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The Toronto stock market closed higher for a fifth session today amid positive industrial data from Canada and the U.S.

The Toronto energy and gold sectors led the way to a gain of 59.77 points to 11,555.6 on the main S&P/TSX composite index, its highest close since the end of September, 2008.

The solid showing followed a report showing that U.S. industrial companies boosted production more than expected in August.

The Federal Reserve says output at U.S. factories, mines and utilities rose 0.8 per cent in August. Economists surveyed by Thomson Reuters expected a 0.6 per cent increase.

"No doubt about it, the U.S. economy is recovering faster than expected, though questions remain about the sustained strength of the expansion," said BMO Capital Markets senior economist Sal Guatieri.

And Statistics Canada reported that manufacturing sales rose 5.5 per cent in July to $41.4 billion, adding to the 2.2 per cent increase reported in June, thanks to improved performances in the motor vehicle and primary metals industries.

Excluding the motor vehicle assembly and motor vehicle parts industries, manufacturing sales increased 2.1 per cent.

"July's strong manufacturing report provides additional force to the case for renewed growth in the third quarter," said TD Bank (TSX: TD) economist Grant Bishop.

"However, with indicators of future shipments easing, we do not anticipate that manufacturing will see rapid gains in the months ahead."

The gold sector was up 0.77 per cent on Wednesday as inflation worries and a weaker U.S. dollar helped push the December bullion contract on the New York Mercantile Exchange up $13.90 to US$1,020.20 an ounce. It earlier reached an intraday high of US$1,023.30, its highest level since March 2008.

On the TSX, Barrick Gold Corp. (TSX: ABX) climbed 39 cents to C$41.09.

The energy sector rose 0.88 per cent as the October crude contract on the New York Mercantile Exchange gained $1.58 to US$72.51 a barrel after the U.S. Energy Information Administration reported a decrease of 4.7 million barrels of oil in the U.S. last week, a bigger decline than the three million barrel drop expected by analysts. Suncor Inc. (TSX: SU) gained 79 cents to C$39.44.

Opti Canada Inc. (TSX: OPC) stock soared 57 cents or 33.93 per cent to $2.25 on heavy trading of 21 million shares on the Toronto Stock Exchange. Opti's sole business is a minority stake in Nexen Inc.'s (TSX: NXY) Long Lake oil sands project.

The reason for the spike wasn't immediately clear, although the company had made a bullish presentation on Tuesday morning at a major oil and gas conference in Calgary. Opti is also frequently the subject of takeover rumours that tend to make its shares volatile.

The Canadian dollar moved up 0 absolutely free credit report.57 of a cent to 93.91 cents US, after rising more than a cent Tuesday amid yet another warning from the Bank of Canada that the strong loonie could derail an economic recovery.

The TSX has racked up a strong series of gains on hopes for a strong recovery and a positive third-quarter earnings season, leaving the market up 52 per cent since the lows of early March and up 28 per cent year to date.

However, analysts think the markets face some stiff headwinds in the near term that could erode those gains, pointing out that the runup has been almost straight up "and the fact that this rally has advanced further than previous rallies coming out of a bear market in the past 50 years," said Phillip Petursson, director of institutional equities at MFC Global Investment Management.

He added that the third and fourth quarters of 2009 could surprise to the upside but if consumers continue to pay down debt and cut spending, "that's going to keep growth somewhat subdued into 2010."

The TSX Venture Exchange climbed 15.19 points to 1,284.54.

New York markets were up sharply as the Dow Jones industrial average rose 108.3 points to 9,791.71.

The Nasdaq composite index moved up 30.51 points to 2,133.15 while the S&P 500 index gained 16.13 points to 1,068.76.

Investors were little swayed Wednesday by the latest report on U.S. consumer prices. The Commerce Department said its consumer price index, a measure of inflation at the retail level, rose 0.4 per cent in August, just above the 0.3 per cent rise economists polled by Thomson Reuters expected.

Excluding volatile energy and food prices, the index rose 0.1 per cent, in line with expectations.

Elsewhere on the TSX, the base metals sector rose 0.34 per cent as the December copper contract jumped 9.15 cents to US$2.9365 a pound. Teck Resources (TSX: TCK.B) gained 75 cents to $30.

