Investors are looking ahead to the annual Jackson Hole symposium at week's end where U.S. Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke is scheduled to speak, seeking any hint of possible further stimulus measures for the U.S. economy. Meanwhile, European markets continue to struggle as the Spanish economy sinks deeper into recession. On the economic data calendar for Tuesday, the U.S. Conference Board will report on consumer confidence in August.
Here are the stocks we're watching today:
*Bank of Montreal reports its third quarter earnings on Tuesday as all of Canada's big banks are to begin reporting their quarterly earnings this week, BMO is among the first. General expectation is for BMO to report earnings per share of $1.39. BMO did raise its quarterly dividend by 2 cents to 72 cents per share.
*Bank of Nova Scotia will also report its third quarter earnings on Tuesday. Analysts expect to see earnings between $1.19 and $1.35 per share. Slow growth may be the order of the day as consumer credit in Canada is now growing at a slower pace than in the U.S.
*Corby Distilleries Limited will release its year-end financial results for 2012 later today. The Toronto-based marketer and distributor of spirits and imported wines that includes the brands Wiser's Canadian whiskey, Lamb's rum and Polar Ice vodka. The company reported solid returns for its third quarter 2012 with a 21 per cent revenue increase and a net earnings increase of 42 per cent.
*Nokia Corp.'s shares jumped by 8 per cent after analysts said the company could see a rise in sales after last Friday's ruling in the Apple-Samsung patent dispute. The verdict against Samsung is potentially good news for Nokia, which uses Microsoft's Windows software on its smartphones. There's a school of thought that suggests Android users could make the jump to Windows-based smartphones and therein lies opportunity for Nokia to crawl out of the doldrums.
*Molycorp Inc. saw its shares rise by about 5 per cent in extended trading on word it's fired up a Mountain Pass, Calif.-based rare-earth mine. Rare earth elements are used to produce a number of products and technologies from wind turbines to consumer electronics. It's noteworthy that the Greenwood Village, Colo.-based company had stated earlier it would need to secure additional financing to cover a significant portion of its capital expenditures this year.