STOCKCHASE

The uncertainty with Maple goes on, extended for another month. He hopes it happens but if it doesn't, is perfectly happy with the admirable management. If this doesn't go through, they could be looking at Australia as well.

2012-02-07

BUY

44.700

Richard Fogler

Theoretically the Maple bid is coming through at the end of January giving $33 a share in cash, which they say is worth $55 and the stock is trading under $45. Looks okay.

2011-11-14

SELL

41.930

Tender shares and see what happens.

2011-10-25

Comment

40.420

Interesting in that the London exchange pulled out when they didn’t get enough votes. Stock is trading at a big discount to the Maple bid of around $50 indicating some doubt that the bid will go through.

2011-09-09

DON'T BUY

40.390

Jason Donville

Has probably outperform the market in the last month or two but a lot of it is pretty much priced in right now. Doesn't see the value in this one right now.

2011-09-08

DON'T BUY

40.120

John O'Connell, CFA

There are concerns that the takeover deal may not close. The offer that is on the table will be taking back some stock and there are questions about the valuation. Competition could come into Canada.

2011-09-07

PAST TOP PICK

41.310

(Top Pick Aug 25/10, Up 48.17%) he took is profits and ran. It ran up more than he anticipating. He took his money off the table. Going forward he would not be running to buy it until the Maple Group issue is resolved. Doesn’t see the value in the deal.

2011-08-23

TOP PICK

43.120

Maple will get done or not and you will finish up with a good dividend and stay with something that is propped up by the bid for a couple of months.

2011-08-03

BUY

44.510

Richard Fogler

The LSE is gone. TMX is a good revenue generator. Will continue to do well, grow and pay out big dividends as long as the stock markets remains strong.

2011-07-22

Comment

44.150

Brian Acker, CA

He has a model price of $50, a 13% upside.

2011-07-08

Comment

43.350

Doesn't think there will be another bidder coming in, which just leaves the Maple group. The question is, can they sell to the shareholders that they can create better value. A tough call but the market seems to indicate it is not going through.

2011-07-04

HOLD

44.900

Two offers are on the table. He is biased and would prefer them going global through joining the LSE. If you own, continue to Hold to see if you get a higher offer.

2011-06-02

WATCH

43.570

Douglas Kee

How would a merger with the London exchange affect the dividend? Current dividend is 3.67%. Good question. He is not sure but is not in favour of the Maple deal.

2011-05-25

PAST TOP PICK

43.370

(A Top Pick June 2/10. Up 65.46%.) Sold his holdings at around $42.

2011-05-17

TOP PICK

39.530

Has some safety to it because of the proposed deal with London. Tricky that they are calling it a merger of equals and he thinks it should include another deal such as Australia.

2011-04-18

DON'T BUY

38.860

There is an issue on the question on whether the merger will go through. They are consolidating because it’s and industry that has relatively thin margins and very competitive. There are better places to be.

2011-04-07

PAST TOP PICK

38.410

(Top Pick Nov 25/10, Up 11.15%) Doesn’t look at it as falling into the hands of London. It could be a good deal. Doesn’t know what the politicians should do. The banks putting together the alpha was really a re-mutualization of the business. The regulators could theoretically block the deal. It could mean longer trading hours, trans-continental listings, exposure of the largest mining and venture capital market to the world.

2011-03-14

PAST TOP PICK

41.010

Jaime Carrasco

(A Top Pick Dec 11/09. Up 41.82%.) Sold his holdings. Trying to figure out the proposed implications of the merger with the London Stock Exchange.

2011-02-18

BUY

40.480

Derek Webb, CFA

A great looking chart showing a strong up trend.

2011-02-17

TOP PICK

35.250

(A Top Pick March 5/09. Up 25.52%.) As a proxy on the economy, you can do far worse. This is the best stock market in the developed world and we have the best economy.

2010-11-25

TOP PICK

33.900

Bill MacLachlan

With changes in pricing and the changes in markets, competition has been stabilized and is starting to diminish. 4.8% yield is supportable. Trading at 11X next year’s earnings. Reasonable dividend growth.