In corporate news, the Globe and Mail reported that Magna International Inc.'s (TSX: MG.A) has been told by BMW, the auto parts giant's second-largest customer, that the close relationship between the two companies could be in jeopardy. It said that the German automaker fears Magna will go from parts supplier to competitor if the Canadian company fulfills its goal of leaping into the ranks of mass producers through an ownership stake in Adam Opel GmbH. Magna shares lost $1.92 to $45.09.

Harry Winston Diamond Corp. (TSX: HW) says a winter shutdown at the Diavik mine in Canada's North won't be necessary after all. The shutdown had been scheduled in response to the global economic recession that began about a year ago. Its shares rose 36 cents to $9.52.

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Canada has the potential to attract billions of dollars in investment from Chinese companies who are still taking baby steps abroad, according to a report released as business executives from the two countries met Tuesday to discuss bilateral trade.

The report by the Asia Pacific Foundation of Canada concludes that the outward investment of Chinese companies is "still in its infancy" and its scale, while relatively small, is growing.

"Chinese companies perceive Canada as one of the most open economies in the world," the report states.

In recent years, Chinese companies have sought to buy into Canada's resources sector, especially mining and energy, in a bid to lock in future supplies of oil and key metals for its booming economy.

At a downtown Toronto hotel, more than 200 Canadian and another 159 Chinese executives mingled and listened to presentations about Sino-Canadian trade at the third Canada-China business forum.

"We need to get to know one another better," said former international trade minister Pierre Pettigrew, now an adviser with consulting firm Deloitte.

Pettigrew noted that China pays a lot of attention to the United States, less so to Canada, so it's important the Chinese understand how well its financial institutions have withstood the economic crisis.

At the same time, despite making some progress, the Chinese government has to do more to live up to the country's international trade commitments, Pettigrew said.

Jerome Darder, who is in strategy and business development with Montreal-based aircraft and train maker Bombardier Inc. (TSX: BBD.B), said doing business in China has improved since the Asian country joined the World Trade Organization but ever-changing regulatory obstacles remain in place.

"It's becoming easier, that doesn't mean it's easy, but it's easier," he said.

Darder stressed the importance of intergovernmental ties between Canada and China, saying Ottawa has to be engaged to foster a positive trade and business climate.

"We can build all the relationships we want with our partners in China, but if there is nothing strong at the political level that would be a problem," Darder said.

The foundation's report echoed those sentiments.

"The policy environment is as important, if not more so, than the business environment in encouraging investment from China," the report states.

Solomon Cai, the Shanghai-based CEO of Globelink China Logistics Ltd., said he believed the two governments have a good understanding.

Canada's relative resilience to the economic slump has not escaped the attention of Chinese businesses, who normally pay more heed to the much larger markets of Europe and the U.S., Cai said at the business forum.

"This is still a very strong and big market as an individual country," he said.

The report by the Asia Pacific Foundation says the $1.7-billion deal between China Investment Corp. and Vancouver-based zinc, copper and coal miner Teck Resources (TSX: TCK.B) in July likely marked the beginning of a new Chinese "investment wave" in Canada.

More recently, Athabasca Oil Sands Corp. announced a joint-venture agreement with PetroChina that would see the Chinese company acquire a 60 per cent interest in two oilsands properties in northern Alberta for $1.9 billion.

However, the Investment Canada Act requires a review any time a Canadian company with assets of more than $312 million is purchased. The legislation was amended this spring to include a national security test as well.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper recently said Ottawa would not throw up further barriers given the importance of restoring private investment in light of the global recession.

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The U.S. economy is starting to climb out of a “deep hole” but with a tepid recovery likely it will remain vulnerable to shocks, a top Federal Reserve policy-maker said on Monday.

Janet Yellen, president of the San Francisco Fed, said that the Fed’s policies need to protect against “disinflationary forces” that currently pose a bigger threat to the U.S. economy than the possibility of inflation.

“The economy seems to be brushing itself off and beginning its climb out of the deep hole it’s been in,” Yellen said in remarks prepared for the Certified Financial Analysts of San Francisco.

The severe recession probably ended in the summer, and the U.S. economy will grow in the second half of 2009 as housing, manufacturing and even consumer spending start to show some signs of life, she said.

But Yellen, a voting member of the monetary policy-setting Federal Open Market Committee in 2009, said that consumers could not be relied on to power a recovery.

“It may well be that we are witnessing the start of a new era for consumers … The destruction of their nest eggs caused by falling house and stock prices is prompting them to rebuild savings,” said Yellen.

