Hannah Kuan

Markets Reporter · 7 years covering small-cap and venture markets

Hannah covers the TSX Venture Exchange, the CSE, new listings and the financing cycle for early-stage issuers.

Beats: Markets, Venture, Crypto

Published work

OpinionEconomy

The Loonie Has Two Engines: Why a 1.4-Point Rate Gap Is Only Half of the Canadian Dollar Story

The Bank of Canada's policy rate sat about 1.4 percentage points below the US effective federal funds rate in early September 2026, metals prices rose 4.2 per cent into August, and the loonie ended the week close to where it began. That stops being a puzzle once the currency is read as the net of two forces, the rate gap and the terms of trade. Here is how each one works, what the Bank's commodity index says about August, and what a five per cent move in the loonie does to a US$10,000 position.

By Hannah KuanSep 7, 2026, 3:00 p.m.8 min read

Real Estatehouseholds

Canada's Mortgage Renewal Shock Is Becoming More Selective

About 12% of outstanding mortgages still face the pandemic-vintage reset, with an average payment increase near 15%. National arrears remain low. The risk is concentrating rather than broadening.

By Hannah KuanSep 3, 2026, 9:00 a.m.3 min read

OpinionBusinessconsumer finance

goeasy's Repair Is Working, but the Earnings Model Has Not Recovered

goeasy's charge-offs and leverage improved sequentially in the second quarter. Originations fell 70% year over year and adjusted diluted EPS fell to $1.02 from $4.40. Repair is not reacceleration.

By Hannah KuanSep 1, 2026, 9:00 a.m.4 min readGSY.TO

Business

Canadian Grocery Margins: Pricing Power Under Political Scrutiny

Canadian grocers earn thin margins on food and better margins on everything else in the store. The public debate conflates the two, and so do a lot of investors.

By Hannah KuanAug 31, 2026, 1:00 p.m.3 min readL MRU EMP.A

Canadian Marketssmall-caps

TSX Venture Stocks: Separating the Signal from the Noise

The TSX Venture Exchange is where Canadian resource and technology startups raise capital. Here is how to evaluate them without getting swept up by promotion.

By Hannah KuanAug 30, 2026, 10:00 a.m.2 min readVCU.TO XCV.TO ZCL.TO

Mining and ResourcesRare earths

Defense Metals and Wicheeda: High-Risk Rare-Earth Optionality

Defense Metals trades on the TSX Venture Exchange as DEFN and on the OTCQB as DFMTF. Its principal asset is the 100%-owned Wicheeda rare-earth project in British Columbia. Wicheeda is at the study and advanced-exploration stage, not production. The company reported a fiscal-2026 net loss of approximately C$5.2 million. A late-2025 interim balance-sheet snapshot showed approximately C$16.5 million of cash and short-term investments with nominal conventional debt, although subsequent exploration and corporate spending will have changed that position.

By Hannah KuanAug 27, 2026, 9:00 a.m.2 min readDEFN

Technology

Shopify's Take Rate, Decomposed

Shopify's revenue growth is usually explained by GMV growth. The larger part of the story is take rate — and take rate is a mix outcome, with very different margins behind each component.

By Hannah KuanAug 26, 2026, 9:00 a.m.3 min readSHOP

Mining and ResourcesGraphite

Nouveau Monde Graphite: Can Québec Build a Battery-Anode Champion?

Nouveau Monde Graphite trades as NOU on the TSX and NMG on the NYSE. Its Phase-2 plan combines the Matawinie graphite mine with an active-anode-materials plant in Bécancour, Québec. The company reached a positive final investment decision and began major construction activities in 2026. At March 31, 2026 it held C$57.3 million in cash, remained pre-revenue and reported a C$4.5 million quarterly net loss. Subsequent financing included a substantial equity raise and commitments for approximately US$335 million of debt.

