CIBC CEO Victor Dodig isn’t fazed by the bears who’ve been taking aim at Canada’s banks in the last couple of weeks. “When you talk about credit risk, I don’t see any big issues out there,” he told BNN Bloomberg's Amanda Lang, seemingly shrugging off the core argument made this week by Steve Eisman. We’ll have a sneak peek at the interview this morning on BNN Bloomberg and BNNBloomberg.ca before the full conversation runs in Bloomberg Markets. And we’ll round out our continued coverage with PAA Research’s Bradley Safalow at 10:40 a.m. ET. Recall he borrowed from The Wire’s Omar Little in his short report on CIBC and RBC in Nov. 2017 (“You Come at the King(s), You Best Not Miss”).
SPECTRUM AUCTION
The Canadian government raked in $3.47 billion dollars in its 600 MHz spectrum auction. Rogers was most active, spending $1.73 billion on 52 licences. Telus, Freedom and Videotron were other big spenders. Bell, meanwhile, sat out – saying in a release it didn’t need to bid to deliver 4G and 5G services (Disclaimer: BNN Bloomberg is part of Bell Media). Good time to note we expect to speak with Economic Development Minister Navdeep Bains later today.
UBER IPO WATCH
Our Bloomberg partners have been reporting the ride-hailing service’s IPO paperwork could be released as early as today, setting the stage for what’s expected to be a US$10-billion offering. Its rival, meanwhile, has been stumbling out of the gate. Lyft shares fell almost 11 per cent yesterday – closing well below their IPO price.
BUDGET DAY IN ONTARIO
We already know the first budget under Doug Ford will include symbolic moves like legalizing tailgating. The more fiscally serious stuff lands at 4 p.m. ET this afternoon, when we find out how fast his government is prepared to move to balance the province’s books. We’ve got Greg Bonnell and David George-Cosh in lockup for most of the day. Watch for their reporting on air and online this afternoon.
OTHER NOTABLE STORIES
-Another chapter in the battle between activists and TransAlta today, with Mangrove Partners and its partners indicating they’ll withhold votes for three directors at the upcoming annual meeting. Mangrove is also still reserving the right to submit nominees for election.
-Despite a CRTC order yesterday, Quebecor made good on its earlier threat by shutting off the TVA Sports signal to Bell TV subscribers just in time for the NHL playoffs.
-The Walt Disney Co.’s long-awaited streaming service will be unveiled this afternoon at an investor meeting. BNN Bloomberg's Jon Erlichman will tee it up for us.
-Porter Airlines announced yesterday Robert Deluce has been appointed executive chairman, while handing off the CEO role to his son, Michael.
-And the Brexit saga could drag on for another half year, with the new target date for U.K.-EU divorce set for Oct. 31. The Street will address all the potential permutations between now and then.
NOTABLE RELEASES/EVENTS
-Notable results: Postmedia, MTY Food Group
-Notable data: Canadian new housing price index
-9:10 a.m. ET: CIBC CEO Victor Dodig delivers keynote at Public Policy Forum in Toronto
-9:30 a.m. ET: Finance Minister Bill Morneau participates in discussion with students at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C. (plus media avail)
-10:00 a.m. ET: Prime Minister Justin Trudeau meets in Ottawa with Stelco Executive Chairman Alan Kestenbaum
-10:00 a.m. ET: Parliamentary Budget Officer releases report “Projecting the revenues and expenses of Canada Student Loans”
-10:00 a.m. ET: Newmont Mining holds special meeting for shareholder vote on Goldcorp takeover
-10:00 a.m. ET: Senate Committee on Energy, the Environment and Natural Resources public hearing on Bill C-69 in Saskatoon
-12:10 p.m. ET: U.S. President Donald Trump meets with South Korea President Moon Jae-in
-2:00 p.m. ET: Economic Development Minister Navdeep Bains participates in panel discussion at Canada Growth Summit in Toronto
-4:00 p.m. ET: Ontario government releases budget
-5:00 p.m. ET: Walt Disney Co. holds investor day meeting, focused on new streaming service
BNN Bloomberg apologizes for the delayed email delivery of today’s Daily Chase, which was due to a technical issue that has now been resolved.
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