Other
Upswing in the Agriculturals?
Richard Croft
We allude to fertilizer, of course, something that hasn’t been much in the news lately, given all the fuss and bother about European (and other) debt problems overhanging the global financial system. But people must eat, and animals must be fed. It just so happens that supplies of one staple grain crop are tight at the...
Turnaround Value?
Richard Croft
Earlier this week, a closely watched indicator suggested continuing improvement in the US economy. The Institute for Supply Management’s manufacturing purchasing managers index climbed to 53.9 in December, up from 52.7 in November. The gauge posted its best reading since June, as factory activity showed broad-based growth...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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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