Posts for Ticker ‘CNI’

Ten Canadian Companies With Management Compensation Issues

welchThe Corporate Library’s latest annual review of corporate governance  at TSX 60 companies in Canada turned up eleven which present high or very high concerns with regard to CEO compensation:

Kinross Gold Corporation (NYSE:KGC)
EnCana Corporation  (NYSE:ECA)
TransCanada Corporation  (NYSE:TRP)
Canadian National Railway Company  (NYSE:CNI)
BCE Inc.   (NYSE:BCI)
Royal Bank of Canada   (NYSE:RY)
Thomson Reuters Corporation  (NYSE:TRI)
Husky Energy Inc.  
Shoppers Drug Mart Corporation  
Potash Corporation of Saskatchewan Inc.   (NYSE:POT)
Rogers Communications Inc.  (NYSE:RCI)

US companies aren’t the only ones with pay issues.

Douglas A. McIntyre

Posted on: October 23, 2009 – 6:32 am in Compensation, , , , , , , , ,

Bill Gates Top Holdings (ABT, AN, BRK-A, BP, CNI, CAT, KO, COST, CCI, EK, XOM, FMX, JNJ, MCD, OTTR, RSG, SGP, WMT, WMI)

bill-gates-imageWe compiled a list of the equity holdings of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and for Bill Gates’ personal investment vehicle Cascade Investment.  These are as of December 31, 2008 and we have taken out the positions listed as under $50 million to make this list easier to read.  This list also excludes the massive holdings in Microsoft (MSFT).
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Posted on: February 17, 2009 – 8:48 am in Activist Investor, Insider Activity, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Top Pre-Market Analyst Downgrades (AINV, BHI, CNI, RDEN, KSU, PALM, RL, RRGB, SII, TER)

These are some of the top pre-market analyst downgrades on Wall Street this Tuesday morning:

  • Apollo Investment (AINV) Cut to Neutral at JPMorgan.
  • Baker Hughes (BHI) Cut to Underweight at Morgan Stanley.
  • Canadian National Railway (CNI) Cut to Neutral at Goldman Sachs.
  • Elizabeth Arden, Inc. (RDEN) Cut to Market Perform at Wachovia.
  • Kansas City Southern (KSU) Cut to Neutral at JPMorgan.
  • Palm (PALM) Cut to Neutral at JPMorgan.
  • Polo Ralph Lauren (RL) Cut to Sell at Goldman Sachs.
  • Red Robin Gourmet (RRGB) Cut to Equal Weight at Morgan Stanley.
  • Smith International (SII) Cut to Equal Weight at Morgan Stanley.
  • Teradyne (TER) Cut to Perform at Oppenheimer.

Jon C. Ogg
January 20, 2009

Posted on: January 20, 2009 – 7:51 am in Analyst Calls, , , , , , , , , ,

Bill Gates & Cascade New Stock Holdings (AN, BRK-A, CNI, KOF, FSCI, FMX, GBL, TV, OTTR, PCX, LGBT, PNM, RSG, SIX, BEE)

These are the new holdings (sans ETF and sans derivatives) for Bill Gates’ CASDADE INVESTMENT LLC As of September 30, 2008:

  • AUTONATION (NYSE: AN)                                5,263,588
  • BERKSHIRE HATHAWAY (NYSE: BRK-A)         4,050
  • CANADIAN NATL RY (NYSE: CNI)                     33,859,544
  • COCA COLA FEMSA S A B (NYSE: KOF)         857,128
  • FISHER COMMUNICATIONS (NASDAQ: FSCI)  455,700
  • FOMENTO ECONOMICO (NYSE: FMX)             20,966,795
  • GAMCO INVESTORS (NYSE: GBL)                  90,845
  • GRUPO TELEVISA SA (NYSE: TV)                  19,680,400
  • OTTER TAIL (NASDAQ: OTTR)                         2,556,499
  • PATRIOT COAL (NYSE: PCX)                          2,408,653
  • PLANETOUT (NASDAQ: LGBT)                        521,739
  • PNM RESOURCES (NYSE: PNM)                    7,019,550
  • REPUBLIC SERVICES (NYSE: RSG)               34,873,836
  • SIX FLAGS (NYSE: SIX)                                   10,210,600
  • STRATEGIC HOTELS & RESORT (NYSE: BEE) 4,190,000

You can join our open email distribution list to hear about holdings of Warren Buffett, Bill Gates, IPO’s, secondary offerings, private placements, merger, special situations, rumors, and more.

