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CANADIAN NATIONAL RAILWAY CO. $95 (Toronto symbol CNR; SI Rating: Average) has suffered several derailments in the past few months. CN prefers to run longer trains, to save fuel and other costs. But longer trains are more difficult to control, particularly in mountainous terrain with steep grades and frequent twists. In fact, the company has had three derailments in British …read more »
CANADIAN IMPERIAL BANK OF COMMERCE $76 (Toronto symbol CM; SI Rating: Above average) is Canada’s fifth-largest bank with $280.4 billion in assets.
In August 2005, the bank set aside $2.8 billion (or $7.45 a share) to cover various lawsuit settlements related to its dealings with bankrupt U.S. energy trading firm Enron Corp. The charge wiped out about 20% of CIBC’s shareholders’ …read more »
TORONTO-DOMINION BANK $60 (Toronto symbol TD; SI Rating: Above average) is Canada’s second-largest bank, with $365.2 billion in assets. In its fourth fiscal quarter ended October 31, 2005, TD’s earnings fell 8.9% to $0.82 a share (total $589 million) from $0.90 a share ($595 million) a year earlier. If you disregard unusual items, per share earnings improved 16.5%, to $1.06 …read more »
Bank stocks have been among the market’s top performers in the past few years — as they have for the past few decades. Now some investors worry that rising interest rates will hurt their loan growth, and that the banks’ loan losses will rebound to the long-term average from their recent lows.
That may happen, and bank stocks may face a …read more »
ALCAN INC. $48 (Toronto symbol AL; SI Rating: Average) is the world’s second-largest producer of primary aluminum, after U.S.-based Alcoa Inc., with about 13% of the world’s aluminum production capacity. Manufacturers turn primary aluminum into a wide variety of products, including automotive parts, construction materials and beverage containers. North America accounts for a third of its sales.
Alcan’s sales rose from …read more »
In the 1980s and 1990s, Alcan qualified as what you might call a cyclical growth stock. It was cyclical because demand for and prices of aluminum and aluminum parts generally rise and fall with the economy. But it had a growth element because aluminum’s strength and light weight make it ideal for use in car parts, to cut fuel consumption.
In …read more »
Flow-through funds are tax shelters that mainly invest in the flow-through shares issued by junior mining and oil companies. These companies spend the proceeds from the shares they sell on mineral exploration and development, an activity that qualifies for certain tax credits and tax deferrals. These tax benefits “flow through” to investors in the fund. To take advantage of these …read more »