Yellen said views on the inflation outlook have coalesced into two diametrically opposed views, but threw her weight behind those worried on falling prices — a consequence of high unemployment and substantial “slack” in the economy.

“With slack likely to persist for years, it seems likely that core inflation will move even lower, departing yet farther from our price stability objective,” Yellen said.

Yellen said fears that the Fed would be pressured to “monetize” the growing U.S. budget deficit were “real, growing, and disruptive” — but also misplaced.

“We at the Fed are and will remain fiercely independent from politics. We have the means — and we certainly have the will — to tighten policy when the time is right.”

(Editing by James Dalgleish)

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My investments need to be a lot more diversified, I was told. Within a split of 55 percent stocks and 45 percent bonds, I was presented a list of 10 mutual funds and exchange-traded funds to buy (plus 23 others as alternatives).

I won’t buy any because the suggestions were based on faulty assumptions. But I appreciated the concept of building a broadly diversified portfolio consisting of different asset classes, including growth and value stocks of large and small U.S. companies, and stocks from foreign companies.

And I relished the idea of keeping costs down by focusing on index mutual funds, exchange-traded funds and low-cost actively managed funds with consistent performance.

I received these fund suggestions from Cake Financial, an online computer-driven mutual fund "engine" that analyzes your investments and suggests and monitors a low-cost diversified portfolio appropriate for your age. For $99.99 a year — there is a 30-day free trial — Cake Financial claims it can save investors many thousands of dollars in the long run by selecting lower-cost and less-risky funds. The site also offers a more basic investment tracking service for free and a fund-comparison service for $29.99 a year, also with a 30-day free trial.

In my case, the fund suggestions were based on the wrong assumption that all my money was in large-company stocks. That’s because Cake Financial can analyze only investments held in brokerage and fund accounts it can link to its site (for a list, to which customers can recommend additions, go https:// www.cakefinancial.com/help/linking-a-brokerage). More than half my assets are outside brokerage accounts.

For investors who have the bulk if not all their retirement savings — including 401(k)s — with brokerage and fund providers, this online fund "engine" can provide a useful service that will add to diversification and keep costs down totally free credit score. The average Cake user is in his early 40s with about $150,000 to $200,000 mostly in mutual funds, said Steven Carpenter, the company’s founder and CEO.

Cake is not the only place you can get fund recommendations online. Several free sites run by investment advisers, such as www.fundadvice.com, list model portfolios consisting mostly of index and other low-cost funds. Of course, the people running these sites are trying to sign you up as a client. The sites of many fund companies provide solid advice on asset allocation and sometimes suggest certain funds or combinations of funds (naturally, the funds they sell). By contrast, Cake is an independent information and screening service that gives you fund choices from which to pick.

"We are not an adviser and we do not effect transactions," Carpenter said, but simply base fund suggestions on computer models that look for strong consistent performance and incorporate fund fees in their calculations.

"We show all the top funds for an asset class and sort them by fees," Carpenter said. "Where we feel we are better than an adviser is that we don’t have" any incentive to recommend one fund over another. A survey by Harris Interactive on behalf of Cake Financial found only 21 percent of Americans who use financial investment firms are confident the firms put customers’ best interest ahead of their own.

To be fair, many advisers who act in a fiduciary capacity focus only on what’s best for the client. Cake Financial does a bare-bones job in estimating how much money you need in retirement and is not a substitute for a trusted financial professional adviser.

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Come Wednesday, BUD will be back.

Anheuser-Busch InBev, the world’s biggest brewer, said Friday that investors will be able to trade its stock on the New York Stock Exchange. The ticker symbol of the financial instrument: BUD.

That’s a blast from the past. BUD was Anheuser-Busch’s ticker symbol for decades before it was delisted from the New York Stock Exchange in November. That’s when Belgian brewer InBev took over Anheuser-Busch. Anheuser-Busch had been listed on the stock exchange since 1980.

The re-appearance of BUD on the Big Board means U.S. investors will be able to invest in the world’s biggest brewer more easily.

Here’s how it works: Investors will be able to buy and sell Anheuser-Busch InBev’s American depositary receipts, which are securities that allow foreign companies to trade in the U.S. Each ADR represents one ordinary share of Anheuser-Busch InBev common stock, which is traded in Europe.

ADRs allow U.S. investors to invest in foreign companies without undertaking cross-border transactions. The stock exchange listing next week upgrades Anheuser-Busch InBev’s existing ADR program, which launched on July 1.

