Canadian Business Thread

[Waterlooson]

Originally Posted by shreddog

Well, was that a short run at the top or just a breather?
===============

RIM shares again drop on heavy trading
Canadian Press

November 9, 2007 at 4:53 PM EST

Shares of BlackBerry maker Research In Motion Ltd. fell again Friday, the second straight day of big declines that have lopped about 15 per cent off the value of Canada's most valuable technology company.

Just like Google, Apple and many other tech companies that have "corrected" over the last few days.... it's nothing unique to RIM.

[shreddog]

Commodities boom feeds tax bonanza

Top 50 companies listed on S&P/TSX index pay more despite lower rates

In 1996, the list of Canada's biggest corporate taxpayers was dominated by big banks and phone company BCE Inc. Ten years later, natural resource companies have pushed onto the top of the tax charts, thanks to soaring profits from a long commodities boom.

A Globe and Mail review of the country's 50 largest publicly traded companies shows a significant change in the makeup of the companies paying the most income tax over the past decade, with BCE falling to 40th spot in 2006 from first place in 1996, while energy companies Petro-Canada and EnCana Corp. have become the country's top taxpayers.

The review also found Canada's 50 largest companies are paying dramatically more tax than they were a decade ago: a total of $24.8-billion in 2006, more than double the $10.7-billion tax bill paid by the 50 largest companies in 1996.

Rest of the article here

Top Ten corporate tax payers:

Petro-Canada 2,384
EnCana Corp. 2,205
Royal Bank of Canada 1,403
Manulife Financial Corp. 1,366
Talisman Energy Inc. 1,304
Teck Cominco Ltd. 1,215
Imperial Oil Ltd. 1,056
Power Corp. 940
Power Financial Corp. 937
Toronto-Dominion Bank 874

In a nutshell, the top 10 corporate taxpayers paid $13.7B in taxes for 2006. Of that, 51% came from Calgary based companies ($6.9B), 26.7% came from Toronto based companies ($3.6B), 13.7 and 8.9% respectfully from Montreal and Vancouver based outfits.

When you look at the top 50 corporate taxpayers, Calgary based companies contributed just over 40% of the $24.8B in taxes collected.

While I don’t have the details for the full list of corporate tax payers for 2000, even if there was no other Calgary based company than those in the top 50, over 33% of all corporate taxes are collected from Calgary based companies.

[vid]

Thunder Bay biotech firm goes global
Northern Ontario Business | Nick Stewart

Nearly five years after its inception, Thunder Bay-based Genesis Genomics has formed a partnership with a worldwide leader in skin care to bring the company’s first product to market.

Through an agreement with Toronto-based VitalScience Corp., the company will find its unique technologies used to develop dermaglow DNA, a kit designed to test for acute and chronic damage the sun’s ultraviolet rays do to one’s skin.

“These are interesting times for us, as we’re going to be wholly unique on the market,” Robert Poulter, president of Genesis Genomics, says.

“There’s literally no competition for what we’re offering, so we’ve got some pretty high hopes for this.”

Through the agreement, VitalScience will build, market and sell the kits through Canadian dermatologists and pharmacies as part of its established dermaglow line in early 2008. This will grow to more than 40 countries worldwide by 2009.

VitalScience currently has the top-selling skin care product in Canada and is specifically known for their anti-aging Nuvectin. It consistently sells in the top 10 in other countries including France, Scandinavia and Greece.

This strong global presence and history of success helped to draw Genesis Genomics to the table, allowing the company to leverage VitalScience’s pre-existing retail channels and relationships. As a result, the product will find widespread distribution and sales that may have otherwise taken countless years and dollars to realize, Poulter says.

This is especially true as VitalScience expects to further expand its reach to seven different countries in the Middle East in the coming months.

Two types of kits are expected to be offered; a non-invasive product that will find consumers using a cotton swab on their skin to collect a sample. The other kit is “mildly invasive.” A small needle will extract a skin sample that is then inserted into a vial and sent to a laboratory. Although details are still being determined and further agreements still being developed, Poulter says the laboratory in question is likely to be one already located in Northern Ontario.

