Canadian Shares Slip

Canadian Shares Slip

Wednesday, February 9, 2005, 10:15 AM EST: (Thomson Financial Corporate Group): Bay Street is under mild selling pressure this morning, mostly due to weakness from the gold, material and healthcare sectors. In corporate headlines, Open Text posted stronger quarterly results and provided an upbeat full year outlook. Meanwhile, in the U.S., Dow member Hewlett-Packard is in the spotlight, after its chairman and CEO resigned. Also, Cisco's quarterly results were somewhat disappointing.

* The S&P/Toronto Stock Exchange Composite Index is falling 12.94 points,
or 0.14%.

* Yesterday, the S&P/Toronto Stock Exchange Composite Index rose 20.79
points, or 0.22%.

* Technology shares are mildly higher this morning. Open Text posted
second-quarter profits of US$0.30 a share on an adjusted basis, up from
last year's US$0.20 a share, and ahead of projections of US$0.27 a
share. Strong demand for its integrated ECM product suite bolstered
results. The firm sees third-quarter EPS of US$0.24 to US$0.28 and
full-year EPS of US$1.10 to US$1.30, versus Street views of US$0.30 and
US$1.04, respectively. Open Text also said that its chief executive
officer is stepping down as CEO, but will remain as chairman. The firm's
president will assume the CEO title. Subsequently, UBS upgraded the firm
to "buy" from "neutral."

* Topping headlines south of the border, Hewlett-Packard announced that
Chairman and Chief Executive Carly Fiorina has resigned, effective
immediately. "While I regret the board and I have differences about how
to execute HP's strategy, I respect their decision," Fiorina said. CFO
Robert P. Wayman will assume her responsibilities, while the board
searches for a new CEO.

* Also, Cisco Systems reported second-quarter earnings of US$0.22 a share,
up from last year's US$0.18 a share, and in line with Thomson First
Call's estimates. Sales rose to US$6.06 billion from US$5.40 billion,
below the Street view of US$6.125 billion.

* Meanwhile, CIBC, National Bank, Desjardins and Canaccord downgraded
and/or lowered their price targets on Alcan. That firm posted lower
quarterly results yesterday.

* Oil prices are lower ahead of weekly U.S. inventory data, due out at
10:30 AM EST. Meanwhile, gold shares and the yellow metal are falling in
the face of greenback strength versus the euro. Trading is expected to
be somewhat light ahead of the U.S. trade deficit report, scheduled for
release tomorrow.

* Turning to the cyclical group, Sears Canada said that its board declared
a quarterly dividend of C$0.06 a share payable on March 15 to
shareholders of record on February 15. Also, CIBC upgraded the firm to
"sector outperform" from "sector underperform" and lifted its price
target to C$25 from C$17.

* In staple reports, Molson Inc. said that its third-quarter profit
declined to C$0.14 a share from C$0.34 a share a year earlier. Net sales
were nearly unchanged at C$623.2 million.

* Elsewhere, Toronto-Dominion Bank is potentially working with a
U.S.-based buyout firm to construct a bid for Stelco Inc., according to
Globe and Mail sources. Several other firms are also conducting due
diligence in order to determine whether to top a refinancing plan from
Deutsche Bank.

* In U.S. economic reports, wholesale inventories edged up 0.4% to a
seasonally adjusted US$328.27 billion in December, after a revised 1.2%
advance in November. Wholesales sales increased by 0.9% in December to a
seasonally adjusted US$286.84 billion, following a revised 0.8% advance
in November.

-- Linda.Shea@thomson.com; Thomson Financial Corporate Group



This is Thomson Financial Corporate Group's Canadian Commentary, which is updated twice daily. The information herein is believed to be true and accurate, we take no responsibility for inaccurate information and reserve the right to update our reports. For more financial information at your fingertips, please visit http://www.irchannel.com/. If you have any questions please e-mail James Sang at james.sang@tfn.com or call 646.822.6233. For more information about Thomson Financial visit us on-line at http://www.thomsonfinancial.com/.

PRNewswire - Feb. 9


Source: Thomson Financial Corporate Group

Web site: http://www.thomsonfinancial.com/
http://www.irchannel.com/


-------
Profile: intent