U.S. futures are pointing to a positive start to the trading week once North American markets open this morning. American equities fell sharply on Friday, marking their worst weekly performance of the year after the U.S. central bank’s preferred inflation gauge showed a stronger-than-expected increase in prices last month. As a result, traders are now expecting U.S. interest rates to peak at 5.4 per cent in 2023, compared with roughly five per cent just a month ago.

LKQ TO BUY QUEBEC-BASED UNI-SELECT IN $2.1B CASH DEAL

Auto parts provider LKQ Corp is buying Quebec-based Uni-Select in an all-cash deal valued at about $2.1 billion. Uni-Select’s shareholders will get $48 per share in cash, a 19 per cent premium on Friday’s closing price. The Canadian company has over 5,000 employees in Canada, the U.S. and the U.K.

BERKSHIRE HATHAWAY’S GIANT CASH HOARD SWELLS TO NEARLY US$130B

Inflationary pressures weighed on Berkshire Hathaway’s fourth-quarter operating profits coming in at US$6.7 billion, down 7.9 per cent from the same period a year earlier. However, in his annual shareholder letter Warren Buffett said 2022 was a good year for the company. The Oracle of Omaha reported the company was holding nearly US$130 billion in cash at the end of last year, up from almost US$109 billion in the third quarter. You can read Buffett’s letter to shareholders here:  https://www.berkshirehathaway.com/letters/2022ltr.pdf. Note: You will have to read until the end of Buffett’s letter to find out just how successful his peanut brittle and chocolate side hustle was!

OTHER NOTABLE STORIES

  • Multiple reports say Elon Musk has conducted another round of job cuts at Twitter over the weekend. Musk has been slashing jobs and other costs at the social media company since he acquired it last October.
  • Shares of Pfizer are trading lower in the pre-market following a report from the Wall Street Journal that it is in talks to buy Seagen, a company with a market cap of US$30 billion.
  • Union Pacific shares are up almost 10 per cent in the pre-market after the U.S. railroad bowed to pressure from hedge fund Soroban Capital Partners to replace its chief executive officer Lance Fritz. Fritz has been with the company for over 20 years.

NOTABLE RELEASES/EVENTS

  • Notable data: Current Account Balance, U.S. Durable Goods Orders, U.S. Pending Home Sales
  • Notable earnings: Ivanhoe Mines, Zoom Video Communications, MEG Energy