The Most Valuable Company in Canada is a Tech Company

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As we head into the first trading day for 2021 I was reviewing the top companies in Canada and what I found surprised me. The Most Valuable Company in Canada based on Market Capitalization is the e-Commerce platform provider Shopify Inc(SHOP). Unlike the US, the tech industry is tiny in Canada and not many tech Canadian companies are known as world leaders. Usually banking giant Royal Bank of Canada (RY) held the top rank in market capitalization. So Shopify overtaking RBC is indeed surprising.

Shopify ended 2020 with a stunning market cap of over $137.0 billion (in USD). The firm is one of the winners in the pandemic as more consumers went online for shopping. As with other tech giants, the P/E ratio is very high at 699 per Yahoo Finance.

Compared to Shopify, RBC’s market cap stood at $116.0 billion and TD Bank (TD) ranked third with $102.0 billion. Of the top 10 companies by market cap, athletic apparel retailer Lululemon Athletica Inc.(LULU) is another notable company with a market cap over $45.0 billion.

The following are a few fun facts from an article at BNN Bloomberg:

  • The last company to overtake RBC was the infamous Valeant Pharmaceuticals in 2015. Later it plunged as short sellers uncovered it to a be fraud of epic proportions.
  • Before that Research in Motion Corp, the maker of Blackberry became the most valuable firm in 2007 only to be completely overtaken by Apple(AAPL) and other smartphone makers.
  • Before RIM, Nortel Networks Corp was the biggest Canadian firm during the dot com era in 2000. When the dot com bubble popped Nortel plunged as well and field for bankruptcy in 2009.

Here is a comparison of Shopify and RBC from another article at BNN Bloomberg:

Note: The figures noted above are from May, 2020

Source: Shopify displaces RBC to become Canada’s most valuable company, BNN Bloomberg, May 6, 2020

It remains to be seem if third time can be a charm for Canada. Or like RIM and Nortel before Shopify will also end up losing the top rank in the future.

Disclosure: Long RY, TD

New York Stock Exchange to Delist Three Chinese Telecom Companies

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The New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) will delist the below three Chinese Telecom Companies according a Bloomberg news report:

  1. China Mobile (CHL)
  2. China Telecom (CHA)
  3. China Unicom (Hong Kong) Limited (CHU)

The stocks will be delisted between January 7 and 11. Once delisted these stocks may move to the OTC markets. However it remains to be seen if that they trade on the OTC. If you own any of these stocks you have have to consider your next options. Usually when ADRs get delisted from an exchange they may trade on the OTC markets. In this case, that may or may not happen. You can refer to the below post for more details:

Below is a brief excerpt from the report:

The New York Stock Exchange said it will delist three Chinese companies to comply with a US executive order that imposed restrictions on companies that were identified as affiliated with the Chinese military.

China Mobile, China Telecom and China Unicom Hong Kong will be delisted between January 7 and January 11, and proceedings to delist them have started, according to a statement by the exchange.

Source: New York Stock Exchange to delist Chinese telco giants on US executive order, SCMP

From an article at the WSJ:

The New York Stock Exchange will delist China’s three large telecommunication carriers, following a U.S. government order barring Americans from investing in firms it says help the Chinese military.

This will result in China Mobile Ltd. —which is among the most valuable of China’s listed state-owned enterprises—being kicked off the Big Board after more than two decades, following the privatization of its predecessor in 1997.

NYSE said, at the latest, that it would suspend trading in securities issued by China Mobile, China Telecom Corp.  and China Unicom Hong Kong Ltd. at 4 a.m. on Jan. 11. It will act four days sooner if it doesn’t get confirmation from the Depository Trust & Clearing Corp. that the clearinghouse will settle trades made on Jan. 7 and Jan. 8.

NYSE said it would also halt trading in closed-end funds and in exchange-traded products listed on its NYSE Arca exchange if they hold banned stocks.

On Friday, China Unicom said it will release a statement in due course. China Mobile and China Telecom didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment.

An executive order signed by President Trump in November will block Americans from investing in a list of companies the U.S. government says supply and support China’s military, intelligence and security services. The ban starts on Jan. 11 and investors have until November to divest their holdings.

Source: NYSE to Delist China’s Major Telecommunications Operators, WSJ

Disclosure: No Positions

Update #1 (Jan 5, 2021):

NYSE scrapped its plan to delist the above three telecom firms according to a report in the WSJ. So investors need not  have to worry about delisting.

Update #2 (Jan 5, 2021):

Related article: What the Delisting of Chinese ADRs Means for Investors, WSJ:

Price of a Disneyworld Ticket – Actual Price vs. 1971 Price Adjusted for Inflation: Chart

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Pricing power is one key ingredient for successful companies. Firms that are able to raise prices on a consistent basis can enjoy continued growth in profits. One company that has successfully employed this strategy over many decades and continues to do is Walt Disney Co(DIS). The following chart shows the magic ingredient of pricing power that Disney has applied to the price of a single ticket to its Disney World theme park. Another American giant that has astonishing pricing power over its loyal customers is Starbuck(SBUX).

Click to enlarge

Source: Giles Parkinson, Portfolio Manager, Aviva Investors via Investment Office

The 1-Day “Standard Theme Park Ticket” in 2020 was $159.00 according to Disney’s site.

Disclosure: No Positions

10 Calorie Heavy Foods and Time To Burnoff The Calories

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Some of the popular foods are heavy in calories. For example, foods like Pizza, Sandwich, Cinnamon Roll, etc. are high calories and accordingly it takes more time in physical activity to burn them off. Even sugary drinks have high calories.

The following chart shows 10 popular foods and the time it takes to burn off the calories:

Click to enlarge

Source: The Royal Society for Public Health