By Angela Harmantas
The TSX plunges, healthy eating generates higher revenues and a major energy company makes moves away from coal: here are three things we’re watching today:
Thanks to a major sell off in the Chinese stock market and another decline in oil prices, the TSX composite index posted a triple-digit loss on Monday– the biggest one-day drop since 2007. Over in China, the Shanghai share index also saw its biggest one-day decline in eight years, and the Dow, NASDAQ and S&P followed suit. And the bad news doesn’t stop there: oil fell to US$47.39 and the loonie lost 0.06 of a cent to close at 76.66 US. I have almost nothing to say about this seemingly constant flow of bad news other than, how much more can we take?
Here’s some better news: the parent company of Tim Hortons and Burger King in Canada, Restaurant Brands International Inc. (TSE:QSR), reported better-than-expected Q2 sales on Monday. In its third earnings report since acquiring Tim Hortons, Restaurant Brands’s revenues rose 12% to $1.04 billion, just beating analysts’ expectations of $1.01 billion. It looks like healthy options introduced to Tim Hortons and Burger King menus are to thank for the increase – a trend I’d like to see sustained.
In another sign of the times, Alberta’s TransAlta Corp. (TSE:TA) announced it had purchased two renewable energy projects in the United States, a 21 MW solar farm in Massachusetts and a 50 MW wind project in Minnesota. While TransAlta’s energy portfolio is largely weighted towards coal (which still comprises a significant portion of its generation capacity), it is a significant acquisition as the company has stated its desire to create a new TransAlta Renewables unit. We know that coal-fired generation is on its way out, so more investments into renewable energy can only be a good thing in the long term.
Have a comment or suggestion? I’d love to hear from you! Contact me at angela@smallcappower.com or @aharmantas.
