Noah Zivitz

Managing Editor, BNN Bloomberg

Archive

In our morning editorial call today, Jon Erlichman remarked on the bizarre times we’re living in, with Canadian and U.S. stocks closing at fresh all-time highs yesterday while there’s a distinct feeling of COVID gloom in this country. The latest: our CTV News colleagues are reporting Ontario Premier Doug Ford and his cabinet are “actively considering” a range of additional restrictions amid new modeling that’s expected to show the province could be on track for up to 18,000 new cases per day by the end of next month. The measures under consideration reportedly include a curfew, as well as a stricter clampdown on retail operations and penalties for businesses that bring in non-essential staff. In the stock market, meanwhile, futures are pointing to a mixed open. On top of all of that, we can layer Monday’s federal budget. Have to imagine the landscape is not at all what Deputy PM and Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland was hoping for when she set April 19 as the date to deliver the first budget in more than two years.

CHINA POSTS RECORD GROWTH

China’s gross domestic product surged a record 18.3 per cent year-over-year in the first quarter, the latest evidence that the world’s second-largest economy has come a long way since the novel coronavirus emerged a year earlier. Consumers and businesses alike are chipping in, with retail sales surging 33.9 per cent in March, while industrial production and fixed-asset investment rose more than 20 per cent year-to-date. Anyone looking to quibble will note GDP slowed sequentially, but seems like one of the big questions today will be what policymakers might do to ensure growth doesn’t overheat.

CRTC TAKES ANOTHER CRACK AT COMPETITION

The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission has ordered the country’s three largest telcos as well as SaskTel to open up their networks to regional rivals that own spectrum. The regulator isn’t setting the price structure, but it is on standby for arbitration if the two sides can’t negotiate agreements. As Paul Bagnell has pointed out, the C]RTC didn’t go as far as some had anticipated since mobile virtual network operators aren’t getting mandated access to the incumbents’ networks. One thing that’s clear in the reaction we gathered is that it is the other big piece of news yesterday afternoon that’s really standing out, with the CRTC setting expectations for Rogers, Bell, Telus and SaskTel to launch low-cost and occasional-use rate plans within three months. We look forward to discussing all of this with former Telus Chief Financial Officer Robert McFarlane during Bloomberg Markets. As a standard reminder, BNN Bloomberg is a division of Bell Media.

OTHER NOTABLE STORIES

• Morgan Stanley delivered record first-quarter profit and revenue this morning, with the acquisitions of E-Trade and Eaton Vance boosting the firm's wealth management and investment management units. Meanwhile, bread-and-butter Wall Street activity was remarkable as investment banking revenue surged 128 per cent. Morgan Stanley did disclose an Archegos stumble, however, amid US$911 million in total losses relating to the recent hedge fund blowup.
• Toronto-Dominion Bank today said its stake in The Charles Schwab Corp. will deliver $272 million in fiscal second-quarter adjusted profit
• Canada’s NEO Exchange is hoping it’s landed on the next big thing as SPAC frenzy sweeps markets. The TSX rival announced this morning it designed a so-called Growth Acquisition Corp (“G-Corp”) as a vehicle for young companies to go public. It’s meant for firms with an enterprise value between $50 million and $500 million. We’ll discuss this with NEO CEO Jos Schmitt at 10:30 a.m. ET.
• Domtar shares have been up close to 6 per cent in pre-market trading after S&P Dow Jones Indices said the pulp and paper company is joining its S&P SmallCap 600 index.

NOTABLE RELEASES/EVENTS

• Notable data: Canadian housing starts, Canadian wholesale trade, Canadian international securities transactions; U.S. housing starts and building permits; China GDP, retail sales, industrial production
• Notable earnings: Kansas City Southern, Morgan Stanley
• 11:45 a.m.: Prime Minister Justin Trudeau discusses COVID-19 situation alongside Intergovernmental Affairs Minister Dominic LeBlanc, Procurement Minister Anita Anand, Chief Public Health Officer Dr. Theresa Tam, and Deputy Chief Public Health Officer Dr. Howard Njoo.
• 1 p.m.: Ontario officials present updated COVID-19 modelling information
• 1:30 p.m.: U.S. President Joe Biden begins official working visit with Japan Prime Minister Suga Yoshihide at the White House
• 4:15 p.m.: Biden, Yoshihide hold news conference at the White House rose garden.