NEWSPAPER USE ONLY — Manulife Financial Corp.may face headwinds in the months ahead amid the stubborningly low interest rate environment and the uncertainty about profitabilty in the U.S. Long-Term Care Insurance (LTCI) market, said TD Newcrest analysts. TD Newcrest said Manulife could be faced with having to take more charges than expected in the U.S. LTCI market, a segment in which Manulife is the second largest insurer.

Downside: TD Newcrest's Doug Young lowered his 12-month target price on the stock to $15.50 from $17.00, while maintaining his cautious near-term outlook and hold rating.

Gold prices are far from reaching their peak, argue analysts at TD Newcrest. It's all about strong fundamentals: Central banks are likely to remain net buyers, investment demand remains robust, there are limited prospects for new gold mine supply, and inflationary pressures may build as the U.S. economic picture improves.

Upside: TD Newcrest forecast gold prices will average $1,300 (U.S.) an ounce in 2011, up from $1,214 this year, before rising to an average of $1,400 in 2012. It sees a long-term price of $1,000.

SNC-Lavalin Group Inc.may no longer outperform other names in the engineering sector, said National Bank Financial. Since the onset of the Great Recession, the stock has outperformed the S&P/TSX, Stantec Inc. and IBI Income Fund by a wide margin, although it lagged GENIVAR Income Fund. But National Bank says with the North American economy stabilizing, yesterday’s laggards (Stantec and IBI) could outperform yesterday’s winners (GENIVAR and SNC).

Downside: National Bank downgraded SNC-Lavalin to "sector perform" from "outperform" and upgraded both IBI and Stantec to highlight the superior rebound potential of IBI and Stantec.

San Gold Corp. may face lower grades than expected at its Rice Lake complex in Manitoba, said CIBC analyst Barry Cooper. Following a visit to the mine in August, CIBC analysts said they now expect higher dilution given the complexities of the veins. "These expectations serve to lower our overall estimate for a recovered grade over the next two years, leading to higher operating costs," Cooper said.

Downside: Cooper lowered his price target to $4.75 from $6.00.

Brookfield Office Properties Corp.'s portfolio and capital structure should benefit from improving property fundamentals and capital markets, said CIBC analyst Alex Avery. Recent and expected declines in cap rates on high-quality office property over time could boost Net Asset Value to $21.00 per share at a 5.75 per cent cap rate, he said.

Upside: Avery raised his price target to $21.00 a share from $16.50 and upgraded his expectation to "Sector Outperformer."

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