Noah Zivitz

Managing Editor, BNN Bloomberg

Archive

The Bank of Canada has left the door open to a cut after leaving its benchmark interest rate unchanged today. The central bank rattled off a long list of recent economic headwinds, and warned that fallout from global trade tensions could be spreading beyond the private sector and denting household confidence. It abandoned its boilerplate language about its current policy being “appropriate,” and that put pressure on the Canadian dollar as currency traders take stock of the new tone.

CORONAVIRUS WATCH

The World Health Organization is holding an emergency meeting today to decide whether the respiratory illness emanating from Wuhan, China meets the threshold of being a public health emergency of international concern. The latest estimates point to nine deaths and 440 confirmed cases of the virus in China. Meanwhile, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention confirmed one case in the U.S. yesterday. Chinese authorities have announced screening measures to contain its spread and U.S. president Donald Trump said his country and China are in “very good shape” to manage the situation. Worth pointing out Air Canada was one of the top drags on the TSX yesterday. It fell 4.5 per cent (the biggest single-day drop since Dec. 2018) and the lead laggards on the S&P 500 were a basket of airline, lodging and gambling stocks.

ROGERS SUBSCRIBER SURGE (AT A COST)

As Paul Bagnell put it this morning when Rogers Communications’ latest results hit his screen, the big telco saw a “stampede” of subscribers gravitate to its Infinite data plans as sequential growth surged 40 per cent and total postpaid wireless subscriber adds hit 131,000. But that type of growth evidently comes at a cost with a flat revenue line in the fourth quarter, a razor-thin uptick in adjusted EBITDA, and a tame outlook for 2020.

TSX STREAK SNAPPED

Canadian stocks closed lower yesterday, ending a streak of six straight winning sessions that saw the S&P/TSX Composite Index notch new all-time highs on each day. Aside the aforementioned Air Canada, other heavyweights like Manulife Financial, Canadian National Railway and Canadian Natural Resources weighed on Bay Street.

OTHER NOTABLE STORIES

-Teck Resources’ $20-billion+ Frontier oil sands project will be the subject of dueling rallies today in downtown Calgary as supporters and opponents make their voices heard. Tara Weber will be on location with colour as stakeholders await the federal cabinet’s decision on whether to approve the proposal. Should note that environment minister Jonathan Wilkinson joins Amanda Lang on Bloomberg Markets this afternoon.

-Netflix shares are trading higher in the pre-market as investors scrape through a mixed bag from the streaming giant that includes a disappointing subscriber forecast for this quarter and muted gains in the U.S. and Canada in Q4 amid new competitors and recent pricing changes. As for the big picture, check out Jon Erlichman’s analysis of Netflix’s meteoric rise to establish itself as a US$20-billion titan of the entertainment industry.

-IBM shares are up almost five per cent in pre-market trading after a fourth-quarter report that shows its big bet on the cloud is paying off as revenue rose in the period.

NOTABLE RELEASES/EVENTS

-BMO announced this morning it’s buying Clearpool Group, described as a New York-based “provider of holistic electronic trading solutions.” Terms weren’t disclosed (The Globe and Mail reported yesterday that a deal was in the works for approximately $100 million).

-Notable earnings: Rogers Communications, AGF Management, Johnson & Johnson, Kinder Morgan, Texas Instruments

-Notable data: Canadian wholesale trade, Canadian CPI, Canadian new housing price index, U.S. existing home sales

-10:00 a.m. ET: Bank of Canada releases interest rate decision and monetary policy report (plus news conference at 11:15 a.m. ET)

-10:00 a.m. ET: Parliamentary Budget Officer releases report “Evaluation of Election Proposal Costing 2019”

-1:00 p.m. ET: Huawei CFO Meng Wanzhou extradition hearing resumes

-1:00 p.m.: Rally for Teck’s Frontier oil sands mine in Calgary

-Bank of Nova Scotia two-day investor day meeting

-World Health Organization holds emergency committee meeting on coronavirus

-World Economic Forum begins in Davos (notable speakers include Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai at 5:15 a.m. ET, Saudi energy minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman @ 6:45 a.m. ET, Microsoft founder Bill Gates @ 2:00 p.m. ET)

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.