A ‘ghost town’ created in the U.S., with a little help from Canadian oil wealth + MORE Apr 13th

DETROIT – It looks like a ghost town, and Canadian oil helped build it.
The burned-out, abandoned parcels of property in a west-end Detroit neighbourhood are the reverse image of an oil boom town — a ramshackle yin to the thriving yang of Fort McMurray, Alta.
For three-quarters of a century, crude oil has arrived here at the Marathon refinery. Even as this once-bustling, blue-collar area became blighted by crime and neglect like so much of Detroit, the industry survived.
So when neighbours started complaining about smells and occasional explosions while the plant was planning a US$2.2-billion expansion to handle the influx of Alberta-type heavy crude, basic economics proffered a solution.
The business expanded, and the people were paid to leave.
Picture a block the size of a football field, once crowded with old working-class homes. Then imagine it razed into empty lots of grass and dirt, with nothing left standing except for one home and a couple more abandoned houses slated for demolition…

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Earlier this year, just for kicks, I shared some financial predictions for 2014.  Here’s a recap of what I predicted and what has come true year-to-date:

The Dow Jones Industrial Average will finish the year at 16,700.

It opened the year around 16,441.  It is now about 16,026.

The S&P/TSX Composite will finish the year at 14,200.

It opened the year around 13,594.  It is now 14,257.

Our Canadian Dollar will finish the year at $0.90 compared to the US Dollar.

It opened the year around $0.94.  It is now $0.91.

Fortis (FTS) will increase their dividend.

Well, back on February 6th Fortis increased its dividend to $0.32 per share starting March 1.  They raise their dividend like clockwork.

Telus (T) will increase their dividend.

This was an easy one.  Back in May 2013, Telus announced it will extend its semi-annual dividend growth program into 2016.  In February, Telus gave shareholders a 12.5% raise.  The dividend is currently $0.36 per share and it will probably go up again later this year…

NEW YORK, N.Y. – Glencore Xstrata Plc has agreed to sell its copper mine project in Peru for $5.85 billion in cash.
In an announcement made Sunday, the Switzerland-based company said it signed an agreement to sell its entire interest in the Las Bambas copper mine to a Chinese consortium led by MMG Limited, a mining company whose biggest shareholder is backed by China’s government. The other members of the group are Guoxin International Investment Corp. and Citic Metal Co.
The agreement also requires the buyers to reimburse Glencore for the cost of developing the copper mine from the start of the year until the sale closes. In the first three months of the year, those costs were roughly $400 million, according to Glencore’s statement.
The company said it expects to close the sale before the end of September. It still needs MMG’s shareholders and China’s Ministry of Commerce to approve the deal.
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