2010-11-17

TOP PICK

28.780

This is the leading market in Canada. They sell a lot of data to the markets. Some investor relations services. Thinks they look attractive..

2010-08-25

Comment

28.310

PE ratio is about 4%. Being hit by competition but longer term, as the world continues to discover Canada and its resource plays, you are going to have tons of foreign money coming in through this avenue.

2010-07-14

DON'T BUY

27.730

Throttle/Montreal Stock exchange. Have 2 problems. 1) Volumes are much lower than they had been and 2) there is more competition from alternative exchanges. 5% dividend.

2010-07-09

PAST TOP PICK

27.730

(A Top Pick June 4/09. Down 13.19%.) Still likes.

2010-07-09

DON'T BUY

27.490

Derek Webb, CFA

It is not a good chart. It’s not participating in the bull market. The earnings are not good. Technical analysis says you want to stay away from this thing.

2010-06-03

TOP PICK

27.560

A recent purchase. It has pulled back because of long term concern over their holding on to their share of the market. But the TSX will remain the preferred exchange. Their derivative trade is expanding. Good dividend that is well covered.

2010-06-02

HOLD

27.400

Jim Huang

Used to be a favourite but sold it last year because of competition from alternative trading systems, which were too strong for them. Dividend yield of well over 5%.

2010-05-21

DON'T BUY

27.110

Ross Healy

Have its problems, not least of which are the banks that are muscling in and handling trades on their own. This also goes up and down with the stock market. Not particularly cheap.

2010-05-20

HOLD

29.980

Performance has been dismal but looking out 3 years, and looking at better markets, it will participate in the higher trading volumes and revenue producing activities. Yield of 5.07%.

2010-03-12

PAST TOP PICK

29.930

Martin Hubbes, CFA

(Top Pick Mar 23/09, Down 10.99%)

2010-02-18

BUY

30.000

Longer term there is going to be an increase in the number of trading systems, but there will be great long-term growth in the industry due to global exposure as foreign investment in Canada increases. They may snap up some of these alternative systems.

2010-02-17

HOLD

29.240

Ara Nalbandian

Market share loss from competitive stress. Trying to diversify their business. It will eventually pay off but not in the short term. It’s a strong cash flow generating company.

2010-02-16

SELL

28.490

David Baskin

He is finding that less than 50%, sometimes only 25% of his trades are going through this exchange. Recently cut its listing fees. Neither of these things is good for the stock.

2010-02-08

BUY

30.820

Charles Lannon

The monopoly is going away. Big traders are trading off-market to save fees. Likes business. Recommends sticking with it.

2010-01-26

DON'T BUY

31.700

(Market call minute) High Quality, but it’s not being bought.

2010-01-21

DON'T BUY

31.510

Ara Nalbandian

Recently signed some agreements – are trying to diversify. They are loosing market share to competitors such as Alpha. They are down from 97% to under 80% market share, which concerns him. But they are trading at a significant discount at present. There could be a bounce short term.

2009-12-15

TOP PICK

30.360

Jaime Carrasco

Canada has what the world needs. In the environment we are heading, more and more money will enter the country. As asset location of global pension funds shift to increase the level of hard assets, this TSX will benefit. 5% dividend yield. Undervalued.

2009-12-11

BUY

30.280

Yield of over 5%. Losing market share to electronic exchanges but they are making it up on volume, which is exploding.

2009-11-23

Comment

29.750

Richard Croft

Convinced we will have a double dip and there will be a selloff before we go higher. Won't go higher in a hurry but will be a long, slow, grinding recovery.

2009-11-20

BUY

28.680

Rick Stuchberry

Thinks the market is in a bull phase and we are currently in a corrective phase. This sideways consolidation could last a few months. This company makes money through volumes.

2009-11-12

DON'T BUY

28.140

Ron Meisels

Had a congested area from May through October where buyers and sellers fought it out in the price didn't move much. It then had a break down and so the next support is not until about $22.

