Brockhouse Cooper

Archives: 2011 — Jul–Aug

High-yield debt's fall looking overdone
-National Post, August 23, 2011

"Pierre Lapointe, a global macro strategist at Brockhouse Cooper, said widening spreads from the credit markets are consistent with markets who fear slower growth, but given that investment-grade corporate bond yields have actually fallen as yields in the high yield segment have risen, he doesn't believe wider spreads are consistent with expectations of recession."

Earnings have never been harder to predict
-Globe & Mail, August 12, 2011

"Strategist Pierre Lapointe and financial economist Alex Bellefleur of Brockhouse Cooper say the statistical links between actual earnings and both past earnings and analysts’ estimates are weaker than they have been in more than a decade. They believe the lack of predictability contributes to the elevated risk premiums being built into equity markets – which help keep valuations at historically low levels."

Salvation in corporate earnings
-Financial Post, August 6, 2011

"Having deleveraged substantially and improved cash positions, the corporate sector also still has room to improve on profit margins, even with dramatic increases over the past two years, said Pierre Lapointe, a macro strategist at Brockhouse Cooper in Montreal."

These stocks refuse to follow the crowd
-Globe and Mail, July 28, 2011

"Mr. Lapointe and Mr. Bellefleur believe the high correlations relate to the “risk” trade that has dominated global financial markets in recent months."

The allure of the consistent share buyback
-Globe and Mail, July 26, 2011

"While it’s hard to argue with the value to any stock of a dividend increase – you’re putting more money directly in the hands of shareholders, increasing their total returns – the question of buybacks is a more complicated one, said Brockhouse Cooper strategist Pierre Lapointe and financial economist Alex Bellefleur."

Balancing risk in today's investing environment
-Globe and Mail, July 18, 2011

"The investment world is once again proving to be a complicated, messy, risky place for investors’ money. Other than under your mattress, is there anywhere safe – let alone profitable – to put your hard-earned dollars? In this month’s Virtual Water Cooler, Globe reporter David Parkinson chats via e-mail with a group of experts to consider the possibilities."

Why are market bears so sleepy?
-CNN Money, July 18, 2011

"According to research from Brockhouse Cooper, a Montreal-based brokerage firm, short interest on the New York Stock Exchange is just 3.4% of overall shares. That's about where this level was in December 2007. And it's off sharply from the peak of 4.9% during the height of the 2008-2009 bear market panic."

Emerging-Market View Favours Stocks Over Bonds: Chart of the Day
-Bloomberg, July 15, 2011

"Emerging-market stocks are more appealing than the debt of developing countries after their struggle to advance this year, according to Pierre Lapointe, Brockhouse & Cooper Inc.’s global strategist."

Rollover? Haircut? Greece faces ugly choices
-Globe and Mail, July 12, 2011

"There’s no magic trick to solving sovereign insolvency. At the end of the day, it always comes down to haircuts,” said Alex Bellefleur, financial economist at Brockhouse Cooper in Montreal."

Fears trigger equities exodus
-Financial Post, July 12, 2011

"Greece, Ireland and Portugal, you can make the case that it's a containable problem," said Alex Bellefleur, a financial economist at Brockhouse Cooper. "The Italian economy is very large, the Italian debt market is enormous and it's probably too big to bail out."

Best Currency Forecasters Say Dollar Slump Coming to an End
-Bloomberg, July 11, 2011

"Earnings growth is rebounding in the U.S., albeit at a slower pace. Companies in the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index are poised to boost income by 19 percent in 2011, including a 13 percent advance in the second quarter, according to analyst estimates compiled by Bloomberg. The gain will push profits back in line with their average increase of 6.9 percent over the last 51 years, data compiled by Brockhouse & Cooper Inc. and Bloomberg show."

Profits Climb to 51-Year Mean as S&P 500 P/E at Crisis Level
-Bloomberg Businessweek, July 11, 2011

"The last time S&P 500 profits exceeded their trend level, during the four years ended October 2008, the difference between earnings and the trend averaged 14.5 percent, according to Brockhouse. Should they overshoot by a similar margin this time, earnings may reach $126.80 a share by 2013, Brockhouse estimated. Analysts project $124.52 for that year, Bloomberg data show."

US stocks a bargain as profits keep chugging
-Financial Post, July 11, 2011

"Companies in the S&P 500 are poised to boost net income by 19% in 2011, including a 13% gain in the second quarter, according to analyst estimates compiled by Bloomberg. The gain will push profits back in line with their average increase of 6.9% over the last 51 years, data compiled by Brockhouse & Cooper Inc. and Bloomberg show. At the same time, the index is trading for 13.5 times projected 2011 earnings, 7.8% less than the average since the start of 2006."

CEOs maintain their bullish outlook
-Globe and Mail, July 11, 2011

"As economic recoveries go, the one under way in the United States has certainly been rocky. And yet, equities have more or less doubled in value over the past two years in most countries, say Pierre Lapointe and Alex Bellefleur of Brockhouse Cooper."

Eurozone members face tough choice
-Pretoria News, July 3, 2011

"Strategists at Brockhouse & Cooper, a Montreal-based brokerage, say funding Greece, Ireland and Portugal will amount to about 2 percent of the GDP in France and Germany this year, roughly the same as their growth rates".