Bank rally helps pull Toronto stocks higher
TORONTO (Reuters) - The Toronto Stock Exchange's main index
ended a volatile session higher on Thursday, as financials were
buoyed by Bank of Montreal's deal to restructure two
of its commercial paper trusts. The rally in the banking sector
helped the benchmark overcome earlier sharp declines, as it was
dragged down by resource issues that were shaken by retreating
commodity prices.
Bank of Montreal stock rises on ABCP restructuring
TORONTO (Reuters) - Bank of Montreal's deal to
restructure two of its commercial paper trusts has removed some
of the bank's near-term problems and eased the likelihood that
it will have to issue equity, a concern that has weighed on its
stock, analysts said on Thursday. Late on Wednesday, BMO said
key counterparties and investors had agreed to restructure two
asset-backed commercial paper trusts, known as Apex and Sitka,
that the bank had sponsored. The ABCP trusts had failed to
place new paper last month and were unable to meet collateral
calls.
TransCanada eyes C$5 billion Alberta hydro project
CALGARY, Alberta (Reuters) - TransCanada Corp is
mulling development of a C$5 billion ($4.9 billion)
hydroelectric project on the Slave River in the remote reaches
of northern Alberta, Alex Pourbaix, president of the power and
pipeline company's energy division, said on Thursday. The
company said it is in the early stages of planning for a
run-of-the river hydro project on the Slave, an undeveloped
river that carries more that two-thirds of Alberta's water flow
north to Great Slave Lake in the Northwest Territories.
Russia's Severstal buys Sparrows Point mill
MOSCOW (Reuters) - Severstal , Russia's largest
steel maker, will expand its U.S. presence with the $810
million acquisition of the Sparrows Point mill in Maryland,
which ArcelorMittal is selling for antitrust reasons.
Severstal said on Friday it expected to close the all-cash deal
to buy the former Bethlehem Steel unit in the second quarter of
2008. The capacity addition is equivalent to about 20 percent
of the company's crude steel output last year.
Canada appeals court backs Pfizer Lipitor patent
NEW YORK (Reuters) - A Canadian appeals court has blocked
the sale of a generic form of Pfizer Inc's top-selling
cholesterol fighter, Lipitor, by India's Ranbaxy Laboratories
Ltd , overturning a lower court ruling, Pfizer said on
Thursday. The Federal Court of Appeal of Canada issued an order
prohibiting approval of Ranbaxy's product in Canada until a
Pfizer patent expires in July 2010, the company said.
Canada dollar hit by weak commodities, strong US$
TORONTO (Reuters) - The Canadian dollar fell nearly 1
percent against a broadly stronger U.S. dollar on Thursday,
heading into the Easter holiday weekend, as influential
commodity prices continued to slide. Domestic bond prices were
mixed as hedge funds were forced to deleverage themselves to
some extent due to tight credit conditions.
Commodities tumble as investors cash out
CHICAGO (Reuters) - From gold to oil to grains, commodities
tumbled on Thursday in a wave of selling as investors cashed
out, taking profits at near-record prices and reducing risk
from positions built on borrowed money. The decline was the
biggest ever as measured by the Reuters/Jefferies CRB
commodities index <.CRB> since its inception 50 years ago. The
index, which includes crude oil, gold, wheat, cattle and corn,
fell 8.4 percent on the day.
Court orders Starbucks pay workers $106 million: lawyer
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - A San Diego Superior Court Judge
ordered coffee chain Starbucks to pay $87 million plus
interest to workers who say that their tips unfairly had been
shared with supervisors. David Lowe, lawyer for the workers, on
Thursday said the total including interest amounted to some
$106 million.
Google's wireless-auction loss called possible win
SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Google Inc's losing bid
for coveted wireless airwaves may prove a victory for the Web
search leader as it still stands to get access to mobile
networks without spending tens of billions of dollars to build
one, analysts said on Thursday. Wall Street analysts said the
Silicon Valley Internet search and advertising giant has
succeeded in forcing open network requirements upon winning
bidder Verizon Communications via Google's apparent strategy of
"bidding to lose."
Canadian ABCP investors to get their say April 25
TORONTO (Reuters) - Investors will be asked to vote on the
restructuring of Canada's C$32 billion ($31.3 billion) non-bank
asset-backed commercial paper market on April 25 in Toronto,
according to an information statement released on Thursday. The
385-page document said that noteholders who owned the affected
ABCP as of February 29 will each receive one vote on the plan,
which intends to replace the frozen notes of 20 trusts that
seized up last August with new, longer-term floating rate
notes.
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