Today, the S&P 500 rose 0.2% (although it was down for most of the day) and Toronto fell 0.5%.
TransAlta managed to gain 2.6% after agreeing to pay a penalty to one of its regulators. I have not added TransAlta to the list but I have mentioned that it might be getting down to good value though I also think it has been one of the worse managed companies in Canada in the past 20 years (Other contenders for that title would include Barrick Gold and Bombardier.). TransAlta also announced it will shed about 250 jobs mostly in head office. It seems clear it will report a huge loss for Q3 due to this penalty and the employee severance costs.
Today I bought the Canadian Western Bank rate reset preferred shares that I mentioned yesterday. I paid $16.80.
Boston Pizza Royalties was down 2.7% to $16.75. Investors may be concerned about its sales in Alberta. I would not be surprised if they report a small decline in same-store sales overall for the chain in Q3 (nor would I be very surprised if it is instead a small gain). But I would be very surprised indeed if that led to a cut in is distribution. Boston Pizza Royalties is probably a safer bet than the Canadian Western Bank rate reset preferred shares and it yields a bit more.