What’s New: In Brief (March 18, 2009)

Kingsway Financial Services Inc. will no longer be included on Canada’s benchmark stock index as of Mar. 23, 2009.Standard & Poor’s Corp. made the announcement following a quarterly review of its Canadian index. Kingsway’s TSX share value stood at $26.75 in 2006. The value dropped to $10.92 as of Mar. 18, 2008. One year later, on Mar.18, 2009, Kingsway’s shares were valued at $2.56 each.The insurer will be dropped from the S&P/TSX Canadian indices along with 12 other organizations, the majority of which are from the energy sector. Six new organizations will be added, that include four mining firms, an energy company and a health sector firm.

AccuWeather.com is forecasting fewer hurricane landfalls in the United States this year, but increased storm activity along the northeast coast, including the Maritimes in Canada.In his early season forecast for 2009, Joe Bastardi, AccuWeather.com’s chief long-range and hurricane forecaster, predicts a reduction in the overall number of named storms and major hurricanes in the Atlantic basin compared to 2008, but the number of storms should still be near or a little above normal.Cooler water temperatures in the deep tropical Atlantic, a typical breeding ground for hurricanes, may reduce hurricane activity and intensity, an AccuWeather release says. “This may create a season in which storms are reaching a greater intensity further north and east than last year,” the release says.“A continuing multi-decadal pattern of higher-than-average water temperatures in the Atlantic raises the chance of major storms near the East Coast until about 2020.”