Formerly giant company, available for a ‘steel.’ Sorry.
There was a time when, if you wanted to throw out an example of a ‘can’t lose’ investment opportunity, you’d say something was ‘safer than US Steel.’ (
NYSE:X,
Forum)
In fact, it was so big, for so long, that it has a one-letter ticker symbol. You know, like Ford (
NYSE:F,
Forum) and Citigroup (
NYSE:C,
Forum) and Kellogg (
NYSE:K,
Forum) and Visa (
NYSE:V,
Forum).
Today, US Steel Canada is starting a process designed to sell its assets as it rolls through creditor protection. Coke ovens, furnaces, and a host of iron making and finishing equipment are up for offer, which will probably end up as neo modernist décor for a neo-hipster fusion sushi restaurant in Gastown or Oakville.
There’s also just under 3000 hectares of land in Ontario on offer, which may actually be worth some coin, once you get all the smelting detritus off it.
Of course, if you wanted to take it all and, you know, actually make steel again, the properties can churn out around 2.5 million tons annually. And you get 2000 workers into the bargain, which will look nice as a mid-century modern art installation at the back of the sushi place.
But nobody wants to make steel anymore, nor pay 2000 employees to do so, which is why the company is operating under protection.
Alphabet is the alpha dog
Google parent company Alphabet (
NASDAQ:GOOG,
Forum) just shoved past the wave-losing former top dog Apple (
NASDAQ:AAPL,
Forum) as the most valuable business on the planet, according to earnings reports just released.
While Apple is still ridiculous, sitting on a $538 billion valuation (approximately the GDP of Belgium), Google would cost you $571 billion (approximately the GDP of Sweden).
In case you were wondering, Canada’s GDP is three Googles, while the entire population of the nation of Madagascar would have to pool their wages for fifty years to buy a Google.
GDP math is fun!
The secret to Google’s success is they’ve actually decided to rein in spending a little, hiring a new CFO and cutting costs. That said, the company still lost $1.2 billion on what it calls ‘other bets,’ being companies it has bought/started/taken an interest in that have yet to pay off.
Matched against $6.8 billion in operating profit and a 40% profit margin, however, those bets don’t appear to be hurting anyone.
Mysterious swing in CP Rail merger support
A variety of companies, all doing regular business with Canadian Pacific Railway (
TSX:CP,
Forum), have sent almost identical letters to the Surface Transportation Board, arguing the proposed CP merger with Norfolk Southern (
NYSE:NSC,
Forum) would be totes awes.
This, of course, happens when a company or their representative contacts those they do business with, asks for support, and then offers a template to be used in the process. Said ‘supportive’ companies duly do the least amount of effort possible, change a couple of words, sign the bottom, drop it in the post, and go make a taco.
Which obviously isn’t fooling anyone at the STB, which said previously they only had letters of opposition from unions, lobbyists, customers…
CP says their deal will make Norfolk Southern part of the largest railway in North America. Norfolk Southern says, quit throwing shade, bro.
The so-far rejected merger offer amounts to US$30 billion. Or just less the GDP of Ghana.
Alberta’s grand plan to hedge against oil drops
The NDP Alberta Government has announced a new strategy to move the province a little away from the petrochemical business has been announced and it’s not as universally hated as the Kevin O’Leary types would have guessed.
Alberta wants investment by the petrochemical industry into gas programs, both methane and propane, and will allow oil companies to do so using money that would otherwise be sent to the province as oil royalties.
The prov will turn away $500 million in royalty credits for the program, but only when projects are completed, so as to not inspire the creation of a whole range of non-starter deals on their dime.
CSE debutant hits markets with volume
Breathtec Biomedical (
CSE:BTH,
Forum) landed on the public markets Monday and did an impressive 2 million shares traded, landing at $0.37 and quickly rolling up to $0.445, with a $0.48 intraday high.
The company, which says it has working technology that can detect a range of ailments from a patient’s breath, similar to the way a police officer applies a traffic stop alcohol breath test, will be working to miniaturize that tech (which currently requires a room-sized piece of equipment) over the next few years.