Peter Polansky at the Rogers Cup

This is a cross-post from my blog posting at BNN

Canadians are getting a chance to see Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer and the rest of the tennis elite in action this week as Toronto hosts the Rogers Cup. The tournament is a Masters Series event, one step below a major like Wimbledon or the U.S. Open (in terms of prize money and ranking points). For Canada's Peter Polansky, a relative unknown as the 207th ranked player in the world, it was an opportunity to break through on his home turf.

Polansky had his moment in the sun, pulling off a major upset by beating Jurgen Melzer (the number-15 ranked player in the world) in the first round on Monday night in front of his hometown fans. But the Toronto-born 22-year-old couldn't raise his game against Romanian Victor Hanescu, losing his second round match in straight sets.

It was a disappointing end to a tournament that started out with high hopes. But don't cry too much for Polansky – his roller coaster week netted him some financial relief: a career-high payday of $16,500.

While that may not seem like much compared to the $443,000 cheque the Rogers Cup champion will eventually cash, for Polansky it's a windfall. He's more accustomed to competing against other lower-ranked players in Challenger events, where tournament winners stand to take home around $6,000.

Despite being Canada's highest-ranked singles tennis player, and a regular on the pro circuit since 2005, Polansky is not a household name. It took a wild card from Tennis Canada for Polansky to even make the main draw in Toronto.

Polansky has made $45,811 so far this year. In the last 5 years he's earned just over $224,000 -- but that's before expenses. In tennis, just showing up to play costs thousands of dollars – and Polansky is barely breaking even after accounting for costs like airfares, hotel rooms and trainer fees.

One thing Polansky doesn't have to worry about paying for is equipment. He has a racquet deal with Spanish company Babolat, and Nike supplies his clothing for match play. But unlike a superstar like Rafael Nadal (who has 41 titles and $33 million in tournament earnings), Nike doesn’t pay Polansky endorsement fees. He says if he can break into the top 100, he'd make considerably more prize money and have a shot at those deals.

At 22, he's still considered a new talent (male tennis players usually compete into their early thirties.) According to Polansky, "companies are always looking for young faces."

For now, he’s just looking to build on what he started at the Rogers Cup … on the court and in his bank account.

Exxon Mobil

Exxon Mobil made $40.6B in profit in 2007. That was a record annual profit for a U.S. company. The number is so astronomically high that it's almost impossible to grasp. Here's another, simpler way of looking at it. Exxon made $1300 a second in 2007. So in the 10 seconds or so it took to read this blog, Exxon made about 13 thousand dollars.

For more on this story, check out my segment on BNN by copying and pasting the following link.
http://broadband.bnn.ca/bnn/?id=2238&vid=29359

Bristol-Myers

Bristol-Myers Squibb lost 89 million dollars in the fourth quarter. The biggest contributing factor? Generic competition for its Plavix drug? A big payout on a patent dispute? Nah. The culprit was subprime. Specifically losses on rotten subprime investments. Pretty incredible considering Bristol-Myers is a pharma company. This has to be subprime contagion at its best or its worst depending on your viewpoint.

For more on this story, check out my segment on BNN by copying and pasting the following link.

http://broadband.bnn.ca/bnn/?id=2223&vid=29124

Sit tight

Forget the relentless equity market selling in 2008. The single biggest factor in the capital markets right now is volatility. One day the equity markets are up, the next day, markets are down. Yesterday the TSX lost 605 points, its biggest points decline in 30 years. Breathtaking stuff. Today the index gained back nearly all of those losses. Pity the panic-stricken investor that sold near the bottom yesterday and then watched stock prices almost universally recover today. So when markets dive is the only sane advice to sit tight?

"Not as if we got dumb all of a sudden"

J.C. Penney is a storied tale in U.S. retail. Its first store opened in 1902 in Kemmerer, Wyoming. That store is still open for business. But today shareholders had a rough day. The stock dropped 5%. The second steep sell-off in 2 days. The company has already had a terrible couple of months. The shares are down over 40% since March. Today the company spooked investors by sending out a chilling profit warning. Its Q4 profit will be $1.80/shr at the most. Previously the company said it would make $2.41/shr. Ouch! But don’t look to CEO Myron Ullman to take any responsibility for the company’s shoddy performance. He’s blaming everything on external factors. The weather, the funky housing market, high gas prices, Hollywood writer's strike (ok maybe not that one). During the conference call Ullman said “it’s not as if we got dumb all of a sudden”. Now that's eloquent.

Business Buzzkills

There will be a little less holiday cheer this year. According to an executive search firm, 85% of U.S. companies say they will throw a Christmas party this year. In 2006, 95% threw parties. To make matters worse, this year’s crop of parties will likely be less fun. More companies are planning afternoon affairs instead of evening get-togethers. And horror of horrors, less booze will be served. Only 70% of parties will serve alcohol versus 85% last year. What a drag! The grinches are blaming it all on sub-prime. Apparently there is simply less money to throw around this year.

More beer money

The Canadian dollar had quite a day. As of 8am the loonie had busted through US$1.10. But the c-buck actually ended the day around 1.07. A lot of volatility. A lot. BNN assigned me a fun story today. Find out how much more buying power Canadians have now versus a year ago when they go abroad. I decided not to look at buying power in the U.S. That has been well documented in the mainstream media. Apparently wait times to cross the border into the U.S. and get back into Canada are one hour plus. So obviously Canadians already know how much further the dollar takes them these days when they go to the U.S.
But what about Europe and elsewhere? The price of a plate of fish and chips in "Archies Fish and Chips" in North London will cost you approx 15 pounds which is about 30 Canadian bucks. A year ago it would have cost you 35 bucks. The price of a pint of Guinness in "101 Talbot" in Dublin Street, will cost you about 3 Euros and 50 cents. Or about 5 bucks Canadian. A year ago it would have been 5.50 Canadian. Savings in the price of fish and chips and lovely pints all because of how much the loonie has gone up against the pound and the Euro.