Canada's convenience store king is feeling the pinch as consumers pull back at the pumps due to high gas prices. Alimentation Couche-Tard missed on the top and bottom lines in its latest quarter, saying lower fuel demand (and a net negative impact of $523 million due to foreign exchange headwinds) dampened the boost from higher fuel costs. The declines were across the board – same-store fuel volumes fell by 1.9 per cent in the U.S., 6.3 per cent in Europe and 6.5 per cent back here at home. While not reading too much into things, this could be another sign of changing consumer behaviour in the face of inflation not seen in decades.

PRE-THANKSGIVING U.S. DATA DUMP

Investors are going to have plenty to sift through before the Americans get down to turkey and football, and take a break from trading. Let's rattle through the list – we've got initial jobless claims, a slew of purchasing managers' indexes and the main event will be the minutes from the latest fed meeting. All that – and the typically thin trading volume we see in the days leading up to U.S. Thanksgiving – have futures little changed, pointing to a rather muted open when things get underway at 9:30 a.m. EST.

ALBERTA PLANS $2.4B IN INFLATION AID

Alberta Premier Danielle Smith unveiled the plan late yesterday, as the province taps into the windfall from higher oil prices. The package includes a six-month suspension of the provincial fuel tax, an indexation of provincial tax brackets, $600 for parents with children under the age of 18, among other measures. All that spending is in part due to the projected $13.2 billion surplus the province is expecting, in no small part due to higher revenue from taxes and energy royalties as natural resource prices surged in the wake of Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

GO TIME FOR CANADA AT THE WORLD CUP

It's a moment 36 years in the making for the Canadian men's national team as it returns to the World Cup for the first time since 1986. The squad faces Belgium later today in what is sure to be one of the most anticipated matches in some time for the men's team (worth noting the women's national team has been among the world's elite for some time.) Now, for our purposes, the business angle: Canada's good fortunes could well trickle down to restaurants and bars that are still recovering from the worst ravages of the pandemic. While it's hard to get your hands on a pint in Doha, there's no such trouble back here at home after Ontario declared it would allow bars and restaurants to start serving alcohol as early as 7 a.m. EST for the duration of the tournament.

OTHER NOTABLE STORIES

  • Oil prices are sliding once again as the EU discusses imposing a price cap on Russian crude in the US$65-US$70 range – a level that could keep the nation's crude flowing into global markets.
  • Shares of Deere & Co. are rising in the premarket after the company forecast profits will surge to a new record high next year due to strong farm equipment demand.
  • On the flip side, shares of Nordstrom are slumping some eight per cent in the premarket after reporting a drop in profitability due to higher discounting.
  • HP Inc. plans to cut as many as 6,000 jobs over the next three years, citing declining demand for personal computers and the subsequent impact on profits.

NOTABLE RELEASES/EVENTS

  • Notable data: : U.S. Initial Jobless Claims, U.S. Durable Goods Orders, S&P Global Manufacturing PMI, U.S. New Home Sales, U. of Mich. Consumer Sentiment Index, FOMC Minutes
  • Notable earnings: Deere & Co. 
  • Notable events: Bank of Canada Tiff Macklem, Governor, and Carolyn Rogers, Senior Deputy Governor appear before House of Commons Standing Committee on Finance (1630)