Each week, our team publishes a blog and webcast.
In December 2022, sentiment around Suncor could not have been worse. The stock had plummeted by 14% over the previous month. On top of that, the company had suffered five tragic fatalities since 2019, more than all of its oil and gas peers combined. As a result, CEO Mark Little stepped down. To make matters […]
Dissention between Canada and the U.S. is nothing new. We even went to war in 1812 and set fire to the White House. In recent memory, John F. Kennedy publicly mocked Mr. Diefenbaker’s French; Lyndon Johnson grabbed Lester Pearson by his lapel for opposing the Vietnam war; and Richard Nixon was infamously recorded calling our […]
In October, U.S. regulators acted against TD Bank after uncovering that Chinese drug traffickers had bribed employees to launder at least US$653 million. Until TD addresses its anti-money laundering deficiencies to the regulators’ satisfaction, the bank is prohibited from growing its U.S. retail assets beyond US$434 billion, approximately their current level. (Disclosure: Neither Jeff Pollock […]
This week was the 86th birthday of our late Honorary Founder, Nuge Schneider. I’m sure that if he were here with us, there would be a big swanky party at some place downtown in Sarasota where he spent his winters. Each Monday, Mr. Schneider would call me right around 9:45am. Sometimes he would ask, “what […]
Inflation may return next year, depending on the geography. After experiencing nearly a 9% inflation surge in both the U.S. and Canada throughout 2022, the last two years have brought much-needed relief. Both countries saw a similar pattern of inflationary spikes and subsequent declines. However, we expect to see a divergence in 2025. Looking ahead, […]
Each month, we select a handful of questions that were asked by clients or soon-to-be clients. We like to post our answers online because others may have that same question as well. Here are a few of the things we were asked about most recently. Question from Ontario: Warren Buffett has been raising cash by […]
We wrote a blog in February called “Dial Back on Canadian Telco Exposure”. At the time, BCE’s stock was trading at $50.83. It’s since dropped to $37.90. Because of the collapse in the stock price, the dividend yield has climbed from 7.9% to almost 10.5%, meaning that $10,000 invested in BCE today would return $1,050 […]
Several months ago, Robert Kennedy Jr. believed his independent bid for the U.S. presidency had a shot. He explained that FDR won votes through radio in 1932, his uncle JFK benefitted from television in 1960, and long-form podcasts would help propel him into the White House in 2024. Though things evolved otherwise, hours of conversation […]
Investor Warren Buffett once said that he tries to “invest in a business so wonderful that an idiot could run it. Because sooner or later, one of them will.” This week, we discussed with Julie McLaren from Focus the red flags to watch out for when investing in founder-run businesses. Julie works with founders and […]
Our definition of “contrarian investing” is to purchase stocks that are temporarily out of favour. The reasons for any stock’s unpopularity can vary from a disappointing quarter, an operational misstep, or a poor allocation of capital. However, investing in companies facing an accounting impropriety is a fine line we won’t cross. We view any kind […]