The brewer’s ADRs, which currently trade in the over-the-counter market, closed Friday at $45.45, up 18 percent since they became available about 2

U.S. antitrust regulators have requested more documents in their probe of Microsoft Corp’s deal to provide search engine technology to rival Yahoo Inc, the two companies said on Friday.

Both Microsoft and Yahoo confirmed that the Justice Department’s antitrust division had made a second request for documents, which indicates a decision to conduct a deeper review that could take months.

“We received this additional request as we expected from the government,” said Microsoft spokesman Jack Evans.

“We’re obviously cooperating fully,” said Yahoo spokesman Adam Grossberg.

The companies said they were hopeful that the deal, struck in late July as a way to challenge search giant Google, would close in early 2010.

Google is the No. 1 search engine with about 65 percent of searches, while Yahoo is in second place at about 19 percent and Microsoft in third place with about 9 percent.

Antitrust experts generally expect the deal will get close scrutiny from regulators, but ultimately will be approved.

At the end of July, Microsoft and Yahoo signed a 10-year deal under which search on Yahoo’s websites will be generated by Microsoft’s new Bing search engine free instant credit report.

Microsoft will license Yahoo’s search technology, allowing Microsoft to integrate certain aspects of it into Bing. Microsoft’s advertising search product, AdCenter, will also replace Yahoo’s equivalent product, Panama.

While Yahoo’s deal with Google for a search-ad partnership was scotched last year after vehement objections from advertisers and newspapers, the two industries were enthusiastic about the prospect of Microsoft and Yahoo teaming up to provide stronger competition to Google, said a source close to the deal who asked not to be named because of its sensitivity.

Microsoft has expressed confidence that it can persuade regulators that a stronger rival for Google is in the best interests of the market.

A second source close to the deal declined to describe what information had been requested. “It’s fairly detailed in that we have to provide data on our search engine deal,” said the source, who also declined to be named because of the sensitivity of the matter. “It’s just more encompassing.”

(Edited by Steve Orlofsky, Dave Zimmerman)

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A prominent analyst on Thursday called for a merger of Comcast Corp and Time Warner Cable, saying such a blockbuster deal would offer a host of benefits for both cable giants.

Citi analyst Jason Bazinet, in a note to clients, said a deal between Comcast and Time Warner would give the combination 37 percent of the pay TV market plus offer about $2.7 billion in cost savings. Shares of both companies, he predicted, will trade higher on a potential announcement.

Bazinet’s prediction comes on the heels of a court case that struck down a rule limiting cable companies to no more than 30 percent of the U.S. pay-TV market.

While the decision opens the door to more dealmaking, other industry analysts cautioned that Comcast would likely look toward small- to mid-sized acquisitions rather than pursue a big deal N09365118. Comcast currently has about 25 percent of the pay TV market.

Comcast Chief Operating Officer Steve Burke said during a presentation that the ruling did not change the top cable company’s world view.

“We don’t wake up every day saying how do we get bigger in cable,” said Burke speaking at an investor conference. “But if there is a way to acquire cable systems for what we consider to be a good price, ones that are contiguous or well-managed, we would certainly look at whatever was out there.”

In his note, Citi’s Bazinet listed seven benefits of a combination of Comcast and Time Warner, saying among them it would lead to cost savings, offer an investment grade rating, and simplifies a wireless strategy.

(Reporting by Paul Thomasch, editing by Dave Zimmerman)

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Bank of America Corp has hired two senior commodity executives as directors to run parts of its power and natural gas group in Houston, according to an internal memo seen by Reuters.

The additions are the latest step by the largest U.S. bank, which acquired Merrill Lynch on January 1, to expand its commodities business globally.

Narsimha Misra will head west power trading, while Eric Race will head NYMEX gas option trading, according to the memo that a bank spokeswoman confirmed.

Misra, who has spent 17 years in the industry, was previously a director in the North American power group at RBS Sempra Energy Trading and before that at Credit Suisse. He will join Bank of America later this month, according to the memo.

Race, who started at Bank of America on Tuesday, was previously co-head of natural gas trading at Bunge Ltd, and before that he worked at Lehman Brothers, the memo said freecreditscore.

Many large commercial and investment banks are boosting their commodities staff to take advantage of the upswing in prices this year and greater investor risk appetite.