2009-11-05

PAST TOP PICK

33.550

Martin Hubbes, CFA

(Top Pick Mar 23/09 Up .03%) Still likes and holds it.

2009-10-21

PAST TOP PICK

34.900

Michael Decter

(A Top Pick Aug 18/08. Up 1.6%.) Sold his holdings at $32 for a loss of 6.8%. Too much competition coming.

2009-07-20

PAST TOP PICK

34.750

Veronika Hirsch

(A Top Pick July 17/08. Up 5.79%.) Her favourite stock in the financial sector because it doesn't have the credit risks of the others. Also benefits from the recovery in the stock market. Expecting far better numbers next quarter because of all the new issues. Trading at very cheap multiples.

2009-07-17

DON'T BUY

34.250

Bill Carrigan

Had a peak in the latter part of 07 and reached its low in the latter part of 08. Retracement to date is about 1/3. He would say it is displaying relative weakness compared to its peers. To him this is a bad omen.

2009-07-02

TOP PICK

33.680

A leveraged play on volume in the Canadian market. There has been an increase in volume as well as a lot of new issuances. 4.5% yield.

2009-06-04

TOP PICK

37.400

Peter Gibson

Has cash, derivatives, facilitation in equity markets, fixed incomes, energy markets, excellent characteristics and higher ROE levels. Good growth rate. Still has lots of room to run.

2009-04-03

PAST TOP PICK

37.500

Veronika Hirsch

(A Top Pick July 17/08. Up 9.3%.) Likes the stock. Yield of 4%, great management and it is a near monopoly. Trading at 14X earnings. Still not ridiculously expensive, but getting there. Buy below $30. A Hold.

2009-04-02

TOP PICK

34.970

Martin Hubbes, CFA

Merger of the Toronto Stock Exchange and the Montreal Exchange still has a lot of synergies to be realized. Very good dividend that is safe. Have a lot of cash and cash flow is very good. If this is a new bull market you will get a lot of new listings and increased volumes.

2009-03-23

TOP PICK

30.430

(A Top Pick Feb 1/08. Down 34.1%.) Merger with the Montreal exchange was a good move. All the other exchanges in North America are getting hammered but this one is doing well.

2009-03-05

DON'T BUY

30.500

Thinks the merger with the Montreal Stock exchange is a good one. Will bear fruit in the future. Issue facing this company is competition from alternative trading platforms and doesn't think this has been fully reflected in the stock price. Would be cautious until you see a turn in the market.

2009-03-04

TOP PICK

29.740

(A Top Pick Feb 1/08. Down 36.8%.) Good proxy for the market. Oversold. Seems to have bottomed out and wants to have higher. Likes management.

2009-01-19

SELL

22.600

(Market Call Minute.) Considered as a financial and not in a great environment.

2008-12-01

TOP PICK

24.140

This has been a sentiment driven market. Anything could work out over the next little bit. Toronto Stock Exchange, options business and commodities business they have is well positioned. What ever works out in the Canadian market, this is a wonderful proxy for that.

2008-10-27

HOLD

28.000

Bill MacLachlan

Although volatility and volumes help them, historically things flat line and are quiet for some time after. This would be bad for them. There will likely be pressure to reduce costs for some transactions. Likes it for the long haul.

2008-10-23

HOLD

29.000

Gordon Higgins, CA, MBA

Little bit of risk from the new trading platform, but reasonable valuation.

2008-09-30

BUY on WEAKNESS

28.650

Paul Harris, CFA

TSX exchange itself. Merging with Montreal. Listing revenue is amortized over a period of time. They sell a lot of data. People slow down trading in this kind of Market. There will be a margin issue in a couple of years.

2008-09-29

TOP PICK

34.350

Michael Decter

Not brave enough for the banks yet but wanted to get a foot into the financials. Thinks that volumes are going to be good on the exchanges over the next while. Will benefit from this and cost savings from their merger with the Montreal exchange. 4.5% yield.

2008-08-18

TOP PICK

34.420

Veronika Hirsch

Everybody hates it because of competition coming, being in a bear market (fewer listings), etc. Ridiculously cheap. Huge ROE and a great yield. Everybody is asking about financials. If you want to own financials buy this one that has no credit risk as opposed to bottom fishing for banks. They are buying back stocks.

