The big 50
Successfully defending its 2007 title, Potash Corp. of Saskatchewan Inc. once again tops the list of Canada's 50 largest stocks with a 1-year return of 169.3%, besting its 2007 result of 107%. No surprise: the price of potash, the raw material for potassium-based fertilizers, has been on a tear. Still, the average return of this mighty group was just 11.6% (compared to 14.1% last year). As well, only 26 stocks made gains (compared to 38 last year), 18 of them double-digit or better. That poor showing underscores the difficult economic conditions of the 12 months ended April 4, 2008.
The Top 50 companies (measured by market capitalization) span 16 industries, from chemicals and capital markets to food and staples retailing and real estate. Fittingly, the most companies (14) are in the high-flying oil and gas sector. Seven of them are lucrative metals and mining companies, 6 are commercial banks and 5 are insurance firms.
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The medium 150
Comparisons can take the shine off a winning performance. Although this
Group's average 1-year return (as of April 4) of 17.9% outperformed its large- and
small-cap colleagues, it significantly lags last year's result of 26.3%. Only 78 of the 150 mid-cap stocks made gains (compared to 103 in 2007) and of those, only 55 were double-digit or better (compared to 87 in 2007). A newcomer to the Investor 500, Timminco Ltd., which specializes in the production and marketing of lightweight metals, topped this year's list with an incredible return of 1,294.2% - 4 times that of its nearest rival.
Of the 39 industries spanning this group, from food products and software to electrical utilities and real estate, the dominant one is oil, gas and consumable fuels, with 34 companies listed. Metals and mining follows with 25.
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The small 300
No doubt about it, volatility is the name of the game for small caps. This group's average one-year return (as of April 4, 2008) was just 11.8%, far off last year's gain of 41%. Of the 300 stocks in this category, only 131 enjoyed a positive return (compared to 197 in 2007). Another 99 had double-digit gains, 18% less than last year's 121. But there's always a big winner. This year it's Calgary-based Grande Cache Coal Corp., whose strong sales led to an energetic gain of 1,000%. The biggest loser: Montreal-based
paper and forest products company Tembec Inc., with a negative return of -89.1%. Tembec got hammered by the housing slump, high dollar and crushing debt. Volatile enough for you?
There are 47 industries in this group, everything from airlines and chemicals to
biotechnology and machinery. The best-represented industries are metals and mining
(78 companies); and oil, gas and consumable fuels (54).
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