Things seem a little gloomy here in the US, with news of a recession on the rise, but how about our neighbor to the north? According to Paul Gardner, portfolio manager with Avenue Investment Management in Toronto, things are looking up for the Canadian Economy:

• “[The Canadian Economy is] just fantastic. We are in a fantastic spot. We have never before had such a sunny disposition when it comes to our economy.”
• “Fundamentally, we have growing budget surpluses and current accounts surpluses.”




• “Our Canadian dollar has followed the lead with not only the rosy economic environment in Canada but also the perception that Canada is a commodity-based country, which it is”
• “The domestic economy and the consumer is in fantastic shape, the balance sheet of the consumer is in fantastic shape, the housing market is in good shape and we have excess disposable income to deploy.”
• “The government will be delivering tax cuts next spring, so our economy is certainly diverging from the US economy.”

 For more from Paul Gardner about the Canadian Economy, including potential risks and stock picks, click here.
 

Moving back to our discussion on building materials this week, we spoke to anaylst James Lucas about private equities place in the building materials sector:

 TWST: We have certainly knocked the private equity out of the game for a while. Are they likely to come back? Is this an industry that they like?

Mr. Lucas: You will probably see private equity players shy away from the larger transactions. In terms of the $200 million to $2 billion deals, you are still going to see private equity around there. It is the sub $200 million range where you are not going to see them as active.

For the full interview with Mr. Lucas, including a fuller overview of building materials and stock picks, click here.