Watch list
The big news Wednesday was Altice USA offering to buy Cogeco Communications for $10.3 billion cash (US$7.8 billion), but would sell Cogeco’s Canadian assets to Rogers. However, the family that controls Cogeco is rejecting this hostile bid. Cogeco soared 16.84% on the news while Altice rose 3.54% and Rogers gained 4.69%.
Meanwhile, the latest data shows that Canada’s labour productivity grew at a record 9.8% in Q2. The news of both lifted the TSX by 0.32%. Alimentation Couche-Tard jumped 7.48% after reporting upbeat results. In contrast, Ballard Power Systems was the biggest loser, shedding 6.1%. Though stelcos and tech propelled the Toronto index, energy weighed it down. The price of both WTI and WCS shed 2.5%.
On Wall Street, the rally continued as the S&P and Nasdaq made new record closes. In fact, the Nasdaq climbed 0.98% and broke 12,000 for the first time as names like Facebook rose 2.43% (closing above $300 again) and Western Digital increased 4.07%. However, juggernauts Tesla and Apple closed -5.83% and -2.67% as investors gave back some recent mammoth gains. The Dow didn’t fare too badly, up 1.59% to close less than 2% from its all-time high.
📱 COGECO Inc +16.84%
📺 Altice +3.54%
📱 Rogers Communications (B) +4.69%
🏪 Alimentation Couche-Tard (A) +7.48%
🔋 Ballard Power Systems -6.1%
🕵️♂️ Facebook +2.43%
💾 Western Digital +4.07%
🚗 Tesla Motors Inc -5.83%
🍎 Apple -2.67%
