HEY, everyone has to be good at something, right? Here at IR Web Report, we’re good at snide remarks about regulators and investor relations practices.
And Canada? Well, according to a study commissioned by Bloomberg News, it has a prescient knack for buying stocks in companies that are about to be acquired.
Looking at 52 Canadian mergers valued at more than C$200 million ($172.6 million) last year, Measuredmarkets Inc. found “aberrant trading patterns” preceded 33 of them.
Now, to put that into context, consider this from Bloomberg:
“The rate of unusual trading found in Canada — 63 percent — was higher than in the U.S., where a Measuredmarkets study last year flagged 41 percent of comparable mergers. The London-based Financial Services Authority said March 7 that insider trading may have preceded almost 25 percent of U.K. merger announcements in 2005.”
As the saying now goes, Canada has a “rocks, trees and insider trading economy.” Much, much more, including lame excuses from regulators, here: `Suspicious’ Trades Precede Most Big Canada Mergers, Study Says
Related:
Do Canada’s Securities Regulators Condone Selective Disclosure?

