was up 1.7% recovering a portion of yesterday's decline. After th...

On Tuesday, the S&P 500 was down 0.1% while Toronto was unchanged. Despite apparently beating market expectations for earnings and revenue, Toll Brothers was down 4.9%.  Restaurant Brands was up 1.8%. Linamar was up 1.1% which was likely due to t...

Markets were down somewhat on Monday. The S&P 500 and Toronto were each down 0.3%. Stantec was up 1.8%.  Linamar was up 1.0% which is not bad on a day the market was down. Constellation Software was down 3.5%. Any pull back in that stock has hist...

On Friday markets were strong. The S&P 500 was up 0.9% and Toronto was up 0.8%. Oil and gas stocks were mostly up. XEG, the big Canadian oil and gas ETF was up 4.5%. Trade related stocks mostly rose. CN Rail was up 2.1%. FedEx was up 2.2%, Linama...

Canadian National Railway Company is updated and rated Buy at Canadian $119.00 or U.S. $89.70. This has been a stellar investment for many years.  While it does not look cheap at about 19 times earnings, it is fairly priced. It will almost certainly ...

Thursday was not a good day for our stock picks. The S&P 500 was up 0.15% while Toronto was down 0.25%. Canadian Western Bank was down 6.9% after posting disappointing results for Q4. It has not increased its loan loss provisions. As long as it d...

Canadian Western Bank is down 7.3% as Q4 earnings declined 5%. (Correction, the decline mentioned here was versus Q3, earnings were up 5% versus Q4 of the prior year). Net interest margin was down slightly and expenses are up. Management indicates th...

On Wednesday, markets rebounded somewhat with the S&P 500 up 0.6% although Toronto was about unchanged. Shopify surged 5.2% to almost $491. That's on top of a big gain yesterday. 5.2% is a LOT of money when you consider that Shopify has a market ...

Tuesday was another negative day in the markets due to deteriorating hopes for a near-term "Phase I" trade deal between China and the U.S. The S&P 500 was down 0.7% and Toronto was down 0.5%. FedEx, which certainly relies on increased trade for g...

Aecon is updated and rated (lower) Buy at $17.92. Aecon Group Inc. is an interesting Canadian company that constructs vital infrastructure including light rail transit, bridges, pipelines, electricity transmission and distribution lines, chemical pla...

December has started off with a negative day on the markets as the S&P 500 was down 0.9% and Toronto was down 0.3%. Apparently the reson was increased trade tensions. WSP Global bucked the trend and was up 1.5%. And Linamar was up 0.6% which seem...

On Friday, the S&P 500 and Toronto were each down 0.4%. This week the Canadian market will be interested in the reports from the banks. Royal Bank reports on Wednesday. The level of actual bad debts and any changes to the level of provisions for ...

Our report on Andrew Peller (which is in the wine business) is updated and rated (lower) Buy. This is a tough business that faces stiff competition. The update may be more of interest to those who already own shares or who have a particular interest ...

Toronto was on ts own on Thursday and gained 0.1% as U.S. markets were closed.  Canadian Tire was up 0.8% to just under $156. I think Canadian Tire will continue to do well. They are doing lots of promotions with their Triangle reward card to pull cu...

Wednesday was yet another positive day for stocks. The S&P 500 and Toronto were each up 0.4%. Both set record highs. lululemon was up another 2.7% to almost $229. It has risen very steadily for the past year. It looks very expensive on a P/E rati...

On Tuesday, the S&P 500 was up 0.2% and Toronto as about unchanged. Shopify was up 5.1% Toll Brothers was up 1.1%. A report today indicated that new home sales in the U.S. just reported their strongest two month figures in 12 years. But the repor...

The report for Boston Pizza Royalties Income Fund Units has been updated and is rated (higher ) Buy at $14.05. The report goes onto various details. But whether this is a good investment comes down to some questions which are not easy to predict: Wit...

On Monday, the S&P 500 was up 0.75% and Toronto was up 0.5%. Couche-Tard was up 3.5%. They are set to release earnings tomorrow. This has been fantastic comp[any and investment for many years. Their exposure to selling vaping products is a potent...

The Boston Pizza units are down 3.0% to $14.02 this morning. Volume is heavier than normal. This on a morning when markets are higher. It's hard to say if this is a good buying opportunity or not. Could it be that someone has information that a distr...

These shares, like most rate reset shares also offered the option to convert to a floating rate preferred share. The time to make that option has passed as the deadline was November 18th. But those holding ENB.PF.A could still sell those and buy the ...

On Friday, the S&P 500 was up 0.2% while Toronto was down 0.3%. FedEx was up 2.9%.  TFI International was up 2.45%. I don't know if it will benefit from the CN Rail  strike. On the one hand shippers may look to switch to trucks. On the other hand...

Our report on the Enbridge rate reset preferred share ENB.PF.A is updated and rated (higher) Buy at $15.60. These shares will reset on December 1 which locks in the distribution for five years. They new dividend has already been set. The yield at $15...

Markets were not much changed on Thursday. The S&P 500 was down 0.2% and Toronto was about unchanged. I have a few orders in to add to some positions.  I picked up some Melcor REIT at $7.95 today.  If Boston Pizza dips to $14.30, I have an order ...

On Wednesday, markets were mostly a bit lower. The S&P 500 was down 0.4% while the Toronto index was about unchanged. CN Rail was down 1.8% due to a strike there.  Linamar was down 4.4% due to concerns about progress on the China  / U.S. trade wa...

This morning Stats Canada reports that restaurant sales are still rising in 2019 versus 2018. Given new restaurants opening up, and changing tastes some restaurants are certainly facing lower sales but the industry overall is doing okay. Sales of the...

On Monday, markets were about flat. The S&P 500 was up just 0.05%. The TSX was about unchanged. CRH Medical was down 1.7%. Couche-Tard was up 1.2%. TFI International was up 1.3%...

Constellation Software is updated and rated Weak Buy / Hold at $1342. It reports in U.S. dollars and so our report is in U.S. dollars. It has been and is a fantastic company. Most of the time it looks expensive but it has been a mistake to sell this ...

On Friday markets set new record highs. The S&P 500 was up 0.8% and Toronto was up 0.3%. AutoCanada was up another 7.4% to $12.73. It's low was $7.33. Things had been looking scary until the latest earnings finally showed decent signs of a turn a...

Melcor Developments is updated and rated (higher) Buy at $12.04 (Wednesday's closing price). This has been a frustrating stock that has seemed significantly under-valued for some time. But it just seems to get cheaper. It suffered from a total lack o...

On Thursday, the S&P 500 and Toronto were each up 0.1%. AutoCanada was up another 9.8% today. As I mentioned, it seems the analysts have let it out of the penalty box after its decent Q3 report.  There were no other moves of particular note for t...

On Wednesday, the S&P 500 was up 0.1 and Toronto was up 0.3% Apparently hopes for progress in the trade war with China are fading. FeddEx, probably as a result, was down 3.1%.  CRH Medical was down 4.5% despite no news from the company. Stantec w...

On Tuesday, the S&P 500 and Toronto were each up 0.2% Stantec was up another 2.3%. Recall it was let out of the dog house after reporting good Q3 numbers.  Toll Brothers slipped 1.6% adn Limamar was down 1.8%. Boston Pizza down to $14.40 I might ...

On Monday, the S&P 500 was down 0.2% and Toronto was about unchanged. AutoCanada was up another 4.2% and was about the only noticeable move in the stocks on our list. I'm somewhat tempted to buy back some Boston Pizza at $14.62. If it turns out t...

Markets in both Canada and the U.S. are open despite the holiday. Markets are down a little right now but nothing unusual to report. Friday was another mostly positive day for our stocks. That was despite Trump throwing some cold water on the China t...

Thursday was a big day for earnings reports and a strong day in the markets. The S&P 500 was up 0.3% and Toronto was up 0.4%. Stantec was up almost 16% after reporting Q3. It my well rise more as it has likely earned its way out of the penalty bo...

Our report for Amazon is updated and rated Speculative (lower) Buy at $1800. Historically, Amazon traded at extremely high multiples of earnings. In the past two years or so the P/E has come down but is still very high. It's quite possible that GAAP ...

BP Royalties units earnings are out. The results are poor with a decrease in same-store franchise-fee-eligible sales of 3.6%. It could be worse but this is quite weak. No cut to the distribution but the payout ratio on a trailing year basis now at 10...

On Wednesday, the S&P 500 was up 0.1% and Toronto was up 0.4%. lululemon rebounded 3.3% recovering a recent decline. WSP Global was up 1.5%. Earlier in the day it had been down in reaction to its earnings release but presumably the conference cal...

Markets were "mixed" on Tuesday with the S&P 500 down 0.1% and Toronto up 0.1% Constellation Software was down 3.3%. This has been a fantastic company in the long term. I will update the report soon. WSP Global reported after the close. The resul...

Monday was another positive day in the markets due to optimism that the U.S. and China will sign some sort of partial trade deal. The S&P 500 was up 0.4% and Toronto was up 0.5%. FedEx was up 5.3%. TFI International was up 2.4%. Linamar was up 2....

Markets were up sharply on Friday as the U.S. jobs report came in  strong. The S&P 500 was up 1.0% and Toronto was up 0.7%. Notable gains included FedEx and Toll Brothers each up 2.5%. Apple was up 2.8%. SNC Lavalin (not on our list but one I fol...

Our report on the Melcor REIT is updated and rated (higher) Buy at $7.99. The REIT just released Q3 earnings which had a number of positives. After about six quarters of declining adjusted earnings per share, they reported an 8% increase in Q3. This ...

Stocks were mostly down on Thursday as the S&P 500 fell 0.3% and Toronto was down 0.1%. But SNC Lavalin was up 20% after announcing Q3 results that included the big gain on the sale of most of its stake in highway 407 and that included positive p...

Warning - do not open any attachment in an email that you receive from me. I never send attachments to my investorsfriend lists. I use links. On Tuesday, my email system was attacked when I opened a so-called secure PDF file that appeared to be from ...

On Wednesday, the Bank of Canada held firm on interest rates at 1.75%  while the FED lowered by 0.25% to 1.50%. But the Canada statement was interpreted as signalling a possible cut ahead and the FED statement was interpreted as signalling this may b...

Our report on Heineken is updated and rated Weak Buy / Hold at 90.90 euros. Or you can buy in the U.S. as HEINY for U.S.$ 50.55 (these were yesterday's closing prices). Two HEINY are equivalent to one common share. The stock is not cheap. It may be o...

On Tuesday, the S&P 500 was down 0.1% while Toronto was up 0.2%. Apple was down 2.3%. Shopify was down 3.2% after reporting a loss but sharply higher revenue.  Tomorrow, the FED is expected to cut interest rates by 0.25 while the Bank of Canada i...

On Monday, the S&P 500 was up 0.6% while Toronto was down 0.1%. Restaurant Brands was down 3.7% after "meeting earnings expectations" in Q3 but reporting a reduction in same-store sales at Tim Hortons.  Toll Brothers was down 2.6% Rate reset pref...

On Friday, the S&P 500 was up 0.4% and Toronto was up 0.2%. Linamar was up 1.6%. Fed Ex was up 2.6%. It will be interesting to see if the market reacts positively to the death of the ISIS leader. Definitely a big win for Trump. He's had a nice we...

Our report for BHP Group (formerly BHP Billiton) is updated and rated Speculative Buy for the BBL ADR (American Depository Receipt) that trades in New York at $42.49. It also trades as the BHP ADR at $49.22. The two types of shares are said to be eco...