Jon C. Ogg
November 14, 2008

Posted on: November 14, 2008 – 4:35 pm in Activist Investor, Insider Activity, , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Bill Gates: Now Garbage Man & Gringo Investor (MSFT, CNI, TV, FMX, RSG, WMI, AW)

Bill_gates_image_2Tonight we received the quarterly filings for Cascade Investment LLC, which shows the personal investments of Bill Gates.  While the investment vehicle listed many unique holdings out there that were much the same as before, there are much more interesting things to look at besides his now greatly-diminished role at Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT).  Cascade’s now holds 33.895 million shares of Canadian National Railways Co. (NYSE: CNI) with a stake worth some $1.627 Billion as of June 30, 2008.  many of his other holdings look the same as before which you can see in this filing versus what we noted last quarter.

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Posted on: August 14, 2008 – 10:27 pm in Activist Investor, Insider Activity, Mergers and Buy Outs, , , , , , ,

Bill Gates Personal Stock Holdings (MSFT, CNI, FSCI, OTTR, LGBT, PNM, RSG, SIX, FMX, TV, BRK.A)

Below are most of the equity holdings listed for Bill Gates’ own Cascade Investment, L.L.C. as of December 31, 2007.  These were disclosed in a filing late in the week.  Keep in mind that these are not tied at all to Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) and these also do not include the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation either.  This also does not include any ETF holdings.  These are not quite all of his holdings inside of Cascade, but these are the bulk of the holdings:

Company (Ticker)                                                  Value                 Shares
Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE: BRK-A)             $573,480,000       4,050
Canadian National Rail (NYSE: CNI)           $1,589,028,000     33,859,544
Fisher Communications (NASDAQ: FSCI)  $17,298,000          455,700
Fomento Econmico Mexicano (NYSE: FMX)$412,617,000        10,810,000
Grupo Televisa S.A. (NYSE: TV)                      $467,803,000       19,680,400
Otter Tail Corp. (NASDAQ: OTTR)                  $88,455,000          2,556,499
PlanetOut Inc. (NASDAQ: LGBT)                    $3,240,000             521,739
PNM Resources Inc. (NYSE: PNM)               $150,569,000         7,019,550
Republic Services Inc. (NYSE: RSG)            $852,483,000         27,192,451
Six Flags, Inc. (NYSE: SIX)                              $20,728,000           10,210,600

If you want to see Mr. Gates’ new best friend’s holdings (that would be Warren Buffett) you can see all of those here for the same period.

Or you can see Carl Icahn’s top equity holdings as well.

Jon C. Ogg
February 16, 2008

Posted on: February 16, 2008 – 7:41 am in Insider Activity, , , , , , , , , , ,

Union Pacific Warning, Warren Buffett Can Buy Rails Cheaper (UNP, CSX, BNI, NSC, CNI, BRK/A)

Union Pacific Corp. (NYSE:UNP) has just lowered earnings guidance for its fourth quarter 2007.  It said earnings will be reduced by approximately $0.20 per diluted share.  This warning is two-fold:

  • primarily reflects the rapidly rising diesel fuel costs and the corresponding lag in fuel surcharge recoveries;
  • it has been experiencing softer than anticipated volumes in recent weeks, which are largely related to recent weather events.

Union Pacific is now forecasting fourth quarter earnings in a range of $1.70 to $1.80 per diluted share, down from its prior forecast of $1.90 to $2.00 per diluted share. Full year 2007 earnings expectations are also impacted and are now in the range of $6.76 to $6.86 per diluted share.  UNP is quick to point that this represents more than 14% increase versus 2006 earnings of $5.91 per share.

Fourth quarter 2007 diesel fuel costs should average roughly $2.60 per gallon. This would be a 34% increase from last year’s fourth quarter level. It stated that diesel fuel costs averaged $2.43 per gallon in the month of October, increased to an average of $2.66 per gallon in November and are expected to be over $2.70 per gallon in December.  Fuel costs for the fourth quarter are now expected to be over $200 million higher than the fourth quarter a year ago. In November and December alone, fuel costs will be approximately $65 million higher than originally anticipated.

UNP notes that the fuel surcharges on these higher costs will not be recovered until 2008 as there is roughly a two month lag in the Company’s fuel surcharge programs between diesel fuel expense and surcharge recovery.  Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE: BRK/A) had been an aggressive railroad buyer in recent filings although it appears that he had lightened up on these in the recent notes as well. If he is still interested in buying railroad stocks they just got cheaper.

UNP shares are down over 5% at $121.98, down from a $129.43 close on Tuesday, and it has a 52-week trading range of $89.58 to $137.56.  As Union Pacific is the largest of the rails and a harbinger for transportation, you can see this impacting key rail stocks:

  • Burlington Northern Santa Fe C (NYSE: BNI) shares are down almost 2.5% at $81.70 with 52-week trading range $71.51 to $95.47.
  • Canadian National Railway Comp (NYSE: CNI) shares are down 1.4% at $47.65 with a 52-week trading range $41.57 to $58.49.
  • Norfolk Southern Corp. (NYSE: NSC) shares are down almost 3% at $48.55 with a 52-week trading range $45.38 to $59.77.
  • CSX Corp. (NYSE: CSX) shares are down almost 2% at $42.85 with a 52-week trading range $33.50 to $51.88.

