Jun 5, 2018
The Daily Chase: Canadian oil surges; Trudeau visits Western Canada
By Noah Zivitz
Stunning move for the benchmark Canadian oil price yesterday, with the discount on Western Canadian Select nearly halved – to US$13.80 per barrel. The 47 per cent surge came after Bloomberg reported Enbridge is abandoning a plan to tighten rules for shippers using the Mainline system. BNN Bloomberg's Jameson Berkow will shed light on the domino effect for the industry and look into the minimal stock market reaction.
TRUDEAU HEADS WEST
For the first time since the government announced it will nationalize Trans Mountain, Justin Trudeau is heading to Western Canada today. The Prime Minister will meet with an Indigenous Advisory and Monitoring Committee in Rosedale, B.C., at 11:15 a.m. ET, and then he visits a Kinder Morgan terminal in Sherwood Park, Alta., at 4:00 p.m. ET. Could be interesting. We’ll track developments.
LEGAL POT MARKET OUTLOOK
Deloitte has run the numbers on the outlook for legal cannabis in Canada, and expects the market could generate $4.3 billion in sales in 2019, while the illegal pot market could still be worth as much as $1.04 billion. Lots of great insight on what consumers are willing to pay, and where, in the Deloitte report. We’ll sift through the details.
HBC THROWS IN THE TOWEL ON GILT
Hudson’s Bay Co. is unloading Gilt barely two years after buying the online commerce portal. Rue La La is the buyer; price wasn’t disclosed, but The Wall Street Journal is reporting the tab is “well below US$100 million.” HBC paid US$250 million for Gilt in January 2016. We’ll watch for more notable news from HBC later this morning when it reports quarterly results amid ongoing speculation about the future of its real estate holdings. Meanwhile, the company disclosed total same-store sales fell 0.7 per cent in the first quarter and its net loss widened to $314 million. It also announced it will close up to 10 Lord & Taylor stores over the next year and a half and Executive Chair Richard Baker says the company "will continue to explore all opportunities to leverage the strength of our real estate portfolio."
DODGE ON TRUMP
If you missed it, check out Catherine Murray’s interview with David Dodge, in which the former Bank of Canada governor argues the Trump administration is purposefully trying to create global trade chaos in an attempt to lure more business investment to the United States
OTHER NOTABLE STORIES
-Akita Drilling announced today it's buying XTreme Drilling in a cash and stock deal worth $209 million, including debt.
-Cenovus fell almost six per cent yesterday after Reuters reported ConocoPhillips is getting see to “offload” the 208 million CVE shares it picked up in 2017.
-U.S. oil futures dipped after Bloomberg reported early today the Trump Administration “quietly” asked OPEC to ramp up output amid rising gas prices
-Hydro One cleared another regulatory hurdle late yesterday, getting the go-ahead in Alaska for its takeover of Avista. As Paige previously reported, there were some particularly outspoken critics of the deal in that state.
-Coca-Cola announced today it will spend $85 million to build a new milk production plant in Peterborough, Ont.
-Outgoing Starbucks Chairman Howard Schultz is keeping the door open to a future in politics, telling The New York Times: “I intend to think about a range of options, and that could include public service.”
NOTABLE RELEASES/EVENTS
-Notable earnings: Hudson's Bay Co.
-Notable data: Canadian labour productivity, ISM U.S. services index
-9:00 a.m. ET: Finance Minister Bill Morneau addresses Senate Finance Committee
-11:15 a.m. ET: Trudeau meets with Indigenous committee in Rosedale, B.C.
-1:00 p.m. ET: Technical briefing in Ottawa ahead of G7 summit
-4:00 p.m. ET: Trudeau visits Kinder Morgan terminal in Sherwood Park
-5:30 p.m. ET: Tesla holds annual meeting in Mountain View, California
-CP Rail two-day investor presentation begin in Calgary
-Canada 2020 conference in Ottawa, former FBI Director James Comey delivers keynote
-Canadian Telecom Summit continues in Toronto
Every morning BNN'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.
