Tuesday, May 22, 2012 4:49 PM EDT
The close: Dow rally sputters and Facebook slides
DAVID BERMAN
Major U.S. indexes failed to maintain much upward momentum on Tuesday, a day after ending a vicious six-day losing streak – but at least Canada’s benchmark index posted its biggest one-day gain in more than a month.
The Dow Jones industrial average closed at 12,502.81, down 1.67 points or 0 per cent. The broader S&P 500 closed at 1316.63, up 0.64 point or 0 per cent. In Canada, the S&P/TSX composite index closed at 11,451.78, up 171.14 points or 1.5 per cent.
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Tuesday, May 22, 2012 3:59 PM EDT
Canadian rate hikes: The threat increases
DAVID BERMAN
If the threat of an interest rate increase is all that the Bank of Canada has in its monetary policy arsenal right now, at least that threat is being ratcheted up, thanks to the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development.
The OECD is urging the central bank to raise its key rate by a quarter percentage point in the autumn, followed by quarter-point bumps every quarter to the end of 2013. The result: A key rate of 2.25 per cent, up from 1 per cent today. The OECD is stepping into the fray because of rising Canadian debt loads, driven by an unsustainable housing market.
Tuesday, May 22, 2012 3:26 PM EDT
Did Nasdaq ruin Facebook's IPO?
SIMON AVERY
Has the Facebook IPO crashed because of the mess up on the Nasdaq stock exchange?
According to one hedge fund manager, Nasdaq had a problem with its trading systems right before handling the biggest tech IPO in history. Instead of putting off the offering, the exchange plowed ahead with disastrous consequences.
Tuesday, May 22, 2012 2:53 PM EDT
TSX boasts triple digit gain
SIMON AVERY
Canadian stocks were showing big gains in mid afternoon trading as the market raced to catch up to a Monday bounce in the U.S. one day after the Victoria Day holiday.
The energy, materials and industrials sectors powered the S&P/TSX composite index ahead more than 200 points, or 1.8 per cent. A day earlier in New York, the S&P 500 index jumped 1.6 per cent, following news that Germany and France had committed to working together to keep Greece within the euro zone and that China is taking steps to spur its economic growth.
Tuesday, May 22, 2012 1:41 PM EDT
Are railways the new oil plays?
DAVID BERMAN
Railways are one of the few old businesses that can adapt very well to change. Just take a look at what’s going on in the oil sands: There, rail has become a popular alternative among a number of companies for shipping bitumen to refineries in Texas, California and Pennsylvania, bypassing pipelines.
The investing implications are potentially large. Railways are already essential for transporting all sorts of commodities, making them strongly linked to the performance of the global economy. Add one more essential commodity into the mix – oil – and railway stocks look downright tantalizing.
Tuesday, May 22, 2012 12:15 PM EDT
U.S. housing data tepid, but worth noting
SIMON AVERY
The U.S. housing market has been so bad, for so long, that it may seem wise to just turn a deaf ear to the monthly data until something profound changes.
Figures out Tuesday for monthly resale activity are not earth shattering. But they do show some interesting trends that are worth noting.
Tuesday, May 22, 2012 12:12 PM EDT
At midday: TSX surges as bargain hunters move in
Malcolm Morrison
The Toronto stock market surged more than 200 points Tuesday as traders caught up to solid advances in commodities and global markets while the TSX was closed for Victoria Day.
Investors also appeared ready to shop for stocks beaten down over three weeks of sharp declines that took the TSX down to the levels of last October, largely because of worries about the future of the eurozone.
The S&P/TSX composite index TSX-I ran ahead 231.5 points to 11,512.14 while the TSX Venture Exchange was up 31.43 points at 1,259.31.
Tuesday, May 22, 2012 10:17 AM EDT
The open: A second day of gains
SIMON AVERY
North American stocks rose on Tuesday, with U.S. markets inching forward and Toronto’s benchmark surging ahead to catch up to gains recorded on the holiday Monday.
“The main driver for the rebound is that many markets have become deeply oversold and appear to be merely staging a normal corrective bounce within a larger downswing,” said Colin Cieszynski, analyst with CMC Markets Canada.
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Markets Blog Contributors
David Berman
David Berman has been writing about business and investing since 1995. He began his career at Canadian Business magazine, where he wrote full-length features on a range of topics, from goose slaughterers to broadcasters. Later, he moved to MoneySense magazine, where his emphasis turned to investing. More recently, he worked at the Financial Post as an investing writer and daily columnist. He has a bachelor of arts degree from the University of Toronto and studied journalism at Ryerson University.
Simon Avery
Simon Avery has covered telecom and technology for the Globe since 2004. Previously, he was a staff reporter for The Associated Press in Los Angeles and for The Wall Street Journal in San Francisco. He covered the boom and bust in Silicon Valley for the Financial Post between 1998 and 2001. Mr. Avery holds a Master's degree in journalism from Columbia University and a Bachelor of Arts in English and political science from the University of Western Ontario.
Darcy Keith
Darcy Keith has been a business journalist since 1992 and joined the Report on Business in 2010 from Yahoo! Canada, where he was the senior editor overseeing its finance site.
Previously, he was the business editor for CanWest News Service and a senior correspondent for Knight-Ridder Financial News. He has worked as a reporter and editor in three major Canadian cities, as well as in New York and Hong Kong. His stories have appeared in major publications across Canada and the world.
Sonali Verma
Sonali Verma is digital editor at the Report on Business. She has worked as a reporter, editor and producer of business news at Reuters, CNBC and Bloomberg News since 1995. Before moving to Toronto, she worked in New Delhi, London, Hong Kong, Singapore and Manila.
David Parkinson
David Parkinson has been covering business and financial markets since 1990, and has been with The Globe and Mail since 2000. A Calgary native, he received a Southam Fellowship from the University of Toronto in 1999-2000, studying international political economics.
Jody White
Jody White is a web editor for Globe Investor. He previously worked as a senior editor at Canadian Business Online and has written for Maclean's, the National Post, and other national newspapers and magazines on topics from business to human rights to institutional investing.
Scott Adams
Scott Adams is the Executive Editor for Report On Business. He was previously the Managing Editor of Globe Investor. He has been a business journalist for more than 12 years and also worked as an associate analyst on Bay Street.
Ian McGugan
Ian McGugan has been writing about investing, economics and business for more than 20 years. He joined the Globe and Mail in 2010 and has been investment editor since September.
He has been executive editor of Canadian Business magazine and founding editor of MoneySense magazine. He has won three National Magazine Awards for his business and investing writing. He has also worked at the Financial Post and the Financial Times of Canada.
Martin Mittelstaedt
Martin Mittelstaedt has had a varied reporting career at the Globe and Mail, covering politics, the environment and business. He opened up the Globe's New York bureau for the Report on Business, and has also been on the banking and capital markets beats. He's written extensively on investing themes.
David Milstead
A business journalist since 1994, David Milstead began writing for The Globe and Mail in 2009. During eight years at the Rocky Mountain News in Denver, Colo., he individually or jointly won nine national awards from SABEW, the Society of American Business Editors and Writers. He has also worked at the Wall Street Journal. An Oberlin College graduate, he passed the Level I exam in the Chartered Financial Analyst program in December 2007.
