Noah Zivitz

Managing Editor, BNN Bloomberg

Archive

Shares of Barrick Gold have been up almost 10 per cent in pre-market trading in New York after the miner was tacitly endorsed by the world’s most famous investor. Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway disclosed its stake of 20.9 million shares in Barrick late Friday in a move that’s being scrutinized for what it tells us about Buffett’s view of the world, particularly when taken in tandem with some pared-down stakes in U.S. banks. Important to point out that we don’t actually know if the Barrick position was at the behest of Buffett himself; regardless, it’s certainly a signal that Buffett’s previous skepticism about gold’s merit as an investment has softened.

TRUDEAU, MORNEAU MEET

Jon Erlichman has confirmed via a source that Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Finance Minister Bill Morneau are expected to meet today, almost a week to the day since the Prime Minister’s Office was compelled to declare Trudeau’s “full confidence” in Morneau amid rampant speculation about whether there was a rift. We’ll watch for any news that comes out of the meeting.

FEDS CALL OUT CRTC

The federal government this weekend publicly questioned the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission’s controversial decision last August to retroactively slash wholesale internet rates. “The Governor in Council considers that the rates do not, in all instances, appropriately balance the policy objectives of the wholesale services framework and is concerned that these rates may undermine investment in high-quality networks, particularly in rural and remote areas,” Industry Minister Navdeep Bains said in a release. However, the government isn’t taking any action on this since the matter is already being reviewed by the CRTC. We’ll keep an eye on shares of the incumbents today (including BNN Bloomberg’s parent, BCE).

CYBERATTACKS TARGET CRA

Certain Canada Revenue Agency online services remain suspended this morning after 5,500 accounts were affected in cyberattacks disclosed over the weekend that also targeted the federal government’s GCKey users. The breaches are being blamed on so-called credential stuffing, where hackers take advantage of username and password combinations that were previously obtained in other hacks. This should be a wakeup call for anyone who uses the same password for multiple accounts. There was some movement on this file shortly before noon, when the federal government confirmed that the CRA’s online portal was accepting applications for the expanded Canada Emergency Wage Subsidy after new security measures were implemented.

OTHER NOTABLE STORIES

-Suncor Energy says there were no injuries in a fire at its Base Plant near Fort McMurray, Alta. late Friday. Upgrading work has continued, while Suncor says mined bitumen production should be back up by early September.

-For the first time in three months, foreign investors reduced their exposure to Canadian securities in June -- to the tune of $13.5 billion. Most of that was as a result of divestments in debt instruments; however, foreign investors also sold $5.7 billion in Canadian stocks.

-TMX Group is keeping a steady hand at the helm, announcing this morning that it has removed the “interim” label from John McKenize’s title as chief executive officer. He stepped into the void in January after Lou Eccleston’s abrupt exit.

NOTABLE RELEASES/EVENTS

-Notable data: Canadian international securities transactions

-10:00 a.m. ET: CRA, Treasury Board of Canada and Canadian Centre for Cyber Security senior officials hold update in Ottawa

-1300: Huawei CFO Meng Wanzhou extradition hearing resumes (focus for this week's session is Meng's request for access to documents related to her arrest)

-3:00 p.m. ET: U.S. President Donald Trump delivers remarks on jobs and the economy in Mankato, MN

-Four-day Democratic National Convention begins (https://www.demconvention.com/schedule-and-speakers/)

Every morning BNN Bloomberg's Managing Editor Noah Zivitz writes a ‘chase note’ to BNN Bloomberg's editorial staff listing the stories and events that will be in the spotlight that day. Have it delivered to your inbox before the trading day begins by heading to www.bnnbloomberg.ca/subscribe.