2008-07-17

DON'T BUY

33.000

(Market Call Minute.) Going to be difficult on revenues going forward.

2008-07-11

DON'T BUY

43.090

Trading on BCE and 36 other companies go down yesterday was horrible timing. Increases the appeal to trade on other platforms such as Alpha. Estimates are from 20% to 50% volumes could move to others, over time. Expensive at this point and doesn’t discount the risk of competition.

2008-05-23

DON'T BUY

44.800

(Market Call Minute.) Risk to revenues

2008-05-22

Comment

47.980

Brooke Thackray

The TSX has had a fantastic rally. Up to all-time highs. Chart shows it is bouncing off the top again, which is a positive sign if it can break that level. However, there is a downward trend on the lows, which concerns him. Technically, you are waiting for the breakthrough.

2008-05-09

DON'T BUY

40.450

Thinks volumes will be under pressure going forward. There are investors that have been shaken out of the market to some degree.

2008-04-18

BUY

38.380

Gordon Higgins, CA, MBA

Stock price has dropped because of the malaise in the market. They get their fees from the number of companies that list, IPOs and when companies issue new equities as well as a cut on every trade that goes through. Quite attractive at this level.

2008-04-17

HOLD

38.150

Will be very challenging environment for all exchanges in the next 3 to 6 months. Market volatility is great for traders, but not for exchanges. Coming merger looks very positive and is good news. On a longer-term basis, it's a good industry to be in. Would stay away for the next 6 months.

2008-03-12

WEAK BUY

44.280

Robert Floyd

Couldn't understand why they were going after the Montreal exchange when the growth was not there. However, when you put the 2 components together, there are synergies. There are political issues in that Montreal wants to keep their distinct entity. Would look very hard at this at this price.

2008-02-29

Comment

45.580

Midst of a takeover with Montreal exchange (MXX-T). Because of the political situation, difficult to tell if this will actually work. CEO just left. Some market pressure because they have cut fees in order to stay competitive. Very consistent business. Volatility helps their underlying business with the extra trading revenue. Over 3% yield.

2008-02-05

TOP PICK

48.500

Merging with the Montreal exchange (MXX-T). The best way to participate in any economy is the stock exchange. If you believe that anything good will happen in the market, these shares should perform even better.

2008-02-01

DON'T BUY

46.750

Thinks this is a space that will continue to consolidate, but it is highly market sensitive. Expect there will be fewer financings resulting in a loss of listing fees. Very well managed business, but if you are concerned about markets this is not the spot to be right now.

2008-01-28

PAST TOP PICK

52.510

(A Top Pick Feb 7/07. No change.) Still likes and is glad they are merging with the Montreal exchange and you

2007-12-28

PARTIAL SELL

53.250

John Zechner

The rumour is that they are going to merge with the Montreal exchange. He has a bit of a problem with the valuation of most of the exchanges right now. If you own, he would take some profit.

2007-12-05

HOLD

54.350

When it went public, it had some anti takeover provisions in it so the likelihood of it being acquired is very low. Merger with the Montreal exchange is a high possibility. Has done while because it is a resource and financial services based index with resources dominating. Try to buy at $46-$47.

2007-12-03

DON'T BUY

47.150

Bill Carrigan

Caller was a senior, he advised no, because it's too volatile.

2007-10-17

PAST TOP PICK

44.780

(A Top Pick Sept 21/06. Down 10.5%.) Feels there is a probability of discussion and conclusion of a merger with the Montreal Exchange (MXX-T). Not concerned with the banks moving into this area.

2007-09-10

DON'T BUY

40.470

There is competition now by banks coming together and trying to form their own exchange. A tremendous cash flow business. Trades around 17 X next year's earnings, which is somewhat expensive. 3.76% yield.

2007-08-22

HOLD

40.440

Steve Carlin

There is an initiative by others to launch a trading platform in competition with them. This is a bona fide threat. The TSX will probably have to cut prices to lure and keep some business. He treats it as a dividend company.

