It’s looking like Canadian Natural Resources might be on speed dial for foreign players aiming to get out of this country’s energy sector. Devon Energy today announced it will sell its Canadian assets to CNRL for $3.8 billion. The move comes almost two years since Canadian Natural picked up most of Shell’s oil sands assets.
BMO MISSES, RAISES DIVIDEND
We’ll leave it to the market to decide whether it’s a glass half-full or empty story at BMO. Second-quarter profit missed estimates by three pennies. Putting that aside, the U.S. division delivered double-digit growth, total provisions for loan losses rose sequentially, and there’s a richer dividend for shareholders.
BANK OF CANADA DECISION DAY
Today’s decision by the Bank of Canada is a slam dunk as far as the market is concerned. Implied probability of the benchmark rate sticking at 1.75 per cent is 99.4 per cent, and every single economist surveyed by Bloomberg concurs. We’ll parse the statement for any surprises in the central bank’s commentary.
CHINA FLAUNTS RARE EARTHS AS “POWERFUL WEAPON”
There’s no room for misinterpretation as Chinese media flaunts that country’s grip on rare earths. “An export ban on rare earths is a powerful weapon if used in the China-U.S. trade war,” according to The Global Times. “Nevertheless, China will mainly use it for defense. It is not the first choice of China's offensive weaponries.” We’ll address the risk of these commodities being used as a weapon in the trade war and how this adds to apprehension in the market on a day when sentiment is souring as the yield curve signals danger.
OTHER NOTABLE STORIES
-Morningstar announced today it will buy Toronto-based credit ratings agency DBRS for US$669 million.
-Canada Goose shares are down more than 10 per cent in pre-market trading. Fourth-quarter revenue surged 25 per cent year-over-year, but that failed to meet analyst expectations.
-Canadian Western Bank joined BMO in falling narrowly short of profit estimates. CWB reported an uptick in gross impaired loans in the fiscal second quarter (US$168 million from US$136 million), pinning the blame on a single commercial impairment in Saskatchewan.
-It was a long night for Air Canada’s Twitter team, dealing with lots of angry customers affected by a system outage. The airline says its network is getting back up and running.
NOTABLE RELEASES/EVENTS
-Notable earnings: Bank of Montreal, Canadian Western Bank, Canada Goose
-8:30 a.m. ET: CNRL conference call re. Devon deal
-8:30 a.m. ET: International Grand Committee on Big Data, Privacy and Democracy resumes two-day meeting in Ottawa. Representatives from Microsoft and Amazon among speakers.
-10:00 a.m. ET: Bank of Canada releases interest rate decision
-12:00 p.m. ET: International Energy Agency Executive Director Fatih Birol delivers remarks in Vancouver
-4:45 p.m. ET: Prime Minister Justin Trudeau meets with Manitoba Premier Brian Pallister in Ottawa, Ont.
-Quebec judge expected to decide if SNC-Lavalin criminal case will go to trial
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.
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