In Thursday's action, the S&P 500 and Toronto were each up 0.2%. Shopify was up 8.8% continuing its recent gyrations.  Visa was up 2.8% and then released yet another strong earnings report after the close. Linamar was down 2.5%. After the close, ...

On Wednesday, the S&P 500 was up 0.3% while Toronto was down by 0.3%. Linamar was up 1.5% and has had a good bounce back from recent lows.  CRH Medical announced that it has arranged with its lenders to increase its credit lines to $200 million f...

Well, Albertans stayed up late only to find that the election did no go their way. But the stock market opened as usual and life goes on. The S&P 500 finished the day down 0.4% and Toronto was down 0.2%. Shopify was down 6.2%. It will take a very...

On Monday, the S&P 500 was up 0.7% and is once again over 3000. Toronto was up 0.25%. American Express was up 2.0%. I added to my modest position today. Andrew Peller was up 3.3%. Statistics Canada reported that investment in building constructio...

On Friday, the S&P 500 was down 0.4% and Toronto was down 0.3%. Shopify was down 5.4%. lulu lemon was up 1.0% to $207. Over the weekend a new BREXIT deal failed to get passed. Boris Johnson was forced to write a letter to the EU to ask for a n ex...

Our report on American Express is updated and rated Buy at $116.74. It has done well since we rated it (higher) Buy on January 19th. The stock price is up 16% since then and this is justified by its earnings and revenue gains. It's not quite as attra...

On Thursday, the S&P 500 ended the day up 0.3% while Toronto was about unchanged. The market has not pushed Boston Pizza any lower as a result of the distribution cut by the smaller restaurant royalty entity SIR (main brand Jack Astor's) which an...

I am selling the rest of the BP units in an RRSP account today. I have kept the units I hold in a taxable account. I see a downside risk if they have to cut the distribution. And I don't hold out much hope of any near-term big upside surprise such as...

On Wednesday, the S&P 500 was down 0.2% and Toronto was little changed. Stantec was up 2.2%. Toll Brothers was up 2.9%. Linamar was up 2.4%. This was likely related to General Motors reaching a tentative union deal. That's good. On the other hand...

I am selling as much as half of my BP units today. A smaller restaurant royalty entity that owns Jack Astors has cut their distribution and cited lower sale. I have been worrying about BP needing to cut their distribution due to their payout ratio be...

Markets moved higher on Tuesday. This was likely due to continued optimism about progress on China / USA trade tensions. The outlook for a trade deal is likely to continue to cause volatility in the markets. The S&P 500 was up 1.0% but Toronto wa...

Our report on Dollarama is updated with a rating of (lower) Buy at $47.28. This has long been an extremely well-managed and successful retailer. Usually its shares have looked too expensive. It is probably about fairly priced at this time. It has had...

On Monday, the Toronto stock exchange was closed for the holiday while the S&P 500 was down 0.1%. In U.S. trading, Shopify was up a hefty 4.6%. In Edmonton, it was announced that Toyota will move its west-end Mayfield dealership into West Edmonto...

Markets rose of Friday as Trump hinted that some kind of at least partial trade deal with China was pending. Later on Friday he confirmed it was a partial deal and markets retreated somewhat from the highs of the day.  U.S. markets are open on Monday...

Markets were higher Thursday on (faint) hopes of progress in the China / USA trade talks. The S&P 500 was up 0.6% and Toronto was up 0.3%. TFI International was up 3.6%.  Couche-Tard was down 1.9%. It may be under pressure due to its exposure to ...

The Melcor REIT and Melcor Developments have announced that the REIT is acquiring, for $55 million, a retail shopping "power centre" in Grande Prairie which will increase the REIT's square footage by 9.7%. As part of the deal, Melcor Developments wil...

FedEx is updated and now rated only Speculative (lower) Buy at $138.39 (Its moved slightly higher at $140.49 as I post this). FedEx has been hurt early and hurt hard by the global slowdown in the manufacturing and industrial sector and the associated...

On Wednesday, markets were positive due to some optmisim about the China / USA trade talks. The S&P 500 was up 0.9% and Toronto was up 0.5%. Costco was up 1.7%. Then, after the close it reported September same-store sales up a strong 5.6%. That i...

On Tuesday, the S&P 500 was down 1.6% and Toronto was down 0.6%. Correspondingly, most of the stocks on our list were down.  TFI International was down 3.0% to $37.76. The company has been buying back shares aggressively and the shares do appear ...

On Monday, the S&P 500 was down 0.45% and Toronto was down 0.2%. Dollarama was down 2.65%.  Apparently, Alberta is about to announce that it has sold some of its crude-by-rial contract commitments to the private sector. I would have thought the g...

On Friday, the S&P 500 was up 1.4% and Toronto was up 0.4%. Linamar rebounded somewhat, up 4.4%. Most stocks were up. The U.S. added fewer jobs than expected. But the unemployment rate is a record low 3.5%. Virtually, it seems there is almost no ...

On Thursday, markets started out negative but finished positive with the S&P 500 up 0.8% and Toronto up 0.4%. Linamar got hammered down 10.3% after indicating that sales were slowing in all three of its categories (auto parts, access - i.e. sciss...

  On Wednesday, the S&P 500 was down 1.8% and Toronto was down 0.8%. Accordingly, most of the stocks on our list were down. The bigger decliners were Apple down 2.5%, BHP Billiton - down 2.9%, Visa - down 2.6%, American Express -down 3.3%, and Au...

Tuesday was a down day in the markets as the S&P 500 fell 1.2% and Toronto was down 1.3%. With the economy softening, I would be inclined to hold more cash. But I always find it difficult to part with most of the stocks I own and so I have very l...

Today marks the end of the third quarter. Soon, the next round of earnings report will start to flow in. On Monday, the S&P 500 was up 0.5% while Toronto was down 0.2%. Toll Brothers was up 2.4% TFI International was up 2.7% after announcing that...

I have updated two articles that go into detail on specific ETFs to consider investing in. The first article covers the relatively new balanced fund ETFs from Vanguard and iShares. These could be especially useful for newer investors and for anyone w...

On Friday, the S&P 500 was down 0.5% and Toronto was down 0.6%. One of the old favorites on this site but no longer on the list, Wells Fargo, was up 3.8% after announcing its new CEO. Apparently he will work out of New York and not have to bother...

On Thursday, the S&P 500 was down 0.2% while Toronto was about unchanged. So far, it appears that the market is ignoring Trump's problems regarding favors from Ukraine. But it does look like those problems are real. The most notable move in the ...

On Wednesday, the S&P 500 was up 0.6% while Toronto was down 0.1%. Shopify recovered some of its recent losses, gaining a hefty 6.9%. Toll Brothers was up 1.7%. But that was a modest gain considering that the report on new home sales was very st...

Markets were mostly negative on Tuesday with the S&P 500 down 0.8% and Toronto down 0.4%. This was blamed on trade tensions. Also, the Democrats moved to explore impeaching Trump - but in this strange world that was not really big news. TFI Inter...

On Monday, the S&P 500 was about unchanged while Toronto was down 0.2%. lululemon was up 3.1% FedEx was down 2.2%. Statistics Canada reported that Wholesale sales rose in July and that "the personal and household goods subsector and the motor veh...

On Friday, the S&P 500 was down 0.5%. But Toronto was up 0.25% and sits at a record closing high. Canadian Tire was up 3.35% to $148.82. This is a good recovery from the $133.43 level of our update of last month. The recovery is likely due to ana...

On Thursday, the S&P 500 ended the day unchanged while Toronto was up 0.35%. Couche-Tard was up 2.4% and has recovered a good portion of its recent decline from its high. Toll Brothers was little changed despite a report this morning indicating t...

On Wednesday, the S&P 500 ended the day about unchanged and Toronto was down 0.2% The Federal Reserve lowered interest rates by 0.25% in light of potential risks to the economy posed by trade tensions. FedEx fell 13% due to its poor quarterly ea...

On Tuesday, the S&P 500 was up 0.3% and Toronto was up 0.5%. Restaurant Brands was up 3.4%. Dollarama was up 2.4%. Shopify was down 2.6% to $435.67. or U.S. $328.82. That's actually pretty strong considering the company sold shares today at U.S....

On Monday, the S&P 500 was down 0.3% in a mild reaction to the partial destruction of Saudi Arabia's oil refining infrastructure. Toronto was up 0.4% as oil rose about 10% in reaction to the reduced capacity of Saudi Arabia. The large cap energy ...

The big news for markets over the weekend was the major attack on the Saudi oil refining. This morning the S&P 500 is down 0.3% which is not a big reaction. Toronto is up 0.4% because oil prices are up a hefty 10%. The large cap energy ETF, XEG i...

On Thursday, the S&P 500 was up 0.3% and Toronto was up 0.2% Toronto hit a new within-trading-day high. The European Central Bank announced anew round of bond-buying which will keep interest rates lower-than-low in Europe. Shopify was up for the...

Markets were strong on Wednesday with the S&P 500 up 0.7% and Toronto up 0.45% Canadian Tire was up 1.9%. Toll Brothers was up 3.2% and then after the close announced a relatively small acquisition of a builder of mostly more moderately priced ho...

Although overall markets did not move much today there was a lot of movement in various stocks. The S&P 500 was almost unchanged and Toronto as up 0.3%. Restaurant Brands was down 4.2%. Possibly, this was related to Wendy's announcing it would ro...

Costco is updated and rated (lower) Sell at $296.05. Basically, if I owned it I would sell at least half of the position at this price or avoid having a very large position. On the other hand it is a great company and although the valuation would sug...

"Couche-Tard", as the company is often referred to, has been a very long term winner. And, after several years where the share price did not do much, the stock is up about 60% versus a low point in May of 2018. For quite a few years I thought that de...

Markets were relatively flat on Monday with the S&P 500 unchanged and Toronto down 0.2%. Stocks on our list that moved up included FedEx - up 3.4%, TFI International - up 1.7%, and Linamar - up 1.7%. lulu lemon was down 4.3%, giving back some of ...

Our report on Visa Inc. is updated and rated Weak Buy / Hold at $181.55. Visa certainly has wonderful economics and is extremely profitable and is growing earnings rapidly. But with a price/earnings ratio of 35, the stock is arguably fully valued. A...

Markets were strong on Thursday as the S&P 500 rose 1.3% and Toronto was up 0.8%. lululemon was up 4.3% and that was before it released a strong earnings report with revenues up 22% and beating expectations on earnings as well and it rose a furt...

On Wednesday the S&P bounced up 1.1% and Toronto was up 0.3%. FedEx was up 2.4% and Dollarama was also up 2.4%. TFI International was up only 0.1%. With the company recently increasing its already very large share buy back program because they th...

Markets were weak on Tuesday with the S&P down 0.7% and Toronto down 0.3%. This was due in part to a decline in U.S. manufacturing activity likely related to the trade war. Most stocks were down. CRH Medical was down 4.6% despite announcing it w...

Autocanada is updated and now rated Speculative (lower) Buy at $8.45. In their Q2 report recently released there is a lot of improvement. Higher sales and gross profits. It appears that they have turned the corner on losses and should be profitable ...

On Friday, the S&P 500 was up 0.1% and Toronto was up 0.35%. Most stocks on our list were up. I read the conference call Transcript for Canadian Western Bank today. While there are always risks related to the economy, the tone of that conferenc...

Markets were strong on Thursday with the S&P 500 up 1.3% and Toronto up 0.7%. Linamar was up 2.35%. And FedEx was up 2.7%. Presumably both related to more optimism or less pessimism about trade wars. Canadian Western Bank reported Q3 earnings whi...

