US consumers are hungry for credit card rewards. Seventy-five percent now have a rewards program attached to their most preferred card, up from 58% two years ago. And with consumer debt practically hitting pre-recession levels, it doesn’t look like anyone’s planning to slow their spending.

Private equity firms get a bad rap. Overall, they are painted as sharks eager to buy and sell while doing as little as possible. Here are five other misconceptions that can be debunked so more companies can benefit from the sound advice and expertise these firms provide.

National Bank of Canada (TSE:NA) – Equities research analysts at Desjardins lifted their FY2018 earnings per share estimates for National Bank of Canada in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday, August 29th. Desjardins analyst D. Young now anticipates that the financial services provider will earn $5.95 per share for the year, up from their prior forecast of $5.89. Desjardins also issued estimates for National Bank of Canada’s Q4 2018 earnings at $1.49 EPS and FY2019 earnings at $6.35 EPS.

• Canopy Growth is well ahead of its rivals in becoming the leading brand in legal marijuana but still needs to improve, says CEO Bruce Linton.
• “Maybe that mentality is what’s got us ahead of the pact,” he says.
• Earlier this month, alcohol giant Constellation Brands announced an additional $4 billion stake in Canopy Growth.

Key Takeaways:

Stock Market breadth and momentum moving in the right direction as stocks move to new highs. Even with improvements, breadth is following price higher, not leading.

Investor sentiment data shows that optimism is getting excessive.

[THE INVESTOR] E-mart’s third-quarter earnings should be approached conservatively, said Hanwha Investment and Securities on Aug. 30 while maintaining a “buy” recommendation and 300,000 won (US$270.76) target price.

• Euro weakens, loonie slumps; EM equities, currencies decline
• Argentina raises key interest rate to 60% to protect peso

U.S. equities were mixed following losses in Europe and Asia as traders weighed geopolitical concerns with data showing a strong U.S. economy. The dollar rallied as consumer-spending and inflation figures signaled policy makers can keep raising interest rates.

Pfenex Inc. (PFNX) had a good day on the market for Wednesday August 29 as shares jumped 5.8% to close at $5.29. About 239,610 shares traded hands on 1,534 trades for the day, compared with an average daily volume of 203,512 shares out of a total float of 31.43 million. After opening the trading day at $4.97, shares of Pfenex Inc. stayed within a range of $5.39 to $4.97.

BankUnited Inc. (BKU) traded on unusually high volume on Aug. 29, as the stock lost 3.15% to close at $38.68. On the day, BankUnited Inc. saw 2.98 million shares trade hands on 21,523 trades. Considering that the stock averages only a daily volume of 740,348 shares a day over the last month, this represents a pretty significant bump in volume over the norm.

Unisys Corporation (UIS) had a good day on the market for Wednesday August 29 as shares jumped 9.25% to close at $18.30. About 8.93 million shares traded hands on 30,705 trades for the day, compared with an average daily volume of 711,538 shares out of a total float of 51.01 million. After opening the trading day at $18.05, shares of Unisys Corporation stayed within a range of $18.65 to $17.95.