Each week, our team publishes a blog and webcast.
Any board of directors will fear a letter from an activist shareholder. They’re loud, disruptive, and usually seek short term solutions. Often, several managers at the top lose their jobs. Data from Insightia shows that in recent years, both sides of the border have seen an acceleration in activist campaigns. Last year, there were 53 […]
Always hunting for a bargain to benefit our clients, we review each day the stock prices that have dropped the most substantially. When doing so, we ask if the problem causing the sell-off is transitory or a material change to the business. We’ll invest in the former but avoid getting involved with the latter. When […]
Nothing against unions, but our job is to make our clients money. It’s not exactly a characteristic we chase to find. The employment market is very strong. At home, our unemployment rate is 5.4%. South of the border, it’s only 3.6%. Because many employers recall the difficult time they had filling job vacancies coming out […]
At the end of June, the Federal Reserve released the results of its annual stress test for the big U.S. banks. The exercise, which was introduced in 2011 following the 2008-2009 financial crisis, tests to see how the big banks’ balance sheets would fare in a hypothetical economic downturn. The results of the test dictate […]
In 2016, the scandal over fake accounts created by Wells Fargo employees shocked anyone who reads the newspaper. For years, the bank had a pristine reputation due to a very sizable investment from Berkshire Hathaway’s Warren Buffett and the fact they said it could survive without tapping into the Troubled Asset Relief Program during the […]
So far this year, capital markets activity has been abysmal. Corporate activity for deals over $25 million fell almost 50% compared to the year before in the first three months of this year. However, copper transaction volumes are up about 30%. Just last week, word that copper producer First Quantum was informally approached by Barrick […]
The “nifty fifty” was an informal group of stocks that traded at high valuations (over 50 times earnings in many cases, far above the historical market average of about 16 times) in the 1960s and early 1970s. The “nifty fifty” was responsible for strong market gains on the way up, only to provide disappointing underperformance […]
Yesterday, the Bank of Canada surprisingly hiked the overnight rate by 25 basis points (one basis point is one-hundredth of a percentage point) to 4.75%. Any time that happens, you can rest assured the Canadian banks will increase their prime rate for customers the same day. We expect renters living in condos (not subject to […]
About 23% of Canadians who do not currently own an investment property say they plan to buy one in the next 5 years. That’s according to a new Royal LePage survey published this week. During a television interview on BNN Bloomberg, the Royal LePage CEO said “I did it when I was younger”, which was […]
Several decades ago, a cybernetic assassin was teleported from 2029 to 1984. Its mission was to kill off a human. While The Terminator was classified as “science fiction” back then, perhaps it should be considered a “horror” film today. Investors always flock to something. Artificial intelligence (“AI”) is the latest theme to attract attention. Companies […]