2007-08-21

Comment

41.460

There is a rumour that they may merge with the Montreal exchange. This exchange is focused on derivatives. Have cut their trading fees to be competitive.

2007-08-14

HOLD

43.100

Michael Decter

Had a huge run and then pulled back. There are some legitimate concerns about competition.

2007-07-31

Comment

43.750

Competition is going to lower the cost of transactions, which impacted the stock. Doesn't think this will go anywhere for the next 2 years.

2007-07-19

DON'T BUY

43.230

Not a fan of this stock. They are in a perfect negative storm here. One thing they have going for them is that resource stocks are doing well. They have lost a number of their large cap, high-volume listings. 2 start-up groups will be competing with them.

2007-07-18

DON'T BUY

43.220

Chyanne Fickes

An expensive stock. Are definitely going to have very strong competition in the next couple of years.

2007-07-05

DON'T BUY

42.650

Brian Acker, CA

His model price is $40.22, a negative 7% differential. Still too expensive.

2007-06-21

DON'T BUY

43.250

David Baskin

Formidable competition is coming by way of a new trading platform by the bank owned brokerages. Expecting that margins and profits will be reduced.

2007-06-19

Comment

42.770

James Cole, BA, CFA

Is finally having some deceleration in it's earning momentum. It's been generally well managed. Is a quasi-monopoly, with competition coming on.It will need to lower it's rates, which is good for consumers.

2007-06-12

DON'T BUY

43.290

Banks have deep pockets and want to get a share of the trading that TSX has. TSX may have to cut there fees by 20%, which doesn't translate into higher profits. Is interest rate sensitive as far as if the market softens that effects their volumes.

2007-06-08

SELL

44.120

They have bought in the past, and recently sold. The alternate trading system being put together by the banks took the shine out of it's perceived value. Would get back in once the impact of the alternate trading system is seen.

2007-06-04

SPECULATIVE BUY

44.000

Ross Healy

Fair market value currently is $87-$88 so there is a lot of upside. It's currently at 10 times book value, so it's not cheap. This is a speculation. He likes to buy at book or twice book.

2007-06-01

DON'T BUY

43.410

John O'Connell, CFA

Banks may be going to get involved in alternative markets, which is a competitive threat to them. All the regulatory commissions are driving newer companies to international markets.

2007-05-29

DON'T BUY

43.580

Facing some challenges with Canada's 6 largest banks intending to directly compete with them. There’re also some other alternative trading platforms out there that will start eating in to their market share. Not cheap.

2007-05-23

DON'T BUY

44.290

They have 2 problems. All their big companies are being taken over and they make their money off of trading. Secondly, the big banks are talking about setting up a rival exchange.

2007-05-18

DON'T BUY

43.900

Hap (Robert) Sneddon FCSI

Has dropped a fair bit since its high. Got hurt recently when there was talk about the banks pushing for their own equity market. Technology will allow them to do that. It won't trump the TSX, but will take business away and will hurt their margins. Great cash flow business.

2007-05-17

DON'T BUY

42.700

Bill Carrigan

Long-term trend line has been broken. When a group is getting tired, there is a tendency for a lot of new investment products to come out. If you own, lighten up.

2007-05-15

BUY

41.700

Bruce Campbell

A consortium of Canadian banks has announced that they are considering putting in a competing product in the next year or two. This would cut into their pricing. This will probably blow over and at this price, it’s not a bad entry point.

2007-05-09

SELL

42.560

David Baskin

Announcement that the banks were considering setting up an alternative system gave them a scare. It would take away a lot of volume. Have held a monopoly position. Consider taking some profits on part of your holdings.

2007-05-08

Comment

42.560

$50 is at risk of moving below 200 day moving average and the momentum on the MACD is out of the stock. Be cautious.

2007-05-08

SELL

41.770

Derek Webb, CFA

Stock missed earnings, when a stock misses earnings, it will tend to do it multiple times.

2007-05-03

DON'T BUY

41.770