While Poulter is insistent on pointing out the kit does not predict skin cancer, he says various levels of DNA damage can act as precursors to the affliction. Helping consumers to be informed about the extent of the damage can allow them to make informed decisions about how to further pursue other product purchases. This is particularly crucial at a time where concern about skin cancer is on the rise, and sunscreen lotions fail to completely block ultraviolet rays.

Genesis Genomics currently has several other products in various stages of market readiness. These include DNA Care, which helps sun care manufacturers measure their product against DNA damage, and a product called biopsy+, a confirmatory test for prostate cancer. Discussions are ongoing to hammer out agreements with large global companies for these particular products, while three other unidentified projects are currently winding their way through the research pipeline.

In fact, as a response to its recent agreement and in anticipation of future growth, the company will be expanding in the coming months.

In November, two employees will be added to its current staff of 16 and additional employees will be hired through 2008.

This wide-ranging agreement not only allows the company to make its official entrance onto the consumer market, but also validates its years of effort and research, Poulter says.

“It starts to allow us as a company to shift from just being research to generating commercial viability and generating a revenue stream that allows us to grow and broaden our investments into new research.”

The head of VitalScience also touts the benefits of the agreement, as Genesis Genomics’ cutting-edge technology will also allow them to further grow their market and capitalize on a growing global trend towards “cosmoceutical” products. What’s more, the patent protection Genesis Genomics has sought for its technologies made it that much more attractive in an industry occasionally prone to piracy.

“They’ve got some good technologies with regards to DNA, and we’ve got the product structure, so it really is a match made in heaven,” Calvin Davies, president and co-founder of VitalScience, says.

www.genesisgenomics.com
www.vitalsciencecorp.com

[shreddog]

Originally Posted by Waterlooson

Just like Google, Apple and many other tech companies that have "corrected" over the last few days.... it's nothing unique to RIM.

So are you also saying that RIM's rise over the past 6 months was simply due to the fact that it was in the high tech sector and appreciated just like Google, Apple and the like?

Basically that there is nothing unique to RIM?

[shreddog]

Originally Posted by vid

Thunder Bay biotech firm goes global
Northern Ontario Business | Nick Stewart

Nearly five years after its inception, Thunder Bay-based Genesis Genomics has formed a partnership with a worldwide leader in skin care to bring the company’s first product to market.

....
In November, two employees will be added to its current staff of 16 and additional employees will be hired through 2008.

Booyaa!

I can see the forest of towers rising alread!!

Seriously, I can't picture 290 Munro - which building is that?

[Waterlooson]

Originally Posted by shreddog

So are you also saying that RIM's rise over the past 6 months was simply due to the fact that it was in the high tech sector and appreciated just like Google, Apple and the like?

Basically that there is nothing unique to RIM?

No; I'm saying that we are seeing sector rotation.

Originally Posted by shreddog

So are you also saying that RIM's rise over the past 6 months was simply due to the fact that it was in the high tech sector and appreciated just like Google, Apple and the like?

Basically that there is nothing unique to RIM?

RIM is only as immune from competition as any other tech company. Every leader is bound to have imitators. They CAN come out ahead, but nothing guarantees it.

[vid]

Originally Posted by shreddog

Booyaa!

I can see the forest of towers rising alread!!

Seriously, I can't picture 290 Munro - which building is that?

The cancer centre at PAGH. They renovated it and have their offices there. PAGH is vacant right now, the main floors are boarded up. There was another biotech company (From Asia I think) that was looking at it, but the cost of retrofitting the building so that it would be suitable for their needs ran into the tens of millions, so they pulled out. I think it's heritage protected, so it can't be demolished, and considering how it was built, it can't really be renovated either, so it's pretty much doomed to demolition by neglect.

A shame really, the top floor on the west wing (nursery area) has a great view of the city. My grandmothers nursing station was on the floor below.

[WaterlooInvestor]

Who are Canada's richest Canadians? (Hint: more than half of them are billionaires)
Canadian Business magazine's 9th-annual Rich 100 list arrives on newsstands starting today.

