Will Ontario pharmacies be ready for COVID-19 testing Friday? We asked each one - CTV Toronto

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Will Ontario pharmacies be ready for COVID-19 testing Friday? We asked each one – CTV Toronto

Published

4 years ago

September 24, 2020

TORONTO —
The Ontario government announced this week that 53 pharmacies across the province will be ready for COVID-19 testing starting on Friday.

Ontarians who have no COVID-19 symptoms will be able to get a free COVID-19 test at participating Shoppers Drug Mart, Rexall and independent pharmacy locations. All COVID-19 tests completed in pharmacies are by appointment only.

But will each location be ready to test Friday?

While the majority of pharmacies told CTV News Toronto that testing will be available on Friday, some said they are unable to meet the deadline. Many of the locations accepting people for tests also told CTV News Toronto they are already fully booked.

Thirty-seven of the 53 pharmacies told CTV News Toronto they are ready for testing on Friday. The rest either said they were not ready, were still unsure or were unreachable.

Premier Doug Ford said the testing initiative in pharmacies will reduce pressure on the province’s 147 assessment centres, some of which have seen long line-ups in recent weeks.

The government said further locations will be added to the list in the coming weeks.

Here’s what each pharmacy told CTV News Toronto.

Toronto

Shoppers Drug Mart, 1601 Bayview Avenue – Yes, will be ready Friday.
Shoppers Drug Mart, 1630 Danforth Avenue – Couldn’t confirm if they will be ready until tomorrow.
Shoppers Drug Mart, 1027 Yonge Street – Yes, will be ready Friday.
Shoppers Drug Mart, 3446 Dundas Street West – Not ready due to a lack of equipment and supplies. No date for testing has been set yet.
Shoppers Drug Mart, 1400 Dupont Street – Yes, will be ready Friday.
Shoppers Drug Mart, 360A Bloor Street West – Yes, will be ready Friday.
Shoppers Drug Mart, 123 Rexdale Boulevard – Yes, will be ready Friday.
Shoppers Drug Mart, 900 Albion Road – Yes, will be ready Friday.
Shoppers Drug Mart, 4841 Yonge Street – Yes, will be ready Friday.
Shoppers Drug Mart, 5095 Yonge Street – Yes, will be ready Friday.
Shoppers Drug Mart, 3874 Bathurst Street – Yes, will be ready Friday.
Shoppers Drug Mart, 2550 Finch Avenue West – Yes, will be ready Friday.
Shoppers Drug Mart, 2751 Eglinton Avenue East – Yes, will be ready Friday.
Shoppers Drug Mart, 629 Markham Road – Yes, will be ready Friday.
Shoppers Drug Mart, 2301 Kingston Road – Yes, will be ready Friday.
Shoppers Drug Mart, Unit A-1780 Markham Road – Yes, will be ready Friday.
Medicine Shoppe, 2600 Eglinton Avenue West – Yes, will be ready Friday.
Village Square Pharmacy, 2942 Finch Avenue East – Yes, will be ready Friday.
Rexall, 4459 Kingston Road – Yes, will be ready Friday.
Rexall, 250 Wincott Drive – Phone calls were not answered. It is unclear if this location is ready for testing on Friday.
Rexall, 901 Eglinton Avenue West – Yes, will be ready Friday.

Brampton

Shoppers Drug Mart, 160 Main Street South – Yes, will be ready Friday.
Shoppers Drug Mart, 10665 Bramalea Road – Yes, will be ready Friday.
Shoppers Drug Mart, 34A Avondale Boulevard – Yes, will be ready Friday.
Shoppers Drug Mart, 366 Main Street North – Yes, will be ready Friday.
Shoppers Drug Mart, 10048 McLaughlin Road – A customer service representative at the store was unable to confirm if they will be ready for Friday.
Shoppers Drug Mart, 1 Kennedy Road South – Yes, will be ready Friday.
Shoppers Drug Mart, 3938 Cottrelle Boulevard – Yes, will be ready Friday.
Shoppers Drug Mart, 11965 Hurontario Street – A customer service representative at the store was unable to confirm if they will be ready for Friday.
Rexall, Unit A01-545 Steeles Avenue West- Yes, will be ready Friday.

Mississauga

Shoppers Drug Mart, 6975 Meadowvale Town Centre Circle- Yes, will be ready Friday.
Shoppers Drug Mart, 101-5602 Tenth Line West – Yes, will be ready Friday.
Shoppers Drug Mart, 1-5425 Creditview Road – Yes, will be ready Friday.
Shoppers Drug Mart, 7070 McLaughlin Road – The store said they should be ready for Friday. They are just waiting for final supplies.
Shoppers Drug Mart, 579 Lakeshore Road East – Yes, will be ready Friday.
Shoppers Drug Mart, 3980 Grand Park Drive – Yes, will be ready Friday.
Shoppers Drug Mart, 2470 Hurontario Street – Yes, will be ready Friday.
Shoppers Drug Mart, 700 Burnhamthrope Road East – Phone calls were not answered. It is unclear if this location is ready for testing on Friday.

