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ROYAL BANK OF CANADA $88 (Toronto symbol RY; SI Rating: Above average) is the largest of Canada’s big five banks, with total assets of $469.5 billion.
In its fourth fiscal quarter ended October 31, 2005, Royal set aside $591 million to cover possible lawsuit settlements related to its involvement with U.S. energy trader Enron Corp. It also set aside $203 million …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 »
The 2005 deadline for tax-loss selling on the Toronto Exchange is Friday, December 23. If you sell at a loss on or before that date, you can deduct your loss for tax purposes against 2005 capital gains. However, you can also carry your loss back for the past three years, or carry it forward indefinitely, to offset past or future …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 »
