Yearly Archives: 2011

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December 19, 2011
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Will we see more of the same?

Richard Croft

Year-to-date, the traditional non-cyclical sectors have performed on cue and in textbook fashion, outperforming cyclical stocks by a wide margin. The S&P/TSX Capped Healthcare (+12.8%), Capped Telecom (+13%), Income Trust (+15.4%) and Capped REIT (+13.8%) Indexes have posted year-to-date double-digit gains compared with...

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12 years ago
no-cover
December 12, 2011
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He Shoots He Scores!

Richard Croft

Last week’s billion-dollar plus sale of the Ontario Teachers Pension Plan’s majority interest in Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment to a couple of Canada’s largest telcos is an example of effective decision-point resolution. It remains to be seen whether Canada’s Competition Bureau will approve the transaction. But...

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12 years ago
no-cover
December 05, 2011
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Brookfield Positioned for Recovery

Richard Croft

One of the sectors usually associated with non-cyclical stocks is real estate. You can see that in the sectors performance. The S&P/TSX Capped Real Estate Index was ahead 2.6% year-to-date to the end of November. It is up 6.3% over the past 12 months. That’s not too surprising, given that the bulk of the index comprises...

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12 years ago
no-cover
November 28, 2011
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Income Power

Richard Croft

When momentum rules the day in stock markets, it’s difficult to go against the grain. Only the boldest of the bold have the stomach to do so, placing bearish trades in the near-certain expectation of some success. In the past few weeks, that type of speculation has borne fruit. Others rely on defensive strategies to at least...

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no-cover
November 21, 2011
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The Point of Maximum Pessimism?

Richard Croft

In the glass-half-full department, Warren Buffett, the CEO of investment company Berkshire Hathaway Inc., recently said, “American companies look very cheap compared to investment alternatives,” and promptly took a US$10 billion (5.4%) stake in International Business Machines Corp. In all, Berkshire, led by Buffett and his...

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12 years ago
no-cover
November 14, 2011
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The Business of Politics

Richard Croft

It’s tempting, when big business and big politics do the waltz, to bet on some outcome or other. Trouble is, it’s often impossible to see behind the veils and curtains, to say nothing of smoke and mirrors, that obscure the true picture of events. It’s even more difficult when what’s at stake is counted in the billions...

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no-cover
November 07, 2011
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What we Know and Think we Know about Manufacturing

Richard Croft

Allow me to begin with some background about what we know and think we know. Which is really another way of asking what is being priced into the market? It would seem from recent stats out of the US and Canada that a double dip recession is unlikely. Replaced by a prolonged period of slow growth which the US Fed estimates to...

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12 years ago
no-cover
October 31, 2011
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The Conundrum: Strategy Selection!

Richard Croft

Back in our September 26th blog (Copper Oversold?) we discussed the outlook for copper. Our view at the time was that copper was oversold and that negative sentiment had taken mining stocks down. At the time, I suggested buying a couple of the junior down and out copper stocks (Copper Mountain Mining Corp. (TSX: Copper...

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12 years ago
no-cover
October 24, 2011
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Trading Discretionary Stocks

Richard Croft

For the past five years, the S&P/TSX Capped Consumer Discretionary Index has ended December higher month over month from November. It’s a basic seasonality pattern that sees companies in the sector grow in sales and profitability during the peak Christmas spending season. Companies in this sector include an eclectic mix...

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no-cover
October 18, 2011
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Stocks… Oversold and Ready to Rally?

Richard Croft

How quickly sentiment can change. Global markets have rallied despite little concrete evidence of a solution to macro uncertainties facing the global economy. Which is to say; Europe? The optimism reflects a view that a broad solution will soon be implemented. And to that end, we have European leaders and large European banks...

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12 years ago
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