Is there an epidemic of cholera there or something? -- Nikita Khrushchev
On this day in 1959, the Soviet leader was irritated when he learned that he couldn’t include a trip to Disneyland as part of a visit to Los Angeles because authorities were worried that the crowds posed a hazard. Khrushchev’s visit to the Twentieth Century Fox Studios went well. He visited the sound stage for the movie Can-Can and was greeted by cast member Shirley MacLaine. And he was chuffed by a lunch with Frank Sinatra. But Twentieth Century Fox’s anticommunist president, Spyros Skouras, insisted on goading Khrushchev and the visitor erupted when he heard that the Disneyland was a no-go. History.com quotes him as expostulating: “And I say, I would very much like to go and see Disneyland. But then, we cannot guarantee your security, they say. Then what must I do? Commit suicide? What is it? … have gangsters taken hold of the place that can destroy me?”
Strike deadline looms for Unifor and GM
Our Top Line on BNN today is the feared destruction of Canadian auto manufacturing as Unifor union officials struggle to drag a commitment from General Motors (GM.N) to building new autos in Oshawa, ON.
“In a city that was once synonymous with General Motors, there’s no promise of any future auto assembly work beyond 2019, so there are real fears production could shut down altogether,” the Toronto Star warned last week.
Employment in overall Canadian vehicle assembly topped 41,300 in 2015, up 3 per cent in a year, but down from more than 55,000 people in 2000. Parts jobs rose 4 per cent to about 70,000, down from 98,000 at the start of the century.
“On the surface, yes, this performance is very positive, but relative to where this industry has been in the long term, it still has a very long way to go before anyone can say it has fully recovered,” Dennis DesRosiers of DesRosiers Automotive Consultants said.
DesRosiers joins us on BNN at 12:00 p.m. ET.
Escaping into virtual reality
For those seeking a break from today’s rather depressing headlines – a mass stabbing at a Minnesota mall and an explosion in New York – there’s always virtual reality.
Our own Michael Hainsworth brings us a field shoot at 12:30 p.m. ET from FIVARS, Canada’s all virtual reality festival.
The medium is rapidly evolving, especially as it gloms onto subjects and themes that are best suited to immersion. They include Switzerland’s gigantic 57-kilometre Gotthard Tunnel, which is celebrated in a film said to be a hit with all ages.
Fed rate decision
Janet Yellen and the U.S. Federal Reserve are set for a two-day meeting that ends Wednesday but market observers don’t expect an interest rate hike.
Some market players think she should move.
"Let's get on with it already," Michael Arone, chief investment strategist at State Street Global Advisors, told Reuters. "It will cause some challenges to the market but I think that is healthy in context of a normal business cycle. It will increase the cost of capital, and flush out some riskier assets in the short term. But that is probably the right thing to do."
Finally, the Italian government has irked women with ads aimed at persuading them to have more babies.
The country is facing a rockbottom birth rate but critics say the real problem is a “lack of meaningful support provided by the government and many employers in a country where the family remains the primary source of child care.”
“I should be a model for their campaign, and I still feel very offended,” one mom told the New York Times. “The government encourages us to have babies, and then the main welfare system in Italy is still the grandparents.”
And even grandma can tire of the little angels after a while.
Every morning Commodities host Andrew Bell writes a ‘chase note’ to BNN'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.bnn.ca/subscribe
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