On Wednesday, the S&P 500 was up 0.65% and Toronto was up 0.5%. Most stocks were up while most of the rate reset preferred shares were down a little. National Bank reported good results. Hopefully, Canadian Western Bank will as well. Checking the...

On Tuesday, the S&P 500 fell 0.3% - probably because the market's faith that a China trade deal is closer started to wane. Toronto was up 0.5% as oil prices were higher. Couche-Tard was up 2.1%. This has been a winning company for many years. And...

On Monday, the S&P 500 was up 1.1% and Toronto was up 0.4%. This came after President Trump said that China was ready to negotiate a trade deal. There is probably little reason to believe it but the market of course wants to believe it, so they d...

On Friday, the S&P 500 was down 2.6% after Trump escalated the trade war with China. And Toronto got pulled down 1.3%. Almost all of the stocks on our list were down. Among the hardest hit were Apple - down 4.6%, and FedEx - down 3.9%, and TFI In...

The report on Toll Brothers is updated and rated Buy at $35.97. It looks like a Buy based on its numbers. I completed this report this morning before Trump's tweets sent the price for most stocks lower....

In Thursday's markets the S&P 500 was about unchanged and Toronto was down 0.3% Toll Brothers was up 2.0% presumably because the analyst comments were somewhat positive today after they digested the Q3 earnings report and conference call. With RB...

Markets were up on Wednesday with the S&P 500 up 0.8% and Toronto up 0.6%. Shopify was up another 4.0%. Lululemon was up 2.0%, Toll Brothers fell 4.5% despite reporting Q3 earnings that beat expectations. They also increased their full year gui...

Tuesday was a moderately negative day in the markets. The S&P 500 was down 0.6% and Toronto was down 0.5%. Shopify was up 3.6% to $499 and traded above $500 today. Toll Brothers was up 1.4% to $36.91. It then reported Q3 earnings after the close...

Monday was yet another non-boring day in the markets as the S&P 500 was up 1.2% and Toronto was up 1.0%. Canadian Western Bank was up 5.0% although there was no news from the company. Linamar was up 2.5%, and Toll Brothers was up 3.5%. The bank...

Friday's action saw the S&P 500 up 1.4% and Toronto up 0.9%. Markets are gyrating up and down mostly based on the latest word on the trade wars. Notable gainers included CN Rail -up 1.9%, Apple - up 2.4%, FedEx - up 2.1%, TFI International - up ...

Canadian Tire is updated and rated (lower) Strong Buy at $133.43. The recent slide in the share price seems unwarranted and results in Canadian Tire trading at an attractive price....

On Thursday, the S&P 500 was up 0.25% while Toronto was down 0.2%. Canadian Tire was down 2.4% to $131.47. I plan to update the report shortly. My initial impression was that its Q2 earnings report was good, but the market obviously found somethi...

WSP Global is updated and rated Buy at $69.82. It has a great history of growth and trades at a reasonable although not particularly compelling valuation. Compared to Stantec, WSP trades at a higher multiple to trailing earnings and book value. But...

On Wednesday, the S&P 500 was down 2.9% and Toronto was down 1.9%. Market sentiment seems to be on a hair trigger with stocks rising or falling materially each day depending if news developments are considered bad or good. The fact is that being ...

Markets rebounded on Tuesday after it was announced that the new 10% September 1 U.S. tariff on $300 billion of Chinese imports would be delayed until December for most consumer goods. The S&P 500 was up 1.5% and Toronto was up 0.7%. Linamar rec...

Monday was a negative day in the markets with the S&P 500 down 1.2% and Toronto down 0.6%. Rate reset preferred shares were mostly particularly hard hit. This was due to the plunge in the five year government of Canada bond yield to 1.20%. It had...

On Friday, the S&P 500 was down 0.7% and Toronto was down 0.4%. Linamar was hammered down 8.1% (see update). I will be interested to see if the analysts lower their forward earnings estimates. According to Yahoo Finance, the forward P/E is just 4...

Linamar is updated and remains rated Strong Buy, now at $37.92. It is in a period of declining earnings. But its valuation seems extremely low in relation to earnings and book value. The near-term stock price is dependent on how trade tensions evolve...

Stantec is updated and rated Buy at Canadian $28.50 and U.S. $21.56. The market was disappointed with its Q2 earnings report that featured good revenue growth but also a decline in adjusted earnings of 9.5%. The company blamed this on a delay in impl...

Never a dull day in the markets it seems... S&P 500 was up 1.9% and Toronto was up 0.9%. Shopify was up 4.3%. Boston Pizza Royalties Income Fund reported earnings before the open. Same-store sales subject to the franchise fee (excludes alcohol) w...

On Wednesday, the S&P 500 was down most of the day but ended the day up 0.1%. Toronto was up 0.7%. Restaurant Brands was strong with a 3.6% gain in Toronto and 3.4% in New York. Rate reset shares were lower due to the declining 5 year Canada bond...

On Tuesday, the S&P 500 had a partial recovery from yesterday's losses and was up 1.3%. Toronto, playing catch-up, was down 0.75%. Some stock movements of note included: Canadian Tire- down 2.1%, TFI International - down 2.6% (I was happy to grab...

On Monday, Canadian markets were closed while the S&P 500 declined 3.0% due to Trump's escalating trade war with China. A 3% decline in the U.S. markets is not a huge deal considering all the recent gains. Obviously, the declines could continue. ...

TFI International is updated and rated (higher) Buy at $39.69. Based on valuation I would have rated the company a Strong Buy. But the company does see some softness in the outlook. I believe a rating of (higher) Buy is conservative. I just listened ...

Markets fell on Friday probably due to Trump's escalating trade war with China and disappointment that the FED did not promise more interest rate cuts. The S&P 500 was down 0.7% and Toronto was down 0.6%. Restaurant Brands was one of the few gain...

Having recently looked in detail at Starbucks and at Restaurant Brands, I wanted to look at some of the big similarities and differences between the two businesses. Both are in the quick-service food and beverage industry with tens of thousands of lo...

Restaurant Brands is updated and remains rated Weak Buy / Hold now at U.S. 77.22 or Canadian $101.02. This was only added to our list in late July but is now updated for its just released Q2 earnings report. Q2 has strong same-store sales of 3.6% at ...

Markets fell on Thursday after Trump escalated his trade war with China announcing new 10% tariffs on most remaining Chinese goods starting September 1. This will be for most of the goods that he has not already imposed tariffs on. Stocks that fell ...

Our report on Starbucks is updated and rated Weak Buy / Hold at $95.38. Normally, I would not rate a mature company like this as high as even hold give the P/E ratio of 35. But low and going lower interest rates do support high P/E ratios. And Starbu...

On Wednesday, the S&P 500 fell 1.1% after the FED gave the markets a 25 basis point interet rate cut but apparently did no promise firmly enough to do more of the same in future. Toronto was down 0.4%. Canadian Western bank was up 3.9% after lend...

Tuesday was a moderately negative day with the S&P 500 down 0.3% and Toronto down 0.2%. Most stocks that I follow were down a little. Toll Brothers however was up 2.1%. I don't follow lumber prices but I saw where they are down. That should be go...

On Monday, the S&P 500 and Toronto were each down 0.2%. TFI International was up 4.1% probably because analysts further digested its Q2 results from last week and liked what they saw. AutoCanada was down another 3.1% to $8.82. With the recent we...

Markets were higher on Friday as the S&P 500 rose 0.7% and Toronto rose 0.3%. Aecon jumped 9.8% after reporting earnings. This company takes on risky fixed price construction contracts but has done well. That's in sharp contrast to SNC Lavalin's ...

Restaurant Brands which owns Tim Hortons and Burger King and Popeyes and trades in Canada and the U.S. under symbol QSR is added to our list. This company definitely has reliable cash flows and will likely continue to grow. But it is also quite expen...

Markets took a little rest from their gains on Thursday as the S&P 500 declined 0.5% and Toronto was down 0.7%. AutoCanada was down the most as far as the stocks on my list - down 3.3%. Nothing else declined by a notable amount. After the close, ...

On Wednesday, the S&P 500 was up 0.5% and Toronto was up 0.2%. CN Rail was up 3.3% after releasing a strong earnings report. lululemon was up 1.7% Aecon was up 1.5% possibly benefiting from SNC getting out of the fixed price business which Aecon ...

On Tuesday, the S&P 500 was up 0.7% and Toronto was up 0.3%. Linamar rebounded 3.6% probably due to potential progress on trade talks between China and the U.S. FedEx was up 2.5%. SNC Lavalin got hammered down another 9.6% as investors bail. Pre...

On Monday, the S&P 500 was up 0.3% and Toronto was up 0.2%. Nothing good to report on most of the stocks on our list. Rate reset shares were generally down today as the 5 year government of Canada bond yield rate has slumped down to 1.4%. At tha...

In Friday's session, the S&P 500 was down 0.6% while Toronto was close to unchanged although slightly down. America Express was down 2.8% after reporting earnings. It's earnings were strong but it forecast increasing costs for card holder rewards...

On Thursday, the S&P 500 was up 0.4% boosted by more indications that the FED will cut interest rates later this month. Toronto was up 0.1%. Most of the Canadian stocks on our list and that I otherwise monitor were down somewhat. Couche-Tard was...

On Wednesday, the S&P 500 was down 0.65% while Toronto was down 0.1%. TFI International slumped 4.1%. This was likely driven by declines in other transport related stocks after U.S. railroad CSX reported lower profits and, of more concern, lower ...

On Tuesday, the S&P 500 was down 0.3% as Trump warned that he could impose further Tariffs on China and as a stronger-than-expected retail spending report cast doubt on the extent of expected FED interest rate cuts. Toronto meanwhile was relative...

On Monday, the S&P 500 was about unchanged and Toronto as up 0.1% The Melcor REIT announced / confirmed that its distribution will remain unchanged for the next three months and announced that it will release Q2 earnings on July 30th. Regarding M...

On Friday, the S&P 500 was up 0.5% while Toronto was down 0.2%. lululemon jumped 3.5% to $189.52. I had added it to our list less than two weeks ago at $180.86. I had been predisposed to rate it at least a Weak Buy but it seemed to rich. It's a f...

Couche-Tard is updated and rated (lower) Buy at $84.57 (yesterday's closing price). What a wonderful success story this has been for Canadian investors. Remarkably, it is now the largest Canadian-based company by revenue! Since I added it to this si...

Thursday saw a new record close for the S&P 500 up 0.2% to 2999.9 (so rounded = 3000) and the Dow Jones closed above 27,000 for the first time. Toronto was down 0.2%. AutoCananda was down 3.2%. Costco was up 1.9% after reporting strong same-stor...

This morning I sold what amounted to 8.5% of my Boston Pizza Royalties shares. These were in an RESP account and (although this is not supposed to matter) I had a capital gain on those shares over and above the distributions received. I also may redu...

U.S. markets were higher on Wednesday on indications that the FED may lower interest rates. The S&P 500 index was up 0.45% to 2994. It poked its head above 3000 for the first time during the day. Toronto was up 0.1%. West Texas oil is back abov...

On Tuesday, the S&P 500 was up 0.1% and Toronto was up 0.5%. Amazon was up 1.8% to $1988. AutoCanada lost more ground ans it was down 2.7% to $10.81. Toll Brothers was down 2.2% to $36.25 and continues to lanquish despite the strong U.S. economy...

Monday was a moderately negative day in the markets with the S&P 500 and Toronto each down 0.5%. Shopify was up 2.65% after a positive analyst comment. Lululemon climbed another 2.0%. See the list of stocks on the subscriber home page for updates...

