Canada’s main stock index slumped on Wednesday to its lowest close in six months as energy stocks were hit by a sharp retreat in the price of oil and loyalty program company Aimia fell sharply after suspending its dividend payments. The energy group fell 3.9 percent as oil prices moved lower by a similar degree, hit by an unexpected large buildup in gasoline inventories and an international outlook that suggests…
According to a new report from Royal Bank of Canada (TSX:RY)(NYSE:RY), Canadian utility, telecom, and real estate stocks will face mounting headwinds under a Trump presidency. Their report, titled “The Corner of Bay and Trump,” highlights how higher U.S. fiscal spending combined with tax cuts is likely to lead to higher U.S. inflation rates. Why would higher U.S. inflation rates be a threat to the Canadian economy? The loonie is set…
Where the price of oil goes, so goes Canada’s dollar. No other major currency is as closely tied to the value of its key commodity export as the loonie is to crude right now. The correlation between the Canadian dollar and the benchmark West Texas Intermediate oil price is about 0.56, meaning the two have a strong positive relationship. That’s the closest association among 16 of the world’s most-traded currencies…
As recently as a couple of months ago, few in Alberta would have predicted that the biggest blow to their oil-driven prosperity since the global financial downturn would come via a shakedown by Saudi Arabia. The most popular assumptions about the big risks would have been: lack of market access, competition from U.S. shale production, green campaigns against the oilsands, policy initiatives related to climate change and investment scarcity because…
Since this is the season for prognostications, I thought I would make a few of my own as this is my last column for 2014. But rather than attempting to predict specific events or pick specific stocks that will be winners in 2015, here are five macro themes that you might want to watch carefully next year — and beyond. 1. Oil All Canadians are aware that oil prices have…
Oil prices closed above $109 US a barrel Friday on fresh concerns about Iran’s nuclear program and despite evidence that demand remains weak. Retail gasoline prices in Canada and the U.S. also rose. Crude for April delivery closed at $109.77 a barrel in New York, up $1.94. Iran has rapidly ramped up production of higher-grade enriched uranium over the last few months, the UN nuclear agency said Friday in a…
As Occupy Canada protesters across the country spent a second day in tents set up in urban parks on Sunday, protesters in Toronto launched another march in the city’s downtown core and gathered at a central shopping area. Members of the Toronto group who set up an encampment at St. James Park just east of the financial district, were on the move again, chanting, “Whose streets? Our Streets!” on their…
I’m sure this isn’t a new topic among financial authors, bloggers and investors but over the weekend I couldn’t help but want to express my…how should I say it…utter disgust with how British Petroleum (BP), in all levels, has handled the Deep Water incident since news broke back on April 20th. As a value investor I’m inclined to look at stocks that are cheap, out of favour and without bright…