enbridge

TRANSCANADA CORP. $51.57 (Toronto symbol TRP; Shares outstanding: 707.5 million; Market cap: $36.0 billion; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; Dividend yield: 3.7%; www.transcanada.com) operates 68,500 kilometres of natural gas pipelines in Canada and the U.S. It also has interests in over 11,800 megawatts of power generation, including the Bruce Power nuclear plant.

In the three months ended December 31, 2013, TransCanada’s revenue rose 11.6%, to $2.3 billion from $2.1 billion a year earlier. Earnings per share rose 28.9%, to $0.58 from $0.45.

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ENBRIDGE INC. $51.24 (Toronto symbol ENB; Shares outstanding: 831.5 million; Market cap: $42.5 billion; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; Dividend yield: 2.8%; www.enbridge.com) operates the world’s longest crude oil and liquids pipeline system. It also distributes natural gas to consumers in Ontario, Quebec, New Brunswick and New York State. As well, Enbridge has interests in 1,800 megawatts of renewable and alternative energy.

In the three months ended December 31, 2013, the company’s revenue rose 18.4%, to $8.3 billion from $7.0 billion a year earlier. Before one-time items, earnings per share rose 4.8%, to $0.44 from $0.42.

In 2013, Enbridge brought 17 projects, worth a total of $5 billion, into service. It plans to start up a further $29 billion worth over the next four years. That includes a $7-billion replacement of part of its Mainline system, which pumps crude oil from Edmonton, Alberta, to Superior, Wisconsin.
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PLEASE NOTE: Due to the Good Friday holiday, our next Hotline will go out on Thursday, April 17, 2014. BANK OF NOVA SCOTIA, $64.24, Toronto symbol BNS, has formally changed the name of its ING Direct subsidiary to Tangerine (www.tangerine.ca). The bank bought ING Direct from its Netherlands-based parent, ING Group, in November 2012. This business provides no-fee banking services to 1.9 million clients, mainly over the Internet. The new name will let Bank of Nova Scotia keep using the orange colour associated with the ING Direct brand....

ENBRIDGE INC. (Toronto symbol ENB; www.enbridge.com) operates the world’s longest crude oil and liquids pipeline system. It also distributes natural gas to consumers in Ontario, Quebec, New Brunswick and New York State. As well, Enbridge has interests in 1,800 megawatts of renewable and alternative energy....

ENBRIDGE INC. $51.24 (Toronto symbol ENB; Shares outstanding: 831.5 million; Market cap: $42.5 billion; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; Dividend yield: 2.8%; www.enbridge.com) operates the world’s longest crude oil and liquids pipeline system. It also distributes natural gas to consumers in Ontario, Quebec, New Brunswick and New York State....

iShares 1-5 Year Laddered Corporate Bond Index ETF, $19.82, symbol CBO on Toronto (Units outstanding: 93.1 million; Market cap: $1.8 billion; ca.ishares.com), invests in a portfolio of short-term bonds drawn from the DEX (formerly Scotia Capital) Bond Index. The ETF first sold units to the public at $20 each and began trading on Toronto on February 25, 2009. Its MER is 0.28%, and it currently yields 4.2%....

iShares MSCI World Index Fund ETF, $34.01, symbol XWD on Toronto (Units outstanding: 5.8 million; Market cap: $197.3 million; ca.ishares.com), holds large- and mid-cap stocks across 23 developed countries, including Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Ireland, Japan, Singapore, the U.K. and the U.S. The ETF holds 1,507 stocks covering about 85% of the market in each nation. It does this by holding units of the iShares Core S&P 500 ETF (54.3% of assets), the iShares MSCI EAFE ETF (41.6%) and the iShares MSCI Canada ETF (4.0%). iShares MSCI World Index Fund ETF has an MER of 0.47% and yields 1.6%....

BANK OF NOVA SCOTIA, $63.61, Toronto symbol BNS, continues to benefit from strong car loan and credit card demand in Canada, rising stock markets and an acquisition. The bank’s November 2012 purchase of ING Direct, which offers no-fee banking services over the Internet, continues to spur its growth. Bank of Nova Scotia will soon change this business’s name to Tangerine, which will let it keep using the orange colour associated with the ING Direct brand. As well, rising stock markets have increased the value of the assets the bank’s wealth management business administers. However, volatile currency exchange rates and higher costs have hurt profits at its international banking operations....

Exchange traded funds (ETFs) are set up to mirror the performance of a stock-market index or sub-index. They hold a more or less fixed selection of securities that represent the holdings that go into the calculation of the index or sub-index.

ETFs trade on stock exchanges, just like stocks....

In late 2012 and early 2013, Alberta’s heavy oil, or bitumen, was trading at a discount of around $40 U.S. a barrel to U.S. benchmark West Texas Intermediate (WTI) light crude. Bitumen from the oil sands is a thick, tar-like form of oil that requires more processing than regular crude. The lower price for Canadian bitumen was mostly due to a lack of pipeline and refinery capacity. As well, increased U.S. light oil production drove down the price of Alberta’s harder-to-process heavy oil. Since then, though, the discount has narrowed: earlier this month, Alberta oil sold for $19.50 U.S. a barrel less than U.S. benchmark WTI light crude....