For a while there, it looked like Canada might have just shut off its negotiations with the United States altogether, prepared to dig in for a long-term trade war. But then, perhaps, cooler heads prevailed, and Canada shut down a measure that allowed both sides to come back to the table. And the iShares S&P / TSX 60 Index fund (TSE:XIU) called that welcome news, with shares notching up fractionally in Monday morning’s trading.
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Canada took aim at United States tech firms—of which there are plenty these days—to get some extra cash and some extra leverage by setting out a “digital services tax” on said firms. That would have hit a lot of Canadians as well as the United States, and it also prompted the United States to shut down trade negotiations with Canada altogether.
But then, Canada took a look at the impact the planned tax had, and shut it down. That in turn allowed the United States to come back to the table, with White House economic advisor Kevin Hassett noting, “It’s something that they’ve studied, now they’ve agreed to, and for sure, that means we can get back to the negotiations.”
Alberta Departure Coming?
Meanwhile, further news emerged as parts of Canada took a closer look at walking away. The potential for Alberta to depart Canada and become either its own country or part of the United States took on a whole new life recently. New reports say that Alberta just revamped its rules on public referendums. That in turn might suggest these new rules will get put to use soon, and potentially, in deciding if Alberta will even continue as part of Canada.
The new rules feature a reduced threshold to actually put a question to Albertan voters, and Alberta Prosperity Project Mitch Sylvestre is already working to get 177,000 signatures on a petition to put the separation question to voters. However, the project is facing a new snarl from former Progressive Conservative deputy premier Thomas Lukaszuk, who is putting together a 600,000 signature petition to call for the Albertan government to declare its policy is to remain Canadian.
Is the iShares S&P / TSX 60 Index ETF a Good Buy Right Now?
Turning to Wall Street, analysts have a Moderate Buy consensus rating on TSE:XIU shares based on 51 Buys and 10 Holds assigned in the past three months, as indicated by the graphic below. After a 21.24% rally in its share price over the past year, the average TSE:XIU price target of $43.99 per share implies 9.3% upside potential.