Markham

Rexall, 90 Copper Creek Drive – Yes, will be ready Friday.

Ottawa

Shoppers Drug Mart, 1180 Walkley Road – Location was unable to say if they’ll be ready for testing on Friday.
Shoppers Drug Mart, 647 Earl Armstrong Road – Yes, will be ready Friday.
Shoppers Drug Mart, 455 Bank Street – Yes, will be ready Friday.
Shoppers Drug Mart, 541 Montreal Road – Yes, will be ready Friday.
Shoppers Drug Mart, 3940 Innes Road – Phone calls were not answered. It is unclear if this location is ready for testing on Friday.
Shoppers Drug Mart, 2954 St. Joseph Boulevard – This location will start accepting appointments on Friday, but will only begin testing on Saturday.
Shoppers Drug Mart, 1937 Portobello Boulevard – It is still unclear if they will be ready for Friday.
Shoppers Drug Mart, 1-2148 Carling Avenue – Phone calls were not answered. It is unclear if this location is ready for testing on Friday.
Shoppers Drug Mart, 1309 Carling Avenue – This location will not be ready for testing until Monday.
Shoppers Drug Mart, 1102 Klondike Road – Yes, will be ready Friday.
Cedarview Pharmacy, 12-4100 Strandherd Drive – This location is not ready for testing. No date could be provided as to when they will be ready.
Medicine Shoppe, 19-5303 Canotek Road – This location will not be ready for testing until Saturday.
Rexall, 1615 Orleans Boulevard – Yes, will be ready Friday.

Huntsville

Shoppers Drug Mart, 51 King William Street – Testing at this location will not begin until Monday.

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Oil Firms Doubtful Trans Mountain Pipeline Will Start Full Service by May 1st

Published

9 hours ago

April 24, 2024

Harry Miller

Oil companies planning to ship crude on the expanded Trans Mountain pipeline in Canada are concerned that the project may not begin full service on May 1 but they would be nevertheless obligated to pay tolls from that date.

In a letter to the Canada Energy Regulator (CER), Suncor Energy and other shippers including BP and Marathon Petroleum have expressed doubts that Trans Mountain will start full service on May 1, as previously communicated, Reuters reports.

Trans Mountain Corporation, the government-owned entity that completed the pipeline construction, told Reuters in an email that line fill on the expanded pipeline would be completed in early May.

After a series of delays, cost overruns, and legal challenges, the expanded Trans Mountain oil pipeline will open for business on May 1, the company said early this month.

“The Commencement Date for commercial operation of the expanded system will be May 1, 2024. Trans Mountain anticipates providing service for all contracted volumes in the month of May,” Trans Mountain Corporation said in early April.

The expanded pipeline will triple the capacity of the original pipeline to 890,000 barrels per day (bpd) from 300,000 bpd to carry crude from Alberta’s oil sands to British Columbia on the Pacific Coast.

The Federal Government of Canada bought the Trans Mountain Pipeline Expansion (TMX) from Kinder Morgan back in 2018, together with related pipeline and terminal assets. That cost the federal government $3.3 billion (C$4.5 billion) at the time. Since then, the costs for the expansion of the pipeline have quadrupled to nearly $23 billion (C$30.9 billion).

The expansion project has faced continuous delays over the years. In one of the latest roadblocks in December, the Canadian regulator denied a variance request from the project developer to move a small section of the pipeline due to challenging drilling conditions.

The company asked the regulator to reconsider its decision, and received on January 12 a conditional approval, avoiding what could have been another two-year delay to start-up.

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Tesla profits cut in half as demand falls

Published

10 hours ago

April 24, 2024

Harry Miller

Tesla profits slump by more than a half

Tesla has announced its profits fell sharply in the first three months of the year to $1.13bn (£910m), compared with $2.51bn in 2023.

It caps a difficult period for the electric vehicle (EV) maker, which – faced with falling sales – has announced thousands of job cuts.

Boss Elon Musk remains bullish about its prospects, telling investors the launch of new models would be brought forward.

Its share price has risen but analysts say it continues to face significant challenges, including from lower-cost rivals.

The company has suffered from falling demand and competition from cheaper Chinese imports which has led its stock price to collapse by 43% over 2024.

Figures for the first quarter of 2024 revealed revenues of $21.3bn, down on analysts’ predictions of just over $22bn.

But the decision by Tesla to bring forward the launch of new models from the second half of 2025 boosted its shares by nearly 12.5% in after-hours trading.

It did not reveal pricing details for the new vehicles.

