TORONTO (Reuters) – Canada’s Agrium Inc (AGU.TO: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz)(AGU.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) raised its fourth-quarter earnings outlook on Thursday as strong grain and oilseed prices spurred demand for its fertilizer products in North America over the fall season.

The Calgary, Alberta-based fertilizer maker, also the largest retailer of farm products in the region, said it now expects quarterly earnings of slightly more than $2 a share, excluding one-time items, sending its shares more than 3 percent higher in early trading.

TORONTO, Jan 24 (Reuters) – Canada’s Agrium Inc
raised its fourth-quarter earnings outlook on
Thursday as strong grain and oilseed prices spurred demand for
its fertilizer products in North America over the fall season.

The Calgary, Alberta-based fertilizer maker, also the
largest retailer of farm products in the region, said it now
expects quarterly earnings of slightly more than $2 a share,
excluding one-time items, sending its shares more than 3 percent
higher in early trading.

TORONTO, Jan 23 (Reuters) – Research In Motion
has released a new system to allow its biggest
customers to use its new line of BlackBerry 10 smartphones on
their own networks, paving the way for the Jan. 30 launch of the
make-or-break devices.

RIM said on Wednesday that the new device management system
- BlackBerry Enterprise Service 10 (BES 10)- is now available to
government agencies and corporate clients. The system lets
clients support both corporate-and employee-owned devices and
provides a single platform to manage BlackBerry, Android and
Apple’s iOS-based devices.

TORONTO, Jan 21 (Reuters) – Rona Inc named a new
executive chairman and reshuffled its board on Monday as part of
a deal with its top shareholders that will help the Canadian
hardware retailer and distributor avoid a potentially bruising
proxy battle.

The move comes just a few months after Rona, still Canada’s
top distributor and retailer of hardware, home renovation and
gardening products, rebuffed an unsolicited C$1.8 billion ($1.81
billion) takeover proposal from U.S.-based Lowe’s Cos Inc
.

TORONTO, Jan 18 (Reuters) – Anthony Lacavera, founder of
Canada’s upstart Wind Mobile, plans to step down as chief
executive as part of a deal that will give Egypt’s Orascom
Telecom control of the carrier, a newcomer to a market
long dominated by three companies.

Lacavera, who plans to focus on a new investment initiative
called Globalive Capital, will serve in a non-operational
capacity as Wind’s honorary chair after the deal closes later
this year, the companies said on Friday.

TORONTO (Reuters) – Shares of Research In Motion Ltd (RIMM.O: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz)(RIM.TO: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) rose 4.6 percent on Friday after an influential analyst boosted his rating on the stock, saying RIM’s new BlackBerry 10 devices performed as well or better than rivals in recent tests.

Jefferies & Co analyst Peter Misek, who lifted his stock rating on RIM to “buy” from “hold,” believes Wall Street was underestimating the strength of RIM’s financial performance after the new devices debut on January 30. He also lifted his price target to $19.50 from $13.

TORONTO (Reuters) – BlackBerry maker Research in Motion is helping customers prepare to switch to its soon-to-be-launched BlackBerry 10 smartphones that it hopes will help it reclaim market share from rivals such as Apple Inc.

RIM is betting that the new range of touch-screen and keyboard devices, set for a January 30 launch, will revive its fortunes.

TORONTO (Reuters) – Research in Motion is extremely encouraged by the response to a program of incentives aimed at persuading its biggest clients to run its soon-to-launch line of BlackBerry 10 devices, said a top company executive on Wednesday.

RIM is betting that the devices, set for a January 30 launch, will revive its fortunes. But that may depend to a large extent on the response from RIM’s top customers like government agencies and corporations, who have long valued the strong set of security features that BlackBerry devices offer.

By Euan Rocha

(Reuters) – Research In Motion said on Thursday it plans to change the way it charges for its BlackBerry services after reporting that its subscriber base shrank for the first time in its history, and its U.S.-traded stock tumbled 10 percent after the bell.

Earlier, the stock had rallied 8 percent to $15.25 in extended-hours trading after the smartphone maker reported a narrower-than-expected quarterly loss and said it had boosted its cash cushion ahead of next month’s crucial launch of the BlackBerry 10 smartphone.

TORONTO, Dec 16 (Reuters) – The surprising rally in Research
In Motion stock from its September depths shows no signs of
waning ahead of next month’s crucial launch of the company’s
BlackBerry 10 smartphones, and the stock could ring up more
gains if RIM delivers on a handful of telling metrics in its
quarterly report on Thursday.

At this stage, profit and revenue won’t matter much for RIM
. The company will likely report a third
straight quarterly loss, reflecting declining monthly service
fees, ebbing device sales and other problems.