When safe starts to look sexy
OTTAWA (Reuters) - Safe-haven investments are suddenly sexy as shell-shocked investors look for protection from market turmoil, but a handful of stocks may actually benefit from the turbulence, strategists say. While a dramatic U.S. plan to tackle toxic debt and curb short-selling lifted spirits and markets on Friday, nerves remain rattled after the Toronto Stock Exchange's main index dipped briefly into bear market territory this week.
U.S. readies massive toxic-debt plan
NEW YORK (Reuters) - The government is preparing a sweeping bailout to mop up hundreds of billions of dollars in toxic mortgage debt, after curbing short-selling and guaranteeing money-market mutual funds in an effort to bring stability to the financial markets. The moves capped a week in which financial markets faced their most serious confluence of crises since the Great Depression in the 1930s and threatened national economies and the worldwide banking system.
U.S. launches all-out attack on credit crisis
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States surged into action on Friday to launch an all-out attack against the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression, readying a plan to tap hundreds of billions of dollars in taxpayer funds to buy up toxic mortgage-related debt. Capping a week that has reshaped Wall Street, Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson urged Congress to quickly agree on a program for huge purchases of bad debts held by banks and other financial institutions.
TSX surges on financial rescue plans
TORONTO (Reuters) - The Toronto Stock Exchange's main index soared to its biggest percentage gain since 1987 on Friday, as a series of U.S.-led moves to shore up the global financial system sparked a resource-led rally across all sectors. The second-straight day of strong gains for the index came as global markets rallied on the U.S. plan to take over hundreds of billions of dollars worth of toxic mortgage debt, and slap a temporary ban on short-selling.
Canadian regulator places ban on short-selling
TORONTO (Reuters) - Canada's largest provincial securities watchdog said late on Friday that it will follow other international authorities with a temporary ban on short-selling certain financial stocks. The Ontario Securities Commission said the ban, coming on the heels of similar orders in the United States, Britain and other countries, will be in effect until October 3.
Canada's top court shuts door on ABCP appeal
TORONTO/OTTAWA (Reuters) - The Supreme Court of Canada declined on Friday to hear a legal challenge to a proposed restructuring of the country's nonbank asset-backed commercial paper market, ending months of uncertainty and clearing the way for an unprecedented overhaul to go ahead. As usual, the court gave no reasons for its decision.
Flaherty welcomes top court ABCP ruling
OTTAWA (Reuters) - Canadian Finance Minister Jim Flaherty welcomed the Supreme Court's decision on Friday to not hear a legal challenge to a proposed restructuring of the country's non-bank asset-backed commercial paper market. "I am pleased that the Pan-Canadian Investors Committee plan for restructuring asset-backed commercial paper cleared its final legal hurdle this afternoon with the Supreme Court of Canada's decision," Flaherty said in a statement.
Oil posts biggest 3-day gain since 1998
NEW YORK/LONDON (Reuters) - Oil prices rose almost 7 percent on Friday to cap their biggest three-day rally in a decade on expectations a sweeping U.S. government bailout plan would boost liquidity across the battered financial markets. U.S. crude jumped $6.67 to settle at $104.55 a barrel, bringing gains since Wednesday to 14.7 percent -- biggest three-day surge since December 1998, when the United States ramped up pressure on Iraq to allow arms inspections. London Brent rose $4.42 to $99.61.
Canada strike not lifting potash prices: analysts
WINNIPEG, Manitoba (Reuters) - Potash warehouses are almost
empty amid strong demand for fertilizer, but a strike at three
Canadian mines, which account for about 6 percent of world
production, has not raised prices for the crop nutrient,
analysts said. Even if the strike continues for a couple of
months at the mines owned by Potash Corp of Saskatchewan
Canadian banks better placed than U.S. banks: Dundee analyst
(Reuters) - Canadian banks are in a better position than their U.S. counterparts, according to a Dundee Capital Markets analyst who sees little being done to address housing prices in the U.S. government's rescue plans for the financial sector. U.S. banks still remain capital constrained and are unable to lend, analyst John Aiken wrote in a note to clients.
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