Noah Zivitz

Managing Editor, BNN Bloomberg

Archive

European stocks are tumbling this morning and futures are pointing to a sharp drop at the start of trading in New York amid a range of worries, including COVID-19’s spread, America’s political landscape, and another black eye for the global banking system.  

-Johns Hopkins University’s global pandemic tracker shows more than 31 million cases and nearly 961,000 deaths. Authorities in the U.K. and Germany are among those who’ve most recently sounded the alarm, while public health officials in Ontario and Quebec announced new or expanded restrictions on gatherings this weekend.

-Meanwhile, as if there wasn’t already enough tension in U.S. politics, the death of Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg has amplified partisanship ahead of the Nov. 3 elections and caught the attention of some traders.

-And shares of Deutsche Bank have been down almost nine per cent in Germany after the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists and Buzzfeed News revealed more than US$2 trillion in suspicious transactions flowing in the global financial system, with DB shown at the top of the heap.

TIKTOK DEAL

TikTok has averted the U.S. clampdown that was set to take effect yesterday after U.S. President Donald Trump gave a thumbs up to a deal that will see Oracle and Walmart take a combined 20 per cent stake in a spinoff dubbed TikTok Global; Oracle will also become the video-sharing app's cloud-service provider. All kinds of questions remain, like what Beijing will say about the deal, and whether Trump really got what he wanted. On that front, our Bloomberg News partners have done phenomenal analysis that appears to show the answer is no. TikTok's owner has also cast doubt on U.S. spin of the arrangement, indicating Oracle will only have limited access to coding. Will point out nonetheless Oracle shares are up more than five per cent pre-market.

GEARING UP FOR SPEECH FROM THE THRONE

We’re a few days away from the Liberal government laying out its agenda in the speech from the throne. The lion’s share of the attention will no doubt be on plans for managing the pandemic -- and the economic consequences will be significant. After Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Deputy PM Chrystia Freeland made it clear they intend to build back green, Jon Erlichman has prepared a piece on where that leaves Canada’s energy sector. Watch for it throughout the day on BNN Bloomberg.

REMEMBERING JOHN TURNER

We’ll reflect on the former prime minister, finance minister, justice minister and Bay Street lawyer’s achievements and dedication to public service today after his passing Saturday at the age of 91.

OTHER NOTABLE STORIES

-TC Energy announced this morning CEO Russ Girling will retire at the end of this year. He’ll be replaced by COO Francois Poirier.

-A group of two dozen investors – including Paulson & Co. – has released an open letter to the gold-mining industry, urging changes to governance and compensation practices, saying it’s necessary to reverse performance that “falls short."

-Quite the night for Canada’s Levy family (and Netflix) at the Emmy Awards last night, as “Schitt’s Creek” won seven awards – including best comedy.

-The Toronto Star is reporting the federal government is dangling up to $500 million in an attempt to convince Ford Motor Company to allocate electric vehicle production to its plant in Oakville, Ont.

-A new survey is providing fresh signs of financial stress on the rise. The Canadian Payroll Association’s annual survey of 4,264 working Canadians shows a clear increase in concern about inflation and retirement-preparedness.  

-Nikola shares are collapsing in pre-market trading after the electric truck maker, that’s being targeted by a prominent short-seller announced its executive chairman has resigned.

NOTABLE RELEASES/EVENTS

-Notable data: Canadian new housing price index

-10:00 a.m. ET: CMHC releases quarterly Housing Market Assessment

-11:00 a.m. ET: Minister responsible for CMHC Ahmed Hussen makes announcement in Toronto on “major new initiative under the National Housing Strategy”

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.