Recapping the Trading Day

21-Jul-2010 | kate | Agriculture Banks Canadian Investing Commodities Currency FX Market Outlook Oil & Gas Stocks US Markets USA

The TSX was down as the energy sector declined with news that there was an unexpected rise in oil inventories causing oil futures to decline against the news. Meanwhile a strong day of earnings from US financial companies caused Canadian Financials to have a tough day.

On the earnings sides, several companies released numbers with good and bad results. EnCana, our largest Natural Gas producer, declined 5.7% after they reported their 2nd quarter profits that missed the expectations. Wells Fargo and Morgan Stanley both released results exceeding street expectations, resulting in Bank of Nova Scotia and BMO slipping 2.37% and 2.18% on the day. Even RIM had a bad day falling 3.26% after their biggest rival Apple announce an 18 billion dollar forecast for fourth quarter sales, 5.9% larger than the average analyst expectation.

The good news is that since earning season started on July 12th, 83% of the S&P 500 companies that have released results have beat the street estimates for profits and 65% on sales.

The Canadian dollar hit it one week high before pulling back slightly and settling at 0.954 CDN Per USD.

Meanwhile, we have a new video for alliance grain traders on out website and a new investor presentation for Ithaca, make sure you stop by and check them out.

This blog has been prepared by the Retire First Team. The blog expresses the opinions of the writers and not necessarily those of Retire First Ltd. Statistic and factual data are from sources Retire First believes to be reliable but their accuracy can not be guaranteed. This blog is furnished on the basis and understanding that Retire First is under no liability whatsoever in respect thereof. It is for informational purposes only and is not be construed as an offer or solicitation for the sale or purchase of securities. Retire First Ltd. And its officers, directors, employees and their family may from time to time invest in the securities discussed in this blog. This blog is intended for individuals where Retire First Ltd is registered as a dealer in securities.

Retire First is a member of the Canadian Investors Protection Fund.

Commission, trailing commissions, management fees and expense all may be associated with mutual funds. Please read the prospectus before investing. Mutual funds are not guaranteed, their values change frequently and past performance may not be repeated. A recommendation of any of the mentioned investments would only be made after a personal review of individual portfolio. Third Party research has been used in formulating the writer's opinions.

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Hewlett-Packard snaps up Palm for $1.2 Billion

28-Apr-2010 | Reggie | Communications Technology

The offer made earlier today is for $5.70 per share and represents a 23% premium to todays closing price of $4.64.  Although Palm products haven’t sold like hot cakes over the past few years compared to some of their competitors, their technology offers a lot of appeal to many of the technology firms out there.  The Palm Pre was released a few years ago to the accolades of the tech community.  Many were enthralled with the touch screen interface, the smooth and fast operating system that allowed for multiple programs to be open simultaneously, and slick styling.  Before the Pre was for sale to the general public, there was speculation that the Pre would be an iPhone killer.

When it was reported that Palm was shopping around for a buyer, there was a lot of speculation that Research In Motion would be the ones to pull the trigger.  It was thought that the technologies behind Palm would mesh nicely with the Blackberry makers.  Some think that the Blackberry operating system is preventing the device from catching on with the average personal use consumer.  While extremely proficient at handling emails and attachments, many find the blackberry lagging behind its competitors when it comes to internet browsing and media use.

Hewlett Packard making the purchase shouldn’t come as a big surprise.  Handheld devices are really becoming the next frontier in the world of technology.  Apple becoming the 2nd largest publicly traded company in the United States is evidence of this.  All the biggest players making a move to get a foothold on the sector.  Google, Windows, Sony, HTC, Research in Motion, Nokia, Apple, and soon to be HP.  This is great news for consumers as the market becomes far more competitive as the developers struggle to out-innovate and out price one another.

This blog has been prepared by the Retire First Team. The blog expresses the opinions of the writers and not necessarily those of Retire First Ltd. Statistic and factual data are from sources Retire First believes to be reliable but their accuracy can not be guaranteed. This blog is furnished on the basis and understanding that Retire First is under no liability whatsoever in respect thereof. It is for informational purposes only and is not be construed as an offer or solicitation for the sale or purchase of securities. Retire First Ltd. And its officers, directors, employees and their family may from time to time invest in the securities discussed in this blog. This blog is intended for individuals where Retire First Ltd is registered as a dealer in securities.

Retire First is a member of the Canadian Investors Protection Fund.

Commission, trailing commissions, management fees and expense all may be associated with mutual funds. Please read the prospectus before investing. Mutual funds are not guaranteed, their values change frequently and past performance may not be repeated. A recommendation of any of the mentioned investments would only be made after a personal review of individual portfolio. Third Party research has been used in formulating the writer's opinions.