On Friday the markets took a breather from recent gains and the S&P 500 was down 0.2% and Toronto was down 0.3%. BHP was down 4.5% possibly linked to calls for a probe into a recent spike in iron ore prices. Melcor Developments was down 2.4%. Rat...

On Thursday, while U.S. markets were closed, Toronto was up 0.1%. AutoCanada was down 1.9%. After the close it announced it has hired a new CFO who will start on August 12. The person hired has significant experience as CFO of a number of public comp...

Wednesday was a strong day in the markets with the S&P 500 rising 0.8% to close at a new record high and just a hair below 3000. Toronto was up 0.6%. Among the gainers were: Couche Tard up 2.9%, Dollarama up 2.4%, Starbucks up 2.7%. The great m...

Tuesday was a positive day in the markets as the S&P 500 rose 0.3% and Toronto as up 0.5% despite a drop in oil prices as it played catch up due to the holiday on Monday. Home Capital, which is not on our list but which has been mentioned from ti...

On Monday, the S&P 500 was up 0.8% to a new record closing high of 2964. Toronto was closed and had risen 0.5% on Friday. Notable gains included: CN rail up 2.2% on Monday in U.S. trading, CRH Medical up 2.9% on Friday and Linamar, up 1.7% on Fri...

Our report on an Enbridge rate reset preferred share is updated and rated (higher) Buy at $15.81 for those seeking tax efficient yield and willing to hold for the long term. Rate resets and in particular the Enbridge rate rests have disappointed inve...

On Wednesday, the S&P 500 was down 0.1% and Toronto was down 0.4%. Melcor Developments was one of the larger decliners on our list - down 2.7% to $12.55. That means the shares are trading at about 40% of book value. And the book value consists of...

On Tuesday, the S&P 500 was down 1.0% and Toronto was down 0.9%. Accordingly, the great majority of the stocks on our list were down. FedEx was down 3.1% and then released earnings after the close. While the earnings beat estimates on an adjuste...

Markets were relatively quiet on Monday as the S&P 500 was down 0.2% and Toronto was about unchanged. Shopify was down 4.8% giving back a little of its recent massive gains as some analysts think it has ran up too far. FedEx was down 2.7%. The Ca...

On Friday, the S&P 500 was down 0.1% and Toronto was down 0.3%. Couche-Tard was down 3.1% as it retreats from recent record highs. Experience suggests that this is a stock to hold for the long term perhaps adding on dips. Selling when it seemed t...

On Thursday, the S&P 500 was up 0.9% and Toronto was up 0.4%. Couche-Tard was down 2.7% but that was likely just due to some analysts deciding that it has run too far too fast. Penny Stock Ceapro was down 8.3% to 33 cents. That was on significa...

On Wednesday, the S&P 500 was up 0.3% as the FED held interest rates unchanged but signaled it might now be more open to a cut but that depends on future data. Toronto was roughly unchanged. Canadian energy stocks did not react much to the Trans ...

Tuesday was a strong day in the markets as President Trump announced that he would meet with the Chinese leader. This was taken as good news for trade and the economy. The S&P 500 was up 1.0% and Toronto was up 0.9% SNC Lavalin was up 5.5% as it ...

On Monday, the S&P 500 was up 0.1% and Toronto up 0.3%. CRH Medical was up 3.1%. Couche-Tard was up 1.9% as it has continued to make new highs this year. There are more signs of lower interest rates. RBC lowered its posted rate for a 5 year fixed...

On Friday, the S&P 500 was down 0.2% while Toronto was up 0.4%. AutoCanada gave back 2.5%. On a year to date basis the markets and most of the stocks on our list have done well. But that came after a sharp decline at the end of 2018. The overall...

On Thursday, the S&P 500 was up 0.4% and Toronto was up 0.1%. Dollarama soared 11.3% after reporting better than expected results and an improved outlook. AutoCanada was up 4.3% after announcing the sale and lease-back of three more of its dealer...

On Wednesday, the S&P 500 was down 0.2% and Toronto was down 0.1%. There were no particularly noteworthy moves in the stocks on our list. Today, I attended Stantec's "Investor Day". In reality this is a day for analysts and institutional investo...

On Tuesday, the S&P 500 was about unchanged while Toronto was up 0.2%. SNC Lavalin was up 7.0% after a surprise announcement that its CEO will retire and that an existing executive was named interim CEO and has been asked to perform an expedited ...

On Monday, the S&P 500 rose 0.5% and Toronto was down 0.1% Trump who, love him or hate him, it seems clear longs to be a dictator called into CNBC this morning to complain about the FED acting independently. Trump has been good for the markets - ...

Linamar is up 2.1% likely due to Trump's agreement with Mexico to not impose the new (illegal-under-NAFTA) 5% and rising tariffs on everything that he had threatened. The reaction would likely be more positive if the market was more certain that the...

Posting from Kelowna this Sunday evening. The big news on Friday was Trump’s new agreement with Mexico. This should be quite positive for markets on Monday. Linamar should benefit from this news....

Thursday's markets saw the S&P 500 rise 0.6% as there was some optimism that Trump would delay the new 5% tariff on Mexico. Toronto was up 0.1%. The biggest gainer on our list was Starbucks - up 1.8%. After the close, Canadian Western Bank announ...

Wednesday was a mostly positive day in the markets with the S&P 500 up 0.8% and Toronto up 0.3%. Shopify surged 6.6%. RioCan was up 2.2%. Linamar was down 2.3% and is very close to its 52 week low. Fears of continued trade wars and slower auto ...

Stock markets were up sharply on Friday as the FED chair indicated that the FED would consider lowering interest rates if economic data indicate that this is an appropriate response. The S&P 500 was up a hefty 2.1% while Toronto was up 0.9%. Amon...

On Monday, the S&P 500 was down 0.3% while Toronto was down 0.1%. Shopify was down 4.3%. Amazon was down 4.6%. Toll Brothers was up 2.4%. May auto sales were down 5.9% versus 2018 but it was still the third best May on record. Fiat Chrysler sale...

Friday was a down day in the markets due to Trump announcing escalating tariffs on all Mexican imports starting June 10. This despite the existence of NAFTA which is still in place and the USMCA which (was?) soon to be ratified. The S&P 500 was d...

On Thursday, the S&P 500 was up 0.2% while Toronto was down 0.3%. Canadian Tire was down 2.0%. The recent decline would appear to provide a buying opportunity. The stock has often had periods of declines but has certainly trended up in the long t...

Wednesday was a negative day in the markets as the S&P 500 was down 0.7% and Toronto down a full 1.0%. The Canadian dollar slipped under 74 U.S. cents as the Bank of Canada left interest rates unchanged. Among the bigger declines were: Shopify - ...

Tuesday's market saw the S&P 500 close down 0.8% and Toronto down 0.3%. Canadian Western Bank was down 1.7%, probably dragged down by Bank of Nova Scotia reporting higher loan losses even though that was largely in their international business. ...

The report for CN Rail is updated and rated (lower) Buy at $124.50. I have consistently said that CN is a great company given its duopoly position with CP Rail and the rails' cost advantage over trucking and CN's excellent history. But it usually ten...

U.S. markets were closed on Monday while Toronto was up 0.7%. Boston Pizza International announced that it has a new CFO effective immediately. That sounded a bit scary depending on why the incumbent was gone. But it turns out that the incumbent was ...

On Friday, the S&P 500 was up 0.1% and Toronto was up 0.4%. Gaining stocks included BHP Billiton - up 2.6%, toll Brothers - up 1.8% and Linamar - up 2.0%. Aecon Group was down 2.6%. Canadian Western Bank is set to report earnings on Wednesday. In...

CIBC is out with a 5.15% rate reset preferred share. This is not an exciting investment but for those looking for yield in a portfolio and especially for tax efficient yield in a taxable portfolio it is worth considering. As of about an hour after TD...

The report for Toll Brothers is updated and rated Buy at u>s. $35.66. The previous update had noted that while profits were up, contracts to build new homes (which become revenues and profits some 9 to 12 months later when the home is built and deliv...

On Wednesday, the S&P 500 was down 0.3% and Toronto was down 0.6%. Stocks that rose included Shopify - up 2.1%, Constellation Software - up 2.3%. Couche-Tard was up 1.5% and continues to set new highs. Toll Brothers was down 4.6% despite beating ...

On Tuesday, the S&P 500 was up 0.85% and Toronto was up 0.15%. Dollarama was up 3.5%. Toll Brothers was up 2.2% ahead of its earnings release. It released ts Q2 earnings after the close and the headlines indicate it exceeded analyst expectations...

Our report for Constellation Software is updated and rated Weak Buy / Hold at Canadian $1182. This is a hugely successful company. However it always seems quite expensive. It might be once again worth paying up due to its track record but on the num...

On Monday, the Toronto stock exchange was closed. The S&P 500 was down 0.7%. Apple was down 3.1%. Toll Brothers was down 2.4%. Starbucks was down 2.9%. Over the weekend, Trump ended Steel and Aluminum tariffs he imposed on Canada last year. This ...

On Friday, the S&P 500 was down 0.6% but Toronto was up an impressive 1.6%. Toronto will not trade on Monday due to the Holiday but the U.S. markets are open. The Canadian banks begin reporting earnings later this week. Toll Brothers will report...

SNC Lavelin announced a delay in selling part of its stake in highway 407. The reason is that the other owners of the 407 want to exercise their right of first refusal. That supports the valuation of the highway. Analysts have said that SNC's share p...

On Thursday, the S&P 500 was up 0.9% and Toronto was up 0.8%. Shopify surged another 5.5%. CN Rail was up 2.2%. In the latest week reported, Canadian rail car loads were equal to the 2018 figure. Forest products, grain and chemicals were lower...

Wednesday was a positive day in the markets as the S&P 500 rose 0.6% and Toronto was up 0.2%. Shopify continues to have tremendous investor support with a 4.1% gain today. Other gainers included: WSP Global - up 2.2%, Stantec - up 2.2%, and Couch...

Markets had a partial rebound on Tuesday with the S&P 500 up 0.8% and Toronto up 0.6%. WSP Global was up 2.3% after reporting a 27% gain in earnings. Shaw Communications is selling off its remaining shares in Corus entertainment by way of a secon...

Canadian Tire is updated and rated (higher) Buy at $142.30. Its Q1 report contained both positive s and negatives. Its same-store sales growth was stellar with 6.1% overall growth and that was on top of the 5.1% growth that occurred in Q1 2018. But,...

Stocks were down on Monday as Trump's trade war with China escalates. The S&P 500 slumped 2.4%. Toronto did better with a decline of 0.6%. Among the bigger declines was Apple, down 5.8% because its iPhones are mostly made in China and will be hit...

On Friday, the S&P 500 and Toronto were each up 0.4% (but futures suggest markets could open lower by close to 1% on Monday morning). Canadian Tire was down 2.6% as analysts digested its Q1 results which featured very good same-store sales growth...

The report for Melcor Developments is updated for Q1 results and rated Buy at $13.40. Single family home building in Alberta has declined significantly and therefore Melcor sold 46% fewer building lots in Q1 compared to Q1 of the prior year. In addit...

The report for Boston Pizza Royalties Income Trust is updated and rated Buy at $17.52. The 7.9% cash yield is quite attractive. If the 11.5 cents per share (unit) per month distribution will be maintained for a long time then this is a good investmen...

Thursday's action saw the S&P 500 down 0.3% and Toronto down 0.5%. Alimentation Couche-Tard was up 1.7%. Canadian Tire was down 1.7% after releasing Q1 earnings that featured lower profits but very strong same-store sales growth. I added to my po...

