Here's a great mention from todays The Globe and Mail:
TSE paper and forestry index
Staff and wires.
Friday, July 16, 1999
5,250.13 points, up 77.39
If the stock market had an All Star game, paper and lumber stocks would dominate the starting lineup. The sector remains on fire and is now up 47.35 per cent year-to-date on the Toronto Stock Exchange. Yesterday, seven companies closed at or near their 52-week highs, including: Ainsworth Lumber Ltd., Canfor Corp., Domtar Inc., Donohue Inc., International Forest Products Ltd., Slocan Forest Products Ltd. and West Fraser Timber Co. Speculation the industry is on the verge of more consolidation continues to push the sector, sparked by hints earlier this week that Fletcher Challenge Canada Ltd. may be interested in acquiring Pacifica Papers Inc. But the real news is the strong earnings numbers, bolstered by strong housing demand in the United States. On Tuesday, Vancouver-based Slocan reported a second-quarter profit of $35.8-million or 93 cents a share, up from a loss of $10.7-million or 28 cents a share in the year-earlier quarter. "If you're a building products producer, this is nirvana right now," Mark Kennedy, a forest analyst at TD Securities in Toronto, told Bloomberg News. |