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Smart Phones set to become more popular than Cell Phones

30-Mar-2010 | Reggie | Communications Technology

A research study conducted by Nielson concluded that by fall of next year, sales of Smart Phones will make up 50% of total wireless devices.  Not just for the business type anymore, Smart Phones hold a mass appeal thanks to the huge amount of utility and fun they play.  While the devices of yesterday were limited to sending and receiving messages, now they are fully fledged media devices that have high resolution Cameras, MP3 players, and social networking devices with fully functioning and fast internet browsing, all for the price of Chinese food for six. (On select 3 year terms of course)  Makers such as Apple, Research in Motion, Samsung, and Motorola have seen their sales increasing by leaps and bounds as users upgrade to these new devices.

With all these features packed into a device smaller than your wallet, its no surprise that demand for these devices has gone through the roof.  This is fantastic news for the wireless providers and makes it easy to see why Telus and Bell invested big bucks into their networks over the past few years.  In order to tell your friends what you had for breakfast on twitter, post a picture of a goat you drove past on the highway on Facebook, or watch a You Tube video of a fat guy falling off a bicycle.  This means that the total amount of data usage is increasing quite substantially.  Charging for data is big bucks for the telecom companies and the average cellular bill with data is nearly double that of just a phone plan.  This could make for a significant trend that should bolster the profits of the telecoms and the handset makers as people continue to upgrade their devices.

This blog has been prepared by the Retire First Team. The blog expresses the opinions of the writers and not necessarily those of Retire First Ltd. Statistic and factual data are from sources Retire First believes to be reliable but their accuracy can not be guaranteed. This blog is furnished on the basis and understanding that Retire First is under no liability whatsoever in respect thereof. It is for informational purposes only and is not be construed as an offer or solicitation for the sale or purchase of securities. Retire First Ltd. And its officers, directors, employees and their family may from time to time invest in the securities discussed in this blog. This blog is intended for individuals where Retire First Ltd is registered as a dealer in securities.

Retire First is a member of the Canadian Investors Protection Fund.

Commission, trailing commissions, management fees and expense all may be associated with mutual funds. Please read the prospectus before investing. Mutual funds are not guaranteed, their values change frequently and past performance may not be repeated. A recommendation of any of the mentioned investments would only be made after a personal review of individual portfolio. Third Party research has been used in formulating the writer's opinions.

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Whats next for RIM?

03-Feb-2010 | Reggie | Canadian Investing Stocks Technology

The makers of the Blackberry and one of the original denizens of the smart phone have been under fire lately for a lack of innovation and their struggle in the war to gain a larger chunk of the smart phone consumer market from rivals like Apple and Google.  So far Research in Motion has done an excellent job of maintaining and building its base of business customers thanks to their enterprise software, strong security and encryption, and full keyboard.  However with data becoming less expensive and the desire for online content like Facebook, Twitter, Youtube, and the ability to web browse, smart phones that provide easy access to these types of applications are gaining a lot of attention from the general public (Hello Apple iPhone and Google Android)

With this increased competition in the consumer market, the stock of RIM has been floundering over the past year despite growing their revenue by over $1 Billion.  However, this Canadian tech darling is not content with the status quo and plans to fight tooth and nail for the consumer smart phone market that is estimated to overtake the traditional talk and text market over the next 2 years.  Rumour has it that RIM has been working diligently to create a smart phone that will combine a touch screen that makes for easy web browsing while keeping the keyboard below for easy typing.  This will hopefully appeal to those who like the functionality of the blackberry and easy web browsing.

The estimated release date for the new device is this Spring.  However, expectations will be very high thanks to the high quality products Apple and Google have been releasing.  Critics will also remember that RIM’s last attempt at a touch screen, known as the Storm, was met with harsh criticism such as the user interface not working well with touch and the touch itself being clunky and unresponsive. The success of Research in Motions newest smart phone may be a deal maker or breaker for their position in the consumer smart phone market.

This blog has been prepared by the Retire First Team. The blog expresses the opinions of the writers and not necessarily those of Retire First Ltd. Statistic and factual data are from sources Retire First believes to be reliable but their accuracy can not be guaranteed. This blog is furnished on the basis and understanding that Retire First is under no liability whatsoever in respect thereof. It is for informational purposes only and is not be construed as an offer or solicitation for the sale or purchase of securities. Retire First Ltd. And its officers, directors, employees and their family may from time to time invest in the securities discussed in this blog. This blog is intended for individuals where Retire First Ltd is registered as a dealer in securities.

Retire First is a member of the Canadian Investors Protection Fund.

Commission, trailing commissions, management fees and expense all may be associated with mutual funds. Please read the prospectus before investing. Mutual funds are not guaranteed, their values change frequently and past performance may not be repeated. A recommendation of any of the mentioned investments would only be made after a personal review of individual portfolio. Third Party research has been used in formulating the writer's opinions.

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