The BP Royalties Income Fund released Q1 results before the open. The results were better than I feared they might be but not as good as I hoped. Distributable cash per unit was down 0.7%. The trailing payout ratio was about stable at 103.4%. Same-st...

On Wednesday, the S&P 500 was down 0.2% while Toronto rose 0.2% There was not much movement of note in the prices of the stocks on our list but AutoCanada rose 2.9%. A headline today was that housing starts in April jumped 23% to an annualized 2...

On Tuesday, markets declined in further reaction to Trump's trade tariff threats against China. The S&P 500 was down 1.65% while Toronto was down 0.8%. The larger decliners included : Linamar, down 2.9%; WSP Global, down 3.5%; Constellation Sof...

TD Direct has a new issue from Capital Power of a 5.75% rate reset share that has a minimum reset of 5.75%. This is worth considering especially for those looking to generate cash yield from a portfolio and especially in a taxable account where the d...

On Monday. markets were initially down about 2% as Trump escalated trade tensions with China, but by the end of the day the decline was modest. The S&P 500 was down 0.45% and Toronto closed virtually unchanged. Earnings reports this week include...

Linamar is updated and rated Strong Buy at $48.10. With earnings in the past 12 months of $8.82 and trading at just 82% of book value despite a trailing ROE of 16%, it certainly looks cheap. But the auto industry has declined somewhat especially in E...

Futures indicate the market could open down about 2% as Trump has escalated the trade war with China imposing higher tariffs, apparently hoping to jolt China into fast agreement on a trade deal. On Friday, the S&P 500 was up a hefty 1.0% and Toro...

The report for CRH Medical is updated for its Q1 report. The company replaced the CEO on April 9th. Q1 had a 22% increase in revenues per share. Adjusted earnings per share were about unchanged. My expectations is that revenues and adjusted earnings...

On Thursday, the S&P 500 fell 0.2% and Toronto was down 0.6%. Shopify was up another 3.9%. Aecon fell 3.1%. Canadian Tire was up 1.8%. The Melcor REIT released earnings which were lower but which was not unexpected. Linimar also released lower ea...

On Wednesday, the S&P 500 was down 0.75% and Toronto was down 0.5%. Apple was up 4.9%. Constellation Software was up 2.1%. After the close it announced Q1 earnings with a revenue increase but a decrease of 11% in adjusted earnings per share. It ...

On Tuesday, the S&P 500 was up 0.1% while Toronto was down 0.1%. Shopify was up 7.5% to U.S. $243.53 ($325.75 in Toronto) after reporting a 50% increase in Q1 revenue to $321. million. The market cap is U.S. $27 billion or about 21 times run-rate...

On Monday, the S&P 500 was up 0.1% while Toronto was down 0.1%. AutoCanada was up 2.5% and Linamar was up 1.8%. I added a small amount to my Canadian Tire position today. In general, I think the company continues to do well. But headwinds in Q1 ...

On Friday, markets were down earlier in the day but recovered for a 0.5% gain in the S&P 500 and 0.2% for Toronto. Aecon (see update just below) gained 7.1% after releasing Q1 earnings which featured an 18% gain in revenues per share and a smalle...

Aecon is updated for its Q1 results and rated Speculative (lower) Buy at $18.76 Aecon was just added to the list a few days ago. It's Q1 numbers came out and I have done an update for that. Based on Q1 its numbers are improved. 2019 is expected to s...

On Thursday, the S&P 500 was about unchanged while Toronto was down 0.1% American Express was up 1.6%. FedEx was down 4.5%. Toll Brothers was down 2.1%. It had been doing quite well despite mostly weaker results on U.S. home building so the drop ...

On Wednesday the S&P 500 was down 0.2% while Toronto was down 0.5%. TFI International was up 5.0% due to its strong earnings report. The Bank of Canada indicates that it no longer has a bias toward higher interest rates. The five year Canada b...

Stock markets were strong on Tuesday with both the S&P 500 (up 0.9%) and Toronto (up 0.6%) closing at new highs. Gainers included Dollarama up 4.1%, Amazon up 1.9%, Constellation Software up 1.6%. Linamar was down 2.1%. A report today indicated ...

The large construction company, Aecon is added to our list but only rated Speculative (lower) Buy at $16.86. (It closed today at $17.00) I was asked by an associate of mine to add this to the list and also I thought it would be interesting to learn a...

On Monday, markets mostly took a break from the recent upward trend. The S&P 500 did manage to gain 0.1%. The DOW was down 0.2% and Toronto was also down 0.2%. Toll Brothers was down 2.6% after a weak report regarding U.S. single family housing s...

Our Melcor Developments report is updated and rated (higher) Buy at $13.70 This has been a frustrating investment. It is extremely thinly traded and has basically no analyst coverage. Partly due to a lack of analyst coverage, it trades at a huge disc...

The Toronto Stock Exchange Index closed at a new record high on Thursday, up 0.4% on the day. Meanwhile, the S&P 500 was up 0.2%. Most of the stocks on our list were up modestly. Dollarama had a strong day, rising 3.3%. Statistics Canada released...

On Wednesday, the S&P 500 was down 0.2% but Toronto was up 0.25%. Apple was up 1.95%. Constellation Software was up 1.8%. TFI International was up 1.6%. It announced a small acquisition after the close. It will pay only US $7.2 million plus it w...

On Tuesday, markets were little changed as the S&P 500 was up fractionally and Toronto was down 0.1%. Toll Brothers was up 1.9%. Constellation Software was down 2.3%. Canadian Western Bank announced that its rate reset preferred share which reset...

Our report on the Melcor REIT is updated and rated Buy at $7.64 The yield at 8.8% is quite attractive. But note it does not qualify for the dividend tax credit and so is best suited for non-taxable accounts. While the yield is attractive there may be...

On Monday, the S&P 500 was down 0.1% while Toronto was up 0.2%. Costco was up 1.8% and trades at a trailing P/E of 32 and a forward P/E of 29. That is expensive but it is also about typical for Costco. Shopify was up another 1.8% to $292 in Toron...

On Friday, markets were strong with the S&P 500 up 0.7%, Toronto up 0.5% and the DOW up a full percentage point. Correspondingly, most of the stocks on our list were up on the day. FedEx was up 2.6%, Canadian Western Bank was up 1.8%. Berkshire H...

Ceapro is updated. This basically something of a lottery ticket stock. It's a difficult one to put a rating on but I settled on Highly Speculative Buy / Hold. Actually, Ceapro does not really even belong on this site because it is such an early-stag...

On Thursday, the S&P 500 and Toronto were each essentially unchanged. Shopify was up 2.5% to a another record high. Penny stock Ceapro was up 10% most of the day and ended the day up 7.5%. It reported a big gain in sales in Q4 and a small profit ...

On Wednesday, the S&P 500 and Toronto each rose about 0.35%. Linamar was up 1.7%. Dollarama was up 2.0%. CRH Medical was up 3.0%. AutoCanada rebounded 4.1%. An interesting report today revealed that sales at Canadian new car dealers actually ros...

Tuesday's action saw the S&P 500 fall 0.6% and Toronto down 0.4%. Shopify rose 2.0%. Boston Pizza royalties Income Fund rose 1.1% to $17.31. At this price the yield is 8.0%. That suggests that the market may fear a distribution cut and certainly...

After starting the day in negative territory, market ended slightly positive with the S&P 500 and Toronto each up 0.1%. Apple Inc. was up 1.6% to $200.10. Canadian Tire was up 1.5%. Statistics Canada reported the value of building permits for Feb...

Bank of Montreal is out this morning with a 5.1% rate reset preferred share. This is down a little from a recent CIBC issue at 5.2% but still indicates lower investor appetite for these shares which means the banks need to offer higher yields to sell...

On Friday, the S&P 500 and Toronto were each up 0.5%. Notable gainers included: WSP Global, up 2.3%; TFI International, up 2.1% and Linamar, up 1.7%. Statistics Canada released another of its volatile jobs reports, this time indicating little cha...

Stantec is updated and rated Buy at $32.64. Historically, Stantec has been a strong growth-by-acquisition company. However, the stock has been relatively flat for the past four years. Initially, this was due to the impact of lower oil prices which sl...

On Thursday, the S&P 500 and Toronto were each up 0.2%. Toll Brothers rose 1.9%. Shopify was down 4.9% after a short seller report came out. That's really not much of a drop considering how fast this stock has risen and considering its high multi...

CRH Medical is updated and rates Speculative Buy at U.S. $2.71 or CAN $3.59. This Canadian company started with a patented hemorrhoid banding product (of all things) that it was successfully selling to many of the Gastrointestinal physicians (GIs) in...

On Wednesday, the S&P 500 was up 0.2% and Toronto as up 0.1%. Toll Brothers was up 1.4%. TFI International was up 1.7%. CRH Medical was down 1.9%. Our report for CRH will be updated tomorrow and rated probably Speculative Buy. I will likely add ...

Although the DOW was down 79 points, Tuesday ended relatively flat with the S&P 500 virtually unchanged and Toronto up 0.2%. Constellation Software was up 2.7% while Shopify was down 2.0%. Figures for March auto sales were released and there was...

Monday was as strong day for the markets with the S&P 500 index up 1.2% and Toronto up 0.8%. Among the gainers were: BHP Billiton - up 3.0% for the BBL shares on New YorkCanadian Western Bank, up 2.6%.FedEx, up 2.8%.Dollarama, up 6.1%American Exp...

Thursday was a mostly positive day in the markets with the S&P 500 up 0.4% and Toronto up 0.1%. Gainers included CN Rail up 1.6%, Constellation Software up 1.7%, Starbucks up 1.7% and Alimentation Couche-Tard up 1.3% to a new all-time high. Stoc...

Wednesday was generally negative in the markets but some of our top picks did well. The S&P 500 was down 0.5% and Toronto was down 0.1%. But Couche-Tard was up 3.0%; Toll Brothers was up 2.0%, Melcor Developments was up 3.5%. Also, Andrew Peller ...

Tuesday was a positive day in the markets with the S&P 500 up 0.7% and Toronto up 0.6%. Most of the stocks on our list were higher. Notably, Constellation Software was up 2.6% and FedEx was up 1.8%. Toll Brothers was about unchanged as there was ...

Monday was a relatively quit day in the markets with the S&P 500 down 0.1% and Toronto down 0.15%. You would never know that any big news (the Mueller Report) came out over the weekend. Couche-Tard was up 3.3% and Toll Brothers was up 2.8%. I wa...

As of tomorrow Monday, the focus will be on how the market reacts to the Mueller report. Trump was not really fully exonerated - though he claims he was - but there was no proof of collusion and insufficient proof of obstruction of Justice. The marke...

On Thursday, the S&P 500 was up 1.1% as the market apparently decided (for the moment at leeast) that the benefits of lower-for-longer interest rates out weighted the risk that this was signalling a recession ahead. Toronto was up 0.5%. Apple Inc...

Wednesday's session saw the S&P 500 down 0.3% and Toronto down 0.1%. FedEx was down 3.5% after reporting earnings. Amazon was up another 2.0% which is certainly impressive for such a large company. As foreshadowed yesterday, I did add to my Couc...

Tuesday was an eventful day for market news. North American stock market were positive earlier in the day but ended weak. The S&P 500 was about unchanged while Toronto was down 0.4%. AutoCanada was up 3.6%. It has, around 10 analysts covering it ...

