Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper launched an early election campaign with dreams of a majority government dancing in his head. He also wanted to blunt the impact of a Democratic victory in November’s US election that would potentially boost liberal-leaning politicians across North America.    Read More

Sustainability is the key to success for Canadian income trusts--as well as other dividend payers--as we ride through this current market crisis. Unfortunately, the turbulent waters are unlikely to calm down in the fourth quarter. But many trusts still have strong underlying characteristics, which is crucial in this challenging environment. Read More

Last month six trusts boosted distributions versus three that cut payouts. Connor Brother Income Fund exited the Dividend Watch List because it signed an agreement to sell itself to a private equity firm. We also provide commentary on the largest leveraged buyout in history. Read More

This month's High Yielders are Consumers Waterheater Income Fund and Peyto Energy Trust. Read More

September was a challenging month for everyone. Some Canadian trusts and corporations have shown weakening in the face of the broader market's stress tests. But despite the third quarter selloff, we're still set for a fourth quarter comeback. And we have a new set of earnings reports forthcoming. Read More

Canada’s long-awaited election is just days away. But if this global market meltdown has shown us anything, it’s that business health—not politics—is the key to investor returns from Canadian trusts. Read More

The third quarter was a rough ride for the VRI Portfolio. The silver lining is our recommendations continue to outperform their benchmarks. That’s what an industry letter should be able to do. More important, that outperformance is the best assurance we’re going to be in prime position when the financial system’s great debacle finally works itself out. Read More

All eyes are back on Washington following the US House of Representatives’ failure to pass a financial rescue package Monday. Optimism about elected officials’ ability to respond efficiently and effectively seems to have buoyed investor sentiment, as Asian markets recovered from early swoons overnight and US indexes posted triple-digit gains off Tuesday’s open. Read More

The race is on. At stake: USD21.7 trillion to be spent on new infrastructure in the developing world over the next decade, and trillions more in the US, Japan and Western Europe. The needs are myriad. In the developed world, roads and bridges are crumbling. Water supplies are deteriorating. The past century’s communications networks and power systems are increasingly overloaded and prone to outages, at the same time constant connectivity is becoming ever more essential to 21st century commerce. Read More