Charlotte, North Carolina-based Bank of America has said it may increase its metals and energy business 25 percent over the next two to three years.

The bank is focusing a large part of its commodities expansion in Asia, where earlier this month it hired five senior executives.

(Reporting by Elinor Comlay; Editing by Richard Chang)

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International Business Machines Corp on Tuesday repeated that it expects to earn “at least” $9.70 a share this year.

In a federal filing, the company also reiterated that it was “well ahead” of its plan of achieving earnings per share of $10 to $11 for 2010.

Analysts surveyed by Reuters Estimates had expected a profit of $9.76 for 2009 and $10.68 for 2010.

IBM, which has shifted its focus from computers to higher-margin software and services over the past decade, first raised its 2009 EPS outlook in July payday loans. It had previously expected a profit of $9.20 for 2009.

Shares of IBM were a bit higher in premarket trading, climbing to $118.18 after closing at $117.46 on Friday on the New York Stock Exchange.

(Reporting by Franklin Paul, editing by Gerald E. McCormick)

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To charge more for beer, or not? If you’re a small craft brewer, that is the question.

Around the St. Louis area, craft brewers say there is no rush to raise prices in the midst of a tough economy — even when brewing giants Anheuser-Busch and MillerCoors are planning price hikes this fall.

Why aren’t the much smaller competitors jumping at the chance to charge more? Local craft brewers said they still want to provide a good value for the consumer’s money, which helps buoy sales. Thus, they’re trying to strike the right balance between affordability for drinkers and their own profit.

Walking that tightrope is tough. Little brewers are at a large disadvantage when it comes to securing contracts for raw materials, such as barley, hops and glass bottles. Large multinationals such as Anheuser-Busch InBev can use their massive size to pressure suppliers for favorable terms. Craft brewers have to do the best they can.

That makes it hard to pass up a chance at raising prices. In fact, craft beer prices have closely tracked price increases of the big brands this year.

Retail prices for craft beer rose 4.2 percent in U.S. supermarkets by mid-July, according to Information Resources Inc. Meanwhile, "super premium" brands such as Michelob are up 4.5 percent.

O’Fallon Brewery, based in O’Fallon, Mo., has typically priced its beers "a little higher than everybody else, and that’s OK," said co-founder Tony Caradonna.

But the company doesn’t plan on raising prices this fall, keeping its brews in a range of roughly $7 to $9 a six-pack.

"You can get six bottles of a hell of a craft beer for (that)," he said.

The big brewers’ decision to raise prices is "wonderful" for his company, Caradonna said. This narrows the price gap between mainstream beers and craft brews, making the craft beer purchase easier for a price-sensitive consumer.

Square One Brewery near Lafayette Park did raise prices more than a year ago, when prices for malt and hops "went crazy," said owner Steve Neukomm. But the brew pub is not looking into raising prices again, now that hops that went for as much as $20 a pound can be had for $12 a pound.

"Part of our niche is keeping things reasonable," said Neukomm.

Small brewers don’t want to let their profits erode if they hold prices steady too long. They have to meet payroll, pay health insurance and utilities, and set aside some money for

expansion.

That’s the situation that St. Louis Brewery Inc., maker of Schlafly beer, finds itself in. The company, which owns the Tap Room in downtown St. Louis and Bottleworks in Maplewood, is evaluating its prices but will not make any price changes until January, said Chief Operating Officer Dan Kopman.

But there is some good news for small brewers. Grain and hops prices have fallen in recent months. The big crunch of higher ingredient costs caused by weak harvests nearly two years ago seems to have subsided.

Craft beer sales are growing well locally and across the country. Beer wholesalers and retailers, enticed by the hefty profit margins that craft beers can provide, are giving more support to the small brewers who make them.

All this has lessened the need to slap customers with higher prices.

So far, St. Louis Brewery has not raised prices this year, thanks to a good 2008 crop year that drove down prices for malted barley, one of the key ingredients of beer. Still, the company is facing serious cost pressures.

The company has seen "big increases in health insurance, continued increases in utilities, some increases in packaging and the beat goes on," said Kopman. St. Louis Brewery has seen some increased costs — new employees, more staffers signing up for health insurance, pay increases — that have not been recovered by holding prices steady for the last 20 months.

That’s why price increases are a possibility next year.

"Consumers should expect us to mind the store," Kopman said. "We can’t dream up the money to cover our employees’ health insurance or utility bills. It has to come from selling beer."

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