Warehouse stores in Canada aren’t just selling large quantities of toilet paper these days — gold bars and coins and other precious metals are moving out of the realm of banking and jewellers and into their aisles.
Costco didn’t respond to requests for comment from CBC News, but officials had previously told investors their gold bars would sell out within hours of being listed online.
Cultural and financial value
Richmond Hill, Ont., resident Erfan Hashempour has invested in gold and silver over the past few years by purchasing coins, because they are easier to handle and to acquire through the Royal Canadian Mint. He was surprised to see gold bars and gold coins available at his local Costco warehouse.
“Anything else, yeah, you’d expect to see it in Costco, but not really gold,” he said.
Erfan Hashempour says he invests in gold for both cultural and financial reasons. (Craig Chivers/CBC)
For investors like Hashempour, gold is both a cultural and a financial investment.
“Originally, I’m from Iran. And in our culture, gold has always had significance,” explained Hashempour.
He’s been investing in specific precious metals to diversify his financial and investment portfolio. It’s also a way to address concerns that currencies and other stock-type investments might be less stable in the long term.
“I’ve always gotten this advice from my parents and from family members, to invest in precious metals such as gold and silver because it’s not something that depreciates [like] Iranian money over the past 40 years,” he said.
A ‘hedge’ against instability
That’s a common motivation for those investing in gold, according to precious metals dealer Jonathan Rose — they are nervous about how traditional currencies or stocks are performing, and gold has a proven track record as a stable investment.
“People who are looking for a hedge look at precious metals,” said Rose, who is with Genesis Gold Group in Beverly Hills, Calif.
Why Costco is now selling gold
Gold has long been seen as a stable investment, and at a time of global uncertainty, it’s becoming so popular that big box stores such as Costco have jumped on the bandwagon.
He adds that other factors, such as the volatility of newer cryptocurrencies and the fluctuating value of the U.S. dollar, drive people to what he calls “tangible” wealth — physical assets such as gold or silver.
“Any time there’s geopolitical, international instability, people are looking for a safe haven or a flight to safety and security,” he told CBC News.
To be quite honest, [gold investors] believe that the world’s probably going to go to hell in a handbasket.– David Wagner, Aptus Capital Advisors
However, portfolio manager David Wagner says gold does not always hedge against financial phenomena such as inflation, and that gold investors are sometimes acting out of fear.
“They’re trying to own gold if they believe that there’s going to be some type of debasement of the U.S. currency,” said Wagner, who is with Aptus Capital Advisors in Cincinnati, Ohio.
“To be quite honest, they believe that the world’s probably going to go to hell in a handbasket.”
Gold literally feels trustworthy to some
Wagner’s perspective is that many gold investors put more trust in an investment they can see, feel and hold in their hands. But he also says this may give them a flawed sense of security for the same reason: physical investments can be lost or stolen.
“[If] someone comes to your house and tries to rob you, you can tell them, ‘I’m safe, I own gold,'” he told CBC News.
“What are they going to probably do? They’re probably going to rob you and take your gold.”
That sort of concern doesn’t do much to move gold investors like Hashempour.
“I feel like gold is a safe bet for investment … whereas with stocks, things could go sideways for companies that you buy stocks from,” he pointed out.
But he said he does hold many typical stock and currency investments, and isn’t keeping all of his eggs — golden or not — in one basket.
CALGARY – TC Energy Corp. has lowered the estimated cost of its Southeast Gateway pipeline project in Mexico.
It says it now expects the project to cost between US$3.9 billion and US$4.1 billion compared with its original estimate of US$4.5 billion.
The change came as the company reported a third-quarter profit attributable to common shareholders of C$1.46 billion or $1.40 per share compared with a loss of C$197 million or 19 cents per share in the same quarter last year.
Revenue for the quarter ended Sept. 30 totalled C$4.08 billion, up from C$3.94 billion in the third quarter of 2023.
TC Energy says its comparable earnings for its latest quarter amounted to C$1.03 per share compared with C$1.00 per share a year earlier.
The average analyst estimate had been for a profit of 95 cents per share, according to LSEG Data & Analytics.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 7, 2024.
BCE Inc. reported a loss in its latest quarter as it recorded $2.11 billion in asset impairment charges, mainly related to Bell Media’s TV and radio properties.
The company says its net loss attributable to common shareholders amounted to $1.24 billion or $1.36 per share for the quarter ended Sept. 30 compared with a profit of $640 million or 70 cents per share a year earlier.
On an adjusted basis, BCE says it earned 75 cents per share in its latest quarter compared with an adjusted profit of 81 cents per share in the same quarter last year.
“Bell’s results for the third quarter demonstrate that we are disciplined in our pursuit of profitable growth in an intensely competitive environment,” BCE chief executive Mirko Bibic said in a statement.
“Our focus this quarter, and throughout 2024, has been to attract higher-margin subscribers and reduce costs to help offset short-term revenue impacts from sustained competitive pricing pressures, slow economic growth and a media advertising market that is in transition.”
Operating revenue for the quarter totalled $5.97 billion, down from $6.08 billion in its third quarter of 2023.
BCE also said it now expects its revenue for 2024 to fall about 1.5 per cent compared with earlier guidance for an increase of zero to four per cent.
The company says the change comes as it faces lower-than-anticipated wireless product revenue and sustained pressure on wireless prices.
BCE added 33,111 net postpaid mobile phone subscribers, down 76.8 per cent from the same period last year, which was the company’s second-best performance on the metric since 2010.
It says the drop was driven by higher customer churn — a measure of subscribers who cancelled their service — amid greater competitive activity and promotional offer intensity. BCE’s monthly churn rate for the category was 1.28 per cent, up from 1.1 per cent during its previous third quarter.
The company also saw 11.6 per cent fewer gross subscriber activations “due to more targeted promotional offers and mobile device discounting compared to last year.”
Bell’s wireless mobile phone average revenue per user was $58.26, down 3.4 per cent from $60.28 in the third quarter of the prior year.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 7, 2024.
TORONTO – Canada Goose Holdings Inc. trimmed its financial guidance as it reported its second-quarter revenue fell compared with a year ago.
The luxury clothing company says revenue for the quarter ended Sept. 29 totalled $267.8 million, down from $281.1 million in the same quarter last year.
Net income attributable to shareholders amounted to $5.4 million or six cents per diluted share, up from $3.9 million or four cents per diluted share a year earlier.
On an adjusted basis, Canada Goose says it earned five cents per diluted share in its latest quarter compared with an adjusted profit of 16 cents per diluted share a year earlier.
In its outlook, Canada Goose says it now expects total revenue for its full financial year to show a low-single-digit percentage decrease to low-single-digit percentage increase compared with earlier guidance for a low-single-digit increase.
It also says it now expects its adjusted net income per diluted share to show a mid-single-digit percentage increase compared with earlier guidance for a percentage increase in the mid-teens.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 7, 2024.
