“I am a woman who enjoys herself very much; sometimes I lose, sometimes I win” – Exotic dancer and alleged spy Mata Hari
On this day in 1917, the Dutch-born Margaretha Geertruida Zelle was sentenced to death in France for spying for Germany.
She used the stage name Mata Hari, claiming she was born in an Indian temple, and attracted vast crowds with her scantily clad dance performances. Her lovers included top military and political figures in France and Germany.The circumstances of her spying are unclear. History.ca says she “was apparently acting as a double agent, though the Germans had apparently written her off as an ineffective agent whose activities had produced little intelligence of value.” Some thought her trial was a gimmick to distract from France’s monstrous losses on the Western Front in World War One.
Voters have had plenty of stunts from politicians this summer, including a rush to the exits after Britain’s Brexit vote and the ongoing circus in the U.S. election campaign. Investors who huddled in U.S. bonds after the U.K. referendum – sending the 10-year yield to record lows below 1.4 per cent in late June have seen bond prices drop again. The 10-year yield has bounced back to almost 1.6 per cent.
Gold saw a surge in physical demand after the EU vote but those inflows have sagged, Commerzbank says. Bullion has been trading just above US$1,316, this morning, down from $1,367 on July 6. On Commodities at 11:50 a.m. ET today, we'll be joined on Commodities by Todd Colvin, a futures and options specialist at Ambrosino Brothers, for a look at gold’s chances of topping $1,400.
Meanwhile, fear stalks the markets in Europe. The Financial Times says the region’s banks are axing jobs again “as they brace for conditions to deteriorate this year, due to low interest rates, the U.K. vote to exit the EU and the latest stress test results.” The focus is on Italy, where banks could be forced to scramble for fresh capital when Europe releases the stress tests, a report card on the sector’s stability, this Friday.
There are concerns too for the North Saskatchewan River after a Husky Energy Inc. pipeline spill last week released almost 1,600 barrels of oil.
However, pipelines are often called safer for transporting crude than railcars and Canadians vividly recall the 2013 train explosion that killed 47 people in Lac-Megantic, Que.
Transport Minister Marc Garneau has scheduled a news conference for 1:30 p.m. ET today at which he’s expected to announce an accelerated phase-out of the older DOT-111 tanker cars involved in the tragedy. They will be restricted to carrying non-hazardous loads.
As recently as November, 2014, some industry players were seeking a slower process of retrofits. At 2:05 p.m. ET, we’ll get perspective from Gaétan Caron, former chair and CEO of the National Energy Board.
Still on energy, we’ll hear a bearish case for oil at 3:20 p.m. ET from Daniel Lloyd, portfolio manager at Sui Generis Investment Partners. He told us last month that his enthusiasm for stocks as a whole has been dampened by debt around the world “that can never be repaid” plus the blight of negative interest rates.
Finally, sorry to end on a negative note. But there’s a school of thought that 3D printers will never become a mass market product. Christina Warren at mashable.com says they “remain a complicated, gigantic pain in the ass to use correctly.”
(Although, let’s not forget that IBM chairman Thomas Watson is reputed to have said in 1943 that "I think there is a world market for maybe five computers." http://www.computerworld.com/article/2492617/it-management/tech-predictions-gone-wrong.html)
We’ll just stick to forging and casting our own metal parts in the backyard. (Kids! Keep the dog away from the smelter.)
The neighbours can just close their windows.
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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