On Monday, the S&P 500 was up 0.4% and Toronto was up 0.7%. FedEx was up 2.5%. Now that almost all (97.5%) companies have reported their 2018 earnings, the final GAAP earnings for the S&P 500 index came in at $132.08. That is 20% higher than...

On Friday, the S&P 500 was up 0.5% and Toronto was up 0.3%. There were no particularly large moves in the stocks on our list but Amazon was up 1.5% and CRH Medical was down 2.3%. In economic news, Canada's manufacturing sales rose more than expec...

AutoCanada is updated and rated Sell. In the previous update I had noted that the value ratios would suggest a sell unless earnings were expected to increase. And I did expect an increase in 2019 (and possibly in Q4 2018) due to the efforts of the ne...

I sold what amounted to 43% of my AutoCanada position today. As mentioned in my previous post, the Q4 earnings were quite awful. I am surprised that the stock is only down 5.5% at the moment. Earlier today it was briefly down as much as 18%. I had ac...

On Thursday, the S&P 500 was down 0.1% while Toronto was down 0.4%. The market took little notice of Melcor's earnings as Melcor rose 0.5%. CRH Medical, which also released earnings yesterday was down 3.2%. AutoCanada released its Q4 results afte...

Wednesday was another strong day for the U.S. stock market with the S&P 500 up 0.7%. Toronto was up just 0.1%. Nothing on my list was up as much as 2.0% but a number were up over 1%. Dollarama was down 2.75%. There have been a lot of large corpo...

On Tuesday, the S&P 500 was up 0.3% and Toronto was up 0.2% CRH Medical was up 6.5%. It will report earnings tomorrow, after the close. Fortis Inc., was up 1.5%. Costco was up 1.4%. Linamar was down 4.4% after reporting earnings and lower "guidan...

Linamar is down 4.5% to $48.52 after releasing Q4 earnings that were good but which included lowering their revenue growth outlook for 2019 to mid single digits while they expect earnings to grow high signal digits. It appeared to me that the stock w...

Markets were higher on Monday with the S&P 500 up a hefty 1.5% and Toronto up 0.7% Among the gainers were: Apple, up 3.5%; Canadian Western Bank, up 2.0%, FedEx, up 2.7%; Toll Brothers up 2.2%, Visa up 2.2%; and Amazon, up 3.1%. Linamar reported ...

On Friday, the S&P 500 was down 0.2% and Toronto was down 0.4%. Costco was up 5.1% after reporting earnings. AutoCanada was up 2.3%. It's scheduled to release earnings on Thursday, after the close. Given its troubles in 2018 and given it is try...

Statistics Canada reports (I probably should say claims) that Canada added 56,000 jobs in February driven by full-time job gains and that this came on top of strong gains in January. Once again I would take this with a huge grain of salt. Firstly, ...

Thursday was a weaker day in the markets with the S&P 500 down 0.8% while Toronto was down only 0.2%. On the positive side, Toll Brothers was up 2.0%. And CN Rail was up 0.8% and has has been trending up steadily since the December 24 low. FedEx ...

(I was unable to make my usual post last evening due to a very rare server problem on the telus system where this website is hosted.) Canadian Western bank was out with a good earnings report this morning and increased the dividend by 4% which was in...

On Tuesday, the S&P 500 was down 0.1% while Toronto was up 0.3%. There was not much movement in most of the stocks on our list. But AutoCanada slipped 2.7% and Toll Brothers was down 2.3%. Dollarama was up 2.4%. Regarding interest rates. It appea...

On Monday, the markets started out higher but ended lower with the S&P 500 down 0.4% and Toronto down 0.2%. Dollarama was up 3.0%. Amazon was up 1.5%. Toll Brothers was up 1.2%. I have to say Amazon is truly amazing. Last night at about 11:30 my...

Bad news on the pipeline front as Enbridge announced a delay in its Line 3 pipeline. Now expected to be operational sometime in the last half of next year rather than late this year. This was due to a new schedule for when U.S. State and federal perm...

Canadian auto sales in February were 3.7% lower than the prior year. The lower sales number is clearly not good news for the economy or for AutoCanada. But it should be noted that February 2018 was "a tough comparable" month. February 2018 had been ...

Friday was a strong day in the markets and for our stock picks. The S&P 500 was up 0.7% and Toronto was up 0.4%. Linamar was up 3.0% as after Martinrea (also an auto parts company) reported strong results. Linamar will report on March 11. Accord...

On Thursday, the S&P 500 was down 0.3% and Toronto was down 0.5%. BHP Billiton was down 3.0% in New York. It's a volatile stock that moves with commodity prices including iron ore. It also of course moves with company-specific developments. Toll ...

Stantec's earnings came in apparently somewhat above expectations. But not great. There is a 5.5% dividend increase. Our latest rating was (lower) Buy and from a quick look at the earnings report I don't think the rating will increase. I plan to trim...

Wednesday's session saw the S&P 500 and Toronto each about unchanged. Toll Brothers ended the day down 2.5%. It's interesting that after its earnings release yesterday, the stock rose in after-hours trading and the one headline I saw said that th...

On Tuesday, the S&P 500 was down 0.1% while Toronto was up 0.1%. Couche-Tard was up another 2.7%. Stantec was up 1.9%. It will report Q4 earnings on Thursday. The hope is that with the sale of it construction Services division it can get back to ...

On Monday, the S&P 500 was up 0.1% and Toronto was up 0.3%. AutoCanada was up 4.4% to $13.46. This stock has been increasing despite a lack of positive news regarding Canadian auto sales. January sales were weak. While I hope that the new managem...

Berkshire Hathaway is updated and rated Buy at $203.71. The headline news from Berkshire's Q4 report is hat Berkshire / Buffett lost $25 billion in the quarter and that this included a write-down and other problems as Kraft Heinz. The loss was cause...

On Friday, the S&P 500 was up 0.6% and Toronto was up 0.1%. Shopify was up another 2.25% in Toronto. Andrew Peller was up 4.5%. The S&P 500 and Toronto are each up over 11% in 2019 gaining back much of the ground lost in late 2018. If Berks...

Canadian Tire is updated and rated (lower) Strong Buy at $145.42. This has been a strong company for decades. It will likely continue to do well with steady but relatively modest growth. Its price to earnings ratio is seldom as low as it is right now...

On Thursday, the S&P 500 was down 0.35% and Toronto was down 0.2%. TFI International was up 2.1% to $40.45. This is a very well-managed company. Toll Brothers was up 1.5% to $37.30. AutoCanada was up 1.4% to $12.54. I reduced my position in this...

On Wednesday, the S&P 500 was up 0.2% and Toronto was up 0.6%. AutoCanada was up 2.8%. It has recovered a bit of ground lately although it has not released any further news. Constellation Software was up 2.3%. Canadian Tire was up 1.9%. I will up...

On Monday markets were closed for President's day and Family Day holidays. Over the weekend Trump tweeted (among other things): "The Mueller investigation is totally conflicted, illegal and rigged! Should never have been allowed to begin, except for...

On Friday, the S&P 500 was up 1.1% and Toronto was up 0.9%. Linamar was up 3.9% to $50.28. AutoCanada bounced up 3.6%. Constellation Software was down 3.3% giving back part of Thursday's big increase. As of Sunday evening futures were suggesting ...

On Thursday the S&P 500 was down 0.3% while Toronto was up 0.4%. Canadian Tire was down 4.75% after releasing earnings. The only headline on Yahoo Finance last night said that they beat earnings expectations. If that is the case then it was likel...

Boston Pizza Royalties Q4 earnings were not great but definitely better than I expected / feared. The key points are:

Same store sales growth of negative 0.2% for the Period and positive 0.1% for the Year. On a Franchise Sales basis, SSSG was posi...

Reporting today from off Roatan, an island that is part of Honduras. Spent the day there. The local population is mostly of Spanish heritage but many or most speak English. The local income levels are mostly quite low. But they are an entrepreneurial...

Belize City Markets were positive on Tuesday with the S&P 500 up a hefty 1.3% and Toronto up 0.5%. A report today indicated that American's confidence in their financial future is the highest in 16 years. That sounds positive for Toll Brothers wh...

Posting today from Rhapsody of the Seas just out of Costa Maya entoute to Belize. I expect to be able to post each day but a weak internet would be the problem if I go AWOL. On Monday, The S&P 500 was up 0.1% and Toronto was down 0.4%. Canadian T...

On Friday the S&P 500 ended the day up 0.1% but Toronto was down 0.45%. FedEx was down 2.3%, and Linimar got pushed down 7.6%. These both may have been related to some negative news or views on trade talks, especially China / U.S. There was no ne...

Posting from Tampa Florida today... On Thursday markets were down moderately with the S&P 500 down 0.9% and Toronto down 0.1%. CRH Medical was up 4.9% in Toronto. Costco was down 0.9% despite reporting yet another very strong month of same-store ...

Wednesday was a relatively quiet day overall in the markets with the S&P 500 down 0.2% and Toronto up 0.1%. Not much of particular note, but Linamar was up 1.8% and has now recovered to $52.16. The stock is cheap but faces a lot of negative senti...

Tuesday was another positive day in the markets with the S&P 500 up 0.5% and Toronto up 0.6%. WSP Global was up 2.2%. Stantec was up 2.4%. Starbucks as up 2.6%. Couch-Tard was up another 2.0% to an all-time high. Tomorrow there may be some reac...

Markets were positive on Monday as the S&P 500 gained 0.7% and Toronto was up 0.6%. CRH Medical was up 4.0% and Ceapro bounced up 6%. AutoCanada slipped 2.8% which was not surprising given the January auto sales report that I mentioned in my last...

On Friday, the S&P 500 was about unchanged and Toronto was down 0.3%. Most rate reset preferred shares were up modestly as the government of Canada five year bond yield rose 7.5% to 1.862%. Visa was up 3.6%. Amazon was down 5.3%, giving back j...

On Thursday, the S&P 500 was up 0.9% and Toronto was up 0.4%. AutoCanada bounced up 5.7%. I stopped in at their Volkswagon dealership in an Edmonton suburb today. This dealership is only about two or three years old and is still ramping up towar...

Wednesday was a positive day in the markets with the S&P 500 rising 1.55% but Toronto as up only 0.1% The U.S. FED seemed to give something of an "all clear" signal indicating that it sees less need to continue raising interest rates. WSP Global...

On Tuesday, the S&P 500 was down 0.15% while Toronto was up 0.55% The Canadian Western Bank preferred share that I said (see January 21) was over-priced in relation to a new CWB issue was down 2.6% to $20.11. CWB's new 6% issue started trading to...

On Monday, the S&P 500 was down 0.8% while Toronto managed a 0.1% gain. There seems to be a lot happening in the news. The U.S. has now charged Huawei and its CFO Meng Wanzhou, who is facing an extradition hearing in Vancouver. I don't particula...

I have never had SNC Lavalin on the list but its bad news this morning is possibly of relevance to Stantec and WSP. SNC will report lower 2018 earnings for a number of reasons. The stock is down 20% on the news. On a mining&metallurgy division pr...

Friday was a positive day in the markets with the S&P 500 up 0.85% and Toronto up 0.6%. Our one penny stock, Ceapro was up 7.5%. Linamar was up 4.8% to $51.17 after it announced approval for a share buy-back. They are authorized to buy back up ...

On Thursday, the S&P 500 finished the day up 0.1% while Toronto was up 0.5%. Toll Brothers was up 1.7% and Linamar was up 2.8%. Starbucks was down 2.5% but is up about 2.0% in after hours trading after it released a favorable earnings report. Au...