By Hannah KuanAug 25, 2026, 9:00 a.m.2 min readNOU

Mining and ResourcesLithium

Lithium Americas and Thacker Pass: Construction Risk Explained

Lithium Americas trades as LAC on the TSX and NYSE. Its principal asset is a 62% interest in the Thacker Pass lithium project in Nevada; General Motors owns the remaining 38%. Phase 1 is designed for approximately 40,000 tonnes per year of battery-quality lithium carbonate, with mechanical completion targeted for late 2027. Q1 2026 cash and restricted cash totalled US$1.21 billion and long-term liabilities were approximately US$1.07 billion.

By Hannah KuanAug 22, 2026, 9:00 a.m.2 min readLAC

Mining and ResourcesLithium

Sigma Lithium: Production Recovery Versus Regulatory Risk

Sigma Lithium trades as SGML on the TSX Venture Exchange and Nasdaq and as S2GM34 in Brazil. It operates the Grota do Cirilo hard-rock lithium project in Minas Gerais. In Q1 2026, the company reported US$42 million of revenue, a 39% EBITDA margin and a 26% net margin. Quarter-end debt was US$134 million; cash was US$4 million at March 31 and US$28 million by May 15 following collection of receivables.

By Hannah KuanAug 20, 2026, 9:00 a.m.2 min readSGML

Technology

Constellation Software: Dissecting Return on Invested Capital in a Serial Acquirer

Constellation is the most admired capital allocator on the TSX. Verifying the thesis requires reading past the headline organic growth number to the relationship between capital deployed, maintenance revenue retention and free cash flow available to shareholders.

By Hannah KuanAug 17, 2026, 1:00 p.m.4 min readCSU

Businessbanks

Canadian Bank Stocks Compared: The Big Six Head-to-Head

A clear comparison of Royal Bank, TD, Scotiabank, BMO, CIBC and National Bank across the metrics that matter most to investors.

By Hannah KuanAug 11, 2026, 9:55 p.m.2 min readRY.TO TD.TO BNS.TO BMO.TO CM.TO NA.TO

Canadian Marketsstock-picking

How to Find the Best Canadian Stocks on the TSX

Learn how to narrow the TSX universe using a three-step filter: business quality, financial strength, and fair price.

By Hannah KuanAug 11, 2026, 9:55 p.m.2 min readSHOP.TO RY.TO CNR.TO ENB.TO

BusinessRetail

Canadian Tire and the Loyalty Data Asset

The retail business is mature. The financial services arm and loyalty data are where the differentiation sits.

By Hannah KuanJul 29, 2026, 9:30 a.m.4 min readCTC.A

BusinessIndustrials

Stella-Jones, Infrastructure Spending and the Utility Pole Cycle

Stella-Jones sits at the intersection of grid hardening, rail capital cycles and housing activity, but its three segments respond to very different drivers. This piece breaks down why utility poles are the stable core, why railway ties add the cyclicality, and why the residential segment is the wildcard investors should watch separately.

By Hannah KuanJul 22, 2026, 9:30 a.m.3 min readSJ

BusinessExplainer

Reading Insider Transaction Filings the Right Way

Insider buying and selling both happen for reasons unrelated to a view on the share price.

By Hannah KuanJul 20, 2026, 7:30 a.m.4 min read

Canadian MarketsSmall cap

Why Canadian Small Caps Trade at a Persistent Discount

Canadian small caps trade at persistently lower multiples than larger peers mostly because of market structure, not weaker businesses: index exclusion limits passive demand, shrinking sell-side economics have hollowed out analyst coverage, and concentrated ownership thins the tradable float. The gap tends to close only through discrete, event-driven catalysts rather than gradually.

By Hannah KuanJul 17, 2026, 4:05 p.m.3 min read

BusinessChemicals

Methanex and the Cyclicality Investors Keep Underestimating

Methanex's earnings swing harder than most industrial companies because of high operating leverage and volatile natural gas feedstock costs. This piece explains the mechanics behind that cyclicality and why marine-fuel demand, while structural, is not yet large enough to smooth it out.

