Recent economic data is encouraging, and the S&P 500’s rally to positive territory for 2009 is undoubtedly reason for investors to be pleased. It’s unlikely we’ll probe this bear’s lows, but we will see profit-taking. Don’t get to complacent now, and don’t get too depressed when we test to the downside.  Read More

Round up the usual suspects. That memorable line from the final scene of Casablanca just as easily applies to the Dividend Watch List. Of the 11 distribution cuts we saw last month, eight were by repeat offenders, i.e. companies that had already cut payouts at least once since September. Read More

Canada’s relationship with China has certainly flowered during the 2000s. China is now Canada’s second-largest trading partner, trailing only to the US. In the first Canada China Business Forum, held in 2005 during a visit by President Hu Jintao to Canada, the two governments set a target to increase bilateral trade to USD30 billion by 2010. That goal was met in 2007, when trade between the two countries climbed to USD30.38 billion. Read More

At the most general level, the law on both sides of the US-Canada border recognizes that income trust conversions will be tax-free events for unitholders. The intent, colored by a reasonable bias in favor of the free flow of capital across borders, is to avoid tax consequences for investors. Read More

Dividend-cut casualties tallied 18 last month: eight oil and gas producers, three oil service trusts, three producers/processors of other commodities, one diversified manufacturer, a financial services company and two closed-end funds. Roughly half were repeat offenders, having already cut their distributions at least once during this down cycle. Read More

Major League Baseball clubs are packing the vans for trips to Arizona and Florida to begin preparations for the season ahead. That’s an auspicious sign of spring. A less inspiring sign of winter’s wane is that Canadian income and royalty trusts are beginning to issue guidance on the US treatment of their respective distributions to US-based unitholders--tax season is upon us, too. Read More

Dividend cuts picked up steam in December in the Canadian Edge universe of income trusts and high-yielding corporations. Some 19 trusts trimmed distributions, including 10 energy producers and a closed-end mutual fund. Read More

The goal of government largesse--Canada’s, the US, China, and countless other nations, developed and emerging--is to spur demand. But how to structure such plans is a tough nut the North American leaders are trying to crack; Harper has already confronted hostility from Parliament to his handling of the economy, and Obama’s ambition to sign a stimulus bill in the earliest stages of his presidency has met with objections from both sides of the Congressional aisle. Read More

Distribution cuts continued for energy producer trusts last month; that was no real surprise given oil's decline. A couple familiar names are pleasing to Bay Street's eyes, and don't be surprised about tax-loss-driven volatility as year's end approaches. Read More

Canada’s November jobs report proved an unpleasant, though not necessarily unexpected, wakeup call. This morning’s release ended a string of relatively solid (read: not awful) economic indicators. Read More