On Thursday markets were quiet as we head into the Easter long weekend.
The S&P 500 was up 0.4% and Toronto was up 0.2%.
Costco was down a modest 2.2% to $486 after reporting weak same-store sales growth. Their same-store sales have grown fairly massively over the past three years and it was probably inevitable that growth would slow. The stocks always seems to be expensive. The forward price earnings ratios is I own some and will nibble if it goes back down to about $451. It’s a long-term keeper for sure.
WSP Global was up 2.1%.
The Brookfield Office Property rate reset preferred shares were up modestly today. They have likely fallen due to concerns about the credit strength of the issuer and a general negative tone adn outlook for office building properties. This negative sentiment could last quite a long time since office vacancy rates seem likely to remain high. And with higher interest rates and vacancies, there likely will be some office investment companies that really suffer. The next news around these will likely be when the publicly traded parent Brookfield Property Partners L.P. releases Q1 earnings in about one month. My expectation is that there will be no interruption to the dividends on these shares and that at some point the price will rise. I can’t guarantee that but it is my expectation. We may also get a change or update to the credit rating at any time and that would also affect the share prices. Brookfield Property Partners is a large and complex entity.