Aug 20, 2018
The Daily Chase: Forestry in focus amid B.C. wildfires; Musk can't slow down
By Noah Zivitz
The pictures out of British Columbia are nothing short of stunning amid hundreds of wildfires and widespread air quality warnings. Our CTV colleagues will share evacuee stories with us this morning. Meanwhile, we’ll keep tabs on the industrial implications, with forestry getting most of the attention thus far. Lumber futures rose almost 10 per cent last week and West Fraser Timber’s stock has rallied in eight straight sessions.
MUSK CAN’T SLOW DOWN
Tesla’s CEO took us deeper into his psyche in a crack-of-dawn tweet yesterday. “Ford & Tesla are the only 2 American car companies to avoid bankruptcy. I just got home from the factory. You think this is an option. It is not,” he wrote in response to a plea from Arianna Huffington to change the way he works. The tweet exchange came just a few days after he told The New York Times he’s living through the most “excruciating” year of his life and as he faces controversy over disclosure of his desire to take Tesla private. We’ll chase insight on who needs to step in when a CEO’s well-being is under the microscope.
MADURO KNOCKS DOWN BOLIVAR
Venezuela President Nicolas Maduro announced a sweeping economic overhaul that most notably includes a massive devaluation of the bolivar to 6 million per U.S. dollar from the old rate of 285,000. The currency will also be pegged to Venezuela’s new Petro cryptocurrency and the country’s minimum wage rate will rise approximately 3,000 per cent. All this against the backdrop of runaway inflation that the International Monetary Fund recently predicted will reach 1 million per cent by the end of this year.
OTHER NOTABLE STORIES
- Questerre Energy announced this morning it will step up its fight against Quebec’s new restrictions on fracking by launching a legal challenge against the province.
- A new ManpowerGroup survey shows 41 per cent of Canadian employers are struggling to fill their labour needs.
- PepsiCo has struck a deal to take out some competition, announcing it’s buying SodaStream in a US$3.2-billion deal worth US$144 per share.
- Tyson Foods announced it’s buying chicken nugget supplier Keystone Foods for US$2.16 billion.
NOTABLE RELEASES/EVENTS
- 9:15 a.m. ET: Bank of Canada Senior Deputy Governor Carolyn Wilkins speaks on panel at Central Bank Research Association in Frankfurt
- 10 a.m. ET: Prime Minister Justin Trudeau delivers remarks and holds avail at groundbreaking for Amazon fulfillment centre in Navan, Ontario
- 11:20 a.m. ET: Ontario Premier Doug Ford delivers remarks at Conference of the Association of Municipalities of Ontario in Ottawa
- U.S. Trade Representative begins public hearing regarding potential tariffs on US$200 billion of Chinese goods
- Canadian International Trade Tribunal scheduled to determine if there's "reasonable" evidence of U.S. drywall dumping
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.
