Last week, on March 12th, the Canadian dollar closed for the first time over the 98 cent level. Adding to the significance of this event is that it is the first weekly close over the key 97.5 level since July/August 2008. This important, albeit potential, breakout is taking place after a 5 month consolidation between the 92.5...
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In a previous note, we highlighted the iShares DJ Pharma E.T.F. (IHE) as a possible way to gain exposure the large pharmaceauticals in the US. In this note, we discuss Merck and company (MRK on New York) as one company that investors may target for consideration.
MRK is the third largest holding of the IHE with a weighting of 7.75%. Only...
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Loblaw companies (Loblaw, L on the TSX) was one of best performing companies in Canada for close to a decade. From 1996 the shares went from under 11 dollars to close at over 75 dollars by April 2005. The returns were truly sensational and helped make Loblaw a market darling.
The share price decline as of May 2005...
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There was a fair bit of media coverage this week in regards to the Earl Jones case. It is obvious in this case that Jones preyed on the elderly, some of the most vulnerable in our society. This is was not the first example of white collar crime in Canada nor it will be the...
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Today, the Bank of Canada elected to keep the overnight rate at .25%. The economy remains weak and the strength in the Canadian dollar is another concern for the bank. Interest rates continues to be very low, the following is a brief snapshot of selected benchmark rates from the bank for the 12-18 January 2009 period:
Years
Interest rate range
1-3
1.26 –...
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Today’s edition of CBC’ radio’s The Current featured another gold debate between one of the most prominent proponents of gold in John Embry, chief investment strategist for Sprott Asset Management . The other side of the debate featured Larry Swedroe, principal and director of research for The Buckingham Family of Financial Services. The debate can be found here and the...
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In an earlier note, we looked at opinions regarding the gold price. The opinions vary from gold being overpriced and an old relic to the price being at a low level and going much higher in the future. In this note we will highlight the declining mine supply in recent history and the increase in mining costs.
From a gold mine supply standpoint,...
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This note refers to a series of books written by Jack Schwager. The first one is titled “Market Wizards” . A search on Chapters.ca or Amazon.ca yields five titles across close to two decades. The idea here is to gain insight on how various successful traders or investors have been able to achieve better...
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The Real Estate Investment Trust (REIT) sector as represented by the XRE Units on the TSX has been making new highs this week. It is one of the areas that has been outperforming the market coming out of the March 9th, 2009 bottom. As the chart below shows, with the exception of approximately 1 yr...
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