This month's High Yielders are AG Growth Fund and Energy Savings Income Fund. Read More

Canadian trusts and corporations across all industries have been stress tested, forcing them to rely on their own resources as business conditions depress sales growth. But most have weathered the storm rather well, posting strong second quarter earnings, and look to continue growing into 2009. Read More

The now year-old credit crunch has certainly stress tested the Canadian banks. But Canada’s banks now boast some of the highest valuations among Western financial services stocks, meaning they have solid currency--their stock--to use for acquisitions. As a group, the Big Six Canadian banks have a chance to emerge from the credit crunch as bigger, more global players. Read More

A dozen trusts boosted distributions last month, while three made cuts. Noranda Income Fund exited the Dividend Watch List on solid second quarter profits and its strong relationship with resource behemoth Xstrata. We also provide commentary on the strength of oil and gas trusts of late, even amid a pullback in crude prices.  Read More

Going down the Canadian Edge Portfolio, 23 picks are in the black this year, with an average total return of roughly 18.5 percent. Nine are under water, with an average loss of 22 percent. That includes the roughly 7 percent dip in the Canadian loonie versus the US dollar. Read More

Roger Conrad gives us general market commentary and explains how Canadian banks have ridden through the recent stress tests to remain stabilized. Canadian trusts have weathered the storm particularly well. But what will happen when these trusts are taxed as corporations starting in 2011? If the trust tax is overturned in an upcoming election, what’s the story going forward? Read More

“Two consecutive quarters of declining GDP” is often employed by time-pressured journalists as the “technical definition of a recession.” We’ve covered this territory in this space a couple times, most aggressively here. Read More

Diane Francis sends word that Brent Fullard of the Canadian Association of Income Trust Investors has formalized the anonymous-tough-guy-Tory talk quoted in Ottawa’s political daily The Hill Times in April: Fullard has challenged Finance Minister Jim Flaherty to a debate, offering him 90 minutes to defend the Tax Fairness Plan. Fullard will rebut; he’s also pledged to underwrite a CAD50,000 minimum donation to charity to provide a little motivation for Flaherty. Read More

Don’t stop reading; you’ve heard this all before, but now it seems both combatants and, more importantly, their audience, are prepared for battle. Read More

Expedition officials compared the act to Neil Armstrong’s planting of the American flag on the moon, and the US Geological Survey determined, to a degree that should satisfy United Nations Convention on the Land of the Sea requirements (should the US eventually ratify it), that there’s not much ground for resource disputes in the area. Read More

Recent selling has proven to be a major stress test for the energy services sector. But lower valuations coupled with a refocus on stronger areas of the energy patch will strengthen the sector, allowing energy trusts to weather the storm through 2008. Read More

This month's High Yielders are Boralex Power Income Fund and Pembina Pipeline Income Fund. Read More

It's been an ugly month in the investment world, and Canada wasn't immune to the market turbulence. Even core trusts realized heavy selling pressure, but the numbers going into the third quarter are solid, indicating stronger growth for the rest of the year. Read More

Canada's telecom industry is making waves, and there's still plenty of room for growth in this already mature market. And its ability to bounce back has kept wireless carriers and cable operators north of the border from any serious downturns during economic weakness in the US. Read More

One trust has been removed from the Dividend Watch List, and Harvest Energy has been upgraded based on strong results from recent oil recovery operations. We also provide commentary on a large energy trader's bankruptcy. Read More

Canadian Edge is first and foremost a yield-focused advisory. Cash dividends are, of course, the surest way to build wealth. But there’s a lot more to it than that. Read More

Predicting the price of oil next week, next month or next year is about as Quixotic a venture as can be undertaken by even the most diligent expert. And engaging in such forecasts is even more counterproductive for individual investors focused on the long term; you don’t enjoy the romance of headline-grabbing statements or electric cable TV shout-fest appearances, and, most important, it’s an impractical exercise. Read More

The raw numbers are impressive: A report by the US Geological Survey (USGS) found that 25 areas inside the Arctic Circle contain about a fifth of the world’s undiscovered but recoverable oil and natural gas reserves. Read More

Trinidad Drilling (TSX: TDG, OTC: TDGCF) wasted little time putting part of the USD54 million from its sale of a barge rig project in Indonesia to good purpose, inking a deal with two unnamed parties for the construction of seven more drilling rigs for use in Louisiana’s Haynesville Shale, an unconventional natural gas play that’s shaping up as one of the key such resources in the US.  Read More

The Canadian economy is struggling to overcome the slowdown afflicting the US and other developed nations. More than 70 percent of its exports come south, and it’s not as productive as other members of the Group of Eight (G-8). But in broader fundamental terms, Canada is in good health. Read More