Apple Inc. is added to our list and rated Speculative Buy at $153.92. Apple is well known as one of the most valuable companies in the world. It also has a low P/E ratio at 12.9 - those two factors together tell you that it is highly profitable. It...

On Wednesday, the S&P 500 was up 0.2% while Toronto was down 0.2%. About the only notable move in stocks on our list was Constellation Software, up 3.0% Rail car loading reports are out for the third week of January. In Canada, every category exc...

On Tuesday some fear returned to the market and the S&P 500 was down 1.4% and Toronto was down 0.8%. BHP was down 3.2% in New York (the BBL shares). CN Rail was down 3.2%. Amazon was down 3.8%. CRH Medical was down 3.5% in Toronto. Our one penny ...

U.S. markets were closed for the Martin Luther King jr. holiday on Monday. Toronto rose 0.3%. CN Rail was up 2.3% amid reports that it and CP are rationing capacity due to congestion - which is to some degree a nice problem to have for the two rail l...

This is very time sensitive but CWB is out with a new rate reset preferred share issue paying 6%. I just placed an order for some. This 6% yield would suggest to me that the current pref issues of CWB should fall a bit in price today....

American Express is updated and rated (higher) Buy at $100.48. With this update I added four new lines to the report (all reports will get these new rows as they are updated). The new rows are just below the rating cell as follows:

Generic Rati...

On Friday, the S&P 500 was up 1.3% and Toronto was up 0.6%. Berkshire Hathaway was up 2.9%, TFI International, FedEx and Constellation Software were each up 2.1% Among the relatively few stocks on our list that were down was Linamar, down 1.5%. A...

Thursday's action saw the S&P 500 rise 0.8% ans Toronto was up 0.7% Dollarama was up 2.5%. Most stocks were up but Toll Brothers was down 1.6% and Linamar was down 1.2%. Regarding rate reset preferred shares, Toronto Dominion was out with an issu...

On Wednesday, the S&P 500 was up 0.2% as U.S. banks rose after some of them reported higher-than-expected earnings. Toronto was up 0.4%. Shopify was up 2.1%. With a great future but no current earnings, the value of this company is somewhat "unt...

On Tuesday, the S&P 500 was up 1.1% and Toronto was up 0.5%. Shopify was up 3.55%. Amazon was also up 3.55% Most stocks have risen considerably off their December lows. This includes Toll Brothers up 1.1% today to $36.11, Canadian Western Bank ...

On Monday, the S&P 500 was down 0.5% which was blamed on news a decline in China's imports and exports in December. The market did not seem to pay much attention to the latest news about Trump. (Allegedly took steps to keep secret his discussions...

I have added Shopify to the list of stocks but only on a preliminary basis and have not yet assigned it a Buy / Sell rating other than to say that it is Speculative. Shopify appears to have a wonderful business model and a great future. But it it is...

Friday was a relatively quiet day for the markets with the S&P 500 unchanged and Toronto up 0.2%. And there were no noteworthy movements in any of the stocks on our list. A possible headwind for the markets is the political situation. Friday ther...

Markets were up moderately on Thursday with the S&P 500 up 0.45% and Toronto up 0.7% TFI International continued to recover and was up 2.2%. Linamar was up 1.7% and that was despite news that Ford and Landrover Jaguar would be laying off thousan...

Today, the S&P 500 rose 0.4% and Toronto rose 1.4% West Texas Oil is at $52.16 and I believe I saw Western Canadian Select at over $43 on BNN today. The Canadian dollar is back up to 75.7 cents from lows of 73.3 U.S. cents just one week ago. Two ...

On Tuesday, the S&P 500 was up 1.0% and Toronto was up 0.7%. Notable gainers included: TFI International, up 4.4%Dollarama, up 5.1%WSP Global, up 3.0%Andrew Peller, up 2.9% Canadian Western Select oil continued to climb and was over $40 U.S. Thi...

Markets rose on Monday with the S&P 500 up 0.7% and Toronto up 0.5%. Rate reset preferred shares rose with the Canadian Western Bank pref share on our list up 4.2% and the Enbridge one up 3.7%. Couche-Tard was up 2.5% and sits basically at an al...

Wine maker Andrew Peller Limited is added back to the list rated (lower) Buy at $13.87. It's not particular cheap but it has been well managed and may be of interest especially to those who enjoy its products....

The next update will be to add wine maker Andrew Peller back to the list. Its price is down to about $14 from highs of $19. With the recent market declines it was briefly under $12 in December. At $14 it is probably reasonably priced but not cheap an...

Markets  were higher on Friday due to a strong U.S. jobs report combined with soothing comments from the Fed Chair. The S&P 500 was up a huge 3.4% and Toronto was up 1.5% Some of the larger gainers were: Amazon, up 5.0% American Express up 4.5% V...

On Thursday, the S&P 500 fell 2.5% while Toronto fell 0.9%. Apple reported lower sales in China and there was also other weak economic news from China including lower automobiles sales. Berkshire Hathaway which has a large investment in Apple sha...

December 31, 2018: On Monday, markets closed out the year with gains. The S&P 500 was up 0.85% and Toronto was up 0.7%. It was not a good year in the markets. Fear and predictions of lower earnings ahead came into the market and pushed "multiples...

The report for RioCan is updated and rated Buy at $23.80 to yield 6.0%. This is fundamentally a lower return business but it provides reliable cash distributions. It is very well managed....

The report for Fortis Inc. is updated and rated Buy at $45.07. Fortis projects raising its dividend by an average of 6% per year for the next five years with the earnings increase coming from its various capital investments. In Q4 Fortis will definit...

On Friday, the S&P 500 was down 0.3% while Toronto was up 0.4% The great majority of stocks on our list were up. Rate reset preferred shares were up with the Enbridge series A share up 5.1%. The Canadian Western Bank rate reset preferred share on...

On Thursday, the U.S. markets appeared set to take back most of Wednesday's big gain. But the market rallied into the close with the S&P 500 up 0.9%. With the markets swinging up and down for no particular reason, the next move(s) are not somethi...

Costco is updated and rated Weak Buy / Hold at $198.63.  It is a pleasure to read the annual report of this company . It is a simple company that has a very powerful business model. My ONLY hesitation on this stock is that it trades at a high price t...

Wednesday brought some welcome relief for the U.S. markets. The Toronto exchange was closed but should catch up tomorrow unless the U.S. market turns sharply negative again. The S&P 500 was up a huge 5.0%. The increase was a partial bounce back f...

Given recent market actions it was no surprise that markets were down once again on this Christmas Eve Monday. The S&P 500 was down 2.7% and Toronto was down 1.1%. Most stocks were down. But Canadian Western Bank, Melcor and Toll Brothers managed...

The recent stock market declines have been hard to stomach. The economy so far has remained strong with corporate earnings in general at record levels. But the potential that the long economic expansion is about to turn down into a recession and a wh...

Royal Bank of Canada is updated and rated (lower) Strong Buy at $90.95. With the market declines a lot of stocks look very attractive on valuation and that is the basis if the rating. Meanwhile the potential that the long economic expansion is about ...

Friday was another weak day as the S&P 500 closed down 2.1% and Toronto was down 1.5%. The situation with Trump is certainly not helping matters. He is now apparently mulling firing the Fed chair. With all of the investigations and with the Democ...

Thursday was another nasty down day in the markets. The S&P 500 was down 1.6% and Toronto was down 0.9%. And tomorrow is not shaping up to be any better... (more below) Most stocks were down, some of the bigger declines were Starbucks down 3.0%, ...

FedEx is updated and rated (higher ) Buy at $163. It reported adjusted earnings per share in Q2 up 27%, so that was not the problem. But it indicated that "Global trade has slowed in recent month" and this along with customers choosing to pay less in...

On Wednesday, markets were initially up. They then initially rose even more when the Fed increased rates as expected but then fell when the Fed indicated it still planned probably two rate increases in 2019 (down from three but not down to one or non...

Markets closed relatively flat on Tuesday with the S&P 500 about unchanged and Toronto up 0.4%. Stantec was up 2.3% after announcing a $35 million contract win for planning and design work at a shipyard in Maine. Melcor Developments was down 3.8%...

Monday's markets were ugly especially considering that the declines come on top of all the other recent declines. The S&P 500 was down 2.1% and Toronto was down 1.6%. And it is certainly very possible that the declines will continue. The best nea...

The report for Canadian Western Bank is updated and rated (lower) Strong Buy at $26.10. CWB earned an ROE of 11.8% in its just completed fiscal 2018. It has not reported a loss in any quarter in over 28 years. And yet, due to fears and due to general...

Dollarama is updated and rated (lower) Buy at $31.99. After being targeted by a short seller and after reporting unusually low earnings growth, the shares have come down to a more reasonable level....

With so many stocks trading at what appears to be bargain prices I am keeping a closer eye on insider trading. Melcor CEO Darrin Rayburn bought 1800 shares at $12.55 on Wednesday to hold 43,643. This was reported on Friday. A few days ago I mentioned...

Friday was another negative day in the markets. The other side of that coin however, is that those with cash to invest can do so at lower stock prices. The S&P 500 was down 1.9% and Toronto was down 1.05%. The decline in the S&P 500 was blame...

Toll Brothers is updated and rates Strong Buy at $32.88. In it recently released Q4, earnings per share were up 79%. But those earnings were driven by home sales that they contracted for nine to twelve months earlier. The market is focused on slowing...

On Thursday, the S&P 500 was about unchanged while Toronto was down 0.2%. CRH Medical was up 3.2%. Dollarama recovered 3.4%. TFI International was down 6.1%. I did not see any news to explain the decline. It's been an exceptionally well run compa...

Stocks rose on Wednesday with the S&P 500 up 0.5% and Toronto up 0.8%. Constellation Software was up 3.3%. Toll Brothers was up 3.2%. AutoCanada was up 2.4%. Teranet reported that its index of the price of existing houses edged down slightly in m...

On Tuesday, the S&P 500 was about unchanged while Toronto was down 0.4%. Alimentation Couche-Tard rose 2.7%. This company continues to be very well managed and has plans for continued growth. The stock has risen since the end of October despite s...

Monday was a volatile day in the markets. But at the end of the day, the S&P 500 was up 0.2% while Toronto was down 0.45%. Most of the stocks on our list were down. Constellation Software was among the few gainers and was up 1.1%. Checking inside...

Melcor continues to buy back its small allowed quota of 1262 shares per day. It began the buybacks on October 9. This came after several years where Meclor had obtained permiossion from regulators to buy back shares but then did not do so. They buy b...

Friday's action saw the S&P 500 down 2.3% and Toronto down 0.95%. Costco was down 3.6%. AutoCanada was down 4.4% to $11.09. Statistics Canada reported large job gains for November. And this is NOT explained by Christmas hiring since these figures...

On Thursday, the S&P 500 ended the day down 0.15% while Toronto was down 1.6% Earlier on Thursday, the S&P 500 had been down as much as 2.9%. Investors are nervous about trade tensions with China and in general are fearful of declines. Theref...

On Wednesday, the U.S. markets were closed to respect the late President George H. W. Bush. Toronto rose 0.8% The Bank of Canada held interest rates constant but apparently sees risk in the economy and therefore it is now thought that interest rates ...

On Tuesday, the S&P 500 was down a hefty 3.2% while Toronto was down 1.4%. Most stocks were down. FedEx took an extra hit (and ended up down 6.3%) because a Morgan Stanley analyst said that Amazon has some planes of its own and will take away 10%...

