Geothermal energy will never take over the world. But it’s already a profitable business for its leaders. Only a fraction of the globe’s opportunities have yet been tapped in. And developers enjoy enormous tax advantages, including here in the US, where the Obama administration has enacted favorable new rules. Read More
Analyst Articles
Geothermal energy will never take over the world. But it’s already a profitable business for its leaders. Only a fraction of the globe’s opportunities have yet been tapped in. And developers enjoy enormous tax advantages, including here in the US, where the Obama administration has enacted favorable new rules. Read More
What we have now is essentially the Fed creating currency out of thin air with which to purchase assets. This is clearly a mission reserved for the worst of circumstances, and we’ll deal with the unintended consequences later. But easing access to credit and stimulating growth are the objectives right now. Read More
When we put together the March issue of Canadian Edge, investor sentiment on global markets--including Canada--had literally never been worse. Investors were willing to dump everything, including trusts that were weathering the recession as businesses and whose double-digit dividends were in no danger. Now, I’m starting to get questions from many of those same readers asking if we’ve passed the turning point, and if they should start backing up the truck to buy. Read More
What does the rise of the BRIC countries mean for Canada over the long term? Canada’s trade relationship with the four major emerging markets has certainly evolved during the past decade, and the future promises more of the same: Brazil, Russia, India and China are projected to grow significantly in coming decades, resulting in higher incomes and more purchasing power for their respective nascent middle classes. Read More
Fourth quarter numbers for the remaining Canadian Edge Portfolio picks to report continue to trickle in at a patience-trying rate. The good news is when we’ve finally gotten numbers they’ve been very encouraging indeed. Read More
US Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke, in remarks prepared for an address to the Council on Foreign Relations in Washington, reiterated his view that the recession could end in 2009 if the financial system stabilizes. Read More
Global markets are, of course, responding to what seems to be a bottomless pit of bad economic news. Canada’s fourth quarter gross domestic product (GDP) shrank at an annual rate of 3.4 percent, its worst showing since 1991. And that was a dramatic outperformance relative to the US (a 6.4 percent annualized contraction), European Union (5.9 percent) and Japan (12.7 percent). Read More
Underlying business strength is the only assurance a trust will survive this downturn while staying in place to ride the eventual recovery. And that’s one thing the March High Yields of the Month, Aggressive Holding Enerplus Resources (TSX: ERF-U, NYSE: ERF) and Conservative Holding Northern Property REIT (TSX: NPR-U, OTC: NPRUF), have in common. Read More
Since this bear market began in summer 2007, my approach has been to stick with companies that have held together as businesses. The rationale is simply that if a company stands up to the stress tests amid this economic turmoil, it will recover its stock market losses in short order when macro conditions improve. And as for Canadian trusts of all varieties, we’ll continue to receive generous distributions while we wait. Read More