Feb 13, 2018
BNN's Daily Chase: TSX rebounds; Trump takes aim at trading partners
By Noah Zivitz
After a miserable two-week stretch that saw the S&P/TSX Composite plunge seven per cent, Bay Street just had its best day since the summer of 2016. The TSX surged 207 points on Monday, good enough for a 1.38 per cent rally – the biggest one-day pop since July 4, 2016. Names like CN Rail, Enbridge and Restaurant Brands led the charge. But even after the one-day run-up, the TSX is still down six per cent this year. We’ll go hunting for buying opportunities with guests this morning.
TRUMP PUTS TRADING PARTNERS ON NOTICE – AGAIN
The American president is back at it, taking imprecise aim at his country’s trading partners, and warning that in the coming weeks and months he’ll have more to say about a reciprocal tax on “countries outside of our country.” Seems like classic Trump, now leaving other nations to guess what he intends to do. Meanwhile, it also injects uncertainty into corporate planning and rekindles memories of border adjustment tax speculation. Also this morning, the U.S. Commerce Department announced it’s launching an investigation of “large diameter welded pipe” imports from Canada, Greece, China, India, Korea and Turkey.
IEA SEES U.S. SUPPLANTING SAUDIS, RUSSIA
The International Energy Agency says “colossal” U.S. oil production is on pace to overtake Saudi Arabia, and possibly Russia by the end of this year. No surprise then to see the IEA in its latest monthly report pointing to American output as the primary reason for crude’s recent come-down.
OTHER NOTABLE STORIES:
-TMX Group narrowly beat the average fourth-quarter profit estimate, with adjusted earnings per share coming in at $1.22. We’ll go beyond the numbers with CEO Lou Eccleston on Business Day at 9:45 a.m. ET.
-We noticed last week that Aimia’s stock surged as much as 18.6 per cent on Wednesday amid no apparent news. Bloomberg has surfaced the apparent catalyst. New York-based Mittleman Investment Management warned in a recent security filing it might try to overhaul the loyalty-card company’s board and/or push for asset sales.
NOTABLE RELEASES/EVENTS
Notable earnings: Hydro One, RioCan, DHX Media, PepsiCo, Under Armour
9:30 a.m. ET: Parliamentary Budget Officer Jean-Denis Fréchette speaks before Senate Committee on National Finance
12:00 p.m. ET: Apple holds annual general meeting in Cupertino, California
5:30 p.m. ET: U.S. Ambassador to Canada Kelly Knight Craft among speakers at Macdonald Laurier panel in Ottawa on Canada-U.S. relations
Every morning BNN's Managing Editor Noah Zivitz 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.
