Laval-based Alimentation Couche-Tard, which owns the Circle K and Couche-Tard convenience store brands, in August announced a “friendly, non-binding” merger proposal to Seven & i Holdings, owner of the 7-Eleven brand. The Tokyo company last month rejected Couche-Tard’s proposal.

Even in a weak economy, strong performers exist

Investing for Fun and Profit: We limit our exposure in some sectors, but ‘there’s more than one way to skin a cat’

The saying “There’s more than one way to skin a cat” probably dates back to medieval times when both domestic and wild cats were skinned for their fur. A literal interpretation would be rather repugnant in modern times, yet the saying persists to represent multiple ways to achieve a goal. Two issues ago, I bemoaned […] Read more

guy looking skyward holding sign proclaiming end times

Markets are dispassionate to our human disasters

Investing for Fun and Profit: While headlines may exalt a unique situation, to markets it's 'same as it ever was'

The first public stock exchange opened in Amsterdam in 1611, trading one company, the Dutch East India Company. Twenty-five years later, coincident with tulip mania, the company had a market cap of 78 million Dutch guilders, which translates to $9.7 trillion current U.S. dollars, putting Microsoft’s and Apple’s near-$3 trillion valuations into perspective. The London […] Read more


The stronger the consensus, the more wrong it usually becomes.

‘Everybody’ is usually wrong — and why it must be so

Overwhelming strength of sentiment, when few buyers or sellers remain, can bend a trend

Everybody is familiar with the colloquial term “Everybody is doing X.” By “X” we don’t mean “formerly Twitter” — everybody has been writing “X (formerly Twitter)” so I thought I would do the opposite. In this case you’re welcome to fill in whatever you wish for X. Salespeople often use the phrase to help sell […] Read more

Just two per cent of the total companies in the S&P 500 index now represent 32 per cent of the entire index by market value.

Economic and market outlook for 2024

If the U.S. avoids recession, Canada's will probably be shallow

It’s difficult to make predictions, especially about the future.” One of my favorite prediction quotes comes by way of the legendary baseball player, manager and philosopher, Yogi Berra. This quote, like many of his famous quips, incorporates a meaningful paradox. Following up on my previous column, the TSX ended 2023 with a total return — […] Read more


Oil inventories remain low, but recession fears leading to price declines continue to permeate the market.

How did 2023’s economic and market predictions turn out?

Predictions are often made but their accuracy never evaluated, yet this is an important step

For the past seven years in my newsletter, I have made annual “Fearless Predictions.” I also summarize predictions from the investment industry. The last chapter of my book, titled “If I claim to be a wise man…it surely means that I don’t know,” launched my annual prediction exercise, largely to poke fun at the process. […] Read more

CME December 2023 lean hogs with 20-, 50- and 100-day moving averages. (Barchart)

U.S. livestock: CME hog futures hit contract lows

Cattle futures also sag

Chicago | Reuters — Lean hog futures on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange fell to life-of-contract lows on Friday and cattle futures also retreated, pressured by technical selling and worries that a slowing global economy could hurt demand for meat, traders said. Hog futures fell the most, with the benchmark December contract settling down two cents, […] Read more


CME December 2023 lean hogs with 20-, 50- and 100-day moving averages. (Barchart)

U.S. livestock: December hogs limit-down on pork prices, macroeconomic fears

Cattle futures follow hogs, equities lower

Chicago | Reuters — Lean hog futures on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange tumbled on Thursday as a drop in wholesale pork prices coupled with worries about the global economy sparked a round of profit-taking, analysts said. Livestock futures, grains and Wall Street equity markets all declined on Thursday as the U.S. dollar set a six-month […] Read more

CBOT July 2023 corn with 20-, 50- and 100-day moving averages. (Barchart)

U.S. grains: Corn, soy up on weather worries, macroeconomic optimism

Black Sea tensions, China weather support wheat

Chicago | Reuters — U.S. corn and soybean futures closed higher on Friday, lifted by bargain-buying following this week’s multi-month lows, dryness in the Midwest crop belt and spillover strength from equities and crude oil, traders said. Wheat followed the firm trend, drawing additional support from weather concerns in China and tensions over a shipping […] Read more