On Monday, the S&P 500 ws up 1.1% which was likely due to reduced trade tensions between China and the U.S. after Trump met with the Chinese leader on Saturday. Toronto was up 0.5% West Texas Oil is up to $53.55 after Russian and Saudi Arabia app...

On Friday, the S&P 500 was up 0.8% while Toronto was about unchanged. AutoCanada was up 10.7%. This may have been due to an analyst recommendation given that the company did not release any news. Boston Pizza Royalties was up 3.3%. After the clos...

On Thursday, the S&P 500 was down 0.2% while Toronto was up 0.15. Linamar recovered 3.3%. AutoCananda was up 4.1%. Earlier this week, AutoCanada announced a new partnership with Kijiji as its preferred online partner. It's hard to say what the be...

The report for Melcor Developments is updated and rated (higher) Strong Buy at $12.75 based on the fact that it trades at 42% of book value per share and based on the "hard" nature of its assets. This has obviously been a very frustrating stock to ow...

On Wednesday, the S&P 500 surged 2.3% and Toronto was up 1.3%. This came after remarks by the FED Chair that were interpreted to mean that interest rates may not rise as high as had been expected in 2019. However, this was only an interpretation ...

There are lots of things to mention tonight. On Tuesday, the S&P 500 was up 0.3% while Toronto was down 0.5%. CRH Medical was up 6.9%. The company did not release any news and there was no new insider buying. Therefore, the reason could be an ana...

Our report on the Melcor REIT is updated. Based on its 9.0% yield and the fact that it is trading at 67% of book value, and supported by recent insider buying, it is rated Buy. But at the same time its distributable cash per unit has declined in 2018...

On Monday, the S&P 500 was up 1.5% while Toronto was about unchanged. Boston Pizza Royalties recovered 4.6% after it announced it will initiate unit buy-backs. I was a bit surprised by that because it has already taken on a material amount of deb...

On Friday, the S&P 500 was down 0.7% and Toronto was down 0.5%. BHP Billiton was down 4.0% which may have been linked to lower oil prices. Canadian Western Bank got pushed down 5.8% to $27.89. This was no-doubt due to the current gloom in the wes...

Our report for Boston Pizza Royalties Income Fund is updated and rated (higher) Buy at $15.53 (It closed today at $15.13 to yield 9.1%). These units have been falling in price. Presumably, the market is now expecting a distribution cut. I believe a d...

On Thursday, the U.S. stock markets were closed while Toronto was about unchanged. There were no particularly note worthy moves in the Canadian stocks on our list. Boston Pizza is down to $15.53 yielding 8.9%. Rising interest rates would not seem to ...

Wednesday was another interesting day in the market. The S&P 500 was about unchanged. But Toronto was up 1.5% and almost all the stocks on our list were higher. CN Rail was up 3.0%. Constellation Software was up 3.1%. TFI International was up 2.5...

The report for WSP Global is updated and rated Buy at $64.18. It's not cheap but if it keeps growing like it has been it will do well. WSP Global is fairly similar to Stantec in that both are consulting engineering companies that have grown by acquis...

Tuesday was a non-bring day in the markets. The S&P 500 was down 1.8% and Toronto was down 1.3%. Almost all the stocks on our list were down. But the three exceptions were stocks I mention a lot. Toll Brothers was up 2.0%. Linamar was up 0.8% And...

Monday's action saw the S&P 500 down 1.7% and Toronto down 0.6%. Canadian Western Bank had a notable decline of 2.7% to $29.91. Book value per share is $25.77 (end of Q3 and will almost certainly be higher when it reports Q4 in early December). R...

On Friday, the S&P 500 was up 0.2% and Toronto was up 0.1%. Melcor Developments was up 4.0%. The company continues to buy back each day the small amount of shares that it is allowed to which is just 1262 shares per day. They are also allowed to a...

Stantec is updated and rated (lower) Buy at $31.01. I was tempted to rate it higher due to a potential turn-around in 20019 but the numbers don't support that just yet. The story of Stantec is that it has been a successful growth-by-acquisition compa...

On Thursday, the S&P 500 was up 1.1% while Toronto was up 0.1%. Stocks on the rise included: Visa, up 1.9%, American Express up 1.7%, Linamar up 1.7%. Stocks on the decline included: CRH Medical down 4.2%, AutoCanada down 1.9%, Dollarama down 2.7...

Canadian Tire is updated and rated (higher) Buy at $152.70. The stock has fallen in the past week even thought the company reported strong earnings growth in in Q3....

On Wednesday, the S&P 500 was down 0.8% while Toronto was about flat. AutoCanada fell 12.3% to $11.09 giving back a good portion of its recent gains. Unfortunately, there may be nothing to support the share price unless and until it able to post ...

The drop in the price of West Texas Oil along with continued wide discounts on Alberta oil do not bode well for the Alberta economy unless something changes. In downtown Edmonton there is nevertheless a LOT of building going on. Near the new downtown...

On Tuesday, the S&P 500 was down 0.15% and Toronto was down 0.2%. AutoCanada rose 11.4% to $12.65. But it is likely to continue to be quite volatile until and unless it can book some solid improvements in 2019. See update below. TFI International...

The report for AutoCanada is updated and rated Speculative Buy at $12.45. The future of this investment is heavily dependent on the abilities of the new management team that took over in July. They have made a number of changes and they seem to have ...

Monday was a government holiday, but the markets were open. The S&P 500 was down a hefty 2.0% and Toronto was down 0.8%. Amazon was down 4.4%. Visa was down 2.9%. Stantec was down 3.4%. Canadian Tie was down 2.85%. AutoCanada managed a gain of 2....

On Friday, the S&P 500 was down 0.9% and Toronto was down 0.5%. Stantec was down 6.5% in what seems to be a delayed negative reaction to its earnings release of Thursday morning. Linamar was down 3.2% in further negative reaction to its earnings ...

Linamar is updated and rated (higher) Strong Buy at $48.21. This is primarily based on its low price to earnings ratio of 5.4 times and low price to book value combines with management's optimism that earnings will continue to grow. There are never a...

On Thursday, the S&P 500 was down 0.25%, giving back a bit of yesterday's gains. Toronto was down 0.1%. Melcor was down 4.3% to $13.40. That puts it at 44% of book value. Unfortunately, the wait for a recovery here continues. CMHC reported today ...

Wednesday, in response to the results of the mid-term elections, the S&P 500 was up 2.2% while Toronto rose 0.5%. Among the many gainers were:CRH Medical up 8.4% Amazon, up 6.9%Starbucks up another 3.3%Visa, up 2.8% And Canadian Western Bank was ...

On Tuesday, the S&P 500 was up 0.7% as U.S. markets await the election results. Toronto was up 0.5%. TFI International was up 3.6%. Starbucks was up another 2.4%  Melcor Developments released earnings after the close that were very similar to yea...

On Monday, the S&P 500 and Toronto were each up about 0.6%. Berkshire Hathaway surged 4.7%, Toll Brothers was up 2.4%, TFI International was up 2.1%, Costco was up 1.9% and Canadian Western Bank was up 1.8%. Most stocks were up but Linamar was do...

On Friday, the S&P 500 was down 0.6% and Toronto was down 0.2%. Starbucks was up 9.7% to $64.32 after releasing Q3 earnings and sales figures. This high-quality company was added to our list on August 25 rated Buy at $52.75. Linamar was up 3.4%.C...

(This post was made on November 1, but inadvertently, was not uploaded until November 3) On Thursday, the S&P 500 was up 1.1% and Toronto was up 0.8%. BHP Billiton was up 5.0% after it released details on a special dividend and a stock buy-back p...

Our report for FedEx is updated and rated Buy at $222. The stock is down 11% this year to date. That's in spite of sharply higher earnings per share. Growth in volume of packages moves has been strong and it has also increased prices charged. The low...

CRH Medical posted Q3 results after the close. In general the results looked positive with higher adjusted EBITDA attributable to owners ( a good portion is attributable to minority interests) but lower net income attributable to owners. Given the co...

The Melcor REIT released earnings after the close. The bad news is that adjusted Funds From Operations per unit were down 13% in Q3 and 8% year to date. Furthermore, the payout ratio as percent of this AFFO has risen to 105% in Q3 and 99% year to dat...

So, Halloween was anything but scary in the markets. On Wednesday, the S&P 500 rose (or recovered) 1.1% while Toronto was up 0.9%. Notable winners included:Amazon, up 4.4%Visa, up 3.8%TFI International, up 2.3% CRH Medical, up 4.1% Dollarama was ...

Tuesday was a positive day in the markets as the S&P 500 rose 1.6% and Toronto was up 1.2%. Our big gainer was Toll Brothers which rose 8.75%. Tomorrow will be the last day of its fiscal 2018 and it will report earnings in December. It's earnings...

On Monday, stocks were initially higher but closed the day with the S&P 500 down 0.7% and Toronto down 1.1%. Amazon was down 6.3%. (see update below) Toll Brothers was down 2.5% as was Visa Inc. CRH Medical was down 3.3% in Toronto and will repor...

Our report for Amazon is updated for Q3 earnings. With the recent slide in its stock price and its recently higher earnings the price / earnings ratio of this stock has come down a lot but is still very high at 86. The company is forecasting slower 1...

There is news this evening that IBM is making a big acquisition. What shocks me about it is the price paid in relation to not only profits but even revenues. Based on this I dearly wish that some of the companies I own and that are on our list would ...

Our report for Constellation Software is updated and rated (lower) Buy at Canadian $871. The price has declined from a high of $1,134 and meanwhile earnings have continued to grow briskly. While the stock is not cheap, this may be an opportunity to s...

On Friday, the S&P 500 was down 1.7% while Toronto declined 0.2%. Amazon was down 7.8% to $1643. In early September it had briefly reached $2050. Costco was down 3.6% On a day when most stocks were down, Toll Brothers gained 3.1% and TFI Internat...

Our report for Visa Inc. is updated and rated (lower) Buy at $137.74. Shares in this powerful money maker have looked expensive on a P/E ratio basis for quite a few years. But the subsequent growth has justified the premium valuation. Now, the valuat...

Thursday saw a partial rebound from Wednesday's market declines. The S&P 500 was up 1.9% but Toronto was up only 0.1%. Amazon surged 7.1% but then was down 5.3% to $1687 in after-hours trading after it released Q3 earnings. If I had some U.S. cas...

On Wednesday, the S&P 500 was down a very hefty 3.1% and Toronto was down 2.5%. Given a lot of negative sentiment including concern about the outcome of the U.S. mid-term elections and many other international risks, it is certainly possible that...

Our report on CN Rail is updated and rated (lower) Buy at $107.79. It's an excellent and strong company with a good outlook but is not cheap in relation to earnings....

On Tuesday, the S&P 500 ended the day down 0.55% but had been down over 2% earlier in the day. Toronto closed down 0.8%. Among the few stocks on the rise were Toll Brothers, up 4.1% and Linamar, up 3.4% and Melcor, up 2.2% and TFI International, ...

The report for TFI International is updated with a (higher) Buy rating at $44.99. Amid the gloom of falling stock prices in recent days, it was nice to see this company report an eye-popping 97% increase in adjusted earnings per share in Q3. Year to ...

On Monday, the S&P 500 and Toronto were each down 0.4%. Most stocks were down. But Stantec rose 5.8% as the market continues to react positively to last week's news that it has reached a deal to sell its problematic construction services division...

The steep decline in the price of Toll Brothers down to about book value is hard to stomach. Investment banks including Bank of America and RBC analysts have turned negative on the home building sector. Still, the forward P/E ratio is very low at 5.9...

Our report on American Express is updated for Q3 earnings and rated (higher) Buy at $106.73...