Industry News

Holland still hunting for a deal

The TSX may have entered uncharted territory this week, but with just a handful of stocks powering the race to 15,000, much of the market has been left behind. For investors who have underweighted the resource sector, making money in 2007 has not been the easiest feat. The same holds true for mutual fund returns, […]

By Steven Lamb |May 22, 2008

4 min read

Industry

Briefly:

(May 21, 2008) The majority of Canadians are failing to stash away any extra cash, despite the increasing risks of a long-predicted economic downturn, according to a new survey conducted for RBC. Only 22% of respondents have increased the amount they are saving, while 20% said they were spending more. Only half of survey respondents […]

By Staff |May 21, 2008

3 min read

Industry

Proceed cautiously when chasing oil returns

With shrinking new supplies of oil and increasing global demand, there are virtually no voices that are saying oil will drop to the low-levels of the early part of this decade. However, you can still have a long term bullish outlook on oil and believe it’s overpriced in the short-term. This is the position taken […]

By Mark Noble |May 21, 2008

4 min read

Industry

On The Shelf:

Franklin U.S. Small-Mid Cap Growth Corporate Class will merge into Franklin Flex Cap Growth Corporate Class Bissett Large Cap Fund will merge into the Bissett Canadian Equity Fund Templeton Global Balanced Fund will merge into Templeton Global Income Fund Templeton Balanced Fund will merge into Templeton Canadian Asset Allocation Fund • • • Hartford closing […]

By Staff |May 20, 2008

2 min read

Investors await key vote on biofuels

Healthy skepticism toward the ethanol fad is prompting Canadian parliamentarians to take a second look at Bill C-33 — the bill that would set minimum levels of biofuels to be blended with gasoline, diesel and heating oil. Any decision could subsequently affect related commodity prices, which have soared due to biofuel demand over the past […]

By Romana King |May 20, 2008

3 min read

Fraud immunity threatens to derail deal

The restructuring plan, which was overwhelmingly approved by noteholders back in April, would prevent legal action against ABCP providers and their sponsor banks. There is no mention, however, of cases of fraud. On Friday, Ontario Superior Court Justice Colin Campbell adjourned the approval of the ABCP, citing an insufficient recourse for legitimate claims of fraud. […]

By Mark Noble |May 20, 2008

4 min read

Equity issuance falling in Q1: IIAC

To no one’s surprise, equity financing took a huge hit in the first quarter of 2008. In the Investments Industry Association of Canada’s new equity issuance report, the organization revealed that Q1 issuance dropped to $10.8 billion — down 23% quarter over quarter and 53% from last year. “Despite measures taken by central banks to […]

3 min read

Social responsibility could be a KYC issue

Almost one million Canadian investors, associated with Social Investment Organization affiliates, are hoping that advisors across the country will be required to include values-based questions when they open a new account or review an old client file. Currently, the “know your client” (KYC) rule is fairly vague, giving few specifics about what advisors need to […]

By Romana King |May 16, 2008

2 min read

Registration reform needs team-based approach

Somewhere in the glass towers of law offices, security regulators and dealer boardrooms, legal experts, compliance officers and owner-dealers are hammering out the details of how registration reform, scheduled to take effect on March 30, 2009, will impact their businesses. Laurie Cook’s advice is simple: “Buy t-shirts and create teams.” As a partner at the […]

By Romana King |May 16, 2008

7 min read