It’s pretty hard to imagine that trucking stocks will have that great of an open.  They hog diesel fuel and gasoline too.

Jon C. Ogg
December 19, 2007

Posted on: December 19, 2007 – 9:29 am in Buffett, Transports, , , , , ,

Earlybird Analyst Calls (June 13, 2007)

AL cut to Peer Perform at Bear Stearns.
ATV started as Outperform at CIBC.
BBI raised to Buy at Citigroup.
BT raised to Outperform at Bear Stearns.
CEVA started as Outperform at CIBC.
CNI cut to Peer Perform at Bear Stearns.
CRA started as Underperform at JMP.
CSAR raised to Neutral at UBS.
DF cut to Neutral at JPMorgan.
ECA started as Outperform at CIBC.
NGLS cut to Mkt Perform at Wachovia.
NOK started as Overweight at JPMorgan.
OPTN cut to Neutral at UBS.
PSD started as Outperform at R.W.Baird.
SAPE raised to Outperform at RBC.
TMX cut to Hold at Citigroup.
VDSI raised to Outperform at FBR.
VRNT raised to Buy at Deutsche Bank.
WCC raised to Buy at UBS.

Jon C. Ogg
June 13, 2007

Jon Ogg can be reached at jonogg@247wallst.com; he does not own securities in the companies he covers.

Posted on: June 13, 2007 – 6:18 am in Analyst Calls, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Railroads: Short Sellers Versus Buffett & Gates (UNP, NSC, CP, BNI, CNI, CSX, KSU)

Since Warren Buffett and Bill Gates, plus many others now, have gone after more railroad holdings, we thought it would be interesting to see how short sellers are acting in the names.  Supposedly you can now make money betting against Warren Buffett these days, but that all depends on YOUR timing versus HIS.  If you think that Bill Gates’ Cascade investment vehicle doesn’t have some foresight into issues 3 to 6 months ahead of time, well I won’t say it.  So here is how the short selling looks in the railroads from April to May

STOCK (Ticker)                MAY07    APR07    Change
Union Pacific (UNP)        4.41M     3.91M      12.8%
Burlington North (BNI)    6.19M      5.8M         6.1%   
Canadian Nat’l (CNI)        1.79M    1.40M      28.2%
CSX Corp. (CSX)              29.27M   27.97M    4.6%
Canadian Pac. (CP)         1.30M    1.06M        22.2%

lower short interest….

Norfolk Southern (NSC)    5.47M    7.93M    -31%
Kansas City So. (KSU)      5.30M    6.43M    -17.6%

NSC was Buffett’s top holding in the sector, and CNI was Gates’ top holding in the rails.  Both BNI and UNP were Buffett’s other holdings in the sector.

Jon C. Ogg
May 22, 2007

Jon Ogg can be reached at jonogg@247wallst.com; he does not own securities in the companies he covers.

Posted on: May 22, 2007 – 1:30 pm in Short Interest, Transports, , , , , , ,

Bill Gates & Cascade Holdings

These are the holdings of Cascade Investment Management, L.L.C. as of March 31, 2007.  For those that do not recognize the name "Cascade," that is Bill Gates own private investment vehicle he uses for outside unrelated and passive investments for his own money that is not tied to Microsoft operations.  Here are the holdings as of March 31 per the SEC FILING:

Stock                                                                                $$Value            Shares
BERKSHIRE HATHAWAY (BRK-A)        $441,410       4,050                
CANADIAN NAT. Rail (CNI-NYSE)        $1,387,530      31,434,745            
FISHER COMMUN. (FSCI-NASDAQ)    $22,147         455,700   
FOUR SEASONS HOTEL (FS-NYSE)   $57,483         715,850   
GRUPO TELEVISA SA (TV-NYSE)         $579,288      19,439,200 
OTTER TAIL CORP (OTTR-NASDAQ)   $87,535       2,556,499   
PNM RES INC  (PNM-NYSE)                   $210,581       6,519,550
REPUBLIC SVCS INC (RSG-NYSE)     $756,494      27,192,451 
SIX FLAGS INC  (PKS-NYSE)                  $61,366      10,210,600
WESTERN ASSET
CLAYMORE US TR                                    $26,425       2,270,200   
WESTERN ASSET/CLYMRE
US TR INF (WIA-NYSE)                             $48,872       4,113,800 

Jon C. Ogg
May 15, 2007

Jon Ogg can be reached at jonogg@247wallst.com; he does not own securities in the companies he covers.

Posted on: May 15, 2007 – 4:42 pm in Uncategorized, , , , , , , , , ,