However Mr Musk made clear he also grander ambitions, touting Tesla’s AI credentials and plans for self-driving vehicles – even going as far as to say considering it to be just a car company was the “wrong framework.”

“If somebody doesn’t believe Tesla is going to solve autonomy I think they should not be an investor,” he said.

Such sentiments have been questioned by analysts though, with Deutsche Bank saying driverless cars face “technological, regulatory and operational challenges.”

Some investors have called for the company to instead focus on releasing a lower price, mass-market EV.

However, Tesla has already been on a charm offensive, trying to win over new customers by dropping its prices in a series of markets in the face of falling sales.

It also said its situation was not unique.

“Global EV sales continue to be under pressure as many carmakers prioritize hybrids over EVs,” it said.

Despite plans to bring forward new models originally planned for next year the firm is cutting its workforce.

Tesla said it would lose 3,332 jobs in California and 2,688 positions in Texas, starting mid-June.

The cuts in Texas represent 12% of Tesla’s total workforce of almost 23,000 in the area where its gigafactory and headquarters are located.

However, Mr Musk sought to downplay the move.

“Tesla has now created over 30,000 manufacturing jobs in California!” he said in a post on his social media platform X, formerly Twitter, on Tuesday.

Another 285 jobs will be lost in New York.

Tesla’s total workforce stood at more than 140,000 late last year, up from around 100,000 at the end of 2021, according to the company’s filings with US regulators.

Musk’s salary

The car firm is also facing other issues, with a struggle over Mr Musk’s compensation still raging on.

On Wednesday, Tesla asked shareholders to vote for a proposal to accept Mr Musk’s compensation package – once valued at $56bn – which had been rejected by a Delaware judge.

The judge found Tesla’s directors had breached their fiduciary duty to the firm by awarding Mr Musk the pay-out.

Due to the fall in Tesla’s stock value, the compensation package is now estimated to be around $10bn less – but still greater than the GDP of many countries.

In addition, Tesla wants its shareholders to agree to the firm being moved from Delaware to Texas – which Mr Musk called for after the judge rejected his payday.

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Stock market today: Nasdaq futures pop, Tesla surges after earnings with more heavyweights on deck

Published

11 hours ago

April 24, 2024

Harry Miller

Tech stocks rose on Wednesday, outstripping the broader market as investors welcomed Tesla’s (TSLA) cheaper car pledge and waited for the next rush of corporate earnings.

The Nasdaq Composite (^IXIC) rose roughly 0.6%, coming off a sharp closing gain. The S&P 500 (^GSPC) was up 0.2%, continuing a rebound from its longest losing streak of 2024, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI) fell 0.1%.

Tesla shares jumped nearly 12% after the EV maker’s vow to speed up the launch of more affordable models eclipsed its quarterly earnings and revenue miss. That cheered up investors worried about growth amid a strategy shift to robotaxis and the planned cancellation of a cheaper model.

The results from the first “Magnificent Seven” to report have intensified the already high hopes for Big Tech earnings, that the megacaps can revive the rally in stocks they powered. The spotlight is now on Meta’s (META) report due after the market close, as the Facebook owner’s shares rose after the Senate voted for a potential ban on rival TikTok. Microsoft (MSFT) and Alphabet (GOOG) next up on Thursday.

Meanwhile, Boeing (BA) reported better than expected first quarter results before the opening bell with a loss per share of $1.13, narrower than the $1.72 estimated by Wall Street. Shares rose about 2% in morning trade.

Live6 updates

Wed, April 24, 2024 at 9:35 AM EDT

Tech leads at the open

Tech stocks rose on Wednesday, outstripping the broader market as investors welcomed Tesla’s (TSLA) cheaper car pledge and waited for the next rush of corporate earnings.

The Nasdaq Composite (^IXIC) rose roughly 0.6%, coming off a sharp closing gain. The S&P 500 (^GSPC) was up 0.2%, continuing a rebound from its longest losing streak of 2024, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI) fell 0.1%.
Wed, April 24, 2024 at 7:50 AM EDT

Just off the phone: Otis CEO Judy Marks

Many in the Yahoo Finance newsroom know of my joy for reading up on elevator and escalator maker Otis Worldwide (OTIS) — I am fascinated by what the company makes, how it makes it and what it all says about the health of the global economy.

I just got off the phone with Otis CEO Judy Marks. Her comments to me on China — following her trip in March to the country (an important market for Otis) — left an impression:

“The message from the Chinese government is we want economic development. We want foreign direct investment. We’re going to celebrate 40 years in China this year, and it’s an important market to us, but we’ve watched as the market has developed and some of the challenges in the property market and they’re really continuing. I would tell you that the property market and the new equipment market similar to the last 18 to 24 months, it remains weak. Liquidity and credit constraints are weighing on the developers, and the top 50 developer sales this quarter were down almost 50% versus this quarter last year. So on the equipment side, we’re calling this a down high single digit to down 10% market for the year.”

