option
An option offers its holder the right to buy or sell a particular security at a specific price within a specific time frame. Two kind of options are put options and call options.
MACY’S INC., $43.43, New York symbol M, operates 885 Macy’s and Bloomingdale’s department stores and sells goods online. The company earned $544 million in its fiscal 2016 third quarter, which ended January 30, 2016. That’s down 31.4% from $793 million a year earlier. Per-share earnings dropped 23.5%, to $1.73 from $2.26, on fewer shares outstanding. Macy’s earned $2.09 a share in the latest quarter, if you exclude charges related to the company’s plan to close 35 to 40 of its stores in the next few months. The result beat the consensus estimate of $1.89....
BANK OF MONTREAL, $74.15, Toronto symbol BMO, reported better-than-expected results this week, thanks mainly to strong gains from its U.S. operations. In its fiscal 2016 first quarter, which ended January 31, 2016, the bank’s revenue rose 0.4%, to $5.08 billion from $5.06 billion a year earlier. That beat the consensus forecast of $4.88 billion. Overall earnings increased 13.2%, to $1.2 billion from $1.0 billion. Earnings per share gained 14.4%, to $1.75 from $1.53, on fewer shares outstanding. These figures exclude unusual items such as the cost to integrate recent acquisitions. On that basis, they exceed the consensus estimate of $1.72 a share....
CANADIAN TIRE CORP., $129.83, Toronto symbol CTC.A, saw weaker sales in the latest quarter, as warmer-than-usual weather hurt demand for winter goods such as snow shovels and tires. Lower gasoline prices also dampened revenue at its gas stations. The company’s overall sales fell 7.5%, to $3.4 billion from $3.7 billion. Cost controls and lower marketing costs boosted company earnings, despite the revenue fall. In the three months ended January 2, 2016, the company earned $225.2 million, up 8.1% from $208.3 million a year earlier. Earnings per share gained 13.6%, to $3.01 from $2.65, on fewer shares outstanding, easily beating the consensus estimate of $2.55....
We think DRIP investing is worth looking at for most investors, but you should know all of the pros and cons.
Offshore investing may seem like an attractive option to lower your taxes, but you need to be aware of the risks.
Canadian seniors may borrow using their home equity in the form of a reverse mortgage—but should they?
Milestone Apartments REIT, $15.04, symbol MST.UN on Toronto (Units outstanding: 60.4 million; Market cap: $899.5 million; www.milestonereit.com), owns 61 “garden-style” apartment properties containing 19,908 units in 14 cities throughout the U.S. Southeast and Southwest.
The real estate investment trust continues to grow by acquisition....
The real estate investment trust continues to grow by acquisition....
Flow-through limited partnerships offer big tax breaks but may not be the best things for your portfolio.
In June 1999, the Loewen Group, North America’s second-largest funeral company, filed for bankruptcy protection in the U.S. and Canada. At the time, it operated 1,116 funeral homes and 429 cemeteries in North America and 32 funeral homes in the U.K.
Loewen Group grew rapidly by acquisition, but it made other moves that greatly added to its risk.
For one, it took on a lot of debt to finance its purchases, many of which it bought at inflated prices in bidding wars with larger rival Service Corporation International.
The new operations’ profits didn’t cover the extra interest costs. Loewen eventually had to sell many of them below cost to comply with its debt obligations.
Loewen Group’s debt stood at $2.3 billion when it filed for bankruptcy in 1999. That was high even in relation to its market cap of $3.4 billion at its stock-price peak of $57 in 1996. It was insurmountable in 1998, when the company’s interest costs of $182.4 million exceeded all its earnings and cash flow. That year, Loewen had negative cash flow (more money flowed out than in) of $34.3 million.
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Loewen Group grew rapidly by acquisition, but it made other moves that greatly added to its risk.
For one, it took on a lot of debt to finance its purchases, many of which it bought at inflated prices in bidding wars with larger rival Service Corporation International.
The new operations’ profits didn’t cover the extra interest costs. Loewen eventually had to sell many of them below cost to comply with its debt obligations.
Loewen Group’s debt stood at $2.3 billion when it filed for bankruptcy in 1999. That was high even in relation to its market cap of $3.4 billion at its stock-price peak of $57 in 1996. It was insurmountable in 1998, when the company’s interest costs of $182.4 million exceeded all its earnings and cash flow. That year, Loewen had negative cash flow (more money flowed out than in) of $34.3 million.
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WEIGHT WATCHERS INTERNATIONAL $26.61 (New York symbol WTW; TSINetwork Rating: Extra Risk) (212-589-2700; www.weightwatchers.com; Shares outstanding: 57.2 million; Market cap: $1.5 billion; No dividends paid) declined steadily from over $80 a share in 2012 to a recent low of just under $7. However, the shares jumped on October 19, 2015, when Oprah Winfrey said she had purchased 10% of the company. Oprah bought 6.4 million shares for $6.79 each and has an option to purchase 3.5 million more at $6.97. She will also join the company’s board of directors. Founded in 1961, Weight Watchers offers weightloss services in 23 countries. The company promotes a program of lifestyle changes through 36,000 weekly meetings and online. It gets 80% of its revenue through meeting fees and 20% from product sales....