By Hannah KuanJul 13, 2026, 7:30 a.m.3 min readMX

Canadian MarketsExplainer

What a Bought Deal Means for Existing Shareholders

The bought deal is Canada's dominant equity financing structure, and its mechanics predictably pressure the share price around announcement. This explainer covers how discounts and warrants are set, what they signal about issuer leverage, and how to judge whether a deal is worth the dilution.

By Hannah KuanJul 10, 2026, 4:05 p.m.3 min read

Canadian MarketsVenture

Why the CSE Matters More Than Its Size Suggests

The Canadian Securities Exchange lists companies that senior exchanges will not, giving early-stage and regulatorily ambiguous sectors access to public capital at the cost of lighter disclosure and diligence standards. That trade-off, not fraud or illegitimacy, is the defining feature investors need to understand before sizing a position.

By Hannah KuanJun 19, 2026, 4:05 p.m.3 min read

BusinessRetail

Dollarama's Same-Store Sales and the Trade-Down Effect

Discount retail benefits when household budgets tighten, which makes it an unusual defensive holding.

By Hannah KuanJun 17, 2026, 9:30 a.m.3 min readDOL

BusinessTransport

Air Canada's Capacity Discipline Is the Whole Margin Story

Air Canada's margins hinge less on its own cost control than on whether the airline industry as a whole restrains seat growth relative to demand. Fuel hedging and debt reduction shape the near-term picture, but industry capacity discipline drives the cycle.

By Hannah KuanJun 10, 2026, 9:30 a.m.4 min readAC

BusinessConsumer

Alimentation Couche-Tard and the Fuel Margin Question

Couche-Tard's results blend a stable, predictable merchandise business with a volatile fuel-margin business tied to the commodity cycle. The company's real long-run growth engine is its record of acquiring and integrating retail networks.

By Hannah KuanMay 29, 2026, 4:05 p.m.4 min readATD

BusinessTelecom

Telus and BCE: The Dividend Yield Is Telling You Something

Elevated dividend yields at Telus and BCE reflect a genuine question about payout sustainability, not just a value opportunity. This piece walks through free-cash-flow payout ratios, the capital-intensity cycle, and the competitive pressures that will determine whether the dividends are actually covered going forward.

By Hannah KuanMay 25, 2026, 7:30 a.m.3 min readT BCE

Canadian MarketsVenture

TSX Venture Financing Conditions Improve for the First Time in Two Years

TSX Venture financing conditions have improved for two straight quarters, the first sustained recovery since 2024. The gains are concentrated in gold and copper, dilution terms remain wide, and history suggests a broad-based recovery would take longer to confirm.

By Hannah KuanMay 11, 2026, 7:30 a.m.3 min read

BusinessAsset management

Brookfield's Fee-Related Earnings Are the Signal Worth Tracking

Brookfield's headline distributable earnings blend two very different income streams: recurring fee-related earnings and lumpy carried interest. This piece explains why separating them, and watching committed capital, is the better way to read the business.

By Hannah KuanMay 4, 2026, 7:30 a.m.3 min readBN

OpinionEconomyExplainer

How to Read a Canadian Bank's Quarterly Report

Five lines explain most of what moves a bank stock on results day. Everything else is detail.

By Hannah KuanApr 24, 2026, 4:05 p.m.4 min read

BusinessBanks

Royal Bank Q2: Provisions Normalise, Margins Hold

Credit provisions rose from unusually low levels while net interest margin stayed wide, producing a quarter that was better than the headline suggested.

By Hannah KuanApr 17, 2026, 4:05 p.m.4 min readRY

Canadian MarketsIndex analysis

Why the TSX Composite Keeps Outrunning the S&P 500 This Year

The TSX Composite's outperformance against the S&P 500 this year traces almost entirely to sector composition: heavy materials and energy weighting has caught a commodity upswing, while steady bank earnings add a quieter, more durable layer of return. The same concentration that is helping now is what caused years of underperformance during the US technology-led rally.

By Hannah KuanApr 8, 2026, 9:30 a.m.3 min read