Absolute Return Podcast

#44: Leadership Chat: Jim Beqaj, the CEO Coach

Jim Beqaj: The CEO coach. Learn how he:

 

Was promoted to president of one of the largest brokerage firms in the country at only 37 years old.

 

Was fired by two Bay Street firms and why he considered himself unemployable.

 

Transitioned from earning $5 million per year working in the capital markets to becoming an entrepreneur in executive coaching.

 

And lastly, tried to buy Lehman Brothers in the 1990s.

#43: A Tale of Two Jobs Reports: US vs Canada

U.S. Reports Blow-out Jobs Numbers. Is a 2020 Recession Off the Table?

Canada Records the Worst Jobs Figures in 10 Years. What’s the Story Behind the Numbers?

The World’s Largest Company Goes Public. Why Did the Shares Price so High?

A Discussion on Short Selling: For Intelligent Investors or Deranged Masochists?

#42:M&A 101: The Bidding War

Private Equity Apollo Forced to Increase Price for its Tech Data Acquisition. What Happened Here?

Catalyst Capital Lobs $11.00 Per Share Offer for Hudson’s Bay, Topping the Chairman’s $10.30 bid. Will This Put the Company in Play?

Kirkland Lake Gold Agrees to Buy Detour Gold in $4.9 Billion Deal. Why Did its Stock Drop so Much?

LVMH Raises Offer for Tiffany’s and Clinches Deal. By How Much Did They Need to Bump Their Bid?

#41: Brokerage Battle: Why is Charles Schwab Trying to Buy TD Ameritrade?

Charles Schwab in Talks to Acquire Rival TD Ameritrade to Create $5 Trillion Brokerage Behemoth. Is this the Result of Zero Commissions?

Former Uber CEO Travis Kalanick Sells Nearly $1.5 Billion of Uber Shares as the IPO Lock-Up Expires. Why’s He Selling?

The “Big Short 2.0”: Carl Icahn Bets Big Against Shopping Malls. Will it Pay Off for the Billionaire?

Hedge Fund Legend Louis Bacon Shutters Hedge Fund Moore Capital After a 30-Year Run. Was he the Last of a Dying Breed of Non-Systematic Managers?

#40: Cannabis Stocks Go Up In Smoke. Buy, Hold or Sell?

Cannabis Boom Goes Bust as Economic Reality Bites and Pot Stock Prices Plummet. Why are Cannabis Stocks Crowding the 52-Week Low List?

Apollo Tees Up the Largest Leveraged Buyout of the Year with $5.4 Billion Tech Data Acquisition. Why is it Trading at a Premium?

Canada’s Open Text Continues its Consolidation Strategy with Acquisition of Data-Protection Firm Carbonite. What’s the Strategic Rationale?

Apartment REIT Continuum Scraps IPO and Sells to Starlight Instead for $1.7 Billion. Why Did They Sell to Private Equity?

#39: The Largest Leveraged Buyout of All Time: Does This Mark the Cycle Peak?

CPPIB Acquires Canada’s Biggest Wind Power Producer for US$2.6 Billion. What’s the Strategic Rationale?

Walgreens Considers Going Private in the Largest Leveraged Buyout of All Time. What are the Chances of it Happening?

GFL Environmental’s IPO Flops. Why Did They Pull the Deal?

Saudi Aramco Launches Much Anticipated IPO. Should Investors Buy the Stock?

A Review of October Factor Performance

#38: Pre-Arbitrage and the Art of Deal Speculation

Fitbit to be Acquired by Google for $2.1 Billion. How Did Merger Speculators End Up Doing?

French Luxury Giant LVMH Makes Play for Tiffany & Co. Does this Unsolicited Proposal Have a Shot?

Canfor Strikes Friendly Deal at Same Price as Previous Unsolicited Offer. Why Did the Board Settle? 

Federal Reserve Cuts Rates as Bank of Canada Holds Steady. Why the Divergence in Monetary Policy?

#37: Investor Biases and the Sunk Cost Fallacy

Softbank Bails Out Near-Bankrupt WeWork as its Valuation Tumbles from $47 Billion to $8 Billion. Did Softbank Commit the Sunk Cost Fallacy?

Hudson’s Bay Strikes a Friendly Go-Private Deal as Insiders Bump Their Bid by 9%. But will it be Enough for the Shareholder Activists?

Pension Funds Acquire AltaGas Canada for $1.7 Billion. Why are Pension Funds Owning Infrastructure Assets?

A Discussion on Why Merger Arbitrage is a Great Fixed Income Alternative with the Merger Yield at 5.7%.

#36: M&A 101: What's a Contingent Value Right?

U.S. and China Reach Preliminary “Phase 1” Trade Deal. Does This Mark the End of the Trade War?

Charles Schwab to Allow Investors to Trade Fractional Shares. But Will Individual Investors Benefit?

Alexion Announces Acquisition of Achillion in $930 Million Biotech Deal. What Makes This Deal Unique?

UK and European Union Reach Deal on Brexit. Is Brexit Finally Going to Happen?

#35: When Deals Fall Apart: An Investor's Perspective

Hong Kong Stock Exchange Drops its Bid for London Stock Exchange. Why are we not Surprised?

Greece Sells Bonds at a Negative Yield. Should Investors be Buying?

Brookfield Sells North American Palladium to South African Firm in Unusual Deal. What Makes the Deal so Interesting?

QE4? The Fed Restarts Asset Purchases in Bid to Placate Money Markets. Why did they do it?

A Discussion on September Factor Performance.