TORONTO, Nov. 29 /CNW/ - This year's Rich 100, Canadian Business
magazine's exclusive annual ranking of the wealthiest Canadians, is populated
by a bumper crop of billionaires. For the first time ever, more than half of
the list is made up of people who have hit the 10-digit mark; 54 of them, in
fact, up from 46 in last year's ranking.
There has also been a sea change near the top of the list. For the first
time since 2000, Galen Weston does not hold the No. 2 spot. That honour now
goes to Ted Rogers, whose estimated net worth is up 67% over last year.
Canadian Business magazine also welcomes two new members: mining investor Rob
McEwen, and Dennis (Chip) Wilson of yoga apparel firm Lululemon Athletica.
Additionally, while this year saw the return of home builders the Libfeld
family, who last made an appearance on the Rich 100 in 2005, it is also the
year to say goodbye to three members of last year's list whose net worth
didn't reach the minimum of $445 million: Chuck Fipke, Louise Blouin MacBain
and Lawrence Stroll.

<<
The Rich 100 Top Ten:

1. Thomson Family
$25.35 billion, up 4%
Location: Toronto
'06 rank: 1

2. Edward (Ted) Rogers Jr., 74
$7.6 billion, up 67%
Location: Toronto
'06 rank: 4

3. Galen Weston, 67
$7.27 billion, up 2%
Location: Toronto
'06 rank: 2

4. Paul Desmarais Sr., 80
$5.64 billion, up 28%
Location: Montreal
'06 rank: 5

5. James (J. K.), Arthur, John (Jack) Irving, 78, 76, 75
$5.3 billion, down 3%
Location: Saint John, N.B.
'06 rank: 3

6. James (Jimmy) Pattison, 79
$4.52 billion, up 4%
Location: Vancouver
'06 rank: 6

7. Jeff Skoll, 42
$4.48 billion, up 14%
Location: Palo Alto, Calif.
'06 rank: 7

8. Michael Lazaridis, 46
$4.36 billion, up 157%
Location: Waterloo, Ont.
'06 rank: 24

9. James Balsillie, 46
$4.09 billion up 153%
Location: Waterloo, Ont.
'06 rank: 25

10. Bernard (Barry) Sherman, 65
$3.61 billion, up 12%
Location: Toronto
'06 rank: 8

For profiles of our highest ranked families, visit
www.canadianbusiness.com/rich100.

[WaterlooInvestor]

The view from Waterloo Region:

RIM chiefs among richest Canadians
November 30, 2007
CHUCK HOWITT - RECORD STAFF - WATERLOO


Jim Balsillie


Mike Lazaridis

Research In Motion's dynamic duo has broken into the top 10 list of the richest Canadians.

Mike Lazaridis and Jim Balsillie, co-chief executive officers of the booming Waterloo-based wireless communications company, are ranked eighth and ninth respectively in the annual Rich 100 list compiled by Canadian Business magazine.

Last year, Lazaridis was ranked 24th while Balsillie was right behind him at 25th.

Lazaridis, 46, has a net worth of $4.36 billion, based on the magazine's analysis of proxy statements, insider-trading reports and other sources.

Balsillie, 46, is worth $4.09 billion, the magazine said.

Rankings were based on the value of assets held as of Oct. 12.

A former RIM executive also made the rarefied Rich 100 list.

Douglas Fregin, who co-founded the Waterloo company with Lazaridis in 1984, was ranked 27th with a net worth of $1.72 billion. Fregin, who retired from the company earlier this year, was ranked 70th last year.

The three RIM executives were the only area members of the Rich 100 club.

The net worth of the three RIM execs has had a major impact in the local community, with the trio donating tens of millions of dollars to the Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics, the Balsillie School for International Relations, the Centre for International Governance Innovation, the Waterloo Regional Children's Museum and Waterloo Region's hospitals.

A University of Waterloo graduate now living in California also is part of the Rich 100. David Cheriton, who graduated from UW in 1978 and now lives in Palo Alto, is ranked 25th with a net worth of $1.91 billion. Cheriton made his fortune investing in Google stock and donated $25 million in 2005 to the computer science school at UW.

Topping the list of most affluent Canadians by a wide margin is the Thomson family, owners of the media and electronic data empire. The family's net worth is estimated at $25.35 billion.

This year's list included "a bumper crop of billionaires," according to the magazine.

Fifty-four hit at least the 10-digit mark, compared to 46 last year.

The three RIM members of the club also shared one other distinction.

