In the first two Parts of this series we introduced the SPAC, explored some examples and highlighted some concerns. The very nature of the SPAC attracts private companies that either do not have the money or the time to access the public markets through the ordinary IPO process. But are such companies suitable for the public markets? Being a public company comes with its own sets of challenges...
Fellow Osgoode student Ali Imrie, a 4th year in the extended time program, has secured a clerkship with the Ontario Court of Appeal for 2022-2023. The path to clerking at Ontario’s highest court has not been an easy one for Ali, as there are a number of barriers in place for law students with disabilities. Ali explains that law students with disabilities face various barriers in academic...
The microeconomics and internal workings of our securities markets and exchanges are incredibly complex, and few know anything beyond that – even the most sophisticated of current investors. If the world of investing were isolated, then the obscurity of its nature would not be entirely concerning. But the reality is that much of society’s infrastructure – literally and figuratively – is tied up...
In Part 1 featured in Issue 8 we endeavored to explore on a high level the nature of SPACs and how they operate. In Part 2, we will be your guide through a select few current examples of SPACs on the marketplace. Feel free to jump ahead to a particular SPAC that’s interesting, or read them all – but in any case, be sure to note the common motivations behind creating the SPAC, as well as the...
How the internet tried to get back at Wall Street by harming people the same way Wall Street does Historically it has been the big traders with deep pockets who have bullied little traders in the markets, but the rise of retail investing has shifted the firepower. GameStop is the latest demonstration of strength by retail dollars, causing institutional short sellers to get burned and abandon...
Part 1 First, some context An initial public offering (IPO) or in layman’s terms, ‘going public’, is arguably one of the most important moments for any business and certainly one of the biggest pay-days for its founders and early investors. But what is an IPO? Put simply, an IPO is a manner in which businesses can raise capital through the public markets whereby shares can be bought and...
As the rise of self-directed retail investing increases with technological innovations and fintech, investors should remain increasingly critical of how their brokers are making their money. The saying, “If you’re not paying for the product, then you are the product” is as relevant as it has ever been in the age of commission free trading. In Canada the most prominent commission-free brokerage is...
Stocks chosen for their adherence to environmental, social and governance (ESG) metrics have been underperforming the wider equity market. ETFs (exchange-traded funds) focused on buying ESG stocks are performing at their worst levels since the summer of 2019, and short sellers are cashing-in. ESG investing has long been purported as a viable strategy to encourage corporations to move from...
Ant Group Co., commonly known as the proprietor behind Alipay, was set to mark an IPO record if its planned listing for November 5th on Hong Kong and Shanghai exchanges proceeded. The name “Ant”, chosen to represent the fact that the payment-processing-platform will accept even the smallest payments, is certainly not representative of the firm’s latest capital raising arrangement. Ant has lined...
You may be surprised to learn that Snapchat was not profitable until nearly two years after its IPO – that is, until the third quarter of 2020 when it beat analysts’ estimates on revenue and finally generated a profit of US $0.01 per share (1.23 billion shares outstanding). Snap beat estimates for Q3 by $127 million, generating $679 million and narrowing its net loss from $227 million to $200...
As a law student, you may have heard that certain statistics are skewed by the reality that many cases are settled instead of being resolved in court. While the benefits to settlement are numerous, it has the primary disadvantage of keeping in the dark a great deal of important data. Thankfully, the Institutional Shareholder Services group of companies (ISS), specifically ISS Securities Class...
If you have heard about recent major stock splits in the news, such as both Apple and Tesla only months ago, you may be wondering what the effects of these are and their implications. While the term “stock split” may sound daunting, the fundamentals are rather simple. All companies have a total number of shares outstanding, and when a company decides to pursue a stock split, they increase the...
A company that wishes to offer its shares to the wider public and finally achieve what is often viewed as a company’s biggest milestone traditionally pursues an initial public offering (IPO)—but those times are changing. Both the state of a company when it goes public and the means used to achieve going public have been radically re-thought with the use of the special purpose acquisition company...
It can be no surprise that such an instant and dramatic change to the business landscape, via COVID-19, has caused certain firms to thrive while others sink. In addition to companies struggling to survive, people have struggled to make do: lost jobs, cut wages and unexpected expenses. This is not a reality for the companies that have best positioned themselves to thrive, whether by business...
In case you have not been keeping up with the drama around video-sharing app TikTok, the app has found a lifeline for its time in the U.S. by partnering with U.S. firms Oracle and Walmart. While TikTok has had major success over the summer and has grown into a massive global craze, the company has come under fire for fear that the data collected on its massive user-base may be handed over to...
Investing has always seemed to be somewhat of a mystery to the average person. However, this is quickly changing. In one way or another, nearly all Canadians have had some exposure to the capital markets, whether it be through the Canadian Pension Plan, their retirement account, or their deposits at the bank. Eventually, all this money is used as capital to support businesses who need it, and...
Whether it’s because of its domination of online retail, its tax-evading strategies, or its founder’s wealth, Amazon has been under constant fire in the past few years from political commentators, consumers, and the media. In August, the Canadian Competition Bureau launched an investigation into Amazon for activity potentially impacting competition to the detriment of consumers and businesses in...
During the summer of 2017, when I was working for AT&T as IT support in one of their Canadian offices, I was shocked to see and hear about the low prices that Americans have for their wireless plans. For virtually the same plan as my own at Telus, AT&T consumers were paying anywhere from 50-70% less. Upon realizing how much I was paying, I started looking at different providers and...
Learning About to Learn From It’s no surprise that a Supreme Court Justice has a lot to teach an audience of eager law students, but the Honourable Justice Iacobucci showed that there is much more to learn about the law and Canada by listening to the stories of how we all came to be. In an event hosted by the Canadian Italian Association of Osgoode (CIAO), an Osgoode club whose goal is to empower...
Initial Public Offerings are arguably one of the most exciting times for both investors and the firm itself. The step of bringing a company public is an incredible milestone, allowing businesses to access what is likely the largest pool of capital available to grow and expand. The year 2019 had no shortage of IPO drama, with several tech unicorns––a unicorn being a privately held company worth at...
Canada’s largest cannabis producers have been whittled away on the public markets to a fraction of what they once were. The largest firm by market capitalization, Canopy Growth Corporation (WEED.TO), had a 52-week high of $76.68. At the time of writing, the stock sits battered at $25.67. Similarly, Aurora Cannabis (ACB.TO) saw a 52-week high of $16.24, and has since fallen to a mere $4.86 per...