Marks doesn’t see growth returning to Otis’ China business in 2024.
Wed, April 24, 2024 at 7:21 AM EDT

Hilton continues to buy its company back

Hilton (HLT) continues to be one of the most aggressive acquirers of its stock out of the gazillion companies I follow closely.

In many respects, it almost feels like Hilton is taking itself private again! The hotel and resorts company went public again in 2013 after being bought by Blackstone in 2007.)

This from the company’s just-released earnings report:

“During the three months ended March 31, 2024, Hilton repurchased 3.4 million shares of its common stock at an average price per share of $196.17, for a total of $662 million, returning $701 million of capital to shareholders during the quarter including dividends. The number of shares outstanding as of April 19, 2024 was 250.0 million.”

For perspective, Hilton ended 2022 with a share count of 277 million.
Wed, April 24, 2024 at 7:03 AM EDT

Toymaker earnings not coming in fun

No playing around here, earnings from major toymakers Mattel (MAT) and Hasbro (HAS) aren’t very fun to look at.

Not exactly a great earnings report from Mattel last night — now saying it will return to revenue growth in 2025. Mattel is unique in that the Barbie movie really drove up its results last year, so things mathematically will be down. Sales fell 1% year-over-year in the first quarter.

Hasbro’s earnings this morning are also tough on the eyes for investors. The company is calling out a 21% sales plunge in its key consumer products business due to “broader industry trends, exited businesses and reduced closeout sales as a result of last year’s inventory clean-up.”

Both weak reports say a lot about where shoppers minds are at right now … not with buying dolls, action figures and board games.
Wed, April 24, 2024 at 6:57 AM EDT

One stat to know on AT&T

I am still wading through AT&T’s (T) long earnings report, but one number caught my attention right off the jump.

$4.7 billion.

That’s how much debt AT&T repaid in the quarter, as it continues to try to bring down leverage in life after Time Warner. CEO John Stankey has told me a few times within the past year that paying down debt is one of the most important goals for his management team.

As it should be — AT&T still ended the first quarter with about $132.8 billion in total debt! The company’s market cap is $118 billion.
Wed, April 24, 2024 at 6:48 AM EDT
A list of questions Tesla investors need to ponder

The day after.

Tesla (TSLA) CEO Elon Musk has played investors like a fiddle. He gave them what they were clamoring for ahead of earnings — details on a cheaper Tesla — and they are eating it up. Shares are up 10% in pre-market trading, and the company’s ticker is dominating the Yahoo Finance Trending Ticker page.

All of that is fine and good, but it all detracts (likely by Musk’s design) from the main story at Tesla that has weighed on its stock price this year: The company is struggling, and any bold promises by Musk that sends its stock higher inside an awful year for the company should be questioned big-time.

Here are some questions the Tesla bulls need to ask themselves.

Musk promises robotaxis, shows off in the earnings slide-deck what their ride-sharing app may look like. But…

What do regulators have to say about this? How feasible is this launch within the next 12-months?

Musk does know that Uber (UBER) exists right? And that it’s nicely making profits finally and investing aggressively in its business.

Musk seems to think people will want to share their Teslas and make this platform a success. What happens if they don’t want to share their tricked out Model 3?

Musk mentions Tesla will own some of the robotaxi fleet. What does that do to its cash flow and margin profile? Do investors and analysts want to see Tesla saddled with these extra costs while the pure EV business is under pressure and they are trying to make humanoid Optimus robots?

Musk promises he is fully engaged at Tesla. But …

Some interesting dialogue on the earnings call on how long Musk plans to stay CEO of Tesla. He didn’t answer precisely with a timeline, said he works on Sunday and seemingly around the clock (like many other humans). He then questioned whether Tesla could get out its robots if he weren’t leading the company. Is now the time to ponder a Musk-less Tesla within the next few years? What does that even look like for investors? So many of his top execs have left or are leaving, including one of the guys on the earnings call last night! If buttoned-up/corporate Disney (DIS) CEO Bob Iger is seen as failing at succession planning, then Musk could be seen as one of the worst succession planners in CEO history.

Musk pounds the table on Tesla being an AI company again. But …

Sure, Tesla has some amazing technology. But doesn’t Tesla make cars first that then use its technology? Who would you rather own stock in? A pure play AI company such as Microsoft (MSFT) or a car company masquerading as an AI company?

Musk hypes a cheaper Tesla. But …

Tesla is no stranger to recalls and concerns about product quality. Just check out the Cybertruck recall last week! So, how high quality is a $25,000 Tesla going to be? This sounds like it could be a dreadful ownership experience, not unlike when my parents bought a cheap 1986 Ford Tempo and a 1987 Ford Escort when they came out.