Like a hit record, they shot up the money charts after scoring the biggest gains in net worth of anybody on the list.

Fregin led the way at 164 per cent, followed by Lazaridis at 157 per cent and Balsillie at 153 per cent.

The next biggest gain was scored by cable tycoon Ted Rogers, whose net worth rose 67 per cent to $7.6 billion, vaulting him from fourth to second on the list.

The RIM trio were able to make such big strides in personal wealth largely because of the performance of RIM's stock which rose 163 per cent last year, including a three-for-one stock split, Canadian Business said.

Last year, the company was battling for survival in a protracted patent suit. But with the suit resolved, "investors released the stock's pent-up value, and RIM joined Google, Apple and Microsoft in a post-dot-com-bubble revival that has seen all perform well this year," the magazine said.

Next year could be just as lucrative for RIM's bosses.

With sales of the BlackBerry suffering no ill effects from the launch of Apple's iPhone and a recent deal that will see the popular handheld device distributed in China, Lazaridis and Balsillie could move up even further on the Rich 100 list, the magazine noted.

RICH 100 TOP TEN
1. Thomson family (media, electronic data), $25.35 billion
2. Edward (Ted) Rogers Jr. (media), $7.6 billion
3. Galen Weston (food products, supermarkets), $7.27 billion
4. Paul Desmarais Sr. (media, utilities, pulp and paper, financial services), $5.64 billion
5. James, Arthur and John Irving, (forestry, retail, trucking, energy, media), $5.3 billion
6. James Pattison, (transportation, communications, food products, packaging), $4.52 billion
7. Jeff Skoll, (first president of eBay, film producer), $4.48 billion
8. Michael Lazaridis, (wireless communications), $4.36 billion
9. James Balsillie, (wireless communications), $4.09 billion
10. Bernard (Barry) Sherman (pharmaceuticals), $3.61 billion.

[Waterlooson]

Hey, I don't see a single resident from Winnipeg or London on that list... what's going on?

[ScottFromCalgary]

Wait, hold on a sec. There's a big tech company in Waterloo? And the guys who started it are billionaires? Why didn't someone from Waterloo post anything about this before?

[1ajs]

they probly did not know

[Waterlooson]

Originally Posted by ScottFromCalgary

Wait, hold on a sec. There's a big tech company in Waterloo? And the guys who started it are billionaires? Why didn't someone from Waterloo post anything about this before?

Maybe it's because certain posters from Calgary might have been envious that not a single Albertan cracked the top ten while little Waterloo (not to mention the entire Golden Horseshoe for 6 out of the top 10) had 2 after telling us over the last few years about how Alberta is much more prosperous than the rest of the country.

[vid]

I think he's trying to say that WaterlooInvestor's boosterism is getting annoying.

Seriously, if this was 19th century Fort William, he would be John McKellar!!

[Waterlooson]

Originally Posted by vid

I think he's trying to say that WaterlooInvestor's boosterism is getting annoying.

Yes, I know... I was just teasing him right back...

WaterlooInvestor is a booster? Since when?

[vid]

Since the start of the silver boom of '88, that's when!

1888!!

[Waterlooson]

Originally Posted by vid

Since the start of the silver boom of '88, that's when!

1888!!

I didn't know that Waterloo was a mining centre... it was mostly a booze centre during prohibition... as in Seagram's... later came Carling... then Labatts... now they have Brick Brewing.... we can all drink to that.

[vid]

No, that was supposed to be another joke relating to Thunder Bay.

We had the most millionaires per capita in the late 1800s or early 1900s, for a short while. Then they realized it was just a greedy Torontonian playing a mean trick on them, and they left. For some reason, my grandparents stayed.

[WaterlooInvestor]

Originally Posted by vid

I think he's trying to say that WaterlooInvestor's boosterism is getting annoying.
Seriously, if this was 19th century Fort William, he would be John McKellar!!

On the CBC's website, I can find a link to the news topic I posted: http://www.cbc.ca/news/background/wealth/ . Whether you like the topic or not, the Rich 100 is national news.

For some reason, I can't seem to find any CBC links to the Genesis Genomics partnership. It looks like you're the one